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In Absentia (Dts) (DVD Audio)
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| Editorial Reviews: | | |  | | After a quarter-century of punk and postmodern excesses, it's always something of a surprise to find young musicians who not only recall a past era's musical indulgences, but also revel in them. This Lava Records debut is the latest fruit of Porcupine Tree mainstay Steven Wilson's obsession with prog, a mania that dates to the late '80s when the "band" was little more than a fantasy, though one with a remarkably imaginative--if entirely fictional--history and bio. But that pipedream eventually became a real "alt prog" cult fave, with these dozen ambitious songs finding a focus that occasionally eluded the band on half-hour soundscapes like its underground hit, "Voyage 34." Tracks like "Gravity Eyelids" have a retro-psychedelic feel that would have done the XTC alter ego Dukes of Stratosphear proud, with Wilson's pure melodic tenor pushing it beyond the merely baroque. But the collection is also a strong statement of another crucial Wilson/Porcupine retro-sensibility: The album has unified musical statement. "Lips of Ashes" and "Prodigal" serve up the sort of impressionistic, harmony-rich musings that Pink Floyd has rarely managed since Wish You Were Here, while "The Creator Has a Master Tape" punctuates the rich harmonies of tracks like "Heart Attack in a Layby" with Crimson-esque metallic thrash and processed vocals. While the band's instrumental prowess sometimes slums its way into the free-form jazz noodling of past efforts, the album remains one of the band's fullest achievements. --Jerry McCulley | |
| Custom Reviews: | |
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| | I am having a hard time understanding the buzz around this band. This is honestly an average album. NEUROSIS and TOOL have been making the same brand of music for about 15 years now. Porcupine Tree just doesn't stand up to these legendary bands, and in fact, they're boring by comparison. Not dark enough, not tough enough, not raw enough: this is basically standard commercial alternative rock. I wouldn't be surprised to hear any of these tracks released on commercial radio. That's basically what this album is; a collection of slightly above-average radio songs. I guess if you're bored and looking for something new, this album will surely please. But even the MINISTRY are producing better stuff than this right now. "In Abstentia" is an album I own on DVD-audio and I'm glad I do, but it's not as alternative, bizarre, or exciting as you may be hoping for. Check out stuff by the other three bands I mentioned first, or even by Mars Volta or Sigur Ros. Porcupine Tree just isn't on that level, hopefully they will be someday.
| | Good first big-label release | |
| | | Being a fan of Porcupine Tree for a few years, I was waiting in anticipation for their first release on Lava Records. Up to the official release, I read comments from longtime PT fans about how this was the end because PT signed with a big-label so in their eyes that automatically means they've "sold out". Nice to know bands aren't supposed to have a decent livelihood in order to please their hardcore fans. Anyway, after giving In Absentia a listen, I was impressed. Did it sound a little more "mainstream" than what they've released in the past? Perhaps, but the result of this big-label release is that new listeners are now intrigued with what the group has produced in the past, and that's the whole point to signing to a bigger label: produce new music and at the same time have the ability to attract a larger audience that an independent label can't do, and in turn gets them curious about what you've previously done. Anyway, back to the album itself. In Absentia definitely has a harder sound. Steven Wilson has said that he gets unfluenced by everything around him, and death metal was one of them. The harder metal sound is evident in songs like Blackest Eyes, Gravity Eyelids, Wedding Nails, and Strip the Soul. Some elements of what they've done in the past are still evidence such as the track .3, and Mr. Wilson even takes a jab at the music industry itself with the track The Sound of Muzak. Overall, the album is still far better than much of the bs that comes out of the music world in this day and age. With so much coming just so it's listenable on MTV, it's nice to see that some groups don't fall into that trap. Porcupine Tree releasing material in a bigger label is here to stay, so deal with it. I definitely look forward to their next release.
| | In Absentia - Porcupine Tree | |
| | Great CD. This is the best I've heard in years. This is great music from the first track to the last.If you get the chance listen to the DVD audio mix of this album. The surround sound is fantastic.
| | It's good, but it could be better... | |
| | This album shows Porcupine Tree benefiting greatly from the addition of Gavin Harrison (drums) and John Wesley (guitar, backing vocals). Chris Maitland (their former drummer), was no slouch, but there's something about Harrison's style that is just really elegant. Adding Wesley really props up the vocal harmonies, giving PT a much fuller sound. That said, the album tries a little too hard to be "dark", with deliberately disturbing lyrics and musical forays into Nine Inch Nails territory. The stand-out tracks are Blackest Eyes, Trains, and Sound of Muzak. "Trains" is my favorite, and, in my opinion, the most emotional song on the album. While Sound of Muzak contains great jibes at the state of music today, it's actually the third "try" by PT at making that "type" of song...the first two being "Piano Lessons", and "Four Chords that Made a Million". That said, it's the best of the three. Porcupine Tree is a good band that could be truly great if they pushed beyond their gloomy, angst-ridden "confessional" sound, which, album after album, starts to sound pretty formulaic. Get back on the medication, if that's what it takes!
| | | | IN ABSENTIA by Porcupine Tree combines two different flavors. Their heavy, riff-based, driving metal sound is well represented here. Also present is a very tasteful pop and even acoustic flavor. These two personalities of the band are not combined always as well as they could be. However, I think that the band can pull it off better on their next album. "Blackest Eyes" shows how a metal song can become an upbeat pop tune and work. Conversely, "Trains" and "Gravity Eyelids" show the band taking medium to slow tempo pop songs with an acoustic guitar lead and turning them into electric rockers. There are some medium tempo songs that don't end in a metallic climax, however. "Lips of Ashes" keeps the listener very interested while it also keeps to its initial slow tempo. Don't be put off by the fact that they spell music as muzak. "The Sound of Muzak" is very good and shows the absolute perfect balance of the band's pop sensibility with a practiced restraint of the band from going into "metal-mode" (to use another reviewer's term). "Wedding Nails" is a heavy instrumental that reminds me at moments of the dark and complex instrumentals by the monsterous band King Crimson. Although this instrumental doesn't balance metal with their pop sensibility, the song fits, just as the non-metal and even slow "Lips of Ashes" fits in the album. The song "Prodigial" is nearly as good as "The Sound of Muzak" in its balanced sound(".3" acts as sort of a bass driven coda to "Prodigial," even though I don't think that's what the band meant it to be). This, however, is where the album begins to go downhill. It seems like they got tired of creating dynamic songs and just took a few musical elements and just "went with it." The last four tracks are kind of an anti-encore. "The Creator Has a Mastertape" a heavy, riffy piece that is kind of annoying because they use heavily processed vocals that contrast with the excellent singing on the rest of the album. "Strip the Soul" is pure metal. Not necessarily a bad piece, but not enough effort went into this to make it fit with the rest of the album. "Heart Attack In A Layby" and "Collapse the Light Into the Earth" are both slow, quieter tracks. "Heart Attack" is a slow ballad that's just too sad for it to be bearable (coming on the heels of the riff-driven "Creator/Mastertape," especially); while "Collapse/Light" is driven by very uninteresting piano playing. Overall, this album is very addictive, and the first nine tracks are quite excellent. The slightly unpolished style promises a better follow-up album that will likely be a huge success. Though I can't justify giving 5 stars (more like 4.4 stars), I highly recommended buying this CD. It may not be an absolutely essential CD to everybody's collection, but it is so close.
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