GRACE FOR DROWNING

After the unsatisfactory and a bit disjointed Insurgentes, which was like a compilation of Porcupine Tree unreleased tracks, Steven Wilson returned with Grace for Drowning!

And there he crafted a more coherent collection of songs, with a style which moves between the strength and power of Porcupine Tree and a much more jazz and psychedelic oriented sections. Sadly, this parts of the album are a bit dull and boring for me, making the listening of tracks like Raider II not really attractive.

Nevertheless, the album has enough good songs to be an enjoyable experience, and the lyrics are always interesting despite lacking a concept behind them like in Fear of a Blank Planet or the later The Raven that Refused to Sing.

Best Tracks: Deform to form a Star (the best track of the album, pure beautiful prog piece), No part of Me (simple, good written song) and Index (great lyrics and a very sinister tone)

Conclusion: Grace for Drowning is a better album than Insurgentes, but it does not reach the quality of the best Works of Porcupine Tree, having a lot of filler tracks and too much improvised jazz and psychedelic moments for my taste.

Nevertheless, the second Steven Wilson effort with his own name is a very competent and well-crafted piece of prog music which deserves to be heard at least a couple of times.

My rating: ***