Scarsick is The Perfect Element part 2?!

Zappa88 wrote: Man Overboard wrote: Why didn't we get this sort of bullsh*t fan response when Porcupine Tree put out In Absentia? It's far more commercial, simplistic, and much more a departure of style.   Well In Absentia featured the newer, less talented Gavin Harrison on drums, therefore they had to simplify their material so he could keep up.[IMG]height=17 alt=Wink src="http://www.progarchives.com/forum/smileys/smiley2.gif" width=17 align=absMiddle>

Man, I was glad to see the 'gotcha' icon at the end of this one.

E
    

No further comment.

I dunno about the rest of you guys, but I think that Scarsick is a wonderful album, and a refreshing breath of air in the prog scene.

I'm not sure how many of you compose; especially those who work with harmonies and such, but Scarsick is -not- "Linkin Park" music in the slightest. And the Spitfall bashing confuses me a lot; it's got one of Daniel's best guitar solos in it, albeit nontraditional.

Lots of heat on these boards with really hardly any substantiation/warrant.  If it's just the lyrics...their lyrics have always been laughable, look at Pilgrim and Second Love...just saying they're highly dramatic and vocally over the top.

I find it quite risible what an alleged factor of a 'masterpiece' could possibly refer to...if POS are always writing such incredibly challenging and in depth opuses and are all of a sudden quite simple (a la Linkin Park whose very name and mention alone kind of causes me compunction w/r/t our discussions + the fact that they're even still noteworthy to be discussed; much like my feelings for people who still refer to a genre known as nu-metal!) I ask you to go back and look at the majority of their music.  It's really not that daedal or incognizable and has for the most part been similarly composed and presented...miss-steps, dramatizations, (blemishes), etc. and all.  Perhaps one just doesn't like the droll tone - spanning from lyrics to style - of this album?

Then again, perhaps you're all taking this album way too seriously...I tend to take things for what they are these days...if I don't like something, I'm not going to waste my time bashing it.  I suppose it has to do with tolerance levels and expectations, which I try to not have too much of the latter and more of the former.  Bottom line: Scarsick and like most of POS' material to me, is in the 3-4 range in this site's system of deference.  None more said!

Man Overboard wrote: Why didn't we get this sort of bullsh*t fan response when Porcupine Tree put out In Absentia? It's far more commercial, simplistic, and much more a departure of style.

I dont care for it as much as their earlier material, so there.

Bloody hell where is that album? I wanna hear it already. IF it doesn't arrive by tomorrow I'm slaughtering the bloody postman the minute he hands it over.

Edited by Ed_The_Dead - January 24 2007 at 16:50

^^

I cant stand IQ either...


It has little to do with being anti-American either

Man Overboard wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: Man Overboard wrote: Why didn't we get this sort of bullsh*t fan response when Porcupine Tree put out In Absentia? It's far more commercial, simplistic, and much more a departure of style. Because In Absentia is much better than Scarsick? - Scarsick not a concept album (let-down compared to their previous albums) - Scarsick is extremely political and anti-American (offending many people even more than their decision to not tour North America) - Scarsick doesn't contain the "killer" melodies/motifs / is less intricate than the others - Scarsick is mysteriously supposed to be the successor of TPE 1, which does not work at all (musically). I generally agree with you on many things, but not this time.     Scarsick -is- a concept album, the concept is just not readily apparently. Subtlety is a good thing. Ok, I guess that anything can be called a concept album if you loosen the definition that much. I *love* subtlety, but the album is just too patchy IMO. It almost feels like a collection of totally independent songs that were later modified to "hint" to a mysterious concept.  Scarsick is more social-political than political; I'd say it's less political than most of their other albums, focusing on social aspects instead. And it's not anti-American, it's anti-consumerist society, with -one song- that disapproves of the US's current political/war ambitions. Of course I meant "social-political" - most people who are "anti-american" both don't like the politics and the "fast-food" way of life. And no, it's not just in the song "America", it's all over the album. I usually don't have any problem with that topic if it's dealt with in a thoughtful way, on Scarsick it's just too bland for my taste (there are some nice parts though - I'm talking about the big picture). Scarsick is quite intricate; try following the lead guitar in Spitfall. The melodies are solid, and at times much more complex than before. Again, it's subtlety. I'm sure there are lots of things to discover on repeated listens - look at my signature, I am listening to the album. I also never said that the melodies (or the whole album for that matter) aren't "solid". There just aren't any of the "grand" melodies/motifs that I loved so much about TPE 1 / Remedy Lane and parts of Be. Maybe I'm just not used to Pain of Salvation hiding their motifs/melodies under layers of "decoy". Scarsick is -quite- musically connected to TPE-1. I've heard at least a dozen musical references to it, mostly in the second half of the album. Like I said above: They're too sparse and too much in the background - the album is *not* TPE-2 in my book. But maybe (as TPE deals with growing up) Scarsick describes a disturbed/confused mind, in that context it would make sense again. Listen again, with an open mind.      ...y'know, IQ's "Dark Matter" was a hell of a lot more anti-American, but people don't throw it down to 1 star for it. Maybe because it was formulaic (albeit good) prog the way people expect it to be. Please keep in mind that I did *not* submit any rating for the album yet - and on my website I rated it well above 80%, which translates to a 4 star rating.

I just saw the video on Youtube that was pasted on the previous page. I'm certainly interested in the concept though I still feel that the music isnt quite up to the standerd of the previous 5 albums.

I cant believe the number of people that took Gildenlow seriously when he proclaimed Scarsick as "the best f**king album out there".