Lightbulb Sun

Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun

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Music CD Cover

Artist: Porcupine Tree
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Import, Special Edition
CD Release Date: 2008-05-27
Music Label: Snapper UK
Soundtracks:

Lightbulb Sun
How is Your Life Today?
Four Chords That Made a Million
Shesmovedon
Last Chance To Evacuate Planet Earth Before It's Recycled
The Rest Will Flow
Hatesong
Where We Would Be
Russia On Ice
Feel So Low

Free Music Notes for Lightbulb Sun

Free Music Review: Great album. What more to say?
Hit: 5 Stars

I should start by saying that I've been buying Porcupine Tree albums for about 10 years now, and that I'd give at least four stars to every one I own. I do own many other albums, but I tend to write reviews only for the CD's that I really like.

The things I like in Porcupine Tree are some of the same things I like in Pink Floyd. They can write long epic songs, with enough variety in a song (and between songs) to keep the music interesting. The songs have good lyrics, and generally just enough lyrics to get across the point of the song. There are some progressive-rock groups where I really like the music they do, but I feel like they're speed-reading a book of lyrics at me. I don't want to have to work that much to catch everything that's being said!

This album isn't a carbon-copy of a Pink Floyd album, but it does pick up one "trick" that David Gilmour knows. When writing a song, it's just as important to think about "silence" as it is to think about "sound". A song can have a second or two of silence at some point, and that silence *will* be "the right note for that moment". A song doesn't have to be "just slow" or "just fast" for the entire length of the song. While some songs need the big pounding drums or dramatic guitar work, other songs really work best with a quiet backing of violins. It depends on the mood of the song.

As to the songs here, "Lightbulb Sun" is a song about someone who is sick in bed. I was sick a lot when I was young, so I can really relate to the lyrics and the "feel" of this song. I think it's a great song, but maybe I identify with it more than most people would.

Several songs on this album are about a broken relationship. For "Shesmovedon", I like how they have the title as a single word. It's a single irrefutable statement. Sure, you may still be stuck on that former girlfriend, but, hey, "shesmovedon". There's a solid brick wall up, and you just ain't getting her back! "Hatesong" is a somewhat amusing song, if you're into dark humor... There's only a few lyrics, but they do a fine job for setting the stage for the song. Musically it's a dark brooding song, and that certain fits the lyrics of ``This is a hate song, meant just for you...'', and ``Yes I'm hearing voices too, and I'm more cut up than you!''. And as you might guess from the title, "Feel So Low" isn't exactly a happy-happy song either: ``And each day that you forgot to call, just made me feel so low -- so low". (solo = so low?)

PTree generally has at least one epic-ish long song on every album, and the song for this album is "Russia on Ice". The lyrics are a bit obscure and vague, but to me it's basically a song about a guy who's drinking too much after breaking up with a girlfriend. You've got a relationship which has gone cold, and you're going to keep drinking those Black Russians until your stomach is gone... But there's only a few lyrics to the song, it's the instrumental work that makes this really epic. It's 20 seconds worth of lyrics, in a 13-minute song. It's up to you, the listener, to fill in all the details which the lyrics don't explicitly cover. Using Your Details, not someone else's. This is a great song.

This 2-CD version includes the *short* (6-minute) version of "Buying New Soul", where the 10-minute version would show up on the limited-release CD called "Recordings". This is another Great Song (either version...). It is pretty hard to get a copy of "Recordings" these days, but then it's also hard to get hold of "Lightbulb Sun"! (as you might guess by the price of $22 for *used* copies!!). There should be a re-release of "Lightbulb Sun" sometime in the next year or two, if I recall correctly. So you might want to wait for that instead of spending so much for used copies. Several of these songs (including "Russia on Ice" and "Hatesong") are also on their live album titled "Warszawa", which was released early in 2005. So would be a good way to hear some of these songs while you're waiting for the re-release of "Lightbulb Sun".

For fans who have heard "In Absentia" and "Deadwing", this album is a little slower and quieter than those two albums. Those albums have a much more upfront aggressive punch in some of their songs, but this album is closer to the slower songs on those albums (particularly "Deadwing"). It includes a few songs which are a bit closer to "accessible pop music" than PTree usually comes up with. There is some great keyboard work from Richard Barbieri, plenty of drums, and lots of memorable guitar work here.

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Lightbulb Sun Poster

Special two disc (CD + DVD Audio) pressing of Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree's Lightbulb Sun album features a bonus DVD-Audio disc that contains a 5.1 Surround Sound mix of the album, the original stereo mix plus other fine bonus features. The CD features a new stereo mix of the album, which was originally released in 2000. Lightbulb Sun was Porcupine Tree's first foray into more commercial terrain and may have initially taken fans by surprise but has become a beloved entry in their impressive catalog.