DEADWING

At the time of this writing, this album is number 116 on the ProgArchives.com Most Popular Album List. Considering that one of the factors affecting the ranking on this list is the number of reviews submitted, that's pretty high for an album that's only one year old. It is also the number one album of 2005 according to their reviewers.

One of the disadvantages of being an old fuddy-duddy with a wife, kids, jobs, etc., is that you get out of touch with the music scene. You listen to the albums you bought as a kid decades ago and you listen to the radio. And you forget that musicians are still making vibrant music. You forget that musicians have always, and will always, go past the limits set by radio marketers.

And so I decided that I needed to hear what was currently being created by "progressive" rock bands. And I purchased this album.

My only previous exposure to PORCUPINE TREE were the tracks played on my XM radio (channel 51 - Music Lab). And when you listen to the radio at work or in the car, it's easy to just lump everything together. I know they've played live at the XM studios several times, but that was the limits of my knowledge.

I really enjoyed the album. Deadwing isn't a thrash metal album, or even a hard rock album, but on several songs uses thematic elements of hard rock to push the mood. But on other songs the mood tends towards a quietness that rivals YES at its most New Age. The songs are not limited to what is commercial, but evolve on their own.

On the other hand, my twelve year old daughter wasn't thrilled with the album. She thought that the songs changed too much. However, she has copied "Open Car" onto her iPod and had it featured on her MySpace page. At 3:46 in length, it's probably the most commercial of the songs on the album.

This is a great album to remind an old fuddy-duddy that music can still be fresh and original.