SKIN

I love Panic Room, and while they wouldn't be in my top 10 bands, all of their albums are worth listening to. The main complaints against the album under review, Skin, seems to be that there's not enough complexity and variety. I think these shortcomings are not vital, and I think Skin is a 4 star album.

I like a lot of music considered crossover prog. Panic Room is in this category for a reason. They are clearly not trying to be Gabriel-era Genesis or King Crimson. KC is my favorite band, but their music takes too much concerted effort to listen to every day. "Song for Tomorrow", "Chameleons", "Screens" are all fine songs. The album has no bad songs, although favorites depend on the person listening.

Some also claim that the songs sound too much alike. If you like what Panic Room does, I don't think variety is a problem. I personally think that the music of Dream Theater and Pink Floyd, after Syd Barrett, hasn't changed all that much. Yet, we don't criticize DT and PF for it. Therefore, I'm giving Skin 4 stars. It's an excellent album in Panic Room's consistently fine discography.