FEAR OF A BLANK PLANET

At the peak of my interest in Porcupine Tree, the band releases an amazing concept album that is more like one long song, than six separate ones. Fear of a Blank Planet seems to mix together all of Porcupine Tree's recent influences into one solid package of honest songs that attack the ills of modern society. It's not punk rock in any way, but there is a very punk-like manner to these urgent and meaningful songs. I enjoyed the album immensely after the first several listens, and after I saw the band in concert in May 2007, the message of it all was driven home even harder. I was inspired and enlightened by the music and felt that their live performance accented the album perfectly. Ever since the concert, I've listened to the album in a different way and have found its message and statement even more clearly.

FEAR OF A BLANK PLANET

The first song kicks off with an earnest energy. The guitar riff and Gavin Harrison's drum attack are very forward and up-tempo. Wilson's singing is at a new level of angsty, from the point of view of a disillusioned 21st-century teenager. The chorus is the first time in the album we hear the pills in me motif, and the message rises above the angry down-tuned riffing. Porcupine Tree's message in this song is very in-your-face, blunt, and stirring. The song easily paints a mental picture of lifeless youth suffering in the prison of their unhappiness. The band manages to capture the emotion of depressed teens in a more earnest and colorful way than the popular emo music dominating the airwaves today. Fans of Tool and Dream Theater will surely delight in the tasty rhythmic guitar work that is thrown about in this tune. A great opener for the album, Fear of a Blank Planet sets the tone for what's to come.

MY ASHES

As it's been said so many times before, the keys in the intro are reminiscient of Led Zeppelin's No Quarter. The acoustic work under the keys is a very effective touch. John Wesley's background vocals are very evident in this particular song and add amazing texture. There's a string arrangement too, hearkening back to Lightbulb Sun-era Porcupine Tree. The keys, strings, acoustic guitar, and blasts of distorted electric guitar combine to make a wonderful soundscape. The song's rather slow and depressing. It's a great change of pace from the opening track while retaining the overall theme, and lulls the listener into a false sense of security before the band decides to assault the listener with the track that follows.

ANESTHETIZE

From the first pounding Harrison drum, I knew that this song would hit me hard. Upon my initial listen I took one glance at the track length, over 17 minutes, and didn't glance back at the time once until the song was over. The repetitive riff combining with the complex Harrison drums in the beginning are hypnotic to say the least. Barbieri and Edwin lay down some lush atmospheric work behind some typical angsty Wilson vocals. There are industrial-like keys that follow, and at this point I'm reaching for my safety harness, because there's an underlying urgency that foreshadows what is to come. The opening minutes of the song are very alike the opener's down-tempo parts. Whoa, what's this? An Alex Lifeson guitar solo? It's textbook Lifeson and fits perfectly into the atmosphere set by the band. If I didn't look at the liner notes, however, I wouldn't know it was him, because it sounds like something Wilson would tear off in the situation at well. After Lifeson's piercing solo fades away, the listener is treated to a series of bouncing rhythmic guitar. It's recommended to listen to this album on a set of good headphones, as it's an aural treat to groove to these riffs as they go from earphone to earphone. There must be three guitars at this point, one in each ear plus another one soloing lightly overhead. The drumming is getting more and more complex as the song goes on. A Deadwing-ish heavy metal riff kicks in.... and then the fun really begins. The guitars suddenly become angrier and dirtier. The keyboards give a drone that sounds like a chorus of monks, and then Steven comes in bitingly. The chorus is oddly catchy for a prog-metal tune. I think if this song was edited down from after the Lifeson solo to the end of this passage, it could be an extremely popular hit for young hard rockers. It's extremely accessible, but that doesn't take away from the phenomenal musicianship demonstrated and the dire message at hand. The rhythmic work by everyone in the band is impeccable, to say anything less would take away from the one-of-a-kind performance in this song. There are enough changes, nuances, and transitions to keep even the most attention-deficit of listeners involved. If the opening passage was hypnotic, then this part is an outright musical trance.Just like any good long song, Anesthetize reaches a climax that is worth the eleven or twelve minutes it took to get there. Twenty seconds or so of brutal, searing, aggressive, diabolical guitar shredding rips right into the listener's ears before an extremely rousing rendition of the chorus cuts in. Amazing! Some more prog- metal riffs, and then the song takes a sudden drop-off. From shredding and pounding drums, Porcupine Tree leads us into a more relaxed passage with more of the monk chorus motif and industrial noises in the background. This particular part of the tune is remarkably like some of the more balladic numbers off of In Absentia. There are amazing harmonies and vocal interplay here. The melodic vocal work is like a quality cigarette after the best sex ever. It's a great way to mop up the mess made by what are, in this PT fan's opinion, the finest twelve minutes the band has ever committed to record.

SENTIMENTAL

The piano intro is another very In Absentia/Lightbulb Sun texture. The chorus of this song is absolutely beautiful. Wilson emotes the chorus in the best way for it to be sung. It's certainly not as complex as any of the first three songs from the outset but it is no less a solid song. At this point the band seems to be following a pattern for this particular album: Hard, balladic, hard, balladic. The comparisons of this song to Trains are spot-on, as the solo and riffs in the latter middle of the song seem culled directly from In Absentia's second tune.

WAY OUT OF HERE

Robert Fripp of King Crimson supposedly did some guest-work on this track. I didn't notice until I checked out the liner notes. Much like Lifeson's guest solo, it's not out of place at all on a Porcupine Tree record and blends into the atmosphere flawlessly. The chorus doesn't seem to fit into the flow of the initial few lines of the song, it comes out of nowhere. Wilson's lyrics seem subpar compared to his usuual work. It's nothing out of the ordinary for him, they're just too Steven Wilson, even for Steven Wilson. Regardless, the band puts on another flawless performance in this song. The song as a whole isn't anything too spectacularand at this point the album is in a lull. It's a musically-satisfying lull, but a lull just the same. There's a blast of Anesthetesque riffing that rises up in the late middle of the song, but it feels out of place, almost as if the band said, Hey, let's put one of our new signature blasting riffs into here to spice things up!

SLEEP TOGETHER

The song starts out interestingly enough. The drum pattern is engaging and there are some great effects stirring around in the background. However, the chorus is the second in a row that seems forced and out of point. The strings make another appearance, with a Middle-Eastern flavor this time through. About midway through the song it seems to pick up a little more. I'm typically not a fan of string sections in rock songs, but the flavoring it adds make this song more listenable. Sleep Together has all the distorted Wilson vocals one could ever need. For a long time Wilson's vocals echo repeatedly in the background before fading into some more effect whirls. There are no stand-out instrumental solos in this song, where a solo would typically be, there are instead a series of atmospheric sounds followed up by strings and a delightful bassline. It's evident that Harrison is one of the modern drummers that carry the torch for progressive work, his rhythms are always complicated yet fit in well at the same time. Wilson's distorted background vocals loop in for a brief moment at the end of the song, and then some strings... a drum fill... and we're all done!

The album was created with a good concept in mind, and for the most part the band seemed to adhere to it rather well. The soundsapes, riffs, effects, and approaches used highlighted the mission statement with little error. The album is filled with strong points: Wilson's emotive vocals, brilliantly complex rhythmic work, unusual effects and atmosphere, and the entire song Anesthetize. However, there are a few characteristics that merit mentioning that seem to hold back the album from being a true masterpiece. After Anesthetize the album seemed to drag more, and nothing the band was doing really kept me on edge. Also, there were several instances of the band either quoting their influences (Led Zeppelin, namely.... No Quarter in My Ashes and Kashmir in Sleep Together) as well as themselves (Trains in Sentimental, any piano-driven number in In Absentia). This seemed to hold the band back and I honestly feel as if they didn't break any entirely new ground in the album. It was a great album, yes, and a perfect way to end a trilogy of incredible releases (IA/Deadwing/FOAB). However, I find myself pondering, where can Porcupine Tree go from here? There's an obvious progression that started at Lightbulb Sun up until now, but it seems as if the band has stretched these musical and lyrical themes as far as they can go.

As a music release in general, I'd give FOAB 5 stars. Brilliant playing, an interesting theme, bold statements, and overall an engaging piece.

As a Porcupine Tree release, I'd give FOAB 4 stars. It's not quite on the same plane as In Absentia or Deadwing, but it holds its own and deserves every bit of the Porcupine Tree title.

Finally, as a progressive release, I'd give FOAB 3 stars. There's not too much here that's groundbreaking or original at all, however, every theme one could use to describe progressive music is present. That much is undeniable.

So, I'll rate Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet as a four-star release. It's not quite a masterpiece, but it's still an excellent addition to any kind of music collection in general. Steven Wilson and company have engineered a snapshot of modern youth that proves as strikingly true, startingly bold, and artistically credible in many ways. An intense listening experience with many layers of deep, rich music that is, again, best heard on a set of headphones, Fear of a Blank Planet is likely to be getting spins from me well into the future.

4/5 stars.