FEAR OF A BLANK PLANET

The least I could say is that I was less and less a fan of Porcupine Tree's later albums, which seemed to ever more metal music than the previous one, even if I always thought this was not a linear phenomenon. And with Deadwing proving their utmost metallic album (with Stupid Dream), they had reached an almost unbearable level to this listener. This is all very subjective of course, but I find IFOABP much less so, with the exception of the centrepiece, the almost 18 mins Anesthetize, which rocks out loudly, helped by the guest appearance of Rush's very own Alex Lifeson on guitar and Way Out There where Fripp appears for some Frippertronics doodling and some mellotrons, real or not.

As much as I think this might be Porcupine Tree's best album since Lightbulb Sun (and maybe even since Signify), I still can't get myself to get heavily involved in Wilson's angst and fears, which always seem a little too nightmarish to actually make sense quickly enough. There are some real fine tracks present on this album, but they are the shorter ones (still over 5-mins, though): My Ashes (starting out like Zep's No Quarter, but .. evoking Talk To The Wind) and the quiet Sentimental (also starting and mainly on piano) and the closing Sleep Together (where the mellotrons reappear, real or fake) and ending in a full symphonic feast.

As said above, IFOABP could well be Porcupine Tree's best album in a long time, but this hardly makes me think that it could be anymore essential than any of their albums, all periods considered. But with this album, PT might just have signed one of the better high-profile prog albums of the year.

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