English Boy Wonders
| English Boy Wonders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Big Train's studio album | ||||
|
Publication |
1997 |
|||
| Label (s) | originally:
New edition:
|
|||
|
Format (s) |
CD |
|||
|
Title (number) |
13 (Re-Issue: 14) |
|||
|
running time |
71m46s (Re-Issue: 78m27s) |
|||
| occupation |
|
|||
|
Andy Poole, Greg Spawton |
||||
|
Studio (s) |
Parklands Studios |
|||
|
||||
English Boy Wonders is the second studio album by the English progressive rock band Big Big Train . The CD was released on December 1, 1997.
content
Most of the songs on English Boy Wonders were about the weakening bond in a couple's relationship. Originally a concept album was planned, but within the almost three years of creation this concept became more and more blurred. Martin Orford (ex- Jadis ) can be heard as a guest musician on keyboards and flute. Ken Bundy contributes some background vocals.
History and style
BBT intended to orient the sound to Radiohead's album The Bends . In 1995 the demo tape for the album was completed. The December 1997 release didn't have much in common with the demo anymore. The band didn't really know in which direction they wanted to develop, and there were only a few recording sessions within the long period and in the end the band had the feeling that they had delivered a half-finished product. English Boy Wonders is a little more poppy than the debut album, but still belongs to the neo-prog category.
Reviews
According to Gregory Spawton, the album was not well received: "It was not well received by critics and disappeared without trace." refers to the original release.
Trivia
English Boy Wonders was only played live at a very few concerts, including the ProgFarmFestival 1998.
Track list
- Big Empty Skies (04:21)
- Brushed Aside (05:37)
- A Giddy Thing (05:16)
- 28 Years (02:24)
- Pretty Mom (03:26)
- Out Of It (05:57)
- Cloudless and Starry and Still (03:33)
- Albion Perfide (10:23)
- Right to the End of the World tra-la (01:56)
- The Shipping Forecast (10:46)
- Mr Boxgroveman (6:12 am)
- Reaching for John Dowland (8:13 am)
- Fell Asleep (03:35)
Re-release
On December 1, 2008, English Boy Wonders was re-released on the band's English Electric Recordings label. The re-release is a revised version, partly re-recorded and completely remixed. The order and also the duration of the pieces differs from the original. The reviews for the re-release were more numerous and also better than for the original.
- Big Empty Skies (04:23)
- Brushed Aside (05:40)
- Albion Perfide (10:27)
- Pretty Mom (03:43)
- A Giddy Thing (05:17)
- Out Of It (06:02)
- Cloudless and Starry and Still (03:36)
- Two Poets Meet (instrumental) (04:26) (originally on the Japanese version of Goodbye to the Age of Steam )
- 28 Years (02:28)
- Reaching for John Dowland (8:46 am)
- Boxgrove Man (7:23 am)
- The Shipping Forecast (10:14 am)
- Right to the End of the World tra-la (02:03)
- Fell Asleep (03:59)
Individual evidence
- ↑ told the story of the failing relationship ( memento of the original from April 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , bigbigtrain.wordpress.com, accessed May 14, 2012.
- ↑ the album ... had very little in common with the original demo ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , bigbigtrain.wordpress.com, accessed May 14, 2012.
- ↑ were not sure about ... what direction we wanted to take with our music , bigbigtrain.blogspot.de, accessed on May 14, 2012.
- ↑ had to release the album in a semi-complete state ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , bigbigtrain.wordpress.com, accessed May 14, 2012.
- ↑ It was not well received by critics ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , bigbigtrain.wordpress.com, accessed May 14, 2012.
- ↑ Rating: 8/15 , babyblaue-seiten.de, accessed on May 14, 2012.
- ↑ have probably played live no more than a dozen times in their eight year history ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , flamboroughhead.nl, accessed May 14, 2012.
- ↑ release date for English Boy Wonders is 1st December , bigbigtrain.blogspot.de, accessed on May 14, 2012.
- ↑ great album somewhere between Prog, Britpop, Folk and Fusionrock ( Memento of the original from April 22nd, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , proggies.ch, accessed on May 15, 2012.
- ↑ Is this prog? Is this neo-prog? I do not know. , progarchives.com, accessed May 15, 2012.
- ↑ Maybe Prog-pop? , prognaut.com, accessed May 15, 2012.
