FEAR OF A BLANK PLANET

I was tremendously surprised by the popularity that Fear Of A Blank Planet has achieved in the mainstream media. Although when you put all the puzzle pieces together it would have made less sense if Porcupine Tree didn't received this type of attention any time soon.

Fear Of A Blank Planet had reached the Swedish top 40 album chart position in 2007 which was unheard of for any Progressive album to achieve and I know for a fact that some of my younger friends that haven't previously heard of Porcupine Tree bought the record and enjoy it immensely. But what is it that made this particular release such a huge commercial success from Steve Wilson and his band? Just like with anything else, there are numerous factors well worth considering but judging from the reaction of my surrounding and the concert I experienced at the time there is definitely a strong connection to the album's subject matter.

It is as if Steve Wilson managed to tap into the 21st century's teenagers frame of mind and made a package experience that excited them while making everyone else see it as a public distress call. Personally I don't really buy the whole concept that this album has to offer and to me it comes off more as 40 year old men trying to imagine how teenagers of today must feel. This doesn't sound as something genuine to me and I'm really surprised that this message have become so widespread. At the end of the day this is not the reason why I listen to Fear Of A Blank Planet.

Musically the album is a very disjointed affair that reminds me a lot of the popular Rush album Moving Pictures. Actually I just wanted to create a plausible segway into the fact that Alex Lifeson contributes one of his trademarked solos on the epic masterpiece called Anesthetize. This 18 minute monster of a composition consists of three noteworthy sections that all are far superior than anything else that the album has to offer and it's ultimately what makes this album worth a while for me. It also definitely helps that the album's running time is only 50 minutes making it an easily digestible trip to undertake in one sitting.

Fear Of A Blank Planet is a surprise hit and miss on my part that in the end still comes up on top thanks to the strong performance on the album's longest track. I definitely don't enjoy it as much as the two previous Porcupine Tree efforts but we all knew that this band had to evolve at one point or another and its great to see that their music has now become noticed by a whole new generation of fans.

***** star songs: Anesthetize (17:42)

**** star songs: Fear Of A Blank Planet (7:28) Sentimental (5:26) Sleep Together (7:28)

*** star songs: My Ashes (5:07) Way Out Of Here (7:37)