LIGHTBULB SUN

Being a massive Porcupine Tree fan, there are two PT albums that I recommend to the uninformed. One is Fear of a Blank Planet. The other is this one. Not only is this is the last album Porcupine Tree would record before Chris Maitland was replaced by Gavin Harrison, but it also represents a culmination of their previous sound, before they moved on.

Current Tree albums are very spot on, technically perfect, dark, and yes, fantastic. I love that style, but Lightbulb Sun represents a sort of opposite to that. The music here has a very organic sound to it, and I believe this is greatly helped by Maitland's excellent drumming performance. Either way, there are not many driving riffs, not many dark piano undertones, and such. The songs almost meander in a way. When listening to this album, I always think of the sun setting over a hill, in the fall.

I'm kind of rambling here, but the main point is that this album is a fantastic representation of the other side of Porcupine Tree. There are groovy parts, there are catchy parts, there are emotional parts, but as a whole it's just great.