Anteater

misspoptart & Trollheart: A Merry Christmas to both of you, and thanks for the 'vonderful feedback! And yes Troll, I think you'll dig Sonic Station quite a bit.


Let's be quite clear here my fine feathered friends: I listen and appreciate a variety of genres. That doesn't mean I'll fall in love with your favorite post-hardcore record at first ring, but even the people out there who don't like me will concede (grudgingly) that I have an uncharacteristically open mind. That being said, progressive rock is and always will be my favorite genre of music: for every pretentious over-indulgent half-assed record that stumbles out bloated into the marketplace, there's usually two or three records a year that set the bar rather high for other bands (other genres included) to aspire to. English Electric Part 1, the latest and greatest album from the modern era's heir to the Genesis throne, is one such record, and also my big pick of the year for the genre too.

Although Big Big Train started off as yet-another neo-prog. outfit back in the early 90's, this was a band whose evolution is something to be in awe of: 2007's The Difference Machine was about as contemporary as you got, blending the best of Radiohead and Tears For Fears into their own harrowing atmospheric prescription, and 2009's The Underfall Yard saw yet another shift stylistically into a highly wound, modern take on the Genesisian sound circa A Trick Of The Tail/Wind & Wuthering, due in no small part to the recruitment of new vocalist and flautist David Longdon.

Three years from that point and lots of good music later, English Electric Part I is a monstrously fun outing for anyone with even the slightest interest in a symphonic, multifaceted take on modern progressive rock, contextualized thematically and lyrically on incidents and individuals from England's industrial era. Led along by the warm, yet furnished vocals and flute skillz of Longdon (who really does sound a helluva lot like a hybrid of Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins), the fluid guitar work of Dave Gregory (of XTC fame), longstanding bassist Greg Spawton and keyboardist Andy Poole, soaring numbers like 'The First Rebreather' and the banjo-pop of 'Uncle Jack' come to a vivid sort of life and stand out even more thanks to the incredible production that provides the canvas.

This is a very rich sounding record: lots of finer details are embellished from song to song, including a full-blown brass band and orchestral elements that serve to expand the arrangements. Nowhere is this awesomeness more evident than at the end of a cut like 'Summoned By Bells', where the climax segues into a lonely horn solo that echoes, subdued yet starkly visible, into the high end and out of sight as things drawn to a close....and there are so many other moments that stand out just as much.

For my readers living in the U.K., you'll probably appreciate this record far more intimately than some Yank like me could, but this is a masterstroke by anybody's standards. If you're going to pick up only one prog record before the end of the year, make this your first and final stop!

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Anteater's 21 Fav Albums Of 2020

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