In defence of Bard

For the last fifteen years I have been a huge fan of the progressive rock group Big Big Train. They're not 'cross-over' prog as Progarchives would have you believe, this is a full-on prog band - musicianship, the lengthy superbly crafted songs, just the care they put into making the music tells you all you need to know. And in the actual sense of the word 'progressive' they've certainly come a long way since the early days - they now have some of the finest musicians in the world playing with them.
For me, they fall into three distinct 'eras' - the current one has produced two wonderul albums so far in The Underfall Yard and English Electric Part One, and a similarly wonderful 40-odd minute EP called Far Skies Deep Time. The era before which featured Sean Filkins on vocals spawned Gathering Speed and The Difference Machine. It's the first era, and particularly the album Bard I'd like to concentrate on.
I first heard BBT when I bought their second album, English Boy Wonders. I completely fell in love with it, it was a such an eclectic mix of 4-minute vignettes (Pretty Mom, Fell Asleep, Cloudless And Starry And Still) and longer emotionally wrought songs (The Shipping Forecast, Mr. Boxgroveman, Reaching For John Dowland). I bought the first album and fell in love with that too.
It was a long five years before the next album came out. This album, Bard, has since been pretty much disowned by the band and deleted. It certainly isn't much like what the band produce now, but don't let that put you off - it's an absolutely brilliant album. Four of the songs would make any BBT compilation I might make ...
Jo Michaels' beautiful vocals carry the initial segment of the 15-minute Broken English, then a long instrumental passage follows containing Greg Spawton's most memorable guitar solo. He said on the Facebook page a while back that he wasn't a great guitarist - this proves otherwise.
A Short Visit To Earth is to me one of the most beautiful songs ever written. It's only 5 or 6 minutes long but in that time conveys such emotion as not many side-long songs can. This song really resonates with me, and I'm not ashamed to say has reduced me to tears on many occasions.
The last two songs on the album, For Winter and A Long Finish, total around 25 minutes in length and to me they've always seemed like the same track. For Winter is another beautiful composition with the most heart-breaking lyrics
"This isn‘t rocket science - why can’t we make it work? Try holding me up against the sky."
I love the dynamic in this song. From quiet piano only segments to full-on band rock-outs, I love it when a band gives a song room to breathe and develop. To me, For Winter is the song that sounds most like English Boy Wonders, with it's piano led melody it could have slotted very neatly alongside Albion Perfide.
A Long Finish reprises certain themes and musical motifs from the rest of the album and works brilliantly well as an instrumental in it's own right.
So, if you ever see Bard at a boot sale, or a record fair - snaffle it! Although it doesn't represent where the band is now it certainly stands up in it's own right and is well worth owning and appreciating. Contrary to what Big Big Train might say (sorry guys but I love it :p)

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