I Often Dream of Trains

Robyn Hitchcock | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 24, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Ada
• ASIN: B0000033F8
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #261,273 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #73 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Folk

Track Listings

1. Nocturne (Prelude)

2. Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl

3. Cathedral

4. Uncorrected Personality Traits

5. Sounds Great When You're Dead

6. Flavour of Night

7. Ye Sleeping Knights of Jesus

8. Mellow Together

9. Winter Love

10. The Bones in the Ground

11. My Favourite Buildings

12. I Used to Say I Love You

13. This Could Be the Day

14. Trams of Old London

15. Furry Green Atom Bowl

16. Heart Full of Leaves

17. Autumn Is Your Last Chance

18. I Often Dream of Trains

19. Nocturne (Demise)

20. Ye Sleeping Knights of Jesus [#][*][Demo Version]

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stark, funny, disturbing and at least 2 toilet references..., June 6, 2003

By 

ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: I Often Dream of Trains (Audio CD)

This is hands-down Robyn Hitchcock at his best. It was the first album of his I heard, and from the first notes of the opening "Nocturne" I was hooked. When "Sometimes I Wish I was a Pretty Girl" started, I didn't know what I had got myself into (I was riding in a car, and the driver had put it in; I'm now happy I was forced to listen to it). Half way through I knew there was something new and exciting about this mostly mellow and introspective album. How many rock stars can do a capella and make it funny without being trite?

Long before the "unplugged" movement came and went, Robyn unplugged with far better results. I've never heard what the inspiration for this album was, but I'm sure it was a bizarre melancholy. The songs tend to be slower in tempo, bathed in cavernous reverb, and haunting. "Cathedral" arpeggios beautifully while Robyn sings "there behind your open face lies an awful lot of space" and "like a toilet from outside, a cathedral from inside." The thumpy "It Sounds Great When You're Dead" opens with the unforgettable, unindelible line "Your mother is a journalist, your father is a creep, they make it in your bedroom when they think you're fast asleep." "Heartful of Leaves" is an amazing instrumental work that conjures up images of autumn and literal or figurative death. It leads right into "Autumn is Your Last Chance" which will provide anyone succor from a failed relationship or personal shaft (with emphasis on the lyric "...'cause you're not there and I don't care"). The finale and title track is one of Hitchcock's best songs (a not so subtle Freudian reference to lack of carnal pleasure or melancholic obsession with the same).

There are a few light moments: "Ye Sleeping Nights of Jesus" is an intentionally sloppy drunk bouncy country number that will have you singing along on the first listen (during the last verse someone is even calling out the words in sing-a-long style, so just let it wail). "This Could Be the Day" is brimming with optimism and an upbeat tempo, but it does not seem out of place at all.

Sadly, Hitchcock has not reached such heights on previous or subsequent albums. "I Often Dream Of Trains" really sticks out in his oeuvre, both in its starkness and in the quality of its songs. That's not to say his other albums are awful (I really enjoy many of his other albums as well such as "Globe of Frogs", "Eye", "Invisible Hitchcock"), but they don't seem to have that "something" that this album has. No one can blame Hitchcock for not topping this one; it would be very difficult to top, but the fact that it came out of him puts him near the top of my list of best and favorite songwriters. If I could produce an album half this good I'd be able to retire my guitar forever.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Acoustic genius!, April 17, 2003

By 

Jennifer C. (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Often Dream of Trains (Audio CD)

This CD has been in my collection since at least 1989 and it's remained an easy, constant top five favorite of mine. From beginning to end, it's sheer mastery of the musical language. I find it to be a rather nocturnal album, in that I often find myself wanting to listen to it in the wee hours, and really, the general mood and atmosphere of the album are well suited to the dark cover of night. I'll still play it in the daytime, of course, but the album just feels more powerful to me when played after dark. That's just a minor observation though... perhaps it's because I'm such a night owl.

Some of my favorites include the catchy "The Bones In The Ground" and "My Favourite Buildings", the relatively straightforward "Sounds Great When You're Dead" and "Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl", the acapella sounds of the quite humorous "Uncorrected Personality Traits" and the strange and complex "Furry Green Atom Bowl", the haunting "Winter Love" and "Cathedral" and naturally, the wistful title track. Okay, I could go on and my list could really cover the entire CD, but it truly is THAT good. I'm not even sure I could pick just one favorite song, if I were pressed to do so, because they're all amazing to me for various reasons. You will find Robyn's usual themes of love, sex and death scattered all throughout the album.

Each song is its own lush landscape, imaginative and surreal, and the best part is that it's achieved using rather spare arrangements: mainly acoustic guitar, some piano and Robyn's own unequivocally unique voice, with just a touch of sax in "Flavour of Night". It's a very stripped down, refreshing sound and I really appreciate the simplicity of it all; it certainly does not suffer for lack of electric instruments.

Upon every listen (and surely they've been countless by now), it sounds as fresh and mesmerizing to me as it did the very first time I spun it and had the pleasure of hearing the first few melancholy piano notes of "Nocturne (Prelude)" drifting from my speakers. The unusual poetry of this album is a rare gift to be savored and shared with others who might appreciate its witty, quirky nature. This is an album that should be in the collection of anyone who can appreciate simply entrancing music and clever wordplay, masterfully mingled with a touch of the unreal.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An acoustic masterwork, April 25, 2000

By 

DAC Crowell - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Often Dream of Trains (Audio CD)

During the 1990s, there was this big rush to put out all these 'unplugged' albums, thanks to some media hype courtesy of eMpTyV. But Robyn here beat 'em all to the punch, in methods _and_ quality, by several years! This is an outstanding solo collection with very spare production, but because the material is so strong, it stands up wonderfully even way over a decade on. Standouts include the twisted countryfied 'Ye Sleeping Knights of Jesus', the wistful but weird 'Trams of Old London', a warped protest bit with 'Furry Green Atom Bowl', and the hilarious barbershop-style explanation of the development of neuroses, 'Uncorrected Personality Traits'. In a sense, this reminds me of what one wishes Syd Barrett's solo albums were like...because while this shares some of the same sparse production (especially with Syd's 2nd), and there is this same 'something's wrong here' feel, the 'something's wrong' in this case is the gleeful fun of someone in full control of the strangeness knobs, rather than the leaden feel of someone losing it. After a couple of listens, I guarantee you'll find yourself singing along...