Limited double 'shark blue' vinyl edition. Please note, Bard will not be made available on streaming or other download platforms. 

 

Includes extensive liner notes by Andy Stuart (author of A View From The Embankment, A View From The Line), using material from a new interview with Gregory Spawton.

 

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“I’m pleased to see Bard being re-issued at last,” comments Andy Poole, the band’s former bassist and this album’s producer. “On its original release we expected Bard to be Big Big Train’s farewell. The album has a number of songs that I think stand up pretty well and which in retrospect laid some of the foundations for the upwards curve that the band subsequently embarked on. Rob Aubrey has worked wonders with the re-mix and enhanced the album considerably.” 

 

“I’m never going to pretend that Bard is our best work,” Gregory Spawton adds. “But there’s been increasing demand from fans for a re-issue and over the last few years, I’ve warmed towards the album, especially with the benefit of Rob Aubrey’s re-mix. I had never expected us to play anything from Bard live, but I’ve always been proud of The Last English King and was particularly pleased with how we breathed new life into it on tour this year. It proved one of the highlights of the set, both for the band and apparently for fans too.”

 

“Since I joined the band in 2022, in parallel with creating new music I have been keen to embrace the entire back catalogue of Big Big Train,” says lead vocalist Alberto Bravin. “Of course, over 20 years ago, this was a very different Big Big Train and with the vocals being shared between a number of singers, Bard precedes David Longdon’s arrival. Bard certainly has its moments and I loved playing The Last English King on tour this year.”