LIGHTBULB SUN

Somehow just calling it another masterpiece doesn't quite do it justice. Lightbulb Sun is the ALMOST the pinnacle of PT's long legacy of awesome albums, from the amazing quiet and sometimes extremely noisy moments of The Sky Moves Sideways to the more recent radio-friendly prog on Deadwing (that is still excellent). This however, is so close to being better than In Absentia...but not quite. Three songs kill it.

On this album we get a perfect combination of mellow psychadelic to some nice PT-style prog metal (which basically means about as heavy as Dream Theater's softest moments), the best on the album being Hatesong. Hatesong is a perfect combination of quiet moments then with loud moments with distorted guitar...overall, the best on the album, besides the lyrics being a bit iffy. The musicianship is awesome, no doubt. Shesmovedon is right behind it as my second favorite. I just like the little groove this piece gets into with great lyrics and good songwriting all around. No real weak part in the whole song. We have the more mellow yet epic in scope Russia On Ice, which has som' amazing moments. Last Chance is a strange song with some strange speech about the earth getting recycled, but some nice banjo work in there with a very good performance by Steve Wilson. Four Chords is an EXCELLENT song, upbeat and really energetic, definitely a good one. It's the perfect single, and has some nice work with...bongos, I think in the beginning.

How Is Your Life Today is definitely the strangest track. It's got a slightly ghostly piano melody playing in the background with Steve singing strange lyrics. Overall, there are some really pretty parts that make it a good song, comparable to Lips of Ashes, although I like Lips Of Ashes more. The title track is a good song, nothing incredible, but definitely excellent. While I can't pick out anything particularily great about, there's nothing bad. Plus, it's a great introduction to PT if it's your first album.

EDIT: I have to apologize. This album is not as good as In Absentia. The Rest Will Flow, Feel So Low and Where We Would Be are not good songs. They're OK. but not good. The rest of the album is awesome, ESPECIALLY Hatesong and Russia On Ice which are awesome. However, those three songs aren't good. This gets four stars, not five. About 3/4s is awesome, incredible listening..but those three songs are just bad.