Porcupine Tree - In Absentia

Amazing, amazing, amazing...

Man, I kinda got this album on a whim, and boy am I glad I did. From the opening riff to the powerful, moving closer, there is not a dull moment. The heavier stuff reminds me a little of Opeth and Dream Theater...maybe a little Tool in there even though I don't really listen to them. There are some beautiful haunting/atmospheric passages too, which add a great deal of dimension to the album. I'm not familiar with Porcupine Tree's back catalog, but from what I gather, this might be the most accessible album of theirs at the time of its release. I definitely recommend it to people who like good rock and progressive music. August 7, 2008

Another fine album by the band

At the time this was released (2002), my general impression of In Absentia was that it was pretty heavy, but not overwhelmingly so. What I like the most about this album (and band for that matter) is the emotional sophistication of the music - in combination with their solid musicianship it makes for a very rich listening experience.

Musically, the band is very tight and the trademark Porcupine Tree blend of haunting and sad minor chords, fine vocals, atmospheric synthesizer parts and heaviness works very well. I especially liked the fact that they had moved on from the slightly lighter and "poppier" sound of Lightbulb Sun (2000) - In Absentia is a very dark album overall. Although all of the tracks are very enjoyable, my favorite is the sad piece entitled Heart Attack in a Layby.

With respect to instrumentation, I enjoy the synthesizer textures that Richard uses - they are mainly used to simulate strings and are used as a sustained backdrop rather than a melody line. The mellotron (samples?) are also quite nice. Steve's guitar textures/timbres include delicate acoustic sections, clean tones on an electric, and a thunderous, "crunchy" tone on the electric. Overall, the contrast of the light and the heavy is quite nice and was a hallmark of the best progressive rock from the 1970s. It is also worth noting that In Absentia features new drummer Gavin Harrison for the first time on a PT studio album - I find his overall technical approach to be very similar to the previous drummer (that is a good thing by the way).

This is a great album by a very interesting post-progressive band that continues to create exciting music. For those folks interested in the bands earlier, more ambient works, excellent examples include The Sky Moves Sideways (1995) and Signify (1996). July 24, 2008

One of Porcupine Tree's best works? Maybe....

The majority of PT fans believe this is their best album to date and are in love with it. But I do believe it is over hyped. The album does not seem to flow as well together as the rest of their albums...and at times it seems all over the place. Here is a track by track detail:

1. Blackest Eyes - Its a really good opener...I like the pause toward the end of the song and the chorus is very catchy.
2. Trains - A spectacular song and one of PT's most beautiful pieces to date, a song that everybody should really like.
3. Lips Of Ashes - Amazing display of vocal harmonics....sit down and just listen to this song.
4. The Sound Of Muzak - Once again another song with a very catchy chorus.
5. Gravity Eyelids - Hard to describe this song or my liking for it. A lot of PT fans love this song, but I don't get too excited when listening to it. It starts off quiet and slow, then has a hard riff section then back to the slow part.
6. Wedding Nails - A heavy instrumental, and a great one.
7. Prodigal - The best song on the album in my opinion. It is perfectly scripted.....great song!
8. .3 - This song is up there with Prodigal, very nice and soft song.
9. The Creator Has A Mastertape - Very different from anything PT has done, very fast and upbeat.
10. Heartattack In A Layby - Another amazing display of vocal harmonics, this song will blow you away.
11. Strip The Soul - Great song, you can see where PT is heading with their future albums based on this song. It is heavy.
12. Collapse the Light Into Earth - Very slow/mellow song with piano and vocals....I think it drags a bit much.

Great album, but like I said the music is sorta all over the place. I am not sure if it was recorded at different times which could indicate the different sound through out the album. Or if the introduction of Gavin Harrison caused some late decisions to change some songs up (as the album was written before Gavin came to record the album).

Either way it is a fantastic album by PT, I don't consider it their best...I see it more as an experimental album for the band themselves, as they were trying to find the next direction (that was only imminent) that they would go in. But every PT fan should get this album as it does have several classic PT songs and it is an important phase in Porcupine Tree's history.

PS: This album also produced a few really good B sides such as "Drown With Me", "Futile" and "Chloroform". July 7, 2008

Great Music from a Great Band!

I am a relative new comer to Porcupine Tree. A longtime fan of progressive or just good music in general, I can't believe I am just now finding out about this great band. Better late than never though. Being a musician myself, I appreciate good musicianship and especially tasteful playing. I started out with In Absentia and Deadwing. Next came Fear of a Blank Planet and the newly released Nil Recurring. The first time I heard both In Absentia and Deadwing I was not real impressed. Looking back, I think this was because I had very high expectations from reading the reviews here - and the music is so different than anything I expected. After a couple of more listens to In Absentia and Deadwing, I couldn't get enough! In Absentia and Deadwing each contains enough great music to make most other artists catalogs envious. The musicianship is impeccable as is the song crafting and even the album flow. If you have not heard Porcupine Tree, set aside some money and start collecting their CD's. Start with In Absentia or Deadwing. When you get the CD's, set aside some listening time and play them all the way through. From there I would get Fear of a Blank Planet and it's follow-up CD, Nil Recurring or the excellent concert 2 DVD set, "Arriving Somewhere." I now have every studio album from PT except for "On the Sunday of Life". Each album is unique and pays you with its own rewards. If you like good music, you are going to like PT. Two of their slightly older CD's have been remastered and contain a bonus DVDA 5.1 DTS mix of the entire CD with bonus tracks. If you have a good surround sound system, these are must have CD's. They are "Lightbulb Sun" and "Stupid Dream." The surround mixes are excellent and are not gimmicky like some others are. It's an experience all its own. Needless to say, I am excited to find this great music that is PT and will be writing a review of each album as I have time. I just know that for music lovers, you have a hole in your life that needs to be filled with the music of Porcupine Tree. Start listening now and you will never be the same. July 2, 2008

Best Band Around

Simply put, PT is the greatest working band around. And it seems as if the reason is obvious: They have, over time, perfected a formula echoing the very best elements of rock music encompassing the last 30-plus years; and in the process created a joyous hybrid of Floyd, Crimson, Genesis, Rush, NIN and Tool, among others...with a trace of Fripp's solo soundscapes guitar treatment sprinkled in. By mixing this musical stew with their own unique brilliance they have filtered out the excess and effectively produced a sound that is at once excitingly original and undeniably reminiscent of the best 70's prog.

In my humble opinion "In Abstentia" and "Fear of a Blank Planet" are the pinnacles of their work, although most all their records are great. I can't listen to one single track from the masterpiece that is "In Abstentia" without automatically wanting to hear the entire CD beginning with track one, since, not only is it a concept album, but one song truly does seamlessly blend into the next; especially the first two. Anyone who loves this album knows you can't play the wonderfully-addictive "Blackest Eyes" without the gorgeous perfection that is "Trains" immediatley following it. And just TRY hitting stop after THAT. You can't do it...The tapestry and texture of this record creates nothing short of an atmospheric bliss for the ears. It is the perfect sonic balance of acoustic and electric, power and delicacy, ambience and harmony, and industrial and alternative metal. All backing the best lead-vocalist (and lyrics) in modern rock today (with the exception of Peter Gabriel, but of course SW is the best of his own generation). How this incredible band is not a house-hold name by now is beyond me. After all, they really are The Beatles of this millenium. June 30, 2008

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