BLACKFIELD

Blackfield is the project band from Steven Wilson ( Porcupine Tree) and the Jewish musician Aviv Geffen. I have only listened very little to Aviv Geffen´s music so I can´t say how much he has influenced the music, even though there are a few middle eastern parts in some of the songs like the guitar in The Hole In Me. It´s not a very big part of Blackfield´s sound though. Steven Wilson has had a major part in the creation of the sound, as many of Blackfield´s songs could have been on a Porcupine Tree album. Well they sound a lot like the more commercial Porcupine Tree songs.

The music is very warm and symphonic pop with few progressive tendencies, but don´t expect any instrumental parts or solos just because Steven Wilson is involved. This is essentially pop songs with a nice symphonic edge. The song structures are vers/ chorus, vers/ Chorus and there are virtually no surprises in the songs except for a nice middle section once in a while. A song like SCARS is very nice and a little surprising though. It´s probably the best song here IMO.

The album is really a 4 star album as everything from the rich and warm production to the compositions to the musicianship is professional and well done, but to me it´s a 3 star album, as there aren´t any surprises and the songs structures are way too commercial and not challenging enough for me as a prog lover. This is the kind of album that I will play ten thousand times the first month and then never listen to again. It´s still a very good album though and I must admit that the songs are instantly likable and memorable, but that might also be their biggest weakness in the end.