ON THE SUNDAY OF LIFE...

The debut album from this soon to become one of the saviours of the prog rock scene this side of the millenium. Not to mention the status Steven Wilson, the leader of this band. The saviour of progressive rock ? Perhaps, yes.

Porcupine Tree started out as a mix of British indie and space rock. There is a lot of Hawkwind lurking around here and some typical British indie. The emphasis is on space rock though. The material here is OK. The album is far too long. OK, I now see this is a compilation of two cassette albums named "Tarquin's Seaweed Farm" (1989) and "The Nostalgia Factory" (1990). That is very indie. So is the guitars, bass and drums too. Steven Wilson's vocals is also very much down the indie path. The addition of the keyboards and samples drags this album into space rock territory though. There is a lot of Hawkwind pastisjes here.

The music is not bad at all. But seventy-five minutes really kills my interest. If released as two albums, I may have been interested because this music is best enjoyed in smaller dosages because it is bereft of any great melodies or even great songs. But my interest vane of after forty five minutes and it never re-kindles. Hence my verdict. This album is for the fans and the fans only. I am not one of them. Not yet.

2 stars