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Key · 08-13-2013, 02:21 PM

Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet

I don't make doing album reviews a normal thing in my journal because I find that to be too cliche for a music themed journal, however...I do find that reviewing an album that has surprisingly hit me in the right away has a bit of a different effect, and I also find it easier to express my thoughts about it when it has affected me in such a way. Plus the fact that i'm absolutely terrible at writing album reviews. I have my own criteria for them but I never feel that it meets the standards that I give myself. Believe it or not, this is Porcupine Tree's ninth studio album, and when I first listened to it a few years back, I was certain this would come up as one of their first albums, boy was I wrong. I've also done a little bit of research and I found that this whole album is basically a concept of teenage angst, and now when i'm listening to the lyrics, it makes a lot of sense. Usually i'm not the best at picking up on themes when it comes to albums like this, but I always felt like it reminded me of the harsh times I had when I was a few years younger, especially in songs like Fear of a Blank Planet and Anesthetize. The album as a whole also comes together very well in becoming one of the better constructed albums this band has offered both musically and lyrically, especially with Anesthetize when it picks up toward the middle, or I should say when Wilson begins the lyrics:

"The dust in my soul
Makes me feel the weight in my legs
My head in the clouds
And I'm zoning out"

I get chills every time it gets to this part because like I said, it's so perfectly constructed both lyrically and musically as well as being one of the more important themes in the entire song when you finally realize what it's been leading up to. He uses a lot of examples through the next few parts of the songs that a lot of people can relate to, which I find to be a very important factor when writing songs regardless. Also love the addition of Alex Lifeson for the guitar solo in the song.

I've read a lot of other reviews stating that this album lacks in the forms of being interesting and people often find it to be very boring, I personally find it to be a great representation of what Steven Wilson is capable of. Like a lot of other people, it took me a little while to get used to Wilson's form of vocal style which doesn't seem to have much of a change with range, etc, but you come to find that it fits with the music better than if the vocalist was always hitting those high notes or what have you. I also find that it allows for more creativity when the vocal ranges aren't the centerfold of the band, he basically makes himself as important as the rest of his band instead of it being one man on the mic with a background band.

The only negative about this album that I will point out is that it is far too short. There's a lot of creativity and originality in the album but I wish it was a few tracks longer only for the fact that i'm a bit selfish when it comes to wanting to hear more of the style that the album focused on. Regardless of it's length though, I think the longer tracks make up for lost time and still manage to be one of my all time favorite progressive rock album.

08-13-2013, 02:21 PM	#43 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet I don't make doing album reviews a normal thing in my journal because I find that to be too cliche for a music themed journal, however...I do find that reviewing an album that has surprisingly hit me in the right away has a bit of a different effect, and I also find it easier to express my thoughts about it when it has affected me in such a way. Plus the fact that i'm absolutely terrible at writing album reviews. I have my own criteria for them but I never feel that it meets the standards that I give myself. Believe it or not, this is Porcupine Tree's ninth studio album, and when I first listened to it a few years back, I was certain this would come up as one of their first albums, boy was I wrong. I've also done a little bit of research and I found that this whole album is basically a concept of teenage angst, and now when i'm listening to the lyrics, it makes a lot of sense. Usually i'm not the best at picking up on themes when it comes to albums like this, but I always felt like it reminded me of the harsh times I had when I was a few years younger, especially in songs like Fear of a Blank Planet and Anesthetize. The album as a whole also comes together very well in becoming one of the better constructed albums this band has offered both musically and lyrically, especially with Anesthetize when it picks up toward the middle, or I should say when Wilson begins the lyrics: "The dust in my soul Makes me feel the weight in my legs My head in the clouds And I'm zoning out" I get chills every time it gets to this part because like I said, it's so perfectly constructed both lyrically and musically as well as being one of the more important themes in the entire song when you finally realize what it's been leading up to. He uses a lot of examples through the next few parts of the songs that a lot of people can relate to, which I find to be a very important factor when writing songs regardless. Also love the addition of Alex Lifeson for the guitar solo in the song. I've read a lot of other reviews stating that this album lacks in the forms of being interesting and people often find it to be very boring, I personally find it to be a great representation of what Steven Wilson is capable of. Like a lot of other people, it took me a little while to get used to Wilson's form of vocal style which doesn't seem to have much of a change with range, etc, but you come to find that it fits with the music better than if the vocalist was always hitting those high notes or what have you. I also find that it allows for more creativity when the vocal ranges aren't the centerfold of the band, he basically makes himself as important as the rest of his band instead of it being one man on the mic with a background band. The only negative about this album that I will point out is that it is far too short. There's a lot of creativity and originality in the album but I wish it was a few tracks longer only for the fact that i'm a bit selfish when it comes to wanting to hear more of the style that the album focused on. Regardless of it's length though, I think the longer tracks make up for lost time and still manage to be one of my all time favorite progressive rock album.