English Boy Wonders

English Boy Wonders
Studio album by Big Big Train
Released	1997
Recorded	Parklands Studios
Genre	Progressive rock
Label	Giant Electric Pea
Producer	Andy Poole, Gregory Spawton
Big Big Train chronology
Goodbye to the Age of Steam (1994) English Boy Wonders (1997) Bard (2002)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Classic Rock	(re-release)

English Boy Wonders is the second studio album by the English progressive rock band, Big Big Train. It was released in 1997 by Giant Electric Pea.

Track listing

1. "Big Empty Skies" (Spawton) – 4:21
2. "Brushed Aside" (Spawton) – 5:37
3. "A Giddy Thing" (Spawton) – 5:16
4. "28 Years" (Read, Spawton) – 2:24
5. "Pretty Mom" (Spawton, Poole) – 3:26
6. "Out of It" (Spawton) – 5:57
7. "Cloudless and Starry and Still" (Spawton, Poole) – 3:33
8. "Albion Perfide" (Spawton, Poole, Muller) – 10:23
9. "Right to the End of the World Tra-La" (Spawton) – 1:56
10. "The Shipping Forecast" (Spawton) – 10:46
11. "Mr Boxgroveman" (Spawton, Poole) – 6:12
12. "Reaching for John Dowland" (Spawton, Poole, Hughes) – 8:13
13. "Fell Asleep" (Spawton) – 3:35

Re-release

In February 2008, it was announced on Big Big Train's BlogSpot that English Boy Wonders was going to be re-recorded and partially re-mixed. ^[1] It was re-released on the band's new record label, English Electric, on 1 December 2008.

The re-release adds one track and changes the running order.

1. "Big Empty Skies" – 4:23
2. "Brushed Aside" – 5:40
3. "Albion Perfide"^[†] – 10:27
4. "Pretty Mom"^[†] – 3:43
5. "A Giddy Thing"^[†] – 5:17
6. "Out of It"^[†] – 6:02
7. "Cloudless and Starry and Still"^[†] – 3:36
8. "Two Poets Meet" (Spawton) – 4:26 (Re-issue Bonus Track)
9. "28 Years" – 2:28
10. "Reaching for John Dowland" – 8:46
11. "Boxgrove Man" – 7:23
12. "The Shipping Forecast"^[†] – 10:14
13. "Right to the End of the World Tra-La"^[†] – 2:03
14. "Fell Asleep"^[†] – 3:59

^[†] Tracks 3-7 are grouped as For Autumn (Parts 1-5) and tracks 12-14 as For Autumn (Parts 6-8).

Personnel

• Martin Read - lead vocals
• Gregory Spawton - guitars, backing vocals, keyboards
• Tony Müller - keyboards, piano
• Andy Poole - bass, backing vocals, keyboards
• Steve Hughes - drums, percussion

Guest musicians

• Ken Bundy - backing vocals

References

1. "English boys wondering how to play our old songs". bigbigtrain.blogspot.com.