DEADWING

I still can't understand how this could be chosen as the top PROG album of 2005 by the collaborators of this site. But there it is. It's certainly a good album, but like all PTree albums, I have a hard time thinking of it as PROG. It's certainly not all that inventive or progressive, in the dictionary sense.

But, it is standard Porcupine Tree and for me that is never a bad thing. Wilson has a style and formula that works quite well with this band, so I can't really deny that at least.

For me though, this album was a bit of a disappointment compared to the previous album, In Absentia. I suppose since that album is still my favorite PTree album of them all, this isn't surprising. I think the main thing is that this album took a bit longer to absorb then IA did for me. While this can often be a good sign, in this case it didn't really help me to love the album more than the previous one.

In any case, it does start off well, with the long and varied title track. This song has some heaviness to it, though just like the last album, it's nowhere near metal (though Wilson does like those heavy riffs for the last 3 albums, doesn't he?). It does the by now somewhat predictable Wilson trademark of heavy verse and melodic and somewhat mellower chorus. All in all, a good song. Shallow, on the other hand is a bit more thrashy and noisy. Not a favorite of mine, but not a bad song either. Lazarus is the mellow ballad like song is quite a nice one, but not even close to as good as the ones on IA. Again, though, a solid good song. Halo is a more upbeat poppy type song with lyrics I quite like. The music though is simplistic and not that interesting.

Now we come to the meat of the album, Arriving Somewhere But Not Here. When I first listened to this song, on Progarchives as a matter of fact before I ever owned the album, I though it was fairly dull and lifeless. However, after repeated listens I have to say this is one of the best PTree songs ever recorded. The slow building beginning is mesmerizing and contains echoes of the early, psychedelic days of the band. This leads to a heavy section that features some of the best heavy riffs Wilson has come up with to date. The drumming on this section is fantastic. Eventually we are led back to a more driving repeat of the early part of the song to close. A masterpiece of a song and the highlight of this album by far.

Mellotron Scratch has grown on me and is a pleasant and interesting song........without any Mellotron. But I wasn't expecting any despite the title. Open Car is another favorite of mine on this album, probably because of the dramatic chorus. The final two tracks are fairly typical for PTree, the somewhat heavy, somewhat instrumental number followed by the melancholic closing number. Decent songs but nothing special for this band really.

Overall, a solid album that I have come to enjoy over repeated listenings. Not my favorite though, but I will give it the extra half star for a respectable 3.5 out of 5, rounding up to 4 because I really like this album. Anyway, despite this not being a Prog band by my reckoning, they have consistently made quality albums that I have enjoyed to varying degrees. So labeling aside, a good album that is worth checking out, especially if you enjoy anything else by this band.