The Underfall Yard (2021 Reissue)
English Electric, 2021
REVIEW BY: Jason Warburg
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 05/10/2021
British progressive rockers Big Big Train hit some big big milestones in the past year, even as the group itself grew smaller. No longer a well-kept secret, Big Big Train’s list of accolades has expanded in recent years to include multiple Prog Awards and the Top 40 charting of their 2019 studio album Grand Tour. Now, with this reissue of their landmark 2009 album The Underfall Yard, they’ve hit #1 on the UK’s Rock Albums chart.
The irony is that the group reached this high-water mark at a time when BBT founder Greg Spawton says the band felt like “we had our backs to the wall,” with three of the former lineup’s seven members having departed between the end of BBT’s summer 2019 tour and this album’s April 2021 release. The remaining core of Spawton (bass, bass pedals), David Longdon (lead vocals, flute), Nick D’Virgilio (drums, vocals) and Rikard Sjöblom (guitars, keyboards, vocals) persevered and regrouped, recording a new studio album—Common Ground, due July 30—and finishing up work on this long-planned re-release.
With that said, the new material recorded for this anniversary edition of The Underfall Yard was mostly recorded prior to these serial exits and so features the since-departed Dave Gregory (guitars), Danny Manners (keyboards, double bass) and Rachel Hall (violin, vocals). This provides a nice bit of symmetry, as the original Underfall Yard album was Gregory’s debut with the band, and a sparkling one that helped spur the band’s growth and the subsequent addition of Manners, Hall and Sjoblom.
The Underfall Yard was in many ways the launching point for the current band—the first to feature both Longdon’s distinctive voice and Gregory’s lyrical guitar playing, D’Virgilio’s first album as a permanent fixture in the lineup, and the first release to feature the Big Big Train Brass Band, a five-strong horn section led by Dave Desmond. Its thematic focus on the history of Britain and the men and women who built it would linger through several subsequent releases and the musical identity it established—a mix of extended prog epics and tighter songs, with the group’s largely serious literary and historical themes punctuated by the occasional lighter or darker fare—persists to this day.
Disc one of the reissue features The Underfall Yard thoroughly remixed and remastered by the band’s in-house sonic wizard Rob Aubrey, and what a job he’s done. Much like Steven Wilson’s remixes of classic Yes albums, this new mix instantly feels like the definitive one, achieving outstanding clarity and separation and giving every element of these densely-packed tracks a meticulous shine and vibrancy. It’s as if they’ve taken a pleasantly worn wooden chest, dusted it off, and scrubbed and oiled it until it looks nearly new.
There are a few changes in the mixes, but they’re mostly subtle: the greater dimension and impact of the chorused background vocals on “Master James of St. George”; the way Gregory’s gorgeous extended solo in “Last Train” now leaps out of your speakers; the replacement of a synth part on the intro to “Winchester Diver” with the horns Spawton had always envisioned. The biggest single change is that guest Francis Dunnery has updated his own guitar solo on the opening sequence of the title track; the tone is similar, but with the aggression and athleticism redoubled.
The new(ish) material is all interesting and worthwhile, as Big Big Train continues the high standard for releases that its fans (the Passengers) have come to expect. The bonus disc opens with “Songs From The Shoreline,” the suite Spawton had in mind when work began on the original album, consisting of familiar TUY staple “Victorian Brickwork”—here in a brand new 2020 studio version—paired with “Fat Billy Shouts Mine,” which ended up being held over to the group’s 2010 EP Far Skies, Deep Time. To be honest, this is one of those cases where I listened to the restored suite and promptly said to myself “Good decision.” The two songs may share certain thematic elements, but the magnificent “Victorian Brickwork” has always stood tall on its own, and adding “Fat Billy” to it only diminishes them both to these ears. That said, it’s great to have a studio recording of “Victorian Brickwork” that includes Manners and Hall’s contributions, and interesting to bear witness to the group’s creative process.
Next up we get a horns-only prelude to the epic 23-minute title track, and my reaction is the same again: good decision. The prelude is lively and fun, but a bit distracting and the original track feels stronger without it. Next we get a 2020 studio re-recording of “The Underfall Yard,” and it is honestly fantastic. There is just something special about Longdon’s emotive lead vocals supported by the D’Virgilio/Sjoblom/Hall background chorus, not to mention the sterling performances by all of the players. Hall’s violin repeatedly adds fresh textures and fullness, Manners’ organ is more prominent than on the original (where it was played by Spawton), Gregory swaps in for Dunnery’s solo and does a great job, and Longdon’s sharp flute work comes slicing through the mix at key moments. Even the substitution of Manners' electric piano in the first case and Hall’s violin in the second for the guesting Jem Godfrey’s original synth solos works nicely.
The bonus disc closes with “Brew & Burgh,” the one entirely new song here, written specifically for this reissue. A gentle, charming mid-tempo acoustic number that’s nearly a word salad of references to other BBT songs—even looking to the future with a reference to “common ground”—it doesn’t feel groundbreaking, but offers a sweet and fluffy treat for longtime Passengers.
The punchline here is that, even while engaging in the anniversary / deluxe edition trope, Big Big Train manages to turn it on its head. When it comes to with these sorts of albums, the new and/or previously unreleased material is usually the prime attraction. And while the bonus disc is well worth your time, to this listener the remixed original album is the star attraction. On disc two, only the rerecorded title track approaches the magnificence of those original six tracks, especially after they’ve been burnished to such a beautiful state.
As always with BBT, the packaging is superb, featuring additional Jim Trainer artwork, full lyrics and credits, and a nicely detailed introductory essay in a hardbound, bookish package, delivering an artisanal-quality product that’s for once entirely worthy of that pretentious term.
The Underfall Yard is one of those landmark albums that begs for this sort of high-end treatment, and this package of beautifully remixed original recordings alongside freshly reimagined versions is eminently worthy of the adjective “deluxe.” If you’re even a little bit of a fan of Big Big Train—or British prog at all, for that matter—you need this release.