WE LOST THE SKYLINE

We Lost The Skyline captures an in-store live performance from Porcupine Tree. Or rather, it should have been Porcupine Tree but due to technical reasons there was only space for Steven Wilson and John Wesley on the small podium.

The circumstances led to a unique experience where Wilson had to strip the band arrangements to their bare essence. With just two electric guitars and vocals some songs sound entirely different. The Sky Moves Sideways is 4 minute rendition, basically it's only the second section with the vocals. The arrangement has been changed to just an ambient guitar accompaniment to Wilson's confident vocals. Great one. 4stars

Even Less is a bit strange but I quite like it. It sounds like how Jeff Buckley would do this with just the vocals and a slightly distorted electric guitar. 3.5stars

For Stars Die, Wilson switches to acoustic guitars. Something that obviously suits this song very well. The vocals are very strong and prove Wilson's grown confidence as a vocalist. The lush atmosphere of the original is lacking here of course. 4stars

Waiting, without that gorgeous bass line from Colin Edwin? No way. The guitars solos are fine but something is really missing here. Also the vocals disappoint me here. 2stars.

Normal must be one of PT's weakest tracks of recent years, but the abbreviated version here works better then the original one from Nil Recurring. The parts of the song that were also used for the song Sentimental are cut out. 2stars.

Drown With Me is that wonderful PT song that was absent from the In Absentia regular edition, a glaring omission that I never understood. The original band version is better but if you don't have it then this is a decent alternative. 3stars.

Lazarus is the poorest PT song ever in my book. The unplugged version makes things even worse and only further reveals the song's true nature: cheesy emo pop. 1star

Trains is the predictable encore. A rather forgettable version. 2 stars.

I usually don't like unplugged albums at all, but of course I'm not surprised Wilson manages to soften my judgement. Not convincing all the way but a good release for fans.