THE INCIDENT

Time Flies (nice use of PF motifs), Occam's Razor (one of the heavier peices here), and Kneel and Disconnect (nice simple piano) are the high points of this album. The second half of the first disk isn't bad either. Other than that, though, this material is unimpressive. The second disk is a mostly pointless addition, having little to do with the main suite and sounding mediocre besides. I don't mean to imply that the suite is much better; it's a yawn. Inane lyrics, boring composition, drawn-out or outright lousy ideas drag it down. It lacks unity, too, and though Steven Wilson insists that you listen to the entire disk for the proper "experience," most of the songs stand fine (or even better) alone. The segues are prominent and sometimes even awkward. Among the worst moments on this disk are the title track (grating electronica) and I Drive the Hearse (terrible lyrics, boring song), both of which are an embarrassment to SW and PT.

Though The Incident sounds fine at certain points, Porcupine Tree hasn't composed such a weak album in all their time as a proper band. The upside? With low expectations, their next album presents the band with an opportunity to experiment, and with that experimentation one hopes that we will see a return to form.

2 stars.