FEAR OF A BLANK PLANET

I simply can't stop listening to this masterpiece! I HAVE BECOME ADDICTED TO IT! The first track is such an introduction of which is the concept of the whole opus, all has been said yet by other reviewers about it so I'm not going to focus in the concept but in the music. I'm only going to say they have just matched what is necessary for people to hear and feel in this times, the bloody reality of a generation in blank, and ONLY art can transmit this by the most direct and impressive way. I think this is a great move from PT in all possible ways, from the compositions, to the production and the performance of the four musicians. Let's see...

"Fear of a Blank Planet" the title track contains the intensity and power able to make you stand up and begin to respect the album inmediately (and the band if it's the first time you hear 'em). It's a combination of power chords with symphonic with 70's Led Zeppelin, so when the chorus says 'bipolar disorder, can't deal with the boredom' it sounds really felt, it seems to really came from depressing despairation and "finally breakdown" (which is a trademark in the structure of many compositions of SW), I really love the final passage of this song!! (9/10)

"My Ashes" is the still track of the album, much melancholy here. Maybe this song have some roots in 'new age' music, it's another proof of the width of the musical horizons of this guys. You will quickly note Richard Barbieri co-wrote this one with SW. Short and effective track, and he really did a really good job here. A kind of "relax and prepare yourself for what is going to come at next". (8/10)

"Anesthetize" is the highlight of the album though it starts from depressing. But when you're drowning in it, it becomes dark and mystic and Alex Lifeson solo arrives to end with the first phase of this 17:42 masterpiece. I found some Meshuggah influences in the riff that follows, but it has an amazing back atmosphere here and there, which again brings the band's trademark style to something really modern and actual. The next phase and you hear SW spreading "The dust in my soul makes me feel the weight in my legs" and finally "I'm totally bored but I can't switch off", then comes the hook part of the track, the chorus "Only apathy from the pills in me. It's all in me, all in you", it's really f***ing catching and maybe you could keep on repeating this choruses in your mind for at least one and a half hour after, even not intentionally. A really catching track in all senses. It explodes near to the ending with superb mind-blowing extreme riffs, some of the most heavy ones ever heard on a PT song. And at last all returns to stillness, and ends with emotion, obvously this WAS intentional indeed, this is the perfect climate to join the next track. (10/10)

"Sentimental" not much to say about this song, the song speaks for itself. The emotive moment of the album. Quite simply one of the most emotive song I've ever heard in my life. Perfect! It could be a single despite the fact the band decide to not include potential singles in this record. The ending part reminds of the song "Trains" from 'In Absentia' (10/10)

"Way Out Of Here" is another highlight. Along with "Anesthetize" this is my fav track. It just starts growing and growing and when you feel it's about to explode it really does with a catchy chorus that says "Way out of here. Fade out, vanish!", and of course, that's the overall sense that the main character (a 10 years old kid) bears at this point as the story unfolds. It also has some very strong and heavy moments, one of the heaviest spots of the album. And it ends with a very dark passage, what I think is part of the Robert Fripp collaboration and influence here, very interesting. (10/10)

"Sleep Together" is the final escape of this kid. "All my files erased" he says. A break-up with the tipical mellow ending of the previous records by the fact this is a really dark piece. It contains some of the best string arrangements ever written by SW. Gavin Harrison, who is really more present than ever in the whole album, does the f***ing great drumming here with an unique style he has developed trough all his career and now it's having an astonishing aspect. I really love this song 'cause this is not a usual PT song, this is for my taste a different and renewed PT. I guess it has an "industrial" feeling at some moments. The final of the song is really ectasy, I can't hear it without turning the volume loud, it's something that I can't avoid. QUITE PERFECT ENDING for this immortal masterpiece. (10/10)

As a liong time fan it MUST recommend you to buy this. For long time fans as for newcomers. DON'T WAIT, GO BUY THIS! Even if you want to enhance the experience you should buy the Special Edition that comes in digipack and a CD with 5.1 DTS mix (Surround Sound) and a 40 page booklet.

Welcome to the Blank Planet!