Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
As children we might have sat on a wall somewhere and waved to the train as it passed by at speed, if we were fortunate to be seen by a friendly driver, we could be rewarded with a recognition of our interest with the sound of a horn, a blast of a whistle, or even at one time the enveloping steam from its funnel, and it would be the highlight of our day, a simpler time, a more enjoyable way to see the world as we understand the metaphor of life as we see A Passing Train go by.
There remains a sense of the majestic when we are able to see the grandeur of a time that reflected our sense of status in the world, wherever the behemoth of human creation and ingenuity are seen, the steam engine, the incredible minds that went into bringing Concorde to the skies, the vision behind stunning architecture, the love and the artistry of the brain that sees all these inventions and innovations to life, and the same comes from when we are presented with the life’s work in the form of the compilation album; and that train we see passing by, it is the effect of the continual when we understand just how many carriages are required to hold the gargantuan load that aims to thrill and illuminate.
For Stephen Doster, A Passing Train – A Compilation is a responsibility of traveling through time, his observations stretching back as far as 1980 and with a rest stop no where to be found in the distance; for this is a set of songs that beautifully frame the idea of a conscious immaculate past continually working in the present.
As the song insists, this is no accident, this is the result of a journey undertaken by a performer who never caved to the pressures of stagnation to which many fall, always understanding that it is not enough to travel on the train, but to drive it, to be the one stoking the fires and the one looking ahead for any landslides that might hinder progress ahead; and as tracks such as 1997s Elephant Man, Love Like Summertime, Blue Heron, Leave The World Behind, She Was My Girl, Clock On The Wall, and the aforementioned This Is No Accident exemplify the insight and talent so A Passing Train does make that one stop, for the fan to climb aboard and settle in a carriage of first class entertainment and thought and be overwhelmed by the progression of an artist from beginning to the present day.
A scintillating journey of expression, a delight and an accumulation of songs that have always been on track.
Ian D. Hall