IN ABSENTIA

Lost in a world of 'S-Club's' and 'Busted's', rock music was keeping me occupied rather than blowing me away. In Absentia was the album I had been waiting for. My introduction to Porcupine Tree led me to go in search of the whole back-catalogue. After a year of listening to Porcupine Tree, In Absentia is my favourite album, and not purely for sentimental reasons. There is tremendous variety in the song styles, precision and clarity in the way the songs are played, and emotion and intelligence in Steven Wilson's lyrics. Combine these with SW's growing ear for production, and you end up with one of the most exceptional and underrated albums of the last decade. Each time I listen to the album I have a new favourite song. I do not have to reach for the remote to skip any tracks. It is just masterful rock music. To experience the album in it's prime, buy the DVD-Audio version and enjoy all 12-tracks + bonus tracks in 5.1 DTS Surround Sound. Glorious. Simply glorious.