STUPID DREAM

Stupid Dream is quite a departure from its predecessor Signify. Porcupine Tree had never taken a longer break in between albums and Wilson used the time to pen the material for another string of unbelievable albums: Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun and Recordings.

Stupid Dream is entirely different from the galactic enterprises that preceded. It is an album of acoustic guitar based song writing. It cut down the instrumental parts and by shedding off the space-rock Pink Floyd-isms of Signify, the band established a very personal sound, composed of melancholic rock, ambient atmospherics and a touch of indie rock. Only on a few scattered tracks such as Don't Hate Me still scream Gong from the rooftops. You also won't find the metal flavours that were added to the Porcupine Tree sound from In Absentia onwards.

Wilson has an unsurpassed knack for writing catchy tunes that are both sophisticated and emotive, eschewing the gaudy emo-pop stickiness of Brit-pop. There's only two tracks, Baby Dream In Cellophane and Stranger By The Minute that are too mellow for my taste and where the chord change from the verses to the chorus reminds me too much of conventional pop-song writing. The remainder of the tracks is real genius at work.

Together with Lightbulb Sun, this album marks a short era with a very melancholic and sensitive Porcupine Tree sound. Sitting inbetween the majestic space-rock of the early years and the heavier Prog albums that followed, many fans are ill at ease with these two albums. I can only say that after being with them for 10 years now, they haven't lost any of their appeal. On the contrary, they have only grown to pull my emotional strings over the years. 4.5 stars