BLACKFIELD II

My first impressions of this album were not very positive. It sounded to me like a lot of similar sounding, melancholic pop tunes. Well, after many listens my opinion thankfully has changed. I say thankfully because i'm one of Steven Wilson's biggest fans. It seems to me that Mr.Wilson has an even bigger role on this album when compared to the first one. And i'm so glad that he sings lead on almost every song, I don't know what it is about Steven's vocals but they are amazing. There is an emotional element to this music that I didn't detect right away, but it's there on a lot of these songs.

"Once" really sounds different from all the others.The tribal-like drumming with the explosion of guitars and drums. There is orchestration not only on this song but on pretty much all the songs. "1000 People" has this slow paced beat with some orchestration and guitar. There is a spacey feel to this one. "Miss U" is the only song Aviv sings lead on. I like the relaxing guitar solo to end the song. "Christenings" is my second favourite song on this record. Probably because there is a PORCUPINE TREE sound to it with strummed guitar and piano. "This Killer" is a beautiful, mellow song with orchestration and guitar.

"Epidemic" features some good guitar 3 minutes in, on a song that is a good indicator of the sound you will get from this album. "My Gift of Silence" opens with vocals and piano as drums follow. More orchestration as well. "Some Day" is my favourite song. It opens with vocals and acoustic guitar. More orchestration. Steven's vocals on the chorus are a highlight for me on this album. It really sounds like mellotron on this one just before the song picks up the pace. This one has some emotional lyrics. "Where Is My Love" is a song I have on the first BLACKFIELD album and it bothered me a little to hear it was on this one too, although it is a great tune. "End Of The World" has dual vocals with piano and orchestration. Aviv was responsible for the orchestration on this record,so he certainly had his hands full with that.

I still prefer the first one more probably because it sounds more like PORCUPINE TREE than this one does. This one just seems to get better the more I play it.