DEADWING

Deadwing is pretty much the album that started Porcupine Tree off where they are now with their alt rock and prog metal influences.

A description of the music: The album starts off with the title track. A great song with many different influences, most prominently alt rock and prog metal. "Shallow" is a pretty weak track that seems a lot like an attempt to make the radio (which it actually did). "Lazarus" is a beautiful ballad, that sounds a bit Coldplay-ish, but a lot better. "Halo" has a catchy bassline, but is another weak track that seems like another radio song. The vocals sound pretty bad in the chorus. "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" is by far and away the best song here and is one of the best PT songs in general. An absolutely amazing song with heavy riffs, great vocals and lyrics, and a wonderful guest appearance solo from Mikael Akerfeldt. "Mellotron Scratch" is a beautiful song with a great acoustic/piano riff. The vocal harmony in the outro is great. "Open Car" contains absolutely dreadful lyrics and is overall a pretty odd song. Another alt rock song which contains a memorable chorus. "The Start Of Something Beautiful" is an amazing song with a great chorus, great riffs, and an entertaining instrumental section. "Glass Arm Shattering" ends the album rather disappointingly on a pretty boring note.

PROS:

Riffs: Some great and memorable riffs present on this album which kind of sparked an era for a more riff-driven Porcupine Tree.

The longer tracks: Luckily the longer tracks on this album are all great ones. A good thing considering that the long tracks will take up more than the short.

Melodies: Here is an album with many great vocal melodies, especially in all of "Mellotron Scratch" and the chorus of "Open Car."

CONS:

Lyrics: Everything after In Absentia seems to have lyrical problems. The worst here are in "Open Car."

Prog?: The only prog songs here really are "Deadwing," "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here," and "The Start Of Something Beautiful."

Patchy: A pretty patchy album overall. However, the tracks that are good drag the album up quite a bit.

Song ratings: Deadwing: 9/10 Shallow: 4/10 Lazarus: 8/10 Halo: 3/10 Arriving Somewhere But Not Here: 11/10 Mellotron Scratch: 9.5/10 Open Car: 6/10 The Start Of Something Beautiful: 9.5/10 Glass Arm Shattering: 4.5/10

Recommended for: Alt rock/alt metal fans. Fans of a truly modernized prog.

Song ratings: 4 stars. While it is patchy, the good songs here are all quite amazing. Therefore they drag it up enough to make it 4 stars.

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