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Lazy DON moved his ass

Half Light

Very beautiful and a better ending to Deadwing than the Stop Swimming re-hash Glass Arm Shattering (which is beautiful, indeed, but just a copy).
Nothing like anything PT did before.
I'd love to see that in the tracklist of a re-issue one day,

8/10

The one and only PT disco review thread coming back to life!
Don't hate me (quote! quote!) if I forgot another Deadwing outtake but here's my review of the album - I wanna do Blank Planet finally.

Deadwing - review by DON

As much as In Absentia felt like a random collection of hit and miss b-sides, Deadwing has at least the flow of an actual album.
That said, the whole album suffers from mediocre writing and the worst loudness war overproduction of all PT albums.
And that is a sad thing because it makes the good cuts disappear even more than they should.
The album starts very promising with the title track which sounds like nothing PT, nor SW himself ever did before.
Alienating by his jazzieness - yet fresh enough to keep the listener Deadwing (the song) is a worthy entry in my book.
It delivers something totally new and does away with all that mainstream pop that was going on the albums before.
Unfortunatly only for it's lasting time because as soon as Deadwing passed, we're forced to sit thru two of the very worst songs SW ever unleashed - Shallow ( ) and Lazarus.
Shallow, with all it's Linkin Park quotes, just doesn't feel right for a man like SW who claims to be an artist and Lazarus seriously is PT's I Was Made For Loving You, their worst sell-out pop single ever.
The following mediocre Halo feels better than it actually is and at least works as a good live rocker between two good PT songs at any of their shows.
The centerpiece Arriving Somewhere...oh boy...Up to it's sixth minute it's supposed to be one of the most beautiful epics SW ever wrote - everything seems to work: the fragile structure, the airy atmosphere, the gothy lyrics and THEN...SW, please!
Couldn't he have come up with something better than those loud and dumb Rammstein guitars, compressed to death playing an infinite loop of a lousy nu metal riff you rather expect to hear on an early POD album (we'll get back to POD on the fuckfest The Incident, don't worry).
After all hope is lost, he at least finds back into the actual song but the listener, still being pissed and bored beyond belief, can hardly tell.
Mellotron Scratch would be a good idea if it wouldn't steal borrow from every mellow PT song before without having an own identity.
Open Car is another stupid stadion rocker but at least the pervo lyrics and the catchy chorus make this another live song sandwiched betwen two good PT tunes.
When I red over the tracklist of Deadwing for the first time before my first listen I couldn't imagine that Start Of Something Beautiful literally was the best title they could find for track #8.
After a great but odd opener and six mixed borers, we FINALLY get another good PT tune that lives up to the fan's expectations, surpassing everything on In Absentia easily.
What can I say? It's hard to describe SOSB, it's just one of those definite PT tracks and one of my recommendations to those who newly have become interested in the band. Everything is here - from SW's dark lyrics to "the PT sound".
And then along comes Glass Arm Shattering which would be of insanely beauty if it wasn't a second rate 1:1 copy of the epic Stupid Dream closer Stop Swimming.
And what hurts most is that they actually recorded another tune (Half-Light) that would have made a great ending to Deadwing.
Overall, Deadwing is an easier listen than In Absentia whichs says nothing, because In Absentia had at least more good tracks to offer than Deadwing.
My only two recommendations are Deadwing and Start Of Something Beautiful - and that's definitly not enough for a PT album (hey, we're not talking early Beatles here!).
When Blank Planet hit the stores I actually thought that PT went out of that abyss delivering one of their best studio albums ever but it rather seems like Blank Planet was the final gasp of such an impressive band after SW would beat a dead horse...but that's another story.

4.5/10

I honestly like Glass Arm Shattering more than Stop Swimming. It's one of the dreamiest songs I've ever heard. Halo I like strictly for the drumming. That breakdown is insane. Then again, Deadwing was one of my first PT albums and I really liked it, so I guess there's an element of nostalgia there.

Deadwing - 7/10

Some clunky lyrics, but musically very good for the most part and with a few outstanding tracks.

Not much point carrying on rating stuff as Frank's not around these days.

Dorovo wrote:
Deadwing was the first PT album I got, I think. Well, I think I might have got the Stars Die compilation first, not sure. I got into them after hearing tracks from Deadwing on their MySpace just before it was released. Or at least that's how I remember it, fuck knows how true that is

Obviously I liked Deadwing enough to go and buy all their other stuff, but now looking back, Deadwing is probably the album I like the least (but I still like it quite a bit, hence the 7/10 )

You're right about mighty Franky.
I hope he's well .
DON and epitome rating PT alone as a nerd galore so we should wait for his return .

DON wrote:
Haha, yeah! Maybe he is secretly taking part in the Olympics!

Yeah sorry guys, no olympics for me, just a bit slack and lazy. And sort of drifted into my novel writing a bit

Anything happen much while I was gone? I'll get onto rating Deadwing and start up the rate a song thing again in the next couple of days. Listened to Minsk a lot, and Isis - Isis has only one good album, Panopticon. The others have a few decent songs here and there, but overall nothing like that album.

Also listening to Ancestors non-stop. I think I need a t-shirt.

frankB wrote:
Ah, glad you're alright. Novel writing is probably a better way to spend your time than on here with us reprobates.

Panopticon is my favourite Isis album too - glad you felt the same. Most people seem to prefer Oceanic. I think all their stuff is great though, to be honest.

And you'll be glad to know Ancestors are currently working on a new album

Oh, and no, nothing really happened whilst you were gone

Wow that's wicked about Ancestors hey

I haven't done any research on them, but I'm taking it at the moment that their following is a bit small. Are they from UK or US?

I'd really love to see them live. I've started introducing them to my friends and ... well, it's fucking hardcore like porcupine tree. These guys are the shit.

I seriously rate both their albums as classic, but taking individual songs First Light, Orcus' Avarice, Corryvreckan ... I mean these 3 songs are definitely in my top 20 songs of all time, and First Light is actually number 2 behind Untitled 8 from Sigur Ros which I heard from last years Music Taste Championship. I listened to the Sigur discog though, and they have never come close to matching that effort, whereas Ancestors are just getting started and hopefully are gonna give us more of this shit.

And just listening to them today... I love how they really draw out the good bits in the build up of their songs, milking them for all their worth, not like SP's Oceania which does the opposite.

Yeah, it'd be great if they release another album next year, but I probably shouldn't get my hopes up, it's only a few months since In Dreams & Time came out

They're from the US and I would say their following is pretty small. They had to do a plea for donations before doing a tour of Europe, so definitely not a big act

To be honest, when I put First Light in the Music Taste Championship I was expecting it to lose with comments about it being too long and boring, so I was surprised it did well. I'm glad you got into them after that.

Nah man, First Light is a Masterpiece and Ancestors is a band ahead of their time.

The first song I submitted for Music Taste, John Butler Trio's 'Take', was my favorite song at that time. It is however much better live.

Still JBT's style of building up with all those crazy layers before the explosion, was how I pretty much wanted all music to sound like. The closest SP came to that level was Gossamer, and also the live rendition of Porcelina during the end of the 2000 tour.

Ancestors is like the best of JBT except way better. Better, and heavier.

If there's a band that deserves a donation, it's certainly them. I guess I'll do some research on them, and see if I can spread the word on them. I mean, sure, the best music doesn't make the money commercial does, but they do need a hardcore following.

Ancestors have raised the bar.

Franky!
Your Deadwing review please, we should move on to Blank Planet, shouldnt we?

PORCUPINE TREE Deadwing Review by Frankie

Deadwing is probably somewhere in the middle of PT album rankings. It's better than In Absentia, Stupid Dream and Up the Downstair ... but not as good as Signify, Lightbulb Sun and the two that followed it.

The only deadweight here would perhaps be Glass Arm Shattering, the other song are all great, with Arriving being the obvious standout.

Deadwing is great in terms of it being a standard rock album, but for whatever reason it's never felt like a full album experience compared to some of their others. Perhaps there isn't enough variance on offer here. By the end I don't feel as though I've gone through quite as much of a journey as the others.

There is also this lingering feeling that most of the record is slightly annoying. I mean, in my head I know that Halo, Shallow, Deadwing, Start of Something Beautiful are all great songs ... but I just don't feel them quite the same way in the heart. There isn't much of an emotional experience going on.

I wonder also if Arriving had not been included, the album would be greatly compromised. I think it carries the other songs a little too much.

Frankie's Album Score: 8 out of 10

Frankie's Song Average: 83.33%

OVERALL RATING: 81.67%

frankB wrote:
Hmmm, I hadn't thought of that before, but - although there are some other great songs - I think you're probably right.

Fear Of A Blank Planet



1. Fear Of A Blank Planet

After the hit and miss In Absentia and the mediocre Deadwing this is, hands down, the best PT track in almost a decade and you already felt it on your first listen.
Gone is the search for a new territory in the fields of heavy rock that was going on and PT finally suceeded combining their well-known psychedelic rock style of the 90s with sludgy gothic rock.
The structure of the song is wodnderful and exactly represents the classic way of building up a progressive rock piece the way former heroes like King Crimson also often did.
And boy, I haven't even started talking about the lyrics which seem to me like PT's most significant lyrics ever.
Maybe it's even worse in the UK, but there definitley is a search for meaining, a place, compassion and understanding going on in the generation that was born in the 90s - I know some of those people on my own.
They are spoilt by the dark sides of the internet, the insane expectations of the meritocracy, (prescription) drugs that seem like the easy way out, sexuality misused, school in the wrong way..........
And what's the point of not being born at the heart of golden 80s anyway
Just kidding.
The title track, however, is a masterpiece and I still love it, it hasn't lost any significance in the five years gone already.

10/10

1. Fear Of A Blank Planet

Great way to start the album. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's the best PT track in almost a decade though - Half Light, for one, tops this. Great lyrics though.

9/10

1. Fear of a Blank Planet

Well it's an easy ten for me. And yet this is by no means the best song on Fear of a Blank Planet.

Definitely marks a reinvention of PT's sound, and a livening up of things. The pop culture references seem like they would hit home with most people of our generation.

10

2. My Ashes

No matter what would follow to the album's perfect opener, it would always stand in it's shadow.
I guess this is why SW placed the album's ballad here.
It's soothening, depro, calm and sums up the FOABP story from another point of view.
Maybe the album's weakest one, but this is still a great track on it's own and an it superbly keeps the level of tension high enough for the beast to follow...

8/10

2. My Ashes

Not in the opener's shadow for me. The title track was a great start, full of power, but this beautiful song is really captivating and up there with SW's best work (well, bar a few that go beyond masterpieces ).

10/10