ILOSAARIROCKPorcupine TreeHeavy Prog3.71 | 146 ratings |
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Bonnek
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator |
Illosaarirock is live recording of a festival gig in Finland. It's been distributed to the
Residents of A Blank Planet fanclub only so for the time being this will have only a limited
availability. But as can be expected from Porcupine Tree, limited edition does by no means mean inferior. This is a perfectly produced recording of a band out on all cylinders. The material is mainly coiled from the FoaBP album and played faithful to the originals. But where the studio renditions lacked a bit of punch, this live rendition is simply steaming! The concert opener FoaBP blasts out of the speakers, just a notch faster and fully rocking out. Lightbulb Sun doesn't match the dreamy ambience of its original but it is grittier and angry. An approach that suits Open Car. Everyone who has heard Anesthetize live knows how a rousing effect the song gives. So it does, here as well. One little flaw would be Wesley's rendition of Alex Lifeson's guitar solo. He clearly doesn't have Alex's magic touch and sounds completely not at ease with it. The best comes at the end. Way Out of Here and Sleep Forever had always left me a bit untouched on the studio album. But here they are so much more powerful. Way Out Of Here is intense and emotional, Sleep Forever sounds raw and dirty, exactly as it should be. Blackest Eyes, Trains and Halo all feature on previous live album but they are mandatory at a festival gig of course. Halo got a slightly different arrangement with different guitar effects and keyboard sounds. Excellent fan release that deserves 4 stars. But I expect it it will become slightly redundant with the release of the Anesthetize DVD... 3.5 stars
Bonnek |
3/5 |
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