THE INCIDENT

That this album is Porcupine Tree's lowest rated album since Voyage 34: The Complete Trip is ridiculous. It by far surpasses Fear of a Blank Planet and Deadwing, and I believe it's on-par with In Absentia, if not better. That being said, The Incident was a great album and probably my favorite album of 2009.

The most common complaint I've noticed is the fact that the title suite doesn't flow like a single song should. I understand that it was advertised as being a single song. I for one think it flows more like a concept album than a single suite, but I still highly enjoy it. Another complaint I've seen is that it's 'not progressive enough'. I think that's a ridiculous thing to say; progressive rock is not the same thing it was in the 70's. It, like everything else, has changed over time as it was influenced by other areas of music (which happens to be what makes music progressive in the first place). The album definitely has a progressive feel to it.

Anyways I'm not going to go into detail on specific tracks, but some of the standouts are "The Blind House", the title movement ("The Incident"), "Time Flies", every track from "Degree Zero of Liberty" to "Circle of Manias" (these four tracks flow together quite well), "I Drive The Hearse"; "Bonnie the Cat" and "Remember Me Lover" from the second disc.

Overall I'd give this album 4.5 stars (it's not completely without flaws) as one of my favorite albums of 2009.