| News | | Guitar World Column | | Interviews | | Pictures | | Album Reviews | | Gig Reviews | | Release Dates | | History | | Articles | | Setlists | | Upcoming | | Contact |
Release Date: September 14th 2009
Record Label: Roadrunner Records
My rating points:
 |
|
The British progressive rockers have come out with their tenth studio album. It's a concept album based on the word 'incident' and how it's a really detached and indifferent word used in the media and news, to describe some of the most traumatic and destructive events adversely affecting the people involved. Vocalist, guitarist and composer Steven Wilson has used this concept to write about some of such events which he picked out from news reports and from his own past. He has written each song in the first person and has tried to humanize the report. My track-by-track rundown follows.
The first song is a short instrumental named 'Occam's Razor'. It starts off with a combination of acoustic and heavy electric riffs. Its just an intro which leads into the next song. It's a good indicator of the general theme and feel that one should expect from the rest of the album.
The next song titled 'The Blind House' has a dark aura to it. The vocals are clearly the focus in this song, as the verses are kept in the foreground with hardly any music accompanying them. The chorus does have some generic riffs to go along with it though. The chorus riffs and the solo in the middle of the song aren't anything out of the ordinary but they fit well with the song. The last 90 seconds go into almost complete silence with nothing but the vocals. Lyrically it seems to talk about trusting the people inside this 'blind' house and about free love. A typical progressive rock track.
The next song 'Great Expectations' is a very short track. Its arranged well for such a track. It has an acoustic intro followed by an electric solo and not too much in terms of lyrics. From what I can gather, it talks about a lost childhood friendship.
'Kneel and Disconnect' is another slow one. Its entirely drumless and the main instruments used are piano and acoustic guitar, with a piano solo at the end. This one talks about filling an application to start a new career. Possibly, it refers to Steven Wilson's past when he decided to give up a secure job to follow his dream of making music.
'Drawing The Line' is the next song and it's a little different from the songs so far. It isn't as dark sounding as the previous ones. The lyrics and riffs that form the chorus are almost alternative rock-type. The guitar solo at the end makes up for it to a large extent though.
The title song 'The Incident' comes at number 6 on the album. It talks about the concept on which the album is based, a car crash on the highway which is detachedly described by the word 'incident'. The darkness is back with this song. Major part of the song is missing any melody or rhythm parts. It's a story being told. The music is synthesized except for the guitar parts in the latter half.
The next song 'Your Unpleasant Family' is another one of the short tracks which are not meant to stand out, but are arranged in between the more prominent songs. It follows the general theme and feel of the album so far. Its about a family that terrorizes its neighbours.
The second instrumental of the album 'The Yellow Windows of The Evening Train' comes next. There seems to be some experimentation going on with the way the music is composed for this one, using only keyboards and synthesizer.
The longest song of the album 'Time Flies' follows. The acoustic riffs are repeated through out the song and they definitely give the song a strong rhythm. Lyrically Steven has talked about how time has flown since the time he was born in '67. The song gains momentum after the first 3 minutes when some lead riffs kick in. This is a typical progressive track which starts off slow, builds up, then totally slows again and comes back up to full pace by the time it ends. Its surely the best song and my favourite track in the album and as described by Steve himself, it's the centre piece around which the other songs are arranged.
'Degree Zero Of Liberty' seems to be a reprise of the opening song as it has the exact same guitar riffs to start off with. Again it's a very short instrumental track and doesn't seem to have much of its own identity.
'Octane Twisted' is one of the only two songs which are written collectively by the band and not individually by Steven. Its another one of the so called 'incidents' where a dead body is found floating in the water by a group of people. The music sounds depressing and melancholic, perfect for the song's topic.
'The Sˇance' is about a communication with spirits and the chorus is same as the previous song which can mean that the two events are related in some sort of way. Musically its not much different from the other songs, having the acoustic guitar all the way.
The second song composed collectively comes at number 13 and is titled 'Circle Of Manias'. It's the fourth and last of the instrumental tracks. Its quite dark, dark to the extent of being creepy for some people. I can make out plenty of down-tuned guitar parts in this one. The synth sounds are brilliantly arranged along with them. It isn't much in terms of its length but its one of my favourite songs from the album.
The last song 'I Drive The Hearse' is relatively soft, but its sad in its lyrics and music. The hearse symbolizes being down and fallen.
Overall, I would commend the effort by Steven Wilson to come up with an album almost completely on his own. It must have taken a lot of imagination and creativity to write the lyrics and arrange the music for such a concept, and it shows on the final outcome. His vocals go beautifully with the music and are able to capture the listener's attention. The lyrics seem to have a lot of meaning to them and one really get into them even deeper than I have.
As the case is with concept albums, it is sure to take time to grow on the new Porcupine Tree fan, but as time goes on and as they keep playing this album live, I would say it will have its impact. Having said that, songs like 'Blind House', 'Time Flies' and 'Circle Of Manias' will get instant success with the listeners. Its hard to tell at this point how much success this album will eventually get, but this isn't one of those bands who dumb down their sound to appeal to the masses. Personally I like the way its been arranged and I would pay to see it being played live in its entirety. An intricate and enjoyable effort!
To buy the CD and for more information, check out www.porcupinetree.comLooking for the best cable deals? Check out Cox Phoenix!