NIL RECURRING

I am really late in getting some words up about this one and have read all the reviews above. Agree with many and many are well said; disagree with a few. My best advice to listeners of this release is listen for the phrasing. You can listen to each piece as a whole song or you can try to grasp it as a whole EP, but for me, this one is best appreciated by attuning one's ears to pick-up what is being conveyed by the music, moment by moment. Otherwise you won't get it. Let go of the desire to compare it to previous works or to other bands. Take it where it is, and let it take you with it!

Someone suggested dimming the lights; with this release it really helps. Isolate your hearing because some of the phrasing is very far-out there, with tons of subtle explorations that your ear/mind just won't pick-up on a casual listen. This release requires full attention, perhaps more than FOABP. I guess that is what generally draws me to PT. iTunes tells me that I've listened to Trains (from In Absentia) two dozen times since loading it in Sept. 2005 (with over 1800 songs in iTunes, it takes a while to cycle through, and its not counting the iPod listens). The thing is, with each listen I get something from every PT song that I missed before. Very few bands can write compositions that do that for me.

Its all about phrasing, the mix of instrumental voicings, the rhythms and percussion of a master with his masterful colleagues. If all you see is soft-loud-soft, then you probably haven't paid enough attention. Pay attention and listen again. Close to masterpiece if you can break free of preconceptions. Four and a half stars.