Music of 2009 - Part IX

2. Porcupine Tree – The Incident

Anyone who knows me knows that I love this band. When I first discovered this band in 2005, little did I know the impact the music of Porcupine Tree would have on my life. I have loved the band ever since so naturally The Incident was a first day purchase for me. After the initial fanboy-ism wore off after a few days, I began to seriously put this album through its paces. This album as a whole is brilliant. The songs are excellently composed, the musicianship is top-notch, the songs are lavishly written, ect… But despite all the praise I can heap upon this recording there is one major problem I have with this record. This is a full on, unabashed, concept album. If this were any other band or any other recording this wouldn’t be a problem, but because I hold this band in such high esteem, I feel this small fact damages my listening experience. I feel like I have to listen to the whole album – all 14 tracks – in order to get the whole experience this band wanted to convey. I feel like I have to set aside time to actually listen to this record. Like I said before – not a big deal. But this degrades my personal listening experiences. Anyway… Steven Wilson and company have really outdone themselves. The Incident is yet another Porcupine Tree album that will cement this band in progressive rock history. For the fans, this record has a little bit of every previous PT release. The heaviness of Deadwing, the acoustics of Lightbulb Sun, the contentious style of play on Signify and Up the Downstair, every base of their discography is covered in this 55 minute epic. In this world of simple and commercial music, this band strives to create full and complex music and that is why I hold them above all others. Porcupine Tree’s records WILL change the way you look at music. This I guarantee.