Both the Lizard/Poseidon/Islands triad and the next one, LTIA/Starless/Red, are excellent - with different lineups, in different ways, for different moods, but both great.  

Why do you feel you need to keep trying to like Grace? In his 25-26 years of music-making Wilson has produced such a vast body of work that there is something for everybody to love, to hate and to be indifferent to. You might find it easier and more pleasant just to like what you like, and ignore what you don't. 

Quite the treat. 

Luminol is one of the best jazz-prog fusion tracks of all time, in every respect. 

But chronologically it belongs to the live album GAYD (where it first appeared), and conceptually it doesn't seem to be an organic part of Raven either. Raven is good, though 

 

This is his best album ever PT or not though IMO.

I can kind of see where you're coming from, although I'd disagree. From a musical standpoint it's just as interesting (or uninteresting) as the last few PT records, if not heightened a little bit by the use of motif's and the steady pace of the song-cycle approach. It's certainly not their best record, but as I've said before, if it's going to be the last Porcupine Tree record, I'm fine with that. It seems to summarize everything the band had been working on up until that point. It had a representation of all the genre's, the metal, pop, and psychedelic, and had a solid concept that was slightly surreal and about mortality and whatnot as we've seen PT do many times before and it's all contained within one listening experience.

I like the more personal moments on the record, particularly "Kneel and Disconnect." Once that harmony part comes in it's great. It didn't really push anything new for PT, but it didn't really need to I don't think. For anyone who's interested in listening to PT, it might be a good record to give them as a little teaser I guess of all the things they can expect to hear on other PT records.

I interviewed Steven a couple of weeks ago and he was great. Very interesting man. 

It's not really the excessive songs that make it bad, it's that all of the songs are boring. 

 

Nahhh ... it was fine ... but would have made an outstanding single CD, instead of two!

Managed two spins last night.

 

Really impressed.

 

This is cheaper than the burning shed store for shipping to NZ...

Looks like I'm getting another one. I'll sell my other to a friend.

wow thanks for the link

 

 

This song reminds me of how much important the person you love most. Very well in lyrical and arrangement!

Haunting video, love the post-rocky guitar and Marco is a beast. 

The "bits and bobs", aka the highlights that their trailer is based upon, are very carefully engineered to be come across as really whoooaaaa; that's how they sell pre-orders :)

I seriously fear that the Raven will turn out to be the 12 minutes of Luminol (which is wonderful, but is not really a new piece - it's on GAYD), the balance being 50% some disoriented brooding sounscapes and 50% (hopefully) music. 

I am a little suspicious about the quality of the songwriting - didn't they record it in like 2 weeks? And also, ahem, what ever happened to Niko, and why Marco is no longer touring with Wilson as of this coming spring.     

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I got it about a week ago, still sorting through it. At fist I have to admit being disappointed, but I don't think I was quite in the right prog head space. It's grown on me since but something still isn't quite clicking like the other albums did. I agree there isn't a lot of filler, but I do think a lot of moments fall flat. Or at least, I WANT to love them more, but that's my own issue. Wilson and band definitely did a solid job.