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Rating:
The "lightbulb sun" continues to burn inside the porcupine tree, illuminating the musical evolution of the group and their unique way of renewing themselves. However, the "stupid dream" of renewing progressive with this album moves even further away from the splendid previous album.
By now, the dream has become "reaching our essence, regardless of the past." The album begins with “Lightbulb Sun,” a song introduced by Wilson's acoustic guitar, gradually joined by clusters of notes emanating from a piano. Wilson's voice is calm and dreamy at the start, then gains strength with the energetic arrival of the leader’s electric guitar and the rhythm section formed by Colin Edwin (on the fretless bass) and Chris Maitland (on drums). The track concludes with a beautiful guitar solo by Wilson, framed by the discrete presence of Richard Barbieri on the Hammond organ, and a reprise of the initial theme fading into the distant laughter of some children.
The album flows with "How Is Your Life Today": a very slow track dominated by some piano chords and intertwined vocal melodies by Wilson and Maitland. After such a slow start, the album becomes more aggressive with “Four Chords That Made A Million,” a strong invective against the cunning of many musicians who manage to sell millions of albums by recycling the usual sequence of "four chords”. Regardless of the agreement with such invective, the track in question is guilty of the same "sin" it reproaches certain "commercial" music for; indeed, it consists of a simple sequence of chords, it is arranged in a rather appealing manner, and it was likely proposed as a single to move the group out from the niche dimension it was in. Despite this short circuit between intentions and substance, the track is decidedly good, even though it didn’t succeed in making the group's name more known.
“Shesmovedon” is the second single of the album: the track is a mide-time rock rather relaxed during the sung parts, but harder and more engaging in the instrumental parts. The use of the wah-wah pedal and guitar effects is splendid throughout the track, especially during the long and engaging final solo. Suddenly, the ominous "Last Chance To Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled” intervenes. This track is composed of two parts: the first is "Winding Shot," a piece dating back to the summer of 1981. The introduction is entrusted to a banjo which soon gives way entirely to two acoustic guitars and Wilson's voice. The second part of the track is "Last Chance To Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled.” This part, full of atmosphere, sees the effective rhythm session intersecting with the grand atmospheres proposed by Barbieri on synthesizers and mellotron, and Wilson on electric guitar. In “The Rest Will Flow,” for the first time in the group’s history, the string instruments of the “Minerva Quartet” and Stuart Gordon and Nick Parry (violins, violas, and cellos) emerge. The strings, arranged and produced by Dave Gregory, perfectly intertwine with the band's musical outlines, rendering the track sunny and lively in its brief unfolding.
The atmosphere changes suddenly with the hypnotic and menacing bassline written by Edwin for the track "Hate Song.” The track can be considered a mini-suite of great atmosphere in which Barbieri and Wilson unleash their great talent, especially in the final part of the track, where the tones become menacing and psychedelic. The atmosphere suddenly becomes less feverish through bucolic sounds like bird songs and the distant bell of a bicycle. The track in question, "Where We Would Be,” is held up by an acoustic guitar and Wilson’s beautiful singing: the atmosphere is interrupted only by a fantastic electric guitar solo full of taste and feeling. Slowly from the shadows emerges the visionary "Russia On Ice,” the absolute masterpiece of the album and a compendium of the band's immense class.
The introduction of the track is entrusted to Barbieri's synthesizers, which literally take us inside this initially liquid, almost alcoholic vision. Wilson's guitar enters after about a minute to first sketch out desolate lunar landscapes, interspersed with a menacing motif, and then reach epic tones driven by the "Minerva Quartet" and the entire band. Wilson sings: "Can’t stop myself drinking Can’t stop to being me If I call will you come and will you save me?.” Suddenly, the bassline of "Hate Song” reemerges, taking us back towards initially feverish and then progressively more aggressive psychedelic sounds. The track ends with a distant bell sound and semi-subliminal sounds by Barbieri. Slowly, "Feel So Low” surfaces, a delicate and intimate track that calms the heart and nerves after the visions of "Russia On Ice.”
But the bitterness unfortunately continues to circulate in the veins:
“Christmas 1998 i tried to call i just couldn’t wait and your message was out of date So I left voice on your machine But you did not respond OK OK OK you’ve won So you make me feel so low so low” .
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
03 Four Chords That Made a Million (03:36)
[Written by Steven Wilson]
Six of one a half a dozen
Black guitars and plastic blues
Hide behind a wall of nothing
Nothing said and nothing new
4 Chords that made a million
You belong there on the cover
You are the emperor in new clothes
A man who thinks he owns the future
Will sell your vacuum with his prose
4 Chords that made a million
And then a moron with a cheque book
Will take you out to lunch who knows ?
He will tell you you're a saviour
And then he'll drop you like a stone
4 Chords that made a million
And I have tried and I have died
Trying to get through
But in the end I can't defend you.
4 Chords that made a million
04 Shesmovedon (05:13)
You move in waves
You never retrace
Your newest craze
Straight out of the Face by the bed unread
I'm left behind
Like all the others
Some fall for you
It doesn't make much difference if they do
She changes every time you look
By summer it was all gone - now she's moved on
She called you every other day
So savour it it's all gone - now she's moved on
So for a while
Everything seemed new
Did we connect?
Or was it all just biding time for you?
05 Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled (04:48)
[Written by Steven Wilson]
[a) Winding Shot (Summer 1981)]
If you fall asleep with me
You can dream and drowse
The minutes turn to hours
We could climb a tree or two
And watch the sun go down
Upon our sleepy town
After all the time I spent with you
Summer went away
And we just weren't the same
It's just you and me alone
Not grown ups but not kids
You kissed me on the lips
[b) Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled]
[instrumental]
06 The Rest Will Flow (03:24)
[Written by Steven Wilson]
I was pretending to be floating strong
But I was sinking
In to still water
Eyes closed
All of the rest will flow
Then out of darkness I found I could still feel
Something good
Out of the woods
Eyes closed
All of the rest will flow
One simple thing that I never could see
But now I know
All of the rest will flow
Stay with me my angel I found you
Now I don't feel low
All of the rest will flow
Eyes closed
All of the rest will flow
07 Hatesong (08:26)
[Lyrics - Wilson, music - Edwin, Wilson]
This is a hate song just meant for you
I thought that I'd write it down while I still could
I hope when you hear this you'll want to sue
Oh it's a lonely life in my empty bed
And it's a quiet life that leaks from my head
These are the last rites
The line is dead
Yes, I'm hearing voices too
And I'm more cut up than you
09 Russia on Ice (13:03)
[part 1 - Wilson / part 2 (instrumental) - Barbieri, Edwin, Maitland, Wilson]
You think I deserve this
You said I was stupid
All my thoughts are like coal
But Russia on ice is burning a hole
Can't stop myself drinking
Can't stop being me
If I call will you come and will you save me ?
I see the whole thing come down
I blow it to the ground
Well what the hell did you say ?
You said you hate me this way
It's just a matter of time
A drop in the ocean
A significant motion
Nothing melts in this cold
But Russia on ice is burning a hole
10 Feel So Low (05:18)
[Written by Steven Wilson]
So see how long I can last
You can pretend that I don't exist for you
And I can laugh about it now
But I hated every minute
I was waiting for your email
And each day that you forgot to call
Just made me feel so low
So low
Christmas 1998
I tried to call
I just couldn't wait
And your message was out of date
So I left my voice on your machine
But you did not respond
OK OK OK you've won
You make me feel so low
So low
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Other reviews
By splinter
Never has Wilson been so inspired, truly.
Those who love intense and deep emotions will love this album to the point of not being able to remove it from the stereo anymore.
