DEADWING

but the destination is still in question. This is progressive music heavily influenced by the 90s. At times, it's a little too 'grungy' for my taste expressly with the tracks 'Shallow' 'Halo' and 'Open Car' and it weakens the album in a 'timeless' since. Now, coming to the end of the fist decade of the new Millennium, it seems this album is getting dated and held back with these songs. But not to worry, the other songs are there to help bring the album back up to a respectable manner.

'Deadwing', the title track, is a beauty covering an array of sounds. It's a pleasure to listen to time and time again and is a great way to set up the feel for the album. Although 'Lazarus' is a smidge on the 'pop' mainstream soft side it is still a treat. I would much rather dance to this slow song then anything offered at a night club (I'm going to play this song for my dad's wedding, so you know it has some merit to it).

"Arriving somewhere but not here" is oddly placed on the album. Where most bands would put a show stopping track either at the beginning or the end of an album, Porcupine Tree decide to put it in the middle. This really weakens the album for my ears. It splits the album up too much. One author, I forget who, put it best: 'it is as though Genesis put 'supper's ready' in the middle of Foxtrot'. It leaves the rest of the album sitting there after the audience has left. This is saddening, since my favorite song on the album follows 'Arriving somewhere but no here'. But 'Arriving somewhere.' is still a great song, perhaps a bit long, but still a great song.

'Mellotron Scratch' is, as said before, my favorite song on the album. I can't help but love the three key sequence in a 4/4 beat. Now this is a timeless track, and of course, I loves me some Mellotron (sorry for the internet lingo). "The Start of something beautiful" starts off shaky, but comes together at the end. It does not offer any lasting impression. I sometimes skip it to get to 'Glass Arm Shattering'. I love how they use the vinyl static sound to start and end the song. If you ever wanted a soundtrack for drifting in open dark space, this would be it. A raft floating silently down a river at night, looking up at a starry sky is the effect it captors; a sheer treat to the ears.

So to rap it all up, the songs on Deadwing are either really good, a real gem among rocks, or skip- able. Luckily, in our modern time, we don't have to move the needle over or fast forward through ruff tracks. If it had started from 'Mellotron Scratch' and looped back at the begining, skipping over 'Shallow' 'Halo' and 'Open Car' and ending with 'Arriving Somewhere...', the album turns into a solid 4.5 album. Unfortunately, it started off with 'Deadwing', including those songs, and 'Arriving somewhere' adding too much distraction in the middle of the album, and weaken the album to a 3 stars, which doesn't seem right for 'Mellotron Scratch' 'Lazarus' 'Arriving Somewhere' and 'Glass Arm Shattering' which are still masterpieces in their own rights. It seems the influence of the 90's was too strong on this album, and the place for a masterpiece is given to Porcupine Tree

......but not here

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