Porcupine Tree
The Incident

The reasons why the tenth studio album by the beloved Porcupine Tree received so much criticism and so many raised eyebrows have always seemed vague and even irritating to me. Even when compared with their previous works, some of which deserve the highest regard in today’s rock scene, I see The Incident as another fine chapter in the artistic story of Steven Wilson and company. An enjoyable, cohesive album, full of refinements and great sound, with a few tracks undeniably weaker, but overall on par with its illustrious predecessors.

Wilson himself recently declared that In Absentia and Fear Of A Blank Planet are—for him—the best and most important things in his “band” discography. Deadwing is hardly lacking in quality either, to be honest. But what is it about The Incident that is so deplorable as to relegate it among the less significant and less successful works by the British trio? Is it perhaps less engaging than some chapters which are far from excellent, like Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun?

This is, indeed, an unusual concept album. The 14 tracks of volume 1 have a sequence that is not always clear, alternating between voracious and intimate songwriting, always seeking to focus the listener’s attention. Here and there, a common melodic line emerges which, however, remains in the shadows. The triptych Octane Twist-The Seance-Circle Of Manias is a concept within the concept, prelude to the melancholic ending of I Drive The Hearse: for me, the best part of the album. Nevertheless, I find the bolero of Time Flies poetically incisive (for which a beautiful videoclip was made) as well as the main title track that develops in a crescendo until it reaches a great ending that instantly lodges in your head. The impression is that the fanbase had gotten so used to a certain standard that they couldn’t forgive an album perhaps more personal in its conception and too intricate in its structure. In my opinion, aside from Fear Of A Blank Planet, all the band’s albums have their highs and lows—that is, a handful of extraordinary peaks and a background of good or decent tracks. The Incident is no exception.

Since it is a double album, many have found the choice to release two practically unrelated volumes together to be uncertain and, at times, senseless. The second is, in fact, a collection of four stand-alone songs; while in part they recall certain atmospheres present in the first volume, they are effectively not conceptually linked. About the real The Incident, Wilson said: è un ciclo di brani piuttosto surreale che riguarda gli inizi, le fini e la sensazione che, dopo ciò, le cose non saranno mai più le stesse. The inspiration for the project and the lyrics came to him after witnessing an accident while driving his car. The second volume, in any case, doesn’t lack in quality and especially proposes a couple of noteworthy tracks—namely, Black Dahlia and Remember Me Lover, which I consider one of the most successful ballads in Porcupine Tree’s history.

Some music critics (!!) consider it one of the worst titles in their entire discography. I say: if only there were more like it.