This song is about 'Mallard' which was a steam locomotive which hauled trains up and down the east coast mainline between England and Scotland. In 1938 it broke the speed record for a steam traction vehicle attaining a speed of 126 miles per hour. In the opening of the song I can just imagine standing by the railtrack seeing the locomotive approach and then suddenly being hit by the thundering sound of the engine. I love the the little drum infills which sound like the train going over a set of points. I think the ending is about nostalgia, the passing of the age of steam and the demise of these beautiful locomotives. Great song from a great band. I am truly saddened at the sudden passing of David Longdon.

Masterpiece! There are several versions of this - including one reworked and expanded with extra strings on INGENIOUS DEVICES. I think my favourite is the live version. Perfect story telling allied to stunning playing, arrangement and composition. The band is so great at forming an impressionistic picture of their subjects. The story of a team of men who built a steam engine that broke a world speed record. The piece celebrates human ingenuity where ordinary men did something extraordinary but also recognises that such things can be so evanescent. Steam trains are a thing of the past now but they have a romance about them. Some of the brass players are ex Coldstream Guards so have deadpanned about being unimpressed as having played for the Queen. They have a trumpet, trombone French horn and tuba 4 - 5 piece. There is a fascinating documentary on STONE AND STEEL on KZread which extraordinarily was the FIRST time that all musicians played together in a space. Previously they worked individually feeding in contributions. They were most challenged by VICTORIAN BRICKWORK which was 23 minutes of complexity but they pulled it off and I’ve seen them live twice - absolutely phenomenal. Greg was brought up near a railway line. Followers of the band support them and are called THE PASSENGERS.

What an incredible piece of music...the change in the song at 9:30 to me is one of the most moving pieces of music in the history of mankind....the song builds to an incredible crescendo of sound and emotion....sadly the world doesn't even collectively know what a tragic loss David is to popular music.

This has become one of my favourite songs of all time. Everything I love in prog. Thanks for reviewing. Well done!

I hear new things on each listen. The pride and energy invested in building Mallard is also reflected in this wonderful piece, a work fitting for a time when British engineering felt it knew no bounds. It brings a tear to my every time I listen. Engine drivers and their firemen, they were gods in the steam age.

Thanks Bryan, for honoring David Longdon like this! And those brass sections are just gorgeous! Actually, this was first released on the album English Electric Part Two and only later did they combine the two parts into EE: Full Power. I think BBT are at their best when doing these epics, with this one being my absolute favorite. They do have a number of shorter gems too, but it might be much more of a personal thing, which of those you like. E.g., I'm personally not a fan of the otherwise acclaimed Wassail.

@CriticalReactions

2 жыл бұрын

I've only heard two

This band might be my favorite discovery from this channel. Saw this right after your Atlantic Cable reaction and I’m blown away by the songwriting and every member’s performance.

BBT is a band that offers some background and information on many of their tracks because they often reference historical events that history has forgotten - which is one of their biggest themes. I don’t have links to provide right now but you can find info on the tracks (another train reference) you have reviewed. I think the ending here is a layering (like their glorious music) of nostalgia/mourning over the multiples losses of: the world the steam engine brought to an end, the time of the steam engines and innovation itself and our modern loss of all this history and the lessons the history could teach us. I appreciate all your BBT reviews. Together they may be the best appreciation I have seen of David and his work since his passing.

This song is about The Mallard, and it's land speed record as stated. It was also the end of an era. The Mallard was a steam engine, and modern diesel locomotive engines soon overshadowed the achievements of the steam era. The rhythmic elements of the song captures the sound of the train racing down the tracks ( the odd meter really emphasizes this). The melancholy at the end ,of course , has to do with nostalgia , and the almost forgotten accomplishments of that era.....nice breakdown.

Don't know how I missed this ... this is stunningly beautiful !! The melancholic ending may be due to the "death" of the steam engine and it's replacement with diesel and electric :(

Amazing job. Such an incredible band and such a loss w/ David's passing. Hoping your continue the Big Big Train songs all week. Perhaps Hedgerow or Victorian Brickwork or Brooklands?

@CriticalReactions

2 жыл бұрын

To go with the 4 we did last week I also looked at Victorian Brickwork a year ago. I think it might have been my introduction to BBT kzread.info/dash/bejne/pKGmrqmlg5m8lqQ.html

...and this song was elevated to even greater heights when performed live.

@ambassadortourettes753

2 жыл бұрын

I want to personally thank you 👌I just checked out the live version 🙄 Unbelievably good 👌

@simonwithers4941

2 жыл бұрын

At about the 11:20+ minute mark of this and similarly live Rob (the sound engineer) increased the volume which would send shivers down my spine and bring me to tears. It was just so emotional. A great tribute to David and the band.

@ambassadortourettes753

2 жыл бұрын

@@simonwithers4941 I noted that literally being a sound engineer for 20 years 👌Thanks for confirmation on that 👌The live engineering was very very noteworthy 👌

@jonathanhenderson9422

2 жыл бұрын

@@ambassadortourettes753 BBT are phenomenal live. I'd recommend hearing every live performance from them you can on KZread. I tend to think they're even better than in the studio. They also three live performances on blu-ray: Stone & Steel, Reflectors of Light, and Empire. They can be a bit hard to find legitimately but they can be found through torrents.

The Underfall Yard is about the great railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Awesome that we got the week filled out for BBT. My one regret is that I didn't get a chance to recommend a track myself. I probably would've selected one of their shorter gems, of which they have many. You might be surprised after all of these complex epics to hear the beautiful, elegant simplicity of tracks like Uncle Jack or Leopards; or even some of their straight-forward rock tracks like Alive. I've said it before, but I do believe English Electric (the double-disc "full powered" version) is BBT's masterpiece and probably the best prog album of the 2010s. It's just so consistently superb, and East Coast Racer is arguably the crowning jewel. If you like this I can't emphasize enough how the rest of the album (both discs!) are just as good. This is definitely one of those tracks that gets better and better with repeat listens because there's just so many interesting sections and interesting details within those sections. As for the lyrics, if you get the physical album it comes with a booklet that actually has explanations of all the references throughout the album. As I said on the last track, most all of their lyrics revolve around distinctly English things often used as metaphors for life and relationships, but other times they're just about the nostalgia of remembering these things. Here's what the booklet says on this track: "Seventy-five years ago, on 3rd July 1938, a streamlined locomotive called Mallard set the world speed record for steam trains, travelling at 126mph on a straight, downhill stretch of the East Coast Mainline." "Mallard has been preserved as a static exhibit and is normally kept on display at the National Railway Museum in York. Whilst she was made for speed, the designers created a machine of extraordinary beauty; if you go to the museum, she will stop you in your tracks." "The story of Mallard has been described by Andrew Martin as being like Chariots of Fire with steam engines, and it became, for me, an irresistible theme for a song. However, it wasn't so much Mallard but the people who designed, made, fired and drove her that interested me. And it is their tale we tell over the fifteen minutes or so of East Coast Racer." "It's a story with a wonderful list of main characters..." (lists people involved in the locomotive) "But, in the end, we come back to Mallard." "Emile Zola said: 'Somewhere in the course of manufacture, a hammer blow or a deft mechanic's hand imparts to a locomotive a soul of its own.'" "In this short sentence, Zola puts his finger on the connection between the maker and the machine. Mallard has outlived its creators, but in this company of men and the work they carried out lives on." The booklet also has a photo on the opposite page of the crew after the 1938 world-record setting run.

@CriticalReactions

2 жыл бұрын

That's wild. So much love and admiration of a tale from before their time. It's fascinating to me to find out the topics of BBT's songs. I'm over here just enjoying the music they make but the stories they've chosen to sing about are things I've never expect to hear about.

@jonathanhenderson9422

2 жыл бұрын

@@CriticalReactions Their focus on very English themes reminds me a lot of The Kinks, though their genres/sounds/styles were very different (Kinks were part of the British Invasion with bands like The Beatles and Rolling Stones; terribly underrated band in my top 10).

there's a phenomenal video of east coast racer on youtube presenting the whole story...

1:21 This reminds a lot to Trespass by Genesis

Absolutely absolutely divine 👌all I'm gonna say...

next level: the live-version of VOYAGER from the dvd EMPIRE

Getting Peter Gabriel era Genesis vibes from this song, correct if I'm wrong. Love it

iirc, this one is about the fastest steam train speed record

@johanliljeblad1236

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it it could very well be that the start and the ending sounding the same is just the start and the end of the day of the record - a way to tie it all together!

@wildeone1645

2 жыл бұрын

The train was the Mallard which set the record when running between London and Edinburgh

One time XTC guitarist, Dave Gregory, plays with BBT. Great song.

@andrewwild7969

9 ай бұрын

Played - he left in 2020

Great day at work wouldn't you say? 😁