Friday, April 9, 2010

Coma Divine: The Music of Porcupine Tree - Part VIII


Deadwing-2005

“Did you ever imagine the last thing you'd hear as you're fading out was a song?”


Deadwing was the very first Porcupine Tree album I owned. And to my primitive 15 year old brain, this album was beyond my comprehension. I was really into Opeth at the time and I couldn’t see what the big deal was over this band. But over the next year, this album would grow on me in ways I never thought a piece of music could. This is Porcupine Trees heaviest record to date. Deadwing continues down the path they started on with In Absentia and once again, Mr. Wilson weaves a lovely tapestry of acoustics and metal into a truly beautiful album. It also marks yet another entry into the bands collection of concept albums. Deadwing is a ghost story. One gets a sense of loss and a longing to live again. Although it’s a VERY loose concept, the music still manages to convey a very evil sound. Steven seems to have an affection of this darker kind of music – something I appreciate. But Deadwing isn’t all dark and brooding. The albums third track “Lazarus” has, much like “Trains”, become a mainstay in the bands live sets. It’s a mellow and calming acoustic track in that sounds like it could have been a b-side from Stupid Dream. This is also another record where keyboards are more prevalent. Richards soundscapes once again lull us into a dream land only to be shattered by Stevens crushing guitar solos, (Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt also provides a very Opeth-esk solo on “Arriving Somewhere… But Not Here”.) But this album doesn’t quite hit that same place their other albums do for me. If I had to rank all of Porcupine Tree’s records, Deadwing would probably be near the bottom. It’s not that the music is sub-par. Actually its quite the contrary, some songs on this album are some of the best compositions I’ve ever heard. The complexity Porcupine Tree is known for is ever present and never lets the listener feel overwhelmed. But Deadwing occupies the same waters that On The Sunday Of Life – the bands first release – does. It’s taking a bit too much influence from the music of today as opposed to forging and re-inventing modern music. I’m sad to say that I don’t listen to Deadwing as much as I should. But it’s still a damn good record and helped propel Porcupine Tree up to the pedestal they are on today. In a way, I rediscovered Deadwing because of this blog and I’m glad I did. This is the album that introduced me to progressive music and for that it will always hold a special place in my collection.