DEADWING

I really don't understand why so many people either dislike this album or think that it isn't up to Porcupine Tree's standards. This was the first Porcupine Tree disc that I listened to in its entirety; Porcupine Tree has since become one of my favorite bands, and I own almost every bit of music they've released. The title track is awesome. Shallow is a rocking track, though I wouldn't deny the retort that it is a bit mainstream. Lazarus is beautiful, though its melody and chord progression are a bit cliche. Halo is a nice track, too, but the monster comes with Arriving Somewhere But Not Here. I absolutely adore this song. It makes me experience the story the music is telling when I listen to it; very few songs do that. Open Car is another song that I truly experience when I listen to it. I love the numerous harmonies at the end of Mellotron Scratch. The song starts off very calm and ends with this symphony of melancholy voices- just lovely. The Start of Something Beautiful is a pretty good song, but Glass Arm Shattering is a great song. I love how it sounds like an aged recording at the beginning. The bass tone in the whole song is just really cool. On the whole, I just really connect with this album. I love the sprawling, hard rock/metal explorations of Deadwing and Arriving Somewhere, and this remains to this day one of my favorite Porcupine Tree albums.