DEADWING

'Deadwing' is the eighth studio album of Porcupine Tree and was released in 2005. The lyrics on the album are based on a screenplay written by Steven Wilson and Mike Bennion and are essentially a ghost story. Wilson had expressed the intention to eventually have this film script made into a movie. He stated that David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick were his major influences for the film script. However, the complete concept and story has never been entirely announced by Wilson. Meanwhile, it seems the project has failed. So, we just have to please us only with the songs on the album.

The album produced two singles: 'Shallow' and 'Lazarus'. 'Shallow' also appeared on the film 'Four Brothers', an American vigilante film directed by John Singleton, released in 2005. It can be heard as background music in a bar. The album also produced three music videos: 'Lazarus', 'The Start Of Something Beautiful' and 'Glass Arm Shattering'.

The line up on the album is Steven Wilson (vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, hammered dulcimer and bass guitar), Richard Barbieri (keyboards and synthesizers), Colin Edwin (bass guitar) and Gavin Harrison (drums and percussion). The album also includes the collaboration with King Crimson's Adrian Below guitarist, who plays the guitar solos on 'Deadwing' and 'Halo', and Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt, who adds vocal harmonies on 'Deadwing', 'Lazarus' and 'Arriving Somewhere But Not Here', where he also plays the second guitar solo.

'Deadwing' has nine tracks. All songs were written and composed by Steven Wilson, except 'Start Of Something Beautiful' written by Wilson and Harrison, and 'Halo' and 'Glass Harm Shattering' written by all four band's members. The first track is the title track 'Deadwing'. It opens the album and sets the setting for the remainder of the album. This is one of the heavier tracks on the album, but the song has numerous breakdowns. Synthesizers are also added to add to the musical atmosphere of the track. It also includes several different guitar solos. The second track 'Shallow' was the US single. The band really rock out here, much in the vein of Led Zeppelin. The main riff is probably the catchiest on the all album. This is a very enjoyable track especially for those who can appreciate progressive rock bands who can really rock out. The third track 'Lazarus' is the song that most casual listeners know, showing the diversity the bad can cover. The piano takes the central stage for the song with Wilson's angelic voice singing beautifully. The lyrics are very beautiful and melancholic that seems to be about a dead mother talking to her son. The fourth track 'Halo' has some of Wilson's best singing on the album. This is a song with great musical atmosphere, a good bass line, a catchy chorus and an excellent guitar work by Adrian Bellow. It's one of the simpler tracks on the album, but still is very addictive and atractive. The fifth track 'Arriving Somewhere But Not Here' is a classic Porcupine Tree track. It's a classic progressive space rock song with lots of musical atmosphere, lots of harmony vocals and lots of interesting musical effects. This is the best song on the album and one of the best Porcupine Tree tracks. The sixth track 'Mellotron Scratch' is apparently a song written about the Mellotron, the instrument that is perhaps most closely associated with progressive music. But curiously and strangely, Porcupine Tree doesn't have the use of any Mellotron here. However, this is a very good track with beautiful vocal harmonies. The seventh track 'Open Car' sounds like it could have been a hit single, with a fast rhythm and a beautiful musical break down. The vocals seamlessly flow perfectly with the guitar riff and there's an almost and truly uncountable number tempo and style changes in this relatively short song. The eighth track 'Start Of Something Beautiful' has some wonderful bass lines, special effects and a simple musical atmosphere. I like the upbeat rock feel of the chorus and the lyrics here make an excellent balance between the softer melancholic moments and the heavier ones. The ninth track 'Glass Arm Shattering' represents a nice ending to the album. It goes back to the days of 'The Sky Moves Sideways' and 'Signify' with spacey Floydian slide guitar and monotonous and melancholic vocal harmonies. This is a very nice and enjoyable song but isn't probably the best closing track of the band ever.

Conclusion: 'Deadwing' predecessor, the 2002's 'In Absentia', was an album made up of some gorgeous, sprawling masterpieces of tracks. So, on paper, 'In Absentia' is a better album than 'Deadwing' is. It has fewer weak tracks, and its best musical moments are probably higher picks than any seen here. 'In Absentia' is also, for many of Porcupine Tree fans, their best studio album. And yet, I can't stop feeling that 'Deadwing' is, in some aspects, a better album. Primarily, because of the aforementioned flow that ensures that it's such an engaging list. So, being 'Deadwing' a better album than 'In Absentia' or not, I think it become to be an irrelevant thing, really. In reality, the only thing I would say is that Wilson and his companions have done it again. 'Deadwing' gets better and better with every spin and I truly recommend it for everyone. It also proves again why Porcupine Tree is perhaps the best British prog band of our time.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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