OZYMANDIAS
Music by Babb and Groves
Lyrics by Babb
Behold this sad and lifeless thing
It, to my heart a chill doth bring
Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Hath stood the ages here alone
Half sunk in cracked earth lays nearby
A face which staring at the sky
Lies dumb, yet terror once it spoke
Yet time hath dealt its killing stroke
It broken lies and chokes on sand
In death it found no tomb
The spirit fell which once indwelt him
Hath fled to find its doom
Eyes bright, shined like dragon fire from
Lofty throne he ruled, he reigned
While his subjects cringed in fear beneath his gaze
The sculptor labored ‘neath his gaze
'Twould be a monument of praise
Thus he enshrined the royal sneer
Of him, this Tyrant-King of Fear
I kneel to wipe away the dust of years
With trembling fingers trace the words
Found etched upon its base
They said, “I am King of Kings
See my works and know despair!”
Yet broken now he lies forgotten!
Let’s turn and leave him there
Nothing remains but this colossal wreck of stone
Round it boundless, bare stretch wide the desert sands
Forgotten, he lies
Here, his legacy dies
I think he died a bitter death
A curse he flung with dying breath
“I am slain and my deeds were done in vain
But others shall come as tyrants rise up.”
And surely I've seen his kind aplenty, again and again
Empathy in short supply, lovers of themselves
Victor or the victim?
You must choose whom you will serve
Pride hath slain this king of old
Yet his curse will surely stand
For fate is a treacherous thing
And none can know what it brings
But I for one will walk away
And seek out those who yearn for love
We folk with empathy must ever be on guard for those without.
The album takes off nicely with David Longdon's "The Strangest Times", but then gets into immediate free fall and deeply underwater for the next few tracks, quite unexpectedly. Fortunately, it recovers with Nick D'Virgilio's "Apollo" (hey, this guy CAN write good music, although he hides this ability most of the time) and the remaining three tracks, one of which is another Longdon masterpiece. So in the end the final impression is somewhat in the positive range. Sven B. Schreiber (sbs)
In the wake of buying the Welcome To The Planet I also went for this older "EP" (clocking in on 70 minutes a rather big big EP...) as a final farewell to a very bright bright star that sadly doesn't shine anymore. Carsten Pieper
The Long Island metal band's third album etches arena-sized hooks into their jagged compositions, deftly balancing experimental and poppy inclinations. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 12, 2022
What can I say about Big Big Train that I haven’t said before?
This album took a little while to grow on me but by the time I saw it live I was in love with its humongous, over-egged pomposity! They do it all with such passion, excitement and amazing musicianship.
Essential. Crinklechips