IN ABSENTIA

What the crap!!!!! I know I live in Kentucky where we sometimes forget to wear our shoes, (just joking, I promise), but why did I have to hear about Porcupine Tree by accident...while I'm playing Madden football for Pete's sake.

Anyway, now that I've heard them, or more acurately, him, I think Porcupine Tree is the best new group I've heard since I first listened to Script for a Jester's Tear in 1982. And In Absentia seems to be the most complete effort I've heard from them so far.

1. Blackest Eyes....9/10. Very modern, rocking, and melodic. 2. Trains....10.....This is just an awesome song. 3. Lips of Ashes....8.5.....it's moody and melancholic, very atmospheric. 4. The Sound of Muzak...9.....This seems to be a big beef with Steven Wilson. He's very pessimistic about the music business and people's sheeplike adherence to the fodder they feed us. He's spot on with what he says. The lyrics are some of his best. 5. Gravity Eyelids...8...Similar in mood to track 3, but it takes a dinstinctly hard turn in the middle. 6. Wedding Nails....8.5...no, wait, make that a ...9....The song starts as an 8.5 but gets better as it goes along. 7. Prodigal....9......Fools you out of the gate with it's leisurely guitar. Then it kicks into another gear, with some of the boldest guitar work on the album, and great melodies. 8. .3....This one gets an....8....A great song, but doesn't strike as strongly as some of the rest. Maybe it will in a few months. 9. The Creator Has A Mastertape...8...again not one of my favorites, but this album is so good I can't give anything less than an 8. Most frenetic song on the album. 10. Heart-attack In A Layby.....10....A masterpiece that looks inside one of the saddest moments anyone can experience, yet we don't dare sing of it. Thank you Steven Wlson for this song. 11. Strip the Soul...another 8....I would parts of it a 6, other parts a 10. 12. Collapse the Light Into Earth...10....I think it must be a courageous thing for such a musically gifted musician to write and record music this simple. But, again, thank you Steven Wilson for sharing the beauty you heard instead of boring us by showing off.