This the ninth studio album from Porcupine Tree. Like the past two releases, it is a concept album. Lyrically, It deals with the impact on today's children in regards to The Internet, television, games consoles, mobile phones, prescription drugs, bipolar disorder, and the freedom of information that we normally view as a good thing. The whole album is expressed from the viewpoint of a child who, as a "victim" of all of these things, is slowly losing his grasp on reality and his sense of wanting to exist and to grow up.

At first you'll need to listen intently from start-to-finish and give it some attention for the level of creativity, musicianship and intelligence throughout this work to fully 'sink in'. Sometimes now I will find myself listening to it as background music or picking out songs to hear separately - in particular the shorter song such as "Sentimental" and "My Ashes".

"Anesthetize". At almost 18 minutes, it is by far the longest track, and the quintessential song of this album. This for me is a true epic, gradually progressing from a creepy and distant section that demonstrate Steven Wilson's vocals very well, and later into heavy-metal influenced riffing and a very memorable choruses, also featuring a guitar solo from Alex Lifeson of Rush. Throughout the whole song it still beautifully retains a constant mood of sullenness and negativity, while Wilson's direct lyrical approach(Which has never been this down-to-earth) Brings life to the layered texture of the sound as he ushers lines like "We're lost in the mall, shuffling through the stores like zombies, But what's the point, what can money buy?"
The whole album can be seen as some sort of social commentary, but not in the sense that the lyrics are the most important thing. The dark, moody and all-too-often beautiful soundscapes that accompany them will no doubt be enough to quench your proverbial musical thirst.

Any fans of progressive rock or anyone who enjoys lyricaly-motivated music should definitely check this out, but really I think PT transcends their genre quite a bit. Any fan of decent rock music may find something in this, and I'd reccommend it to most people I know.

There aren't many downsides to this album in terms of its musical quality, but I would say it is pretty heavy-going. It's an intense journey encompassing melancholia, apathy and anger, and expressed in a style that ranges from soft and melodic to powerful, hard-edged and metallic.
Not recommended if you are either severely depressed, or mainly listen to cheery pop tunes that are all under 4 minutes.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Fear of a Blank Planet   from Amazon.Com!

Created Jul 15, 2008 at 4:33pm • Submit your own review...