UP THE DOWNSTAIR

What a progress can be felt here on Up the Downstair, in comparison with the first album by still solo Wilson's project Porcupine Tree. The production here is much professional, than in On the Sunday of Life. The compositions are compact. The album is less psychedelic than its predecessor. The songwriting is complex and well enough completed, full of long songs.

If we look to the songs inside, we easy can find very much well arranged artistic and dramatic parts; dramatical parts especially in the longer songs (composition type) and artistic manner especially in the shorter songs (intro type), which could be described as the connecting links between the main longer songs.

The most astonishing is the fact, that at the time of Up the Downstair's release, Steven Wilson is still amateur musician. I mean music is not his main job, but instead of that the album characterize as mature piece of work. Surely the best amateur album I've ever heard. After the success of Up the Downstair, Steven Wilson perceived the idea of full-length band, instead of solo project and professional attitude to the business called music.

The album consists of no weak songs, but I shall stand out Synesthesia (the most psychedelic song on the album), homonymous Up the Downstair and Burning Sky as the best three song here. I consider this album to be more psychedelic than progressive like the first one, but the primacy of psychedelic genres on the album is much smaller than in On the Sunday of Life.

Although, there aren't weak song, the album has one flaw - the repetitions; they are all over the album. Despite the fact, all other components are so high, that the album is passing by over the 4 (four) stars: 4.1 - 4.2 stars! First solid record by Porcupine Tree and last as amateur solo project act!!!