Porcupine Tree: The Incident
 

This is by far their greatest work to date, this includes all of Steve Wilson's side projects like Blackfield and Incredible Expanding Mind****. I've listened to the album start to finish 3 times now and it just keeps getting better. One of the things that I like the most is the song lengths, a good deal of them are only a few minutes of just pure rock, then they blend into a longer song to make it seem like it's all one track. I need to give it a listen with headphones before I make anymore judgements but I'm seriously considering giving this album my "Album of the Year" prize.

I can't wait to see them in a few weeks time. Going to buy the album tomorrow and then post back with a more informed opinion after only having a fairly bad copy of the album thus far.

Yeah I also grabbed the crappy torrent out of desperation, since then I've come across a far better copy but I will still go out and buy it in stores tomorrow because I enjoyed it that much... that is if Best Buy is going to have it in by tomorrow which I highly doubt.

Liking The Incident quite a bit right now, and I think it is one of the best releases of 2009 certainly. However, motW's Part the Second is still #1 for this year so far. :D

I have a question,

I have heard a few Porcupine Tree songs. About half were awesome rock tracks with great guitar work. The other half was more ambient like. So my question is what is most of they music made up of? I haven't quite gotten into ambient just yet.

I have only listened to this album once and not with my full undivided attention but I can say it was pretty brilliant. But I wouldn't say it is their best release to date just yet... maybe I'm just too sentimental but I enjoy their older stuff more. Maybe I need to give it a few more listens...

But that being said, it is excellent.

I started listening to this album and got half way through. I kept thinking of Fear of Blank Planet, and had to put it on it. I liked what I've heard so far, not it's a matter of listening to the the album in its entirety.

Now I have had the chance to listen to it fully I have to say that I'm dissapointed. my first bugbear is the production. One thing about PT over the last 10 years is the brilliant production on the albums. Steven Wilson personally produces the 5.1 soundstages of the most recent albums so I KNOW he has an ear for production but The Incident has a lacklustre sound that's a little muddy in places and doesn't bite you on the ass. There is a 5.1 version out there on a deluxve version that may well enhance the album but as I don't have access to that I can only comment on the standard mix.

The first disc is a 55 minute piece of continous music that is linked lyrically but musically it really is a case of many tracks bolted together with no overall cohesion. Of course there are certain motifs that appear throughout but there is not enough of them and they are not incorporated well enough to give us a genuine 55 minute piece of music. There are standouts of course and some awesome sections of music such as the 11 minute Time Flies and Drawing The Line is instantly likeable but it just has something missing. Maybe I was hoping for more of a stretch musically considering Wilson's obvious musical talent.

On the flipside, the second disc of 4 songs wrote by the whole band and not solely Wilson himself is fantastic and it's such a shame that we only get 20 mins worth of music. There is variation in the tracks and Bonnie The Cat (terrible title aside) is one of the best PT tracks I have heard.

In summary I don't think it's terrible at all and I do like it but it's less than the sum of it's parts and a let down musically regarding their progressive sound.

^ I'm glad that someone else feels it's not their best either. I really like it but like I said I was also a tad disappointed and you still can't go wrong with their earlier stuff. It's funny you mention production, I hadn't really thought about that but now that I do - "being a little muddy in places and doesn't bite you in the ass" is the perfect description really.

I'm not a complete stickler for production, I like Punk and funk to sound as raw as possible with an almost 'jamming' quality but when you have high calibre musicians and a history of great production then i like a continuation of that and feel that it is lacking unfortunately.

I was disappointed with it too. Like jackhammer said, it feels more like a collection of songs that sometimes fit together, but never enough to be called a cohesive 55 minute piece of music. And most of the songs on the first side are just dull IMO. You do have a few good ones but I was bored halfway through.

Although the album wasn't up to my expectations it was still very good (hence vote)

I've been giving it a spin lately but I've yet to listen with undivided attention. At this stage I think it's pretty good if a bit protracted in places, so I'd agree with the sentiment that it's not quite the sum of its parts. I have a feeling it'll grow more on me though.

There are some great motifs/sections throughout including Great Expectations with its bouncy bass and the glorious "I want to be loved" part at the end of the Incident. Drawing the Line is killer... that and Time Flies are the standout songs of the first disc. Disc 2 is tops - Flicker reminds me of Robin Trower, Bonnie the Cat is interesting and Remember Me Lover is pleasantly melancholy if a bit disjoint.

Anyone notice how Meshuggah'ish the Circle Of Manias is? It's written all over it.

Around 15 minutes through Flicker it reminds me of The Grand Conjuration by Opeth.


To be honest I found this album to be a bit weak. It wasn't horrible and there are good moments, but I found myself a bit bored while listening to the album in its entirety. I would personally like to see Porcupine Tree end and see Steven Wilson go and do some other things with his creativity. His solo album was amazing. Porcupine Tree has pretty much perfected their sound and I am tired of hearing it over every album.

I have only listened to the album twice since I bought it but have played Lightbulb Sun twice in that time. I genuinely think that I could live without this album in my collection.

One thing I can praise the album is for its lyrics/theme. Wilson's lyrics are simple, but that is why I like them a lot. The Blind House is not only a good track, but it also has some pretty good lyrics.

The Blind House
If you wanna stay
Always here
All these years
The last frontier
It's no concern of theirs
The world outside
Corrupts my child
So trust these eyes

Faith is in your soul
But in these walls
Hormones stall
Dogs will crawl
The vices and the doubt
We resist
All this ****
So kneel submit

Free love
Free love
Feel love in all my sisters
Breathe out
Blind house
You don't need to know their secrets
Believe me

Pray and violate
Abuse your trust
False gods must
Purge their lust
A family that lies
To seal your fate
To take the weight
Of their self-hate

Free love
Free love
Bring love to all my sisters
Breathe out
Blind house
You don't need to know their secrets
Believe me

Breathe out
Blind house
Free love
Feel loved

I disagree. Having given this album a hell of a lot of listens, and REALLY, REALLY liking it, FOABP is by far the superior album.

That said, this album is STILL a fantastic album. Those of you saying 2 listens through and so on, its one of those albums that really does grow on you with time. Its fantastic, though not quite as unbelievable as FOABP

Haha you're right, I just compared them and it's pretty much the same riff. I wonder if Wilson intends it as a tribute?

I agree with that 100% - FOABP is absolutely stunning from beginning to end. I still haven't given The Incident a chance yet, I mean I like it but it's sort of so-so to me right now. I'll give it a couple more spins.

There are a couple of clips on youtube and in one of them he explains that Opeth had some influence on that riff from The Blind House. I don't think Wilson intended it to be a tribute, but it was definitely influenced by Opeth. Even though it is the same riff that part of the song feels different from The Grand Conjuration.

Porcupine Tree has had influence on Opeth. I think Watershed was much different from their older material and even had a bit of psychedelic to it. I would hesitate to say that Porcupine Tree had a huge influence on that. Mikael is a fan of psychedelic stuff, but I think what prompted the influence was him hanging out with Wilson.

What is Porcupine Tree's best album? I have not heard any of their stuff. (I like Zeppelin and Pink Floyd etc..)

People can argue about what their best album is till they go red in the face. Their most well-known is proberly In Absentia.

My personal favourite is a tie between Fear Of A Blank Planet and Deadwing.

I really didn't mind Stupid Dream either mostly because it has the song 'Pure Narcotic' and Lightbulb Sun has 'hatesong' which is awesome.

I bought the FOABP CD recently and it came complete with Akerfeldt's seal of approval on the front saying that PT is easily his favourite band of this time. :D

And I agree about Watershed being quite different, esp. in regard to the chicken funk bit in the Lotus Eater. It's quite possible that PT exerted a decent influence on the album.

Stupid Dream is great from start to end but I particularly like Stranger By the Minute which is so feel good and A Smart Kid with its haunting post-apocalyptic overtones. Just listening to the album now reminds me why I like this band so much.

It took me longer to get into Stupid Dream for reasons unknown :shycouch:

Hi, I don't know Porcupine Tree for long time but it became my best new band of 2009. After 3 months of listening all discography, I am sure it's my second favourite band.

My favourite albums are:
1. Deadwing
2. In Absentia
3. The Incident

Yes, The Incident has my third place. I don't call it boring, in my opinion it has a lot of atmosphere - when you are in mood to find it ;) I love it.
I like a lot other albums too - FOAB, Stupid dream, Lightbulb sun... great music! And their old stuff has also some good songs.

After hearing the album more than 5 times I have to say that I like it... a lot