FEAR OF A BLANK PLANET

Oddly enough, FOABP was the album that started my love affair with Porcupine Tree. I had heard 'Deadwing' briefly and enjoyed a couple of songs, but some reason had never sat down to listen to it properly. After hearing 2007's FOABP, I was compelled to hear the rest of the PT back catalogue and have never looked back.

The album kicks off with the title track, and one is immediately struck by the hard-edged riffing and Steven Wilson's fantastic lyrical delivery. As the song closes it ebbs away with a softer melody that works beautifully into the second track.

'My Ashes' is the voice of an adolescent who can already see his life mapped out before them, that it is empty and will always be so. That it is unchangeable. They can see the end before they have even started. It is a stunning, memorable track.

'Anesthetize' is the magnificent centrepiece of the album. It is like five great songs seamlessly interwoven into one. The syncopated, chugging riff section that begins at 5 minutes is one of my favourite PT moments ever. The song reaches a crescendo shortly after, then drifts towards a final, wistful passage that is achingly beautiful. As the title would suggest, 'Anesthetize' documents a state of stupor and disconnection through the use of prescription drugs, very much the central theme of the album.

'Sentimental' is another of the softer, keyboard driven tracks on the album. As we follow the journey of the album's protagonist, we find that he is now struggling with the thought of growing old in this useless, wasted life. Once again a haunting, stirring track.

'Way Out of Here' and 'Sleep Together' close out the album, and if you've been following along so far, it's not hard to understand where this journey is headed. In the final track the protagonist muses 'Switch off the future, let's leave forever.'

A masterpiece in all respects, 'Fear of a Blank Planet' is the perfect fusion of music, lyrics and ideas to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. It's possible to enjoy this album on so many levels, which is undoubtedly the reason why I keep coming back to it time and again.