As McNally would know, I've been a fan of British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree for a few years now. My acquaintance with the band started with In Absentia, their American major label debut. That was an album I kinda dug at first, then turned into one of my Top 20 Favorite Albums after it grew on me. Deadwing followed in 2005, another grower album. Though it didn't vault into my favorite albums list, I still thoroughly enjoyed the disc. Great songs ("Blackest Eyes", "Trains", and "Gravity Eyelids" from In Absentia, The first four tracks and "Open Car" from Deadwing), fantastic production values, and solid playing (Drummer Gavin Harrison, in particular, has made his way into my Top 10 Drummers list through these recordings) are found on both albums. Still, the odd thing to me was the fact that neither of them hit me immediately and made me think "This is awesome!" on first listen.
Earlier this year, Porcupine Tree released a brand new album, Fear of a Blank Planet. With this album, that odd thing has been remedied. Ironically enough, Porcupine Tree succeeded at making an album with a more immediate impact while writing a somewhat veiled (you'll only notice this by reading the lyrics) concept record and reducing the track count to a mere 6 this time around. The centerpiece of this dichotomy is "Anesthetize", a sprawling epic broken up into 3 sections and clocking in at nearly 18 minutes in length. For those without the patience to sit through the full near-18 minutes on first listen, I encourage you to skim to the 11:00 mark of the track. At this point, you'll find a "Holy shit!" moment - an absolute musical freakout guaranteed to send your jaw to the floor the first time you hear it. Elsewhere, the title track (and opening cut) is a solid rock tune that summarizes the band quite well and is good enough to use as a single to boot (A music video for it does indeed exist). "Sleep Together" and "Way Out of Here" flat-out rock as well. The other two tracks are more atmospheric, but fit in with the rest of the album very smoothly.
Overall, the album's mood is incredibly dark (The lyrics are focused on unnamed teenagers over-prescribed on antidepressants and completely indifferent to the world around them) with atmospheric elements/samples providing a nice backdrop until the band starts to play at full volume. The musicianship is superb, the vocals are brilliant (I must admit I really like bandleader Steven Wilson's voice), and the production is nothing short of fantastic. Fear of a Blank Planet is, simply put, an incredible effort which exceeded my expectations from an already amazing band. Awesome, awesome stuff.
Pocupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (Atlantic, 2007)
Highlights: "Fear of a Blank Planet", "Anesthetize" (especially the middle part), "Way Out of Here"
Berger Rating: Two iPods up
The fun part for me? I'm gonna see Porcupine Tree live in Boston next Friday. I'll review the show as well.
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1 comment:
NICE, you have to tell me about the show.
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