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Rating: Published in a limited series (but according to retailers, still available), "Recordings" gathers songs recorded and mixed by Steven Wilson between 1998-2000, in his historic No Man's Land studio in Wales. This is not leftover material that didn’t make it to the final tracklist of "Lightbulb Sun," quite the opposite. It's superb music that many would envy the Porcupine Tree for, if only they got hold of this juicy surprise for the fans, which flows from song to song as if it were an album conceived as such.
The references remain the same, so, for once, I’ll avoid mentioning in a Porcupine Tree review the Bands (or perhaps THE Band) they have so often, rightly or wrongly, been compared to: I would be doing a cruel disservice to a song like "Buying New Soul," which opens the album, with a sweet and refined crescendo, culminating in a chorus full of vocal harmonies. It continues with the bewildering "Access Denied," where you can, let me say, smell the spice at the gates of morning. "Cure for Optimism" is 6 minutes in parallel space, traversed in a spaceship that, initially soundproof, lets a few notes pass at a time, culminating in an acoustic guitar, more earthly than ever, accompanied by the echo of a piano. Magnificent too, and to say it was initially a B Side.
Something doesn't add up. Even more delicately soaring is the progression of the almost 9 minutes of "Untitled," improvisation born in the recording studio and faithfully reproduced on this album. The following tracks continue to offer high levels of Progressive Rock, enriched by tribal percussion, synthesizers, electric guitars... a nice mix of ideas perfectly blended, like the instrumental "Ambulance Chasing" or the extraordinary and epic 14 minutes of "Even Less," never previously released in its complete version, where Steven Wilson magnificently encapsulates all his past experiences into one unique journey in the driver's seat. End credits with the sweet "Oceans Have No Memory," almost a little reminder of what happened before. Okay, you've got it, you need to get it, I’m not going to drag this out longer than necessary: this is not the usual album of odds & sodds. There's substance here.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Buying New Soul (10:25)
Dried up, a guitar upon my knee
I should have sold out when the devil came for me
Dig a hole and throw it out to sea
Break the code, how happy I could be
I still wave at the dots on the shore
And I still beat my head against the wall
I still rage and wage my little war
I'm a shade and easy to ignore
White wall, I had to paint a door
I always find that I've been through it before
Close it up and throw away the key
Break the code, how happy I could be
I woke up and I had a big idea
To buy a new soul at the start of every year
I paid up and it cost me pretty dear
Here's a hymn to those that disappear
03 Cure for Optimism (06:12)
Up there a mountain rises
Down here an ocean dives
A stranger with a head full of lead
Photographs me
Steel bars and a doctor's note
Don't give up
They can plead and beg but don't let them fix your head
Outside a path to knowledge
Inside a waste of cells
A serpent with a mobile phone
Sweet talks me
05 Disappear (03:42)
We made the world believe we didn't care
We gate crashed parties and just stood and stared
We moved to London and stayed in all year
You wrote poetry while I disappeared
You made a choice for us to live it up
I've got a voice inside me saying give it up
Let's get out of here, let's find a new career
You be famous, I'll disappear
Disappear - I erase myself again
I need security, you favour chance
I ponder everything, you advance
You bring the world to me and I just sneer
Standing next to you I disappear
08 Even Less (14:08)
A body is washed up on a Norfolk beach
He was a friend that I could not reach
He thought I was cold but I understand
But for the grace of god goes another man
And I may just waste away from doing nothing
But you're a martyr for even less
A choirboy is buried on the moors
Where we used to go dreaming when we were bored
So some kids are best left to fend for themselves
And others were born to stack shelves
And I may just waste away from doing nothing
But you're a martyr for even less
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Other reviews
By pier_paolo_farina
A compelling album that showcases the band's evolving sound.
The raw power and depth of the music make this record indispensable.
