Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Porcupine TreeBrand: PORCUPINE TREE
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-04-24
Music Label: Atlantic / Wea
Soundtracks:
- Fear of a Blank Planet
- My Ashes
- Anesthetize
- Sentimental
- Way out of Here
- Sleep Together
Free Music Notes for Fear of a Blank Planet
Free Music Review: 'sullen and bored the kids stay'
Hit: 5 Stars
Fear Of The Blank Planet is definitely a concept album. We all agree with that. So what is the concept? It is an album about a teenager who told his doctor he was having problems falling asleep, received a prescription medication which altered his perception and attitude towards life. Or is it about something deeper? This album combines the hard sound with an equally heavy tone of the message the music carries with it. It is sad, depressing but it only fascinates and involves us so much because we know that the picture painted by Steven Wilson can be found in so many family albums of the 21st century and the problem becomes more prevalent every year. Sure, Steven is painting a picture which is a bit of a worse case scenario, but 'sullen and bored the kids stay' more and more in our culture of video games, reality tv, bad movies and a drug industry equal in power to our congress, with a cure for every mood we feel. Our disappearing walks in the park or a forest or at the beach, unread books by even Mark Twain, Hesse and Dostoyevsky, and an overall lack of focus on a big picture of life which we seem to be too busy and distracted for...affect our children. Steven is bringing our attention to this fact from the eyes of our kids hoping that such vision could open our own eyes. Perhaps next time we see our child glued to a video game we can visualize the outcome of such upbringing. I had read somewhere that Steven's concept was influenced by a book called Lunar Park. So I have read that book (no, I stopped 4/5 into it, it was not worth another evening) and I seriously doubt there is any truth in that, and reading such books is just a step away from watching a reality show - a complete waste of time. The music of Fear Of A Blank Planet is very even. However, being one of those long time lovers of Porcupine Tree I miss their gentler side (The Incident brought more of it back to a growing crowd of us) and my favorite songs here are The Ashes, Sentimental, Way Out Of Here and Anesthetize for its emotional values and Sleep Together for Richard's incredible ending. But that only leaves the title song and that is a great song, we all agree.
So appropriate it was for Steven to bring Alex Lifeson along to contribute towards this album. Such brilliant move increases the size of our crowd introducing new fans to the work they can appreciate, but it also brings along a man whose words are perfectly placed to become a motto we can all relate to after listening to The Fear Of A Blank Planet: 'life is just a candle and a dream must give it flame'. And by dream I don't mean wishing away....
I have a bit of wishing away of my own... First of all, I would like to add that keyboards parts are fantastic. I can hear Richard Barbieri's sounds of organic keyboards building up under the radar, adding to landscapes making us so dependent and hooked on this music. The final moments of the album are fantastic. I am a big fan of Richard Barbieri's from his time with Japan, David Sylvan and their Rain Tree Crow and I have to say that I am patiently waiting for a day when I could hear a few songs of Porcupine Tree with David Sylvan as guest musician and vocalist singing along Steven Wilson, or vice versa. It might never happen but it does not hurt me to ask.
Fear of a Blank Planet Poster
This starkly beautiful elegy on the numbness, apathy, and isolation brought about by the constant barrage of television, video games, advertising, prescription drugs, sex, and violence of everyday life is emphasized by the symphonic arrangement of metal guitars, synthesizers, fat basslines, and virtuosic drumming.On Fear of a Blank Planet veteran progressive-rock act Porcupine Tree takes up the task of exploring the alienating forces of the media and its impact on our youths and ourselves. Fear's titular cut features lyrics rife with allusions to the confusing, isolating effects of TV, the X-Box, drugged out consumer escapades, and the ennui that arrives with prescription and self-prescribed numbness. "My Ashes" advances the themes of isolation, as a young person becomes increasingly estranged from himself; "Anesthetize" aptly captures dull apathy with accuracy and knowing but perhaps delves to deep into the dark depths and instead of alleviating pain and pressure instead deepens it via a track that fails to offer much emotional or mental counterpoint. The tune does feature an exceptionally lyrical guitar solo from Rush's Alex Lifeson and proves that if anyone can write a sprawling, throbbing epic it's most likely Porcupine Tree. Elsewhere, such as on the beautifully crafted "Sentimental" and "Way Out of Here," Wilson and Co. land squarely between the epic grandeur of peak-era Pink Floyd and the psychically distant cool of Radiohead, a feat that doesn't as much demonstrate how well PT echoes those bands as it shows us how expansive the English quartet's music and emotional vocabulary is. For elder listeners Fear probably won't serve as the powerful statement it wants to be--its themes have been explored to more exacting impact before and, musically, it's fairly standard progressive fare--but it is a strong and intelligent album and for a generation that's grown numb from three-minute ditties about life at the end of the country club cul-de-sac that embrace rather than rage against the dying of the light, it may serve as a wake up call and provide hope for a brighter and more color-infused tomorrow. --Jedd Beaudoin
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