WE LOST THE SKYLINE

I am disappointed to see this album rated so low. I might be biased since I was actually at this show, but for people who do not know the story behind this recording it can diminish their view towards this. This album lacks the rest of the band because there was no room for them to play. When Porcupine Tree agreed to play there I assume they thought the store was bigger because the show was going to originally be the whole band.

To describe the setting there was about 100 people crammed between the cd racks while a stage was set up against a wall that could occupy 10 people at most comfortably. Steven sat on a stool in the center of the stage with his acoustic while the rest of the band stood off to the side watching next to some merchandise.

Due to the circumstances I was pleasantly surprised with the arrangement. How often is anyone going to see Steven Wilson play solo? Anyway, on to the album, which of course is amazing. With the lack of layers comes a raw emotion that adds a different light to the songs, especially with Stars Die, which is a song I cared little for before this show. When Wesley comes on stage then a whole new beast is born with Waiting and Lazarus. In fact, if there is any one reason to get this album it is for the recording of Lazarus, which at times I like more than the studio recording.

As with anything though, this album is not without its flaws. The talking part before Normal should have been placed on a separate track to make it easy to skip. On top of that I think Normal was a sup-par choice considering the arrangement. Only three minutes of the song are played, and while I like it, I think a lot is lost in translation. A more preferable choice would have been Half Light, which they had played the previous night and was absolutely amazing.

This album is not a perfect five, but if you're a PT fan you are going to want to own this album.