This is a review of Time And Tide, the Big Big Train book by Andrew Wild & Douglas Helvering.
From their late eighties origins in Bournemouth, Big Big Train (BBT) have grown and evolved into one of the unknown superstars of progressive rock. Their devoted fans (known as ‘passengers’) ensure their gigs always sell out, and that the band continue to survive against some extreme odds, e.g. losing David Longdon in a tragic accident in 2021.
This is an extremely detailed tome, weighing in at 540 pages, and leaves virtually no area of the band untouched, with the words interspersed with plenty of visual material, such as old newsletters, messages from past members of BBT and, in particular, items from the archives of David Longdon, which have been made available to the authors.
The book is divided into four sections, with each section covering a different time period between the band’s inception in 1987, right up to the recent releases in 2026. In short, it is a very deep dive into the story of BBT, telling the story of the band through their music and their individual songs, which means every song the band has ever tackled, as well as a couple of ‘lost albums,’ which were albums the band never released. A quite significant one is Hope, largely worked on by David Longdon, which had been intended to be that most dreaded release in progressive rock, the ‘double concept album.’ However the band ran out of the time required to finish the album and it got lost along the way, but it’s interesting to read the comments about what ‘might have been’ had the album been completed.
Time And Tide is the result of a herculean effort by the two authors. Of the two, Andrew Wild is known for his books on prog, notably his two most recent efforts, Mirror Of Dreams and Playground Of The Broken Hearts, and he’s also the official keeper of the BBT archive, whereas Dr Douglas Helvering is an associate professor who wrote the musical analyses of BBT‘s songs. Between the two authors, they shine a light on the creative endeavours of each member of the band, especially in how albums came about and how certain pieces of music, the idea for a song or the lyrics are arrived at… their songs have included such topics as hedgerows, ancient landscapes, trains and electricity pylons… in particular how painstaking some of these efforts are, and the thoughts and contributions of many of the current and past members of the band are noted, with the differing approaches being quite instructive.
That Time And Tide is a fascinating and very enjoyable read, containing as it does more fact and detail than you ever thought possible about BBT, is not in doubt, and will likely be the definitive BBT book, but while the diehard ‘passenger’ will be more than happy to acquire this book, I suspect the same will not apply to the prog fan who likes BBT‘s albums but will most likely baulk at a 540-page tome. With respect, dare I say this is one for the anoraks?
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