There is a theory that a band is only as good as its drummer and singer. That hardly needs a plea: other instrumentalists can afford to be dull, but if the rhythm isn't right, the song isn't right. If the singer screws up, the audience will notice immediately. With the British Big Big Train it's all right. This group around its only original member, bassist and keyboardist Greg Spawton, has been
… around since the eighties, but was reinforced at the end of the nineties by drummer Nick D'Virgilio, who also plays (and sings) in Spock's Beard. Not much later they were joined by David Longdon. This singer and multi-instrumentalist narrowly missed out on a job with Genesis when the supergroup was temporarily without Phil Collins in 1996. Longdon, with his smooth melodic voice, plays a leading role on Common Ground. Big Big Train has one foot firmly planted in the melodic prog of the later 70s (notably Genesis anno Wind And Wuthering from 1976), but manages to keep it fresh with hefty injections of art pop and razor-sharp choruses. (MR)more
