FEAR OF A BLANK PLANET

I'm not convinced that Steven Wilson knows what his target audience is anymore. Fear of a Blank Planet, lyrically, has a 'get down wiv da kidz' feel about it, yet at a recent live concert, I felt decidedly young and I'm 45! If the album has been written from the perspective of what it must be like to be a kid growing up in this modern world, then it fails to hit its mark and if it has been written for kids, then I can't imagine hordes of 15 year olds swapping their Eminems, Fifty Cents or Linkin Parks for this.

I'd say it was a shame, but I think Porcupine Tree would be wasted on most teenagers, especially those who think the height of musical genius is stealing two-thirds of someone elses song and rapping over the top.

Fear of a Blank Planet is certainly an ambitious album, comprising of only 6 tracks and is as much a concept album as Deadwing, but this time there's something tangible for the listener to grab hold of. The biggest problem with this album is it just compounds the image that they have become prog's miserabilists.

Musically, this album is as accomplished a Porcupine Tree for ten years. The production feels more layered and all-encompassing and while the monster track, Anesthetise, could do with being two tracks, you can just about forgive it for the feeling that it was mashed together.

It is well-balanced, with two slower tracks breaking up the hard rock leanings and while I don't think there's going to be anything on this album that will become particularly memorable in years to come, as an entire piece of music it works and that is what Wilson intended, I believe.

If you're into the more prog metal influences then you'll enjoy this album; if, however, you yearn for the days of The Sky Moves Sideways and Up the Downstair then this might not be for you.