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Grand Tour (Big Big Train Album)
''Grand Tour'' is the twelfth studio album by the English progressive rock band Big Big Train. It contains all new songs unlike the previous, ''The Second Brightest Star''. Thematically it broadens the lyrical landscape for the group into the European world, previously having a largely domestic British focus. It moves from English folklore and landscape, to the 17th and 18th century habit of well-to-do Europeans going on the 'Grand Tour' to experience a wider circle of art and science. It is the last studio album to feature band members Dave Gregory, Rachel Hall, and Danny Manners who left in 2020. Reception Initially well received, ''The Times'' says of this release, "A prog rock album that doesn't yield its secrets straight away and repays repeated listening". Tony Colvill in his review had been critical of the last two releases but then writes of this offering, "it's something new, a little bit different, but to the same high standards," presumably harking back to the 'railwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Big Train
Big Big Train are an English progressive rock band formed in Bournemouth in 1990. The current line-up includes band founder Gregory Spawton (bass, guitars and keyboards), along with Nick D'Virgilio (drums, guitars and keyboards) and Rikard Sjöblom (guitars and keyboards). Until 2009, the band were active as a predominantly studio project led by Spawton and co-founder Andy Poole (guitars, bass and keyboards), who departed the band in 2018, with changing line-ups and guest musicians. They have released fourteen studio albums and six EPs. After starting out as an independent band, Big Big Train were signed to Giant Electric Pea from 1993 to 1998 and distributed their releases through their own website. Since their sixth album, ''The Underfall Yard'', which received critical acclaim from the progressive rock community, a more stable line-up has been established, and the band performed their first live concerts in 17 years at Kings Place, London, in August 2015. The gigs were voted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Real World Studios
Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World Records record label, Real World Publishing, and the WOMAD Festival, whose offices are also based at the complex. Facility The largest recording space, appropriately referred to as the Big Room, is a 2,000 square foot combination live room and control room with a custom wraparound 72-channel SSL 9000 XL K Series mixing console at its centre, with large windows offering expansive views of the adjacent millpond and gardens. Although the Big Room has a separate machine room and two isolation booths, it is designed as one large collaborative recording space with no dividing walls. Alternately, the Big Room also functions as a Dolby Surround 7.1-certified film mixing room. Adjoining the Big Room and within the former mill building is the Wood Room. This room utilizes a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Progressive Rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its " progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing. Progressive rock is based on fusions of styles, approaches and genres, involving a continuous move between formalism and eclecticism. Due to its historical reception, the scope of progressiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Second Brightest Star (Big Big Train Album)
''The Second Brightest Star'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Big Big Train. It contains a mix of new songs along with re-worked material from the band's previous two albums, ''Folklore'' and ''Grimspound''. Track listing Personnel Big Big Train * Nick D'Virgilio Nicholas D'Virgilio (born November 12, 1968), often referred to as NDV, is an American drummer, singer and guitarist, best known as a member of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He was also one of two drummers chosen to replace Phil Col ... – drums, percussion, backing vocals * Dave Gregory – electric guitars * Rachel Hall – violin, viola, cello, backing vocals * David Longdon – lead vocals, flute, piano, electric guitars, mandolin, banjo, lute, celesta, synthesisers, percussion * Danny Manners – keyboards, double bass * Andy Poole – acoustic guitar, keyboards, backing vocals * Rikard Sjöblom – electric guitars, backing vocals, keyboards on "The Second Brig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Ground (Big Big Train Album)
''Common Ground'' is the thirteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Big Big Train, released on 30 July 2021. With the departure of Dave Gregory, Rachel Hall, and Danny Manners in 2020, ''Common Ground'' is the first album release with the core four-piece lineup of Greg Spawton, David Longdon, Nick D'Virgilio, and Rikard Sjöblom. Joining the core line-up on the album are session musicians Carly Bryant, Dave Foster, and Aidan O'Rourke. Upon release it entered the UK music charts at number 31. It was elected by '' PopMatters'' as the ninth best progressive rock/metal album of 2021. Track listing Charts Personnel Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes. Big Big Train * Nick D'Virgilio – drums, percussion, vocals * David Longdon David Longdon (17 June 1965 – 20 November 2021) was a British multi-instrumentalist and singer, who was best known as the lead vocalist and co-songwriter of the progressive rock band Big Bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Progressive Rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its " progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing. Progressive rock is based on fusions of styles, approaches and genres, involving a continuous move between formalism and eclecticism. Due to its historical reception, the scope of progressiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson. Its sister paper, the ''Sunday Express'', was launched in 1918. In June 2022, it had an average daily circulation of 201,608. The paper rose to become the largest circulation newspaper in the world under Lord Beaverbrook, going from 2 million in the 1930s to 4 million in the 1940s. It was acquired by Richard Desmond's company Northern & Shell in 2000. Hugh Whittow was the editor from February 2011 until he retired in March 2018. In February 2018 Trinity Mirror acquired the ''Daily Express'', and other publishing assets of Northern & Shell, in a deal worth £126.7 million. To coincide with the purchase the Trinity Mirror group changed the name of the company to ''Reach''. Hugh Whittow resigned as editor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'', which do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1966. In general, the political position of ''The Times'' is considered to be centre-right. ''The Times'' is the first newspaper to have borne that name, lending it to numerous other papers around the world, such as ''The Times of India'', ''The New York Times'', and more recently, digital-first publications such as TheTimesBlog.com (Since 2017). In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as , or as , although the newspaper is of nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Full Power
''Full Throttle: All-American Racing'', known in Japan as , is a racing video game released in 1991 by Gremlin Interactive for the SNES. In Japan, it was published by Coconuts Japan, in North America by Cybersoft, and in Europe by GameTek. In April 2021, it was released as part of ''Piko Interactive Collection 2'' for the Evercade by Blaze Entertainment. Gameplay Players can race using motorcycles or waterscooters. Six racers can be controlled by the human player. Places visited in the game include the Appalachian Mountains, San Francisco's elaborate streets, and Arizona's flat wasteland deserts. An unusual aspect of the game was that the player has the choice between playing the game with music only, or sound effects only. It is not possible to play the game with both at the same time. Reception In their review, ''GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and vid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Spawton
Gregory Spawton (born May 17, 1965) is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and founder of English progressive rock band Big Big Train. Early life Spawton was brought up in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands. The first prog album he heard was '' Selling England by the Pound'' by Genesis, which belonged to his brother Nigel, when he was 12. The first album he bought was '' Pawn Hearts'' by Van der Graaf Generator. He also saw Steve Hackett on his '' Defector'' tour in 1980. A heavy influence of his is Peter Hammill. Before Big Big Train, Spawton was in a band called Equus, which played some shows around Sutton Coldfield in the early 80s. Career Spawton moved to Bournemouth in 1987 after graduating from the Reading University. with a degree in archaeology. He formed Big Big Train with Andy Poole in 1990, taking on the role of lead guitarist. They were soon joined by Poole's friend, Ian Cooper, on keyboards, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick D'Virgilio
Nicholas D'Virgilio (born November 12, 1968), often referred to as NDV, is an American drummer, singer and guitarist, best known as a member of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He was also one of two drummers chosen to replace Phil Collins in Genesis on the ''Calling All Stations'' album. He has also done session work with many artists including Tears for Fears and Mystery, and is an official member of Big Big Train. Career D'Virgilio was the drummer in Spock's Beard since the band began in the early 1990s. After Neal Morse left in 2002, D'Virgilio took over on lead vocals and became their frontman during live performances. In this line-up, Spock's Beard subsequently recorded four albums, ''Feel Euphoria'', ''Octane'', the self-titled ''Spock's Beard'', and '' X'', prior to D'Virgilio's departure in 2011. In 1994, D'Virgilio joined Kevin Gilbert's reformed band Giraffe for a one-off performance of the Genesis piece "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" at Progfest '94. In 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Longdon
David Longdon (17 June 1965 – 20 November 2021) was a British multi-instrumentalist and singer, who was best known as the lead vocalist and co-songwriter of the progressive rock band Big Big Train. Besides singing, Longdon played flute, keyboards, acoustic and electric 6 & 12 string guitars, bass, mandolin, lute, banjo, accordion, percussion, dulcimer, psaltry, vibraphone, theremin and glockenspiel. Early life and career Longdon was born in Nottingham, England, on 17 June 1965. He began writing music at age nine after discovering The Who. He began his career as the lead singer of the band The Gift Horse. Longdon was one of those who auditioned as lead singer of rock band Genesis in 1996, following the departure of Phil Collins. He auditioned during the making of '' Calling All Stations'' (1997), but the role was given to Scottish singer Ray Wilson. He joined Big Big Train in 2009, and performed on numerous instruments in addition to his role as the lead singer begi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
