THE INCIDENT

Oh, how I love to see the variation of ratings this album has gotten thus far. It means that it's different enough from the band's usual output to divide a fanbase. As far as I'm concerned, that is a good thing!

So, what is THE INCIDENT? Well, if you look at it from my perspective, it's Steven WIlson's first attempt in years to venture back into actual 'Prog' territory. What I mean by that is simple: it's not ''In Absentia''. And no matter how loud some PT fans may howl, there never will be another album like ''In Absentia''. The best thing for us to do is move on along with the band, so that we won't be disappointed by any of their efforts post-2002. I was guilty of not doing that with ''Deadwing'', but have since found a new liking for it than my initial reaction. I think in time, the same will be said of many of the reviewers who have given this album a extra-low score. Right now they hate it, because it isn't what they wanted. Notice nobody actually says the album isn't any good; they justify their brutal ratings by saying that while the album is good, it isn't 'Porcupine Tree good'. In other words, THE INCIDENT isn't up to the Porcupine Tree's usual standards. Well, shouldn't that be up to Porcupine Tree?

And of course on the opposite end of the spectrum, there are people handing out five-star ratings like candy where this album is concerned. I don't think anybody who would actually sit down and think about it could agree with this analogy, either. The truth of the matter is that THE INCIDENT is good. It's not great, and it's not horrible. It's just . . . good. I would say it boarders on being simply 'decent' at times, but still has enough redeeming qualities to keep it in the 'good' range. The reason why I do not rush to my computer right away to write a review of something is because I want to make sure I have heard the music enough times in order to truly give an accurate, unbiased review. I think by this point, a few months into the release of THE INCIDENT, I am prepared to do just that.

As I said before, this album is a return to form for Steven Wilson. For years (arguably ever since ''Stupid Dream'') he has written and performed music that has leaned much more in the 'Alt. Rock' direction than 'Prog Rock'. Many Prog bands have attempted to go 'pop', and failed. Luckily, Wilson is a good enough composer to evade most pitfalls others have fallen into. Indeed, even when at his most modern and accessible, he still manages to add a flare of originality to his work that many musicians (including myself) are deeply envious of. The band's first commercial 'hit' of sorts was ''In Absentia'', and to this day it still remains my favorite Porcupine Tree record. It manages to capture my spirit and lift me up into deeply emotional places despite being full of commercial aspects. At its heart, this project will always be progressive and original, and that I think makes all the difference.

However, with THE INCIDENT, Wilson and crew have taken a step back into their Prog roots and decided to write an epic that spans the length of an entire compact disc. Accompanying the piece is a second disc full of more traditional rock songs in the vein of ''Deadwing'' or ''Fear of a Blank Planet''. So half the set is an attempt to reach out to the Prog side of the fanbase, and the other half will appeal to the more recent fans who have only just begun to discover Porcupine Tree's music. At least, that's how it seems to have been planned. I don't necessarily think it was always successful, but for the most part, it delivers at what it was trying to do, I think.

The title track, the 'epic' that everyone is so divided about, is really a collection of anecdotal lyrics which at first do not seem to be interconnected at all. This album is much less lyrically-driven than past efforts, and I suppose it was a nice change of pace. Still, I would have preferred another concept record with an actual narrative, but again, that's my ''In Absentia'' fandom creeping in where it doesn't belong. The songwriting is good, and the musicianship solid, as is the case with nearly every PT album, but what I was disappointed to discover at first was how empty this record is. What I mean is . . . there is a lot less substance than what you may expect.

Breaking it down, I would say three or four movements from ''The Incident'' actually stand out to me as something special. The opening, ''Occam's razor'', is rather weak, as is the section of the piece bearing the same title as the album. Both songs feel as if they are completely unrelated to each other, and both also seem to missing a lot of actual music, with dead space and background noise filling up huge gaps at a time. This CAN be interesting when done sparingly, but it happens so frequently throughout the whole thing that I began to feel drained after awhile of not hearing any real music. Sadly, this feeling still hits me no matter how many times I revisit ''The Incident'', and so I suppose it will always bother me a bit. But i did give it a chance to grow on me. Sometimes I just can't be swayed from my initial impressions of things.

That's not to say the piece as a whole isn't any good. Plenty of fine musical moment highlight and immortalize this album for me in many ways. I'm not like some of other reviewers here who couldn't point to a certain moment that affected them. For me, some points such as ''Time Flies'', which comes at the halfway point of the whole epic, really touch me emotionally. I mean, it's a clear rip-off of the ''Animals'' record by Pink Floyd, but it sure as hell beats all that moody, noise-rock crap that seems so ever-present on this particular outing. Sometimes a little familiarity can be refreshing. Especially in situations like this one.

Another really cool, groovy moment for me that I could listen to for hours is the ''Octane Twisted'' - ''Circle of Manias'' section. It rises, falls, then rises again to an entrancing, heavy guitar groove that puts me in mind of Meshuggah. The Tree also did this on their last full-blown studio effort, ''Fear of a Blank Planet'' during the ''Anesthetize'' track, and I had the same reaction then. I just love music that can lock in to a particular riff for long periods of time, yet also keep the listener enthralled without boring. So yes, that whole section of ''The Incident'' I also love.

Finally, the soft, melodic ''I Drive The Hearse'' that immediately follows the section I just described. It's probably my favorite part on the whole record. Somebody else already said described it as 'weak', and I am inclined to fear for that person's mental health, because I find it to be a compelling, lovely piece of music. But, to each his own, I suppose. Frankly, the only way somebody could find this song 'weak' is if they only like listening to overly-technical, pretentious jive. ''I Drive The Hearse'' certainly isn't that. It's very calm and laid back. A nice contrast to the aggressive groove-metal-inspired section that preceeded it, really. That's why I did not include it in my last paragraph, even though it follows immediately after track-wise. It feels like a completely different song, and really not part of the rest of the piece at all.

Something also brought up that I do not agree with is that nothing ever feels connected in this piece. While the long pauses and lack of instrumentation for those long bouts I described can indeed cause the song to feel disjointed, I do hear moments where previous melodies are revisited, and that is enough to make me feel the the piece flows better than others would have you believe in their reviews.

As a whole piece, ''The Incident'' works well enough to please fans, but newcomers will more often than not be turned away by the track's length, and as for whether or not it succeeded at being 'Prog', well . . . again, some people may not think so, but I don't care what 'style' you want to group this into; the bottom line is that the concept is very progressive, You won't see Nickleback doing a 55-minute track any time soon. Get my point?

Now, for the second disc. The remainder of the songs, with the exception of ''Flicker'', feel like throwaways, and I wonder why PT even bothered including this other disc, except for maybe they wanted to add some variety, and also these songs had more input from the rest of the band. Unfortunately, it shows.

Any time Steve Wilson stops captaining the ship that is Porcupine Tree, nothing fits musically. You've got ''Bonnie the Cat'', which is a very good track for the most part, but it's very jarring and disorienting at first, not to mention there is a guitar riff in there that is exactly the same as the chorus is Opeth's ''Ghost Reveries''. It rocks, but it's already been done before. That's a Dream Theater move, Steve, and you've done it twice in one album. Very unfortunate.

As I said, I really enjoyed ''Flicker'', and despite the obvious lack of direction, ''Bonnie'' is good. The remaining two tracks aren't much to write home about, though. ''Black Dahlia'' has its moments, but for the most part will rapidly fall down my list of favorite PT tracks, and as for ''Remember Me Lover'', well . . . I don't really remember it.

So there you have it. A good long track, two good single tracks and two forgettable ones. Not anywhere near a 'two out of five', but certainly not a 'five'. I think some people here are being much too harsh simply because they had incorrect expectations. At the same time, I can't believe how many people are considering it a 'masterpiece of progressive music' when it is so clearly not.

As for me, I give it a solid three. It's good, but not great. If you're a fan already, you'll like it, as long as you keep an open mind. Everybody else might have a harder time wading through the murk just so they can enjoy the few brilliant parts spread throughout the record.