THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS

Porcupine Tree does their version of Wish You Were Here. With such a talent as Steve Wilson who has already rolled in Pink Floyd soundscapes for years, one would think this album would kick all sorts of ass. Well, it almost does, almost. However, sometimes, when YOU'RE supposed to get lost in the soundscapes, the soundscapes get lost in themselves, and it becames a meandering mishmosh of semi-well developed ideas thrown together in an almost pleasing way. The first phase of the title track is perfect proof. It starts out and takes four minutes to actually start up. Four minutes. It's moderately pleasant to listen to, but it's way too long. Then Wilson starts singing, and it's again pleasant enough, but not very memorable at all. Techno dance time is good fun, and Wilson shows off his excellent guitar skills here which is always fun (since I've known his solos to single-handedly save a song). Then it relapses and meanders more for four minutes.

The Moon Touches Your Shoulder is slow and unremarkable. Dislocated Day shines only because of the sick soloing all throughout and great guitar parts. Then the title track phase two is pretty similar to part one, except even more slow and laid back...in the beggining. Then in the end, it really picks up soem steam and this piece...is probably the best one to get lost in. I don't why the first phase doesn't work as well, but this is where it's at. This is what Wilson wanted to do. Four stars for great soloing, some great soundscapes and nice ideas, repeated a few too many times.