There’s good reason why artists the world over take creative inspiration from the humble train. Romantic, mysterious, exhilarating; “To travel by train…is to see life,” said Agatha Christie.
Perhaps it’s trains’ unique rhythm and sway; perhaps it’s the quiet contemplation as one watches landscaptes glide by. Either way, musicians have long been enraptured by this particular mode of transport.
The most celebrated – and influential – album inspired by trains remains Kraftwerk’s Trans-Europe Express, a paean to pan-European travel, a world without borders, and modern forms of communication.
Here then, are other notable albums inspired by following the tracks to the horizon and beyond.
Thylacine – ‘Transsiberian’
Travelling alone in cramped quarters along the length of the famed Trans-Siberian railway, French artist Thylacine – William Rezé – recorded an album featuring samples from the sounds of the trains.
He also took a video crew with him to document the making of the album, resulting in a documentary of the same name.
Of the inspiration behind the idea, Thylacine said: “This project has always been about searching for inspiration and how a creation can be influenced by one’s environment.”
Chris Watson – ‘El Tren Fantasma’
Now a field sound engineer for the likes of the BBC, Cabaret Voltaire co-founder Chris Watson spent five weeks living on board Mexico’s El Tren Fantasma (The Ghost Train).
Watson recorded a multitude of sounds on the now-decommissioned route, from Las Mochis in the Pacific to Veracruz in the Atlantic, and turned it into an album.
“I really got hooked on the thunderous rhythm of the railway, so I made the most of that,” he says. “That sense of power and depth in the harmonic structure of these machines.”
Darren Hayman – ‘Trains’
Idiosyncratic singer-songwriter and guitarist Darren Hayman (former frontman of Hefner) has always loved trains – ‘Trains’ is his collection of songs written about, and inspired by, his favourite mode of travel.
Having been asked to write a song about his favourite train – the Class 108 Diesel Multiple Unit – he then revisited various other old songs on the subject and turned them into an album proper.
Underworld – ‘Dubnobasswithmyheadman’
Underworld’s revolutionary techno record ‘Dubnobasswithmyheadman’ was somewhat inspired by trains, especially on two tracks in particular.
The music of ‘Dark And Long (Dark Train)’ was meant to evoke the open prairies of Minnesota that founding member Karl Hyde had traversed by rail while working in Minneapolis.
‘Dirty Epic’s’ lyrics – “Ride the sainted rhythms / On the midnight train to Romford” – reference late night, post-rave travel.
James Dean Bradfield – ‘The Great Western’
The title of this record by Manic Street Preachers vocalist-guitarist James Dean Bradfield was inspired by the Great Western Railway, referenced in the album’s artwork.
The album was written on Bradfield’s frequent train journeys between his home in Cardiff and London’s Paddington Station; these journeys are referenced explicitly in the song ‘Émigré’.
“A lot of the songs are based around the struggle for your own identity, once you’ve been away from home for a long time,” he says. “That’s why the album is called ‘The Great Western’. It’s because of that train journey.”
