STUPID DREAM

After the bit disjointed and irregular Signify, which is nonetheless a fine album, Steven Wilson produced this record with their habitual band members, the same since The Sky Moves Sideways sessions. The sound is so wonderful as ever, with an even cleaner guitar sound, splendid bass and drums and an outstanding and very ambient work on keyboards by Barbieri.

The signwriting direction of Stupid Dream is also more concise, contained and song oriented, forgetting a bit the long instrumental sections of The Sky Moves Sideways and the experimentation and boring psychedelic elements of Signify. And although the prog is still here, the best side of Stupid Dream are the shorter, catchy and very well written poppier songs, which are among the best that Steven Wilson wrote under the name of Porcupine Tree.

Best Tracks: Even Less (a true classic with wonderful guitar melodies and strong riffs towards the end), the pop-prog marvellous songs Piano Lessons, Pure Narcotic, This is No Rehearsal and Stranger By the Minute, and the great instrumental work on Slave Called Shiver and Tinto Brass.

Conclusion: maybe for the most radical prog purists Stupid Dream is too simple and pop oriented, but I find this album tremendously charming and just like In Absentia, it has the perfect mixture between accessibility and complexity.

So Stupid Dream is definitely in my top five Porcupine Tree studio albums and I consider It a true classic of the 90's.

My rating: ****

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