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There are many good musicians and authors, some even excellent, but few can be considered extraordinary, unicum of which there is only one mold: Steve Wilson belongs, indeed, to this category. Like a modern King Midas, everything he has touched with his skillful hands to date has turned to gold, even though the treasure he has accumulated, with diadems and gems of various types and carats, has been, until today, a well-kept secret, too much so. His versatility, combined with uncommon curiosity and a desire to entertain (in the etymological sense of divert, meaning to turn in the opposite direction), has led him to explore genres and sounds that, by those with a rigid and pyramidal conception of pop-rock music, could be considered difficult to reconcile.
In his two main projects No Man and Porcupine Tree, the former being more pop and the latter more rock, the diversity, the bold combinations, the imaginative openings have always been the characteristic traits, along with a remarkable balance and an innate style that have always prevented him from approaching the minefields of kitsch or the slippery slopes of mannerism and self-indulgence. Recently, his insatiable desire to engage with ever-new musical experiences, his desire to fully express himself, has led him to the treacherous lands of Metal; and even here, he has managed to perform a small miracle, brilliantly producing the album "Damnation" by the Swedish band Opeth, one of the few albums of that genre in recent years that I would save.
With "Deadwing", an album released recently, Steve and his magnificent band, which includes among others "fairy hands" Barbieri, previously with D.Sylvian and The Dolphin Brothers, hit the target once again. Along with the more traditional rock, a certain progressive attitude, calibrated and always engaging experiments, with a more pop aftertaste peeking in some tracks, this time even nearly heavy metal guitars make a forceful appearance. Evidently, his recent experience with Opeth has left its marks. This new burst of energy appears especially in the first two tracks: in the title track, where Porcupine sound like the best Motorpsycho, with Adrian Belew's guitar providing support, and in "Shallow", a song with even greater impact, with Page-like guitar riffs raising indestructible musical walls. With "Lazarus", the tone changes, and Barbieri's piano becomes the protagonist, sketching a ballad certainly intense, even if somewhat conventional. With "Halo" we take off again to Colin Edwin's bass rhythm, which pumps frantically, best supported by Harrison's drums; vocal distortions and intense guitars spice up a decidedly rock track. "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" is Wilson's most ambitious attempt, a track of about eleven minutes that condenses the essence of the album and contains a bit of all the various "ingredients" present in "Deadwing", including an unexpected metal prog finale. The most Wilson-like track, the one that some old fans will listen to with a touch of nostalgia, is "Start Of Something Beautiful", with its liquid neoprog atmospheres (though the simplifying term might not please Wilson), with Barbieri's keyboards standing out.
The music of Porcupine is like a dish richly flavored, cooked by a great chef: it's not for all tastes; but those who are tired of fast food or monotonous regional cuisines, and wish to try its savory taste, might find themselves captivated and completely satisfied.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Deadwing (09:47)
And something warm and soft just passed through here
It took the precious things that I hold dearer
It rifled through the grey and disappeared
The creeping darkness makes the small hours clearer
Like a cancer scare
In the dentist's chair
Sucking in the air
Wire across the stair
Kicking down the door
At your local store
With the world at war
Voices through the floor
Unexpected news
Wearing high heeled shoes
Blowing out the fuse
Paying all your dues
Deadwing lullaby
Like a fracture tied
It's a worthless lie
To the public eye
I don't take waifs and strays back home with me
My bleeding heart does not extend to charity
Yes I'd have to say I like my privacy
And did you know you're on closed circuit TV?
So smile at me
And a dream you had
Of your mum and dad
On a beach somewhere
And the poison air
With the cancer threat
In a cigarette
Deadwing lullaby
Find a place to hide
And from the yellow windows of the last train
A spectre from the next life breathes his fog on the pane
I look with you into the speeding black rain Afraid to touch someone, afraid to ask her for her name
And in the morning when I find I have lost you
I throw a window open wide and step through
02 Shallow (04:17)
I don't remember
Did something in my past create a hole?
Don't use your gender
To drive a stake right through my soul
I live to function
On my own is all I know
No friends to mention
No distraction, nowhere to go
Shallow, shallow Give it to me
Scissors cutting out your anger
Shallow, shallow No good to me, not if you bleed
Bite your tongue, ignore the splinter
This city drains me
Well maybe it's the smell of gasoline
The millions pain me
It's easier to talk to my PC
03 Lazarus (04:19)
As the cheerless towns pass my window
I can see a washed out moon through the fog
And then a voice inside my head
Breaks the analogue And says
"Follow me down to the valley below
You know
Moonlight is bleeding
From out of your soul"
I survived against the will
Of my twisted folk
But in the deafness of my world
The silence broke And said
"Follow me down to the valley below
You know
Moonlight is bleeding
From out of your soul"
"My David don't you worry
This cold world is not for you
So rest your head upon me
I have strength to carry you"
(Ghosts of the twenties rising Golden summers just holding you)
"Follow me down to the valley below
You know
Moonlight is bleeding
From out of your soul
Come to us Lazarus
It's time for you to go"
04 Halo (04:39)
God is in my fingers
God is in my head
God is in the trigger
God is in the lead
God is freedom, God is truth
God is power and God is proof
God is fashion, God is fame
God gives meaning, God gives pain
You can be right like me
With God in the hole you're a righteous soul
I got a halo round me, I got a halo round me
I'm not the same as you
Cos I've seen the light and I'm gaining in height now
I got a halo round me, I got a halo round me
I got a halo round my head
God is on the cellphone
God is on the net
God is in the warning
God is in the threat
06 Mellotron Scratch (06:57)
A tiny flame inside my hand
A compromise I never planned
Unravel out the finer strands
And I'm looking at a blank page now
Should I fill it up with words somehow?
I whispered something in her ear
I bare my soul but she don't hear
The scratching of a mellotron it always seemed to make her cry
Well maybe she remembers us collecting space up in the sky
Nothing rises from my feet of clay, but it's OK
Red mist spreads across my fingertips, ardour slips
I lay her gently on my clothes
She will leave me yes I know
And I'm looking at a blank page now
Should I fill it up with words somehow?
The scratching of a mellotron it always seemed to make her cry
Well maybe she remembers us collecting space up in the sky
Nothing rises from my feet of clay, but it's OK
Red mist spreads across my fingertips, ardour slips
Don't look at me with your mother's eyes or your killer smile
Sing a lullaby
07 Open Car (03:47)
Nothing like this
Felt in her kiss
Cannot resist her
Fell for her charm
Lost in her arms
I keep a photograph
Give me a glimpse
Let me come in
Be there inside her
Here it begins
Here is the sin
Something to lie about
You think you're smart
I think you're art
We agree on this
It doesn't work
Feeling like dirt
Feeling like you don't care
We get a room
And in the gloom
She lights a cigarette
Clothes on the bed
Love me she said
I lose myself to her
I'm getting feelings
I'm hiding too well
(Bury the horse shaped shell)
Something broke inside my stomach
I let the pieces lie just where they fell
(Being with you is hell)
Hair blow in an open car
Summer dress slips down her arm
Hair blown in an open car
OK what's next?
After the sex
What do we now?
Finding the time
Drawing the line
And never crossing it
Gave her the hours
Gave her the power
Cannot erase her
Gave her the truth
Gave her the proof
I gave her everything
I'm getting feelings
I'm hiding to well
(Bury the horse shaped shell)
Something broke inside my stomach
I let the pieces lie just where they fell
(Being with you is hell)
Hair blow in an open car
Summer dress slips down her arm
Hair blown in an open car
On a drive out to the farm
Hair blown in an open car
Hair blown in an open car
Summer dress slips down your arm
Hair blown in an open car...
09 Glass Arm Shattering (06:17)
Feeling all your touching
Feeling all your blood
Feeling all your touching
Felling all your love
Seen it though a windscreen
Seen through the glass
Seen it in a bad dream
Seen it in your heart
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Other reviews
By lux
If we come to consider 'masterpiece' an album devoid of personality and communicative ability like Deadwing, then the story of Rock is not only very amusing but also profoundly unfair.
Porcupine Tree and 'genius' Wilson quite faithfully fall into the latter case [overrated], with Deadwing delivering predictable riffs and cliché melodic structure.
By Omega Kid
Stupid Dream is the story of an epic infatuation, a destabilizing crush that makes it difficult to rationally evaluate what surrounds us.
It’s simply a comforting, warm corner of serenity, where Wilson finally manages to find that dimension craved by his creative vein.
