Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
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Free Music Notes for Deadwing
Free Music Review: Porcupine Tree Goes Heavier
Hit: 5 Stars
This is not a critic's darling like In Absentia or Stupid Dream were, but it is my favorite album from this extraordinary band. I am not one to hand out 5-star ratings like popcorn either (check my other reviews) but this one deserves it. This album further puts an edge on the already heavier sound of In Absentia without sacrificing PT's melodicism, creativity, and downright artsy mojo. The album opens with the Led Zeppelin homage, dark, powerhouse title track and grabs your attention to never let go. Every song is a winner and different from every other song on the record. Still, the album retains a cohesiveness that flows like the best of them.
This album was intended as a concept album that would later be developed into a movie, but band leader Stephen Wilson has not been able to get that project off the ground. The concept has to do with a ghost of someone dear to the subject of the album. This makes the general darkness of the album warranted. This edition also includes a terrific remix of the song Shesmovedon from Lightbulb Sun that is superior to the original by miles.
Fans of hard rock and art rock alike will find much to like here. Don't expect to find the next Metallica or a mosh-pit mentality in this music. It isn't there. Instead look for engaging, catchy, melodic rock with enough riffs to get your blood pumping and enough depth to keep the thinking man interested. If that's your cup of tea, you've come to the right place. Porcupine Tree is a welcome breath of fresh air in the current faceless music scene that spawns nothing but clone bands that sell attitude instead of talent. This is one band to watch rise. The sound of the recording is impeccable and the band have won awards for their 5.1 mixes of their past albums. Highlights: The Whole Thing
Highly Recommended
Free Music Review: I was Transformed!
Hit: 5 Stars
I'll come right out and confess that I've been a PT fanatic for over 7 years now . . . I'm sure a lot of people don't even realize that this band has been together (i.e. Steve Wilson writing, playing, and singing) for quite some time already.
I have LOVED everything that PT has done, with their last album "In Abstentia" top of the top of the top. So when "Deadwing" was due to be released I awaited with mixed feelings -- I couldn't wait to hear it but there's always that worry that the album won't quite live up to the other ones. I mean, eventually this happens to everyone; not every album can top the previous.
So I got the album, listened to it a few times, and I had the same reaction that a lot of people had -- good, even quite good, but not spectacular. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Now, don't get me wrong, I genuinely loved it and I listened to it regularly but I didn't think it was a masterpiece . . . until one day, that is . . . .
One day I was giving it a spin, probably the 20th time I was playing it, and all of a sudden it sank in -- holy crapolie, this *IS* a masterpiece!!! 4 out of 5 stars, baloney! This is 5 out of 5 stars, even 6 out of 5 if Amazon would allow that. "Deadwing" is just as spectacular as any of the others . . . just as classic as "Stupid Dream," just as passionate as "Lightbulb Sun," and just as kick-ass rockin' as "In Abstentia." It truly, truly IS a masterpiece and I cannot put it away.
I ask all listeners to give this album a fair shot and to disregard both (A) the 3 or 4 out of 5 star reviews and (B) your own initial reaction if you find the album a bit tepid. Give it some time and like fine wine, this just gets better and better every time you hear it.
Yes, this ALBUM IS PURE BRILLIANCE!!
Free Music Review: I love this record.
Hit: 5 Stars
I can't wait until I will see Porcupine Tree live for the first time in Minneapolis this spring. I am a new fan but cannot shake them. This is the first band I have been really excited about in more than 20 years.
I agree with the comparisons to Pink Floyd, etc. and cannot fathom the irony of one of their significant influences, Robert Fripp of King Crimson, opening for them on a few dates of their upcoming US tour.
"In Absentia" was the album to catch me first, but I am quickly catching up. "Lightbulb Sun", "Signify", etc. all have great merit and show continued growth in a band that reminds me of the Beatles' progress during their time.
"Deadwing" is the latest step in that journey. Catchy and accessible, it still has enough experimental or alternative feel to warrant praise from longtime fans. It may lack the sheer perfection of "In Absentia," but shows great progress and holds up incredibly well against that gold standard. It also doesn't have that one shimmering track that only comes along every once in a great while (like "In Absentia's" gem, "Heartattack In A Layby") but it can't happen every time.
"Shallow" is an obvious choice for the first single, guitar driven and has a great hook. "Lazarus" will make a great second for the US. The sleeper track for me is "Open Car," full of power. And speaking of power, "Arriving Somewhere (But Not Here)" would make a great closer live.
It has been fun trying to spread the word about a mature band that is still very much an unknown in the States. There have been a lot of very good and great bands that never hit the big time. These guys are poised for it, earned it and deserve the recognition. Here's hoping success only makes them better.
Free Music Review: Do your ears a favour and buy it
Hit: 5 Stars
Deadwing compliments the most recent style of Porcupine Tree brought to the fore with In Absentia. Both albums adopt a heavier feel with distorted guitar riffs a-plenty. However Steve Wilson and the rest of the crew manage to dovetail the heaviness with wonderful melodic pieces throughout - Arriving Somewhere But Not Here being a prime example - probably one of the best songs I've heard in a long long time and is worthy of 5+ stars on its own. Porcupine Tree display their musical talents throughout the album from the straight ahead chord trashing of Shallow (which even has his quieter moments with R Barbieri's keyboards used to great effect) through to the melodic Lazarus (somewhat reminiscent of Trains from In Absentia). The lyrics, as in keeping with much of PT's previous works, tend towards the darker aspects of the human psyche:
"Can you imagine the final sound is a gun
or the smashing windscreen of a car
did you ever imagine the last thing you'd hear as you faded
was a song" or how about
"mother lost her looks for you
father never wanted you"...ouch!
The weakest track for me on the cd is Open Car and yet it's still a track that many bands would love to have written I'm sure, let alone have the ability to play it.
If you haven't heard Porcupine Tree yet - then nows the time to jump on the "band"wagon -if there's any justice Steve Wilson and the lads are on the verge of great things. And if PT are playing anywhere between where you live and Pluto - take the effort to see them live - you'll be hard pushed to find anyone of this calibre. As a friend uttered when leaving a recent concert..."I think I've just seen a slice of musical history"
Free Music Review: Complete modern prog album
Hit: 5 Stars
My discovery of Porcupine Tree just a little over a year ago was a musical revelation of sorts. Porcupine Tree has really inspired me, more than any modern band, with the way they can synthesize a wide array of influences into a completely unique and well-crafted album. Steven Wilson certainly is a musician and producer with extraordinary range, and myriad influences. His career as a musician with IEM, No-Man, Bass Communion, Blackfield and Porcupine Tree has spanned the range of electronica, ambient, pop, metal and psychodelica, and his production of albums from the raw simplicity of Anja Garbarek to the crushing death metal of Opeth showcase his amazing musical capability and attention to detail.
Porcupine Tree's latest studio album "Deadwing" defies characterization, with their trademark pristine production, attention to nuanced detail, and intelligent songwriting. I love Porcupine Tree's ability to easily switch gears from a straight-forward groove rocker like "Halo" to a subtle ballad like "Lazarus," and then transition to the centerpiece of the album "Arriving Somewhere Not Here" which builds from quiet ambient to full metallic power.
As with their previous album "In Absentia," and much of the rest of their catalog, the band creates accessible yet challenging pieces that still seem fresh after many repeated listens. Although incredibly talented, it seems to me that the band is almost incapable of showboating, and they prefer to let musical nuggets like the offbeat groove in "The Start of Something Beautiful" or the touch of the fuzz-wah solo in the self-covered "Shesmovedon" reveal themselves over the span of multiple listens.