Review Time - Porcupine Tree: Fear of a Blank Planet

The story so far
Porcupine tree seem to be the biggest band no one's heard of. Formed in 1987 by Steven Wilson- singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer, it seems pretty clear who's in charge of this outfit. Over the years Porcupine Tree have carved quite a niche following among prog fans, getting better and better with each release, as well as being hugely influential among bands like Opeth (for whom Wilson even produced several albums)

Being relatively unaware of their work, I decided to start with one of their most acclaimed albums, Fear of a Blank Planet.
So, how does it stack up?

The Muzak.
Lets put it this way: The title track is one hell of an opener. Things start with a catchy acoustic guitar riff (yes, acoustic), which in turn is backed up with some very funky drums, before the track begins proper with a full sounding bass, subtle keyboards, and Wilson's smooth vocals. It's immediately apparent that the production is fucking amazing.
Wilson has always been a strong opponent of the Loudness wars which have marred the dynamics of many a modern album, and even basic compression used for mp3s, and right here he makes a very good case for it. It's extremely dynamic, each instrument given room to breathe without having to fight at the same level, and when the distorted guitar finally shows it's head, it's warm, yet punchy. The song also brilliantly straddles the line between catchy and proggy, repeated vocal patterns give way to full chords and bass variations, and yet at over 7 and a half minutes, it doesn't drag once. The breakdown half way through shows their heavier side, but it's far from metal, it's just fucking rockin'.

"The nerds can rock now? God help us all..."

After that, It's hard to tell where one track ends and another begins. The album has been designed to be consumed wholesale, so get comfy and put on some tea. Not that it's samey mind, the proceeding track My ashes shows a very different side: A much looser, ambient focused song, almost entirely composed with synth and acoustic guitar. Wilson adds haunting vocal harmonies in the chorus, as well as slow bass and drums to keep a sense of progression. The mastery of pace is the album's strongest suit here; nothing here outstays its welcome, and the mood changes enough to keep things interesting, but never too often that it feels out of place.

Anesthetize serves as the albums's centre point; even next to three other 7 plus minute songs, the 17 minute Opus towers over the rest. The first few minutes strike a balance between relaxed and a foreboding sense of building to something bigger; It's by far the most ambitious song here, and the delicious twists and turns had me waiting expectantly to see what would come next, instead of wondering when it would end. It's menacing downtuned guitars give way to trippy chords and vocals with a very keen sense of melody, and a lot of it is downright catchy.

Like taking a journey down a twisty path. 

Only with puppies. Made of chocolate.

Unlike a lot of prog records, Fear of a Blank Planet doesn't require a huge amount of mental gymnastics to get your head around.
Time signatures are standard for the most part, melodies are clear and unobtuse, and compared to the frenetic prog stylings of, say, Protest the Hero, it's practically easy listening.

It may be seen as a negative point that the songs don't really try to stand out, but the subtlety is definitely in the album's favour. It warrants repeat listens, and the songs just get richer the more you listen to them. Wilson pulls some similar riffs and chords on many tracks, but it just serves to reinforce the connections between each song, and just builds on the wonderful atmoshpere you get from start to finish.

So, as I said before, put on a pot of tea, and soak it in.

Recommended tracks:
Fear of a Blank Planet, Anesthetize

The Bearded One thinks everything goes better with tea. Just humour him.