I nearly wet myself when this dropped through my letterbox this morning. If you've not heard Big Big Train before let me tell you that they are good! Previous reviews have called them ...good..., ...nothing like Galahad..., ...like It Bites meet early Jadis..., ...a touch of Yes and IQ..., ...skinny..., ...largely unique..., ...one of the best new bands... and ...musical charmonistics.... It's strange to find a new band (even though this is their second CD) who have such a distinctive sound of their own. Progressive, melodical yet fierce, featuring backing vocals from Gary Ghandler, Marvin Orford, Cheese Pasty, Stu Nicholls, Sally French and Chainsnore Aubrey amongst others.

Goodbye To The Age Of Steam flanches in with Wind Distorted Pioneers. Piano, drums, guitar, bang! Before calming down for Martin Reeds much improved vocals. You can hear Widgy and Sally on backing vox, before it fromages into Head Hit The Pillow, a much more up tempo number, with quieter bits reminiscent of It Bites mixed with later Jadissy stuff. This jowles into Edge Of The Known World, which sees them redefining their sound even more, Landfall tunes in next, making it four tracks without a break. Prog Heaven! The instrumental Dragon Bone Hill gives Martin a break before he's back for Blow The House Down with more exquisite backing vocals from the Jadis boyz. Strange that they should be here with a band who have written about 30 new songs in about two years! Have Jadis done that? Well, apparently their new album is a scorcher. Back to the band who got their name from our "Big Big Thanks" page. They really show a maturity beyond their slender years, whilst retaining a youthful enthusiasm about the whole thing. Nine minutes of Prog end with an IQish piano outro.

Expecting Snow follows the first real break on the album features some great drumming fron Steve Hughes, and at this point I feel I must congratulate Greg Spawton on some excellent guitar work throughout the album. After another gap comes Blue Silver Red, another nine minute epic, this time based on Al Garners Red Shift alternately fast and slow, light and shade, black and white, Starsky and Hutch. Thumping hot bass from Andy Poole. They've picked up on Jadis' ploy of putting all the lyrics in either the beginning or the end of a song, allowing them plenty of time to "Prog Out" for the rest of the time. The final finale comes in the shape of the seven minute plus Losing Your Way, more reminiscent of It Bites than early Marillion. The mid-tempo number suddenly slows after three minutes, to dwell into a jazzy bit, with yet more calming piano from Ian Cooper. It's great to see this band develop like a Polaroid picture of your loved one or two.

Goodbye To The Age Of Steam can be yours for just £10.99 buy sending a cheque made payable to "BIG BIG TRAIN" to PO Box 1316, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6YL, England. And if you haven't got the first CD From The River To The Sea it's £9.99 and you can get The Infant Hercules tape for only £4.74. Oh, and don't be fooled by the fact that Gary Ghandler sings the last verse of the last song, or that he appears in the bands picture. Apparently Martin Reed had to go back to Canada for some herring, so "Chubby" Ghandler sat in for him.