THE INCIDENT

Going into The Incident, I am a level 3.5, I'd say. I owned the CD version, but haven't listened to the whole album straight through for a while. I remember liking it, though. Let's see if I still do.

Incidentally (see what I did there?), here is the concept behind the album, copied from Wikipedia:

The concept for The Incident emerged as Wilson was caught in a motorway traffic jam whilst driving past a road accident:

"There was a sign saying 'POLICE ? INCIDENT' and everyone was slowing down to see what had happened... Afterwards, it struck me that 'incident' is a very detached word for something so destructive and traumatic for the people involved. And then I had the sensation that the spirit of someone that had died in the accident entered into my car and was sitting next to me. The irony of such a cold expression for such seismic events appealed to me, and I began to pick out other 'incidents' reported in the media and news, I wrote about the evacuation of teenage girls from a religious cult in Texas, a family terrorizing its neighbors, a body found floating in a river by some people on a fishing trip, and more. Each song is written in the first person and tries to humanize the detached media reportage".

? Steven Wilson[8]

Furthermore, Disc 1 (the first 14 Tracks) are considered to be a "song cycle" of just over 55 minutes. Disc 2 contains "bonus tracks" , but I am including them here, as they are included on all versions of the album, at least as far as I know.

Disc 1:

Track 1 - Occam's Razor

This is essentially the intro to the album. It's basically power chords, accented by the rhythm section, with some spacy sound effects in between. Simple, but I like it.

Track 2 - The Blind House

We kick-off in 5-4 with a heavy riff. Things chill a bit when Wilson begins singing the first verse. The verses alternate between 6-4 and 5-4. The opening riff returns between verses. Harmony vocals join on the second verse. We are in 4-4 for the choruses. At around 3:50, we have spacy synth and percussive sounds. Wilson adds vocals as we go along. We have heavy riffage again before the song ends.

Track 3 - Great Expectations

A very short track at just 1:26, we begin with acoustic guitar and vocals. The band kicks in heavily at around 25 seconds. We ease back off into a steady rhythm for the next verse. Then the heavy part returns to end the song.

Track 4 - Kneel and Disconnect

This one starts straight away after the previous one, and is also very short at around 2 minutes long. Piano starts us off here with a bit of acoustic strumming. Vocals follow next. Nice harmonies on the chorus. Simple, but beautiful piano is featured from Barbieri as we move into?

Track 5 - Drawing the Line

This is one of the tracks I remember liking most from this album. Keyboards start us off with some cool Gavin Harrison drum parts, joined by Wilson's vocals on the first verse.. The chorus kicks in at about 1:30, and we're rockin'! A guitar solo follows the chorus. The second verse follows, then another chorus. A second guitar solo brings us to?.

Track 6 - The Incident

Trippy synth sounds start us off here, along with a drum machine beat and whispered vocals, that morph into a whisper-sing. There are lots of various sounds in the mix including vibrato guitar sounds. Eventually the vocals build more with lyrics being sung in octaves. At just after 1:30 a heavy yet funky guitar and bass riff join the mix. This song is structured by the adding of parts. Next in are harmony vocals, then Harrison on drums. Later we have vocals obscured by effects. At around 3:40 the song opens into a more traditional sound releasing the tension built by the preceding sections. It is an effective musical strategy. The music is gradually crescendoing as we proceed until we begin?.

Track 7 - Your Unpleasant Family

This one begins with acoustic guitar backed with Keys. The vocals begin with "your unpleasant family smashed up my car?(answered with backing vocals) totally uncalled for." and we're off. The rhythm kicks in at about 50 seconds in with a guitar solo. This one is also a short track at around 2 minutes. It leads us into?

Track 8 - The Yellow Windows of the Evening Train

?Which is also around 2 minutes long. This one begins with a quiet organ. It reminds me very slightly of the organ intro to "Your Time is Gonna Come" from LZ1 at first, but then it changes with vocal-like sounds possibly produced by a mellotron. This brief musical interlude brings us to?.

Track 9 - Time Flies

This is ironically the longest track on the album at just a bit under 12 minutes long. I consider it to be the showcase of the album and the one I remember best. It begins with an acoustic guitar part reminiscent of PF's Dogs. The opening line references being born in 1967, the year of Sgt. Pepper & Are You Experienced. The underlying rhythm is maintained until around 3:55. Then we have an arpeggiated acoustic guitar pattern that gets augmented by different instruments as we go along. Some of the sounds remind me of PF's Time intro, but more 21st century. The instrumental segment is very dramatic, with a great guitar solo. The "Dogs" rhythm returns at around 8:10. This whole track is an excellent example of Wilson's guitar style. He is a fantastic player, but I don't think of him as a virtuoso, as such. He does use his skills and style to maximum effect for the songs. Outstanding song, top shelf PT.

Track 10 - Degree Zero of Liberty

The Occam's Razor power chords are recapitulated here from the beginning of the album. This time they are followed by some chords being stylishly strummed on electric guitar that is only slightly distorted. Then the power chords return in this brief interlude.

Track 11 - Octane Twisted

Wilson begins with acoustic guitar arpeggios with a solo on the top. The rest of the band joins for the first verse, which has a nice countermelody appearing as we progress. Then we have a heavier part with odd meters. Then we have a tight riff to create a bed for the guitar solo. Then the heavy chords return. There is a nice mellow part at around 4 minutes. This takes us to?.

Track 12- The Seance

This also begins with mellow acoustic guitar arpeggios, then after the first verse he changes to strumming. Excellent harmonizing on the second verse. This is another brief one at 2:39 There are some nice synth parts, then some strident guitar strums. This brings us to ?.

Track 13 - Circle of Manias

Another short part at 2:19. This begins with tight-odd metered riffing between Wilson, Edwin & Harrison. Barbierei then adds a keyboard part over the top. This one reminds me slightly of Wedding Nails from the earlier PT album In Absentia in the ending part of the song.

Track 14 - I Drive the Hearse

This is the closing song of the cycle, and rounds out Disc 1 of the original release. This one begins quietly with vocals accompanied by guitar. We reach the main "hook" ? "Silence is another way of saying what I wanna say?" before long. Then we get into a 5-4 chord progression. This song is an excellent example of Wilson's "Hauntingly Beautiful" style of songwriting/arranging. There is an excellent guitar solo at around 4 minutes, which is punctuated by great harmony vocals on the line "when I get down I drive the hearse." There is a long slow fade out to conclude the song and cycle.

Disc 2:

Track 15 - Flicker

Now we begin the 4 stand-alone tracks that are NOT part of the main song cycle. Synth sounds slowly fade in to start us off here. The vocals begin in an odd meter, with acoustic guitar & rhythm section. Things begin to build gradually. Awesome vocal harmonies start around 3 minutes in, and we close out with sort of "bubbly" sounds that make me think of an aquarium.

Track 16 - Bonnie the Cat

Sound effects start things here. Harrison & Edwin give us a tight- almost funky- rhythm. Then Wilson joins in on vocals with a lot of effects, alternating with heavy guitar rhythms. Barbieri mostly stays in the background but to nice effect. There is a brief pause for some electronic-staticky types of sounds. The guitar solo is very "experimental," shall we say. Then we get a grungy type of riff for an excellent instrumental break. Harrison's drumming really shines on this one. This is probably the most "far-out" type of song on the album, but I really like it.

Track 17- Black Dahlia

Electric piano initiates this one with vocals with effects on it. A nice moderately slow tempo is established by the rhythm section. Here is another hauntingly beautiful one. As usual there are wonderful harmonies in the vocals. What Wilson does so well is create moods with his arrangements. This is another fine example of that.

Track 18 - Remember Me Lover

This is the second longest track at 7:32 to close out the album. Wilson begins quietly by establishing the main guitar progression. Barbieri plays subtle supporting key parts while Wilson begins singing. The rhythm section joins around 1:30 and we start building the sound level after a verse. The vocal rhythm is catchy. I love the vocal harmonies at 3 minutes, that lead to the heavier instrumental break. Sometimes PT are considered to be "progressive metal," but their heavier parts never seem to be heavy enough to justify that label. I think what it really does is add a nice broad dynamic range, which is sorely missing in most (not all) modern pop music. (Nobody ever accused PT of being pop, for sure!) Wonderful time changes happening from around 6:30 onward. This is classic PT for sure.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

This is a very strong PT album indeed. I don't like it quite as much as In Absentia, but it's close. All of the essential PT elements are there, for sure. There seems to be just a hair less energy in the performances on here to my ears. I give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars, compared to 4.75 for In Absentia. On the countdown, In Absentia was ranked a surprisingly low #66, compared to # 48 here [On Prog Magazine's list of the Top 100 Prog Albums of all Time]. There is plenty more PT and Steven Wilson to come, we'll see how they stack up.

Clicking 4, but really 4.5!