LIGHTBULB SUN

Porcupine Tree

Heavy Prog

4.03 | 1701 ratings

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In these days I've been often wondering if I'd trace the best of prog rock in the last decades, which groups deserves the top.

Considering the different sub-genres in prog (but having to decide for one), the fact that each band has to be evaluated on many factors (leadership, instruments, hystory, context,...), and that in some way there is also a personal matter that the emotional factor influences the evaluation of strict musicianship (it happens), my final scale puts Genesis in 70s (even though in those years there was plenty of groups and music), Marillion in 80s (the emotional factor...), and PT in 90s.

One of the albums that lead me to this evaluation is "Lightbulb Sun" (together but even more than "Signify" or "In absentia"). The reasons: a mix of emotion & music, the best change of athmosphere, the frequent and studied irruption of bass and drums, the use of instruments such as mellotron, banjo, and recorded voice, the variety of themes, the hidden work of keyboards here and guitar there typical of space rock,...

In this album, a first note is for the ensemble of "Shesmovedon" and "Last Chance To Exit Planet Earth", expecially the bass-work in this one, or the banjo, or the way in which bass & drums come in the music nearly in a countertime, very suggestive way. "Hatesong" is onother great piece, both in the vocals (first part, very communicative and personal), and in the full-sound of the finale (with a great work of samples and guitar). The other masterpiece if of course "Russia on ice", apart from its lenght, because of the vocals & bass in the first part, and the way it changes to the middle guitar-lead motif in a crescendo way is unique. Strong, full and somewhere hard ("Four chords...")- someotherwhere space ("Where we would be", "Hatesong", "Last chance...") music, is intervalled by sweet-sung ballades ("How Is Your Life Today?", "The Rest Will Flow", "Feel So Low"), which are not their best, but surely contribute to give the album a very special athmosphere.

NIC* | 5/5 | 2005-7-4

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