''Grand Tour'' is the twelfth studio album by the English

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. Init ...

band

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 Sj� ...

. 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 ''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'' (fou ...

'' 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 'railway inspired' subject content of '' English Electric: Full Power''. He continues to heap praise on this offering with repeated and positive comparisons with Genesis both vocally and instrumentally. ''

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 i ...

'' writer Paul Davies also make comparisons to Genesis and adds a reference to Queen. Noting the subject of the Renaissance when referring to progressive music in general, he clearly underlines the band's significance. He assigns a rating of 5 out of 5.

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 Coll ...

– drums, percussion, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Theodora in Green and Gold", additional keyboards, guitars * Dave Gregory – 6-string and 12-string guitars * Rachel Hall – violin, backing 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 Big Train. Besides singing, Longdon played flute, keyb ...

– lead vocals, flute, additional keyboards, guitars * Danny Manners – keyboards * Rikard Sjöblom – 6-string and 12-string guitars, keyboards on "Theodora in Green and Gold", backing vocals * Greg Spawton – bass guitar, bass pedals, additional 12-string guitars Production * Rob Aubrey – mixing, mastering * Rachel Hall – string arrangements on Voyager (with Manners & Spawton) * Dave Desmond – brass arrangements (with Spawton)

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Tour Big Big Train albums 2019 albums