STUPID DREAM

Porcupine Tree

Heavy Prog

4.00 | 1515 ratings

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Rune2000
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator

This album marked a great change in the band's sound and that's never a bad thing when it's in the hands of professionals like Steve Wilson and Richard Barbieri!

I started listening to Porcupine Tree as a part of my preparation for Sweden Rock Festival 2006 where the band would stop by in order to perform a show as a part of their Deadwing-tour. What I didn't know at the time was that Porcupine Tree's caravan was also there to promote the recent re-release of Stupid Dream. During their concert the band did play a few tracks off this album to an overall enthusiasm of the audience. Among the set-list were compositions like Even Less and Don't Hate Me that made enough impression on me to make the purchase of Stupid Dream worth considering.

Unfortunately the complete version of this studio album wasn't as impressive as the live performances would imply and I personally never really could enjoy this material as much as the band's later explorations of the new sound direction. Still, whoever said that a shift in direction would be great from the start? Practice makes perfect and fortunately it didn't take Porcupine Tree too much time to get to the point where their simpler rock sound would become even more successful then their original Space Rock material.

There are a few performances that do make me shake my head in complete disbelief. I'm talking about the weird Tinto Brass and somewhat bland Stop Swimming but they are matched up by melodic upbeat compositions like This Is No Rehearsal and Piano Lessons. Stupid Dream showed us the first steps to what would become a successful transformation of a band on the future album. Although I wouldn't recommend this album to anyone unfamiliar with Porcupine Tree and their more well know albums there is definitely enough material here to satisfy the fanbase. A good, but non-essential release for anyone in need of another fix from the Wilson/Barbieri factory!

***** star songs: Even Less (7:11) This Is No Rehearsal (3:27) Pure Narcotic (5:02)

**** star songs: Piano Lessons (4:21) Stupid Dream (0:28) Slave Called Shiver (4:41) Stranger By The Minute (4:31) A Smart Kid (5:22)

*** star songs: Don't Hate Me (8:30) Baby Dream In Cellophane (3:15) Tinto Brass (6:17) Stop Swimming (6:53)

Rune2000 | 3/5 | 2010-4-13

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