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Porcupine Tree - XMII CD (album) cover

XMII

Porcupine Tree

 

Heavy Prog

4.04 | 166 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Bonnek
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Just like its earlier companion XM, XM II finds the band performing live without audience in the studio. Unlike XM, there's quite a bit of material here that could be of interest to more people then just the ardent fans. The main reason is the setlist, which contains some gems rarely performed live.

Shesmovedon is an good version, with an inspired solo and nice vocal harmonies between Wilson and Wesley. Wesley's high-pitched tone is a perfect match for Wilson's lower mumble. Wesley gets the lead vocal on Fadeaway, one of those great PT tracks that sees few live performances. It always takes me a few bars to get used to Wesley's voice but he builds up the emotional tension of this song very well. It's certainly one worth hunting down, also for casual fans.

If there's one PT song that I have heard too much, it must Trains. It's one of Wilson's best songs though and this version certainly does it justice. It's performed very subtle, tender and restrained. Probably my preferred rendition. Hatesong by contrast is a song I can't get enough of. I prefer the version on the Arriving Somewhere DVD, but back in the day this was the only available version with Wilson's wonderfully dissonant noise-solo and the improved ending with Harrison's delightful drumming.

Another rare live feature is Russia on Ice. It has different synth arrangements in the verses and the Wilson-Wesley harmonies in the chorus work out very well. The space-rock finale benefits from Harrison's powerful drumming but unfortunately Barbieri's majestic mellotron parts are buried too deep in the mix. The unplugged Pure Narcotic is the most interesting from the remaining tracks, Last Chance probably the best, and Feel so Low the saddest.

Overall, quite an upgrade over the original XM. The surprising song selection and the subtle changes in arrangements and vocals make this a worthwhile addition to the PT catalogue. 3.5 stars.

Bonnek | 3/5 |

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