No-Man - Wild Opera

Artist: No-Man

Album: Wild Opera

Release: 1996

“Maybe there’s more to life then writing songs, maybe not”

If you know me at all, you know that I’m a die-hard Steven Wilson fanatic. What this means is I’m willing to buy anything he graces with his presence, I mean, anything he works on. This is how I discovered No-Man, Mr. Wilsons first foray into the music scene. Pre-dating Porcupine Tree, No-Man’s history goes all the way back to 1986, (just to give you some perspective on me, almost four years before I was born), when Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness – the left and right sides of the brain respectively – met up and started the project. Their second album, Flowermouth in 1994, is one of my favorite albums. It’s sweeping soundscapes and romantic lyrics can sweep the listener off their feet. Maybe this is why I find their next album, Wild Opera, so interesting. It fails to capture what Flowermouth did. The romantic poetry has been replaced with gritty, almost grunge-sounding lyrics reminiscent of a breakup letter. And 80’s sounding hip-hop beats alongside distorted guitars have taken over the soft, calming soundscapes. Normally, this would be a bad thing and I would dismiss the band for changing their sound to suit a labels wishes. But No-Man have seemingly done the impossible and created something so outlandish that it works. Everything about Wild Opera screams of two musicians so fed up with the industry that they made the ultimate satire record to voice their intentions to remain true to themselves. The lyrics, sound, even the cover’(s) manage to convey this idea. The original ’96 cover has a very 50’s propaganda-ish feel to it that give a false feeling of accessibility to the listener. The woman is pointing at something and chuckling. I relate this to the musicians laughing at the direction the music industry is taking. To a person browsing a record store, this would look like it fit in with the Blur albums a shelf over. This theme continues on the recent reissue, (the copy I acquired.) The people are gazing out over a very bloated-looking lake and a wall of stone. The lake is representative of how oversaturated and bloated musicians sound’s have become and the walls are the labels leering almost menacingly over them. It dosnt look like the family – Wilson & Bowness – want to go swimming here. As for the lyrics, I found myself laughing more than once while listening to the album. I mean, how could you not with lyrics like “Not even housewives hooked on heroin can understand the awful mess I’m in”. Tim’s lyrics reek of intentional irony. And finally the music itself. Wild Opera was created during a time when musicians were moving away from the idea of solos and the grunge movement happening at the time spearheaded this idea. On a funny side note, one of the songs is called “My revenge on Seattle”… think of that what you will. Wilson mocks this notion by combining two styles that are completely at end with each other, hip-hop and rock. But it’s because of this decision that Wild Opera sounds a unique as it does. This album really is the black sheep of No-Man’s discography. The definitive anti-rock album. I love it.

Coma Divine: The Music of Porcupine Tree - Part IV

Signify – 1996

“At the age of 16 I grew out of hope. I regarded the cosmos through a circle of rope“

How do you top something as break taking as The Sky Moves Sideways? You don’t. You do something completely different. And thus we have Signify, Porcupine Tree’s swan song to their psychedelic roots. By this time, Steven and co. had matured into a confident four-some of musical talent. So it’s surprising to me to hear such a change of moods between records released just one year apart. Whereas TSMS was a calm and relaxing album, Signify is it’s polar opposite. Angry and dark instrumentals run throughout the record and give the listener a sense of overwhelming unease. But something that stands out about this record is its cover. Not since their first record has the band provided such a striking cover to visually showcase their music. I would also go as far as to say that Signify is a concept album about religion. Several song titles and lyrics reference religious practices and routines and come off as being rather critical of ideology. We see a woman held in the air by rope tied to all her limbs. I assume that’s a reference to being pulled at and tugged by invisible ideals that can run people’s lives. But that’s just my opinion… Anyway… The standout musician on here is drummer Chris Maitland. With Signify he show us how diverse a drummer he really is. It’s the drums that drive the music forward unlike all of Porcupine Tree’s previous records. But all of the music stand out as being a notch above what they were doing just one year before. Richards brooding keyboards add a thick fog-like atmosphere and gives the listener a sense of being lost at sea. This is the first record where both Steven’s guitar and Richard’s key’s flow so steadily with each other and give us a sound that is present in Porcupine Tree’s newer albums. We can never really tell where the album is taking us, but each unexpected tangent is welcome. Sound bites are once again littered throughout the record and provide the same fever dream like state that was present on On the Sunday of Life. But this time they aren’t as friendly. Each is a little bit of insanity thrown in to keep the listener guessing. They provide a key component to the dark and brooding atmosphere on here. Overall, Signify is Porcupine Tree’s darkest album and depending on what time of day you listen, it could calm you into an uneasy restlessness or scare the ever loving life out of you. One is almost reminded of a Lovecraftian story while experiencing this album. It’s a shame that this was to be the bands final psychedelic recording, but after hearing what was to come, I think they made the right decision.