Boo Boo's prog stash *NOW WITH FREE PORN*
 

So yeah. You know the drill.

This thread is so I can review the different prog albums in my collection. I'll skip anything King Crimson because of my other thread, and anything Floyd cuz their albums have been reviewed to death already.

I'll start with a classic.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...op/genesis.jpg

Selling England By The Pound - Genesis - 1973

Personell:
Peter Gabriel - Lead vocals, Percussion, Flute, Oboe.
Steve Hackett - Electric and Classical Guitar.
Phil Collins - Drums, Percussion, Backing vocals, Leading vocals on "More Fool Me".
Tony Banks - Keyboards, Piano, 12 String Guitar.
Mike Rutherford - Bass, 12 String Guitar, Electric Sitar.

After pretty much ruling rock music since 1971, things started looking rough for prog in 1973, while Pink Floyd and ELP were enjoying the peak of their popularity, Yes's Tales From Topographic Oceans, King Crimson's Lark's Tongue in Aspic and Jethro Tull's A Passion Play, three incredibly ambitious albums at the time, had critics worrying that prog was turning into a monster that could not be tamed. Thankfully there was Genesis, who after struggling to make a name for themselves with their first two albums and having yet to reach the popularity of Yes, KC, Jethro Tull or ELP, finally found success with 1972's Foxtrot, and this followup is widely considered to be Genesis's magnum opus. Genesis had something that most other prog bands lacked, a great lyricist in Peter Gabriel (though everyone wrote lyrics for the first 5 Genesis albums) with some brilliant lyrical concepts that could rival that of Roger Waters, but unlike Waters, Genesis was less concerned with sharing personal demons and a lot more with just telling stories. Plus every member showed they were capable of writing great songs on their own. Typical of prog, this is a concept album of sorts, the theme here mostly has to do with the evolution of English society and culture, and compares modern England to it's rather romanticized past, along with some mythological elements, for that extra progginess.

But what really makes this a great album is the music, not as edgy as King Crimson, as electic as Yes or as flashy as ELP. Genesis tended to deal with more romantic and satirical themes. And their music often reflects this, Genesis were less concerned with making weird noises and trying to outdo each other on their instruments. To them, atmosphere was key.

Dancing With the Moonlit Knight: Great opener, starts off very simple with Gabriel singing some pretty acapella, soon accomplied by acoustic guitar, then some lovely piano, and eventually the bass and drums. This track deals with the main concept most directly, but the real highlight is it's constant yet natural change of pace and mood, it starts out soft and gentle, with everything coming together, it soon takes off to the explosive chrous, with Gabriel shouting to "follow on", and so the song does, with Banks' growling synths and Hackett shredding it up with a totally kickass guitar solo, the song goes back and forth and eventually ends with a ridiculously beautiful accompliment of acoustic guitar, mellotron and flute.

I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe): Genesis throughout their existence have always been known for their quirky often absurdist sense of humor, which really shows in this song, I think it's about lawnmowers, or something. It's a very poppy song, and kinda forshadows the direction the band would eventually take post Gabriel. No surprise that this was the bands first hit single.

Firth of Fifth: One of the real highpoints of the album, I still don't quite know what it's actually about, but it's such an amazing piece of music it dosen't matter. It begins with some gorgeous piano by Banks leading up to a great epic. The real high point is the sudden piano break, kicking off the mid section, which begins with a flute solo by Gabriel, then a piano solo and then a synth solo by Banks, and finally a heartwrenching guitar solo by Hackett. Truly an amazing piece of prog brilliance.

More Fool Me: The sole track that was primarly written and sung by Collins, not bad for an early song by the chap who would eventually take over the band, poke fun of ol' Phil all you want, this is a nice if not particularly great track. Some wonderful acoustic guitar. You know, a lot Genesis fans talk about how great a singer Gabriel is and how horrible Collins' singing is, which always confused me because their voices are nearly indentical. A lot of hardcore Genesis fans really hate this song, but only because Phil Collins wrote it, really.

The Battle of Epping Forest: A rather epic but comical track once again dealing with the main theme of the album, the story dipicts an epic battle (in this case between two rival gangs) which is kinda similar to what King Crimson did 3 years earlier with Lizard, and what Yes did 2 years later with Gates of Delirium. This is a very frantic piece, and is basically a suite of sorts. This song is very all over the place, with some rather random lyrics, and Gabriel playing different "characters", changing his voice and accent througout the song. Including some rather hilarious cockey impersonations. A bit silly, but overall still a pretty great song, I love the really bizarre Genesis songs.

After the Ordeal: Fantastic instrumental, and serves as an underture between the 2 suites on this album. Banks and Hacketts piano and guitar interplay is in very good form here.

The Cinema Show: Easly the best track on the album, another suite, but this one is a lot more cohesive, and it's just beautiful. The song is about a modern day Romeo & Juliet, and theres a bit of a sexual (as well as mystical, with references to Greek mythology) undertone here. It opens with some lovely acoustic guitars played by both Hackett and Rutherford, and some of the most wonderful vocals Gabriel has ever done. This song has many gorgeous moments, including some interplay between the classical guitar and Gabriels flute, soon the song kicks off into a mind blowing synthathon, seriously some of the best use of a synthesizer EVER, some great drumming by Phil too.

Aisle of Plenty: A short song, which makes a return to a recurring melody that appeared in Moonlit Knight and again in Cinema Show, a very stripped down piece and a great closer for the album.



Overall I easly consider this to be the best Genesis album, though some prefer the followup Lamb Lies Down on Broadway from 74, which was basically a rock opera in the vein of Tommy and The Wall. As great as it was, IMO the music is not quite as good and the story is a bit hard to grasp, Genesis were at their prime with this album, and it was probably that realization that this as well as Lamb could never be topped among other things that inspired Gabriel to leave the band and pursue a solo career, where he evolved from avant rock to eventually the blue eyed soul and pop he would become famous for.

Genesis unfortunately have become a laughing stock nowadays, they are more known for their evolution into a pop act when Phil took over and for sinking so low as to do dumb novelty songs like Illegal Alien and We Can't Dance than when they made truly epic albums like this. Which is a shame.

Looking forward to this thread. I am hoping you are going to put some Krautrock in here, since I think that qualifies as prog, right?

Nice review although 'Foxtrot' for me is the ultimate Genesis album.

I hope you do some jethro tull since I have no idea where to start =(

It's definitely not my favorite Genesis album, but it sure beats the hell out of everything they did afterwards (especially that abhorrent era thereafter when they "pop"ed the prog). What was the last Gabriel album? The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway?

Anyway, good choice. Better review.

As superior as Gabriel era Genesis is. I admit, Phil era Genesis had some great songs, gotta love That's All and Land of Confusion. :D

And they still had some good prog stuff with the first couple of albums with Phil.

Still dosen't make up for Who Dunnit? though.

Boo Boo's MOU STACHE!

http://i38.tinypic.com/2ur09cp.jpg

Yeh, it's all good up until Steve Hackett left.

@ Les Paul. Where did you find that, you clever bastard? I think teh t-shirt is funnier. He's disguising himself as a stoner ass-hole!

I was just wearing that shirt a moment ago but I just changed it.

I'm not a stoner technically because I don't smoke pot, but yeah, I do act like one, hooray for fetal drug syndrome.

Nice review. The piano in Firth of Fifth is some of my favourite ever, and SEBTP is my favourite Genesis album.

Never too late to start

Booboo did you ever get into the 80's prog/pomp scene with bands such as Magnum, Ashbury, Twelfth Night, Pendragon, Marillion etc?

Not really no. Some good stuff from that era, but it's a bit too 80s for me, I prefer 90s stuff like Porcupine Tree, Spocks Beard, Flower Kings and Ozric Tentacles.

Marillion is very good though, they just have a rather annoying fanbase who think they're the best thing to ever happen to music in the past 30 years when they're basically just Genesis with David Gilmour.

Is 'Atom Heart Mother' worth getting? I saw it at Newbury Comics used for $6. I don't have anything from Saucerful of Secrets to Atom Heart Mother.

Yeah it is overblown but there are some nice passages of play on there but don't paymore than that as you probably wont play it much.

It's decent, its worth listening to at least for historical relevance, since it's the first album where they really started to develop their signature sound.

And by that you mean, "next to AMLOR and the final cut that thing is the biggest piece of shit they made." Seriously boo, Meddle was where it all started. Even Nick Mason agrees with me. And that's a GOOD album, worth paying at least $10 for anyways.

I wouldn't say it's shit.

I'd say it's more a cure for insomnia

Maybe not, but compared to most of their discography it doesn't hold up too well.

It was a huge improvement over Ummagumma at least.

And Meddle is a great album, though that may be a bit of a generous thing to say for an album with a track like Seamus.

Still not quite sure which album I should do next.

Do one i've actually heard

http://www.mp3lyrics.org/h/hawkwind/...f-time_2x2.jpg
:thumb:

^^^^^^^

Good call on that one and then maybe this one:

http://www.musiconaute.info/Barclay%...ce%20again.gif

Finish your KC thread, I wanna see your Thrak review.

Ok, I'll do those two next but I'm doing this one first, and I'm sure both of you guys have heard it.

http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/images/VdGG-HtHe.jpg

H to He, Who Am The Only One - Van Der Graaf Generator - 1970

Personell:
Peter Hammill - Lead vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano.
Hugh Banton - Organ, Oscillator, Piano, Bass, Backing vocals.
Guy Evans - Drums, Tympani, Percussion.
David Johnson - Saxes, Flute, Backing vocals.
Robert Fripp - Electric Guitar.
Nic Potter - Bass.

Even avid prog hater (and pretty much the embodiment of Satan to most prog fans) Johnny Rotten confessed to being a fan of these guys. Van Der Graaf Generator were one of the very first true prog bands, they had established their progressive sound before Yes, Pink Floyd and Genesis found theirs.

This is the first VDGG album I've heard and it's still my favorite. Their sound is rather hard to describe, VDGG don't put much emphasis on flashy solos like most prog bands do and almost all of their compositions are epics, mood is the real essential key to their sound. Guitar dosen't play much of a role in their sound, though Fripp makes a guest apperance. The organ, sax and flute combined with Hammills powerful vocals (he may very well be the best singer in prog) and his rather specific (and dark) lyrical imagery give the band it's unique indentity. This is really the bands first great prog album, which is somewhat of a concept album with death being the main theme, it's one of their most accessible albums so it's a good place to start.

Killer: An amazing opener, with rather odd lyrics about murder, loneliness and...fish. It's hard to explain. Overall a really great piece, with a catchy riff and some freaky sax and electronic effects.

House With No Door: A rather depressing ballad, a bit sappy, but a good piece, some great flute and piano work.

Emperor In His War Room: This is easly my favorite song, it's about a war criminal, amazing buildup and brilliant performances all around, including a guitar solo from Robert Fripp.

Lost: A very moody and spacey song, a song about lost love and heartbreak, a very common theme in rock music for sure, though it's never been done quite like this. This song is all over the place, going through many different moods, and Hammills vocals get downright scary at times, this song shows just how truly remarkable a singer he is in addition to being a great songwriter.

Pioneers Over C: This song tells the tale of astronauts who go mad from the loneliness in outer space, which explains this albums cover art. The music itself is very spacey and psychedelic, some great sax work. Reminds me a lot of early Syd era Floyd.

With lyrics about death and loneliness and rather violent imagery, this album alone makes it pretty clear that VDGG were a bit more emo than your usual prog band. They are about as theatrical as a prog band can possibly get. Not for everybody, but if you like early Crimson and Gabriel era Genesis, this is certainly worth checking out.

^ Awesome album!
Godbluff is prolly my favorite from VDGG.
Peter Hammill is definitely one of the best prog. vocalist from the 70s. He brings this 'Dark mood' about their music with his voice alone.
Don't know why they didn't gain much recognition during their period. A bit too complex like Gentle giant?

Actually, VDGG enjoyed a decent amount of popularity for their time.

They were huge in Italy believe it or not, Pawn Hearts charted at number 1 there for 12 weeks.

I'm not quite sure to the extent of how popular prog actually was in the 70s, but I can imagine that there were several commercially successful prog bands who have long since been forgotten by the general public.

Ok, I'm not sure how successful they were elsewhere during their time(other than the italian thing which I've read), but their name has definitely vanished a bit by now.
They do pop up every now and then on prog-archives, but outside that, I rarely or never see them being mentioned.
With quite a few top-notch releases, more ppl should check them out. I'm sure many might have heard about them, but listening to their music is another thing.

Yeh, that's a great album. Haven't listened in ages, but I got Pawn Hearts and loved maybe I'll dig this out.

http://www.ohrwaschl.de/shop/Product...%20warrior.jpg

Warior on the Edge of Time - Hawkwind - 1975

Personell:
Dave Brock - Lead vocals, Guitar, Synthesizer, Bass.
Nik Turner - Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax, Flute, Lead vocals.
Simon House - Electric Violin, Synthesizer, Mellotron.
Lemmy - Bass, Backing vocals, Lead vocals on "Motorhead".
Simon King - Drums, Percussion.
Alan Powell - Drums, Percussion.
Michael Moorcock - Lyrics, Spoken word vocals.

Some might not actually consider Hawkwind progressive rock, I do, but it depends on the material. Their earlier work is more along the lines of just plain hard rock with synthesizers. But after the departure of singer and lyricist Robert Calvert (with Brock taking over as lead vocalist, at least until Calverts eventual return) and the addition of Simon House (who brought violin and mellotron into the equation) their sound became increasingly progressive and structured, with not quite as much guitar. Hall of the Mountain Grill (74) marked this change, and this followup album is even more prog. It's also notable for being the last album to feature Lemmy, before he was fired for "doing the wrong drugs" and went on to form Motorhead.

Hawkwind are probably most notable for the science fiction and fantasy themes in their music, as well as their collaborations with famed science fiction writer Michael Moorcock (seriously that's his name). The whole thing about most prog bands writing songs about spaceships, wizards and dragons is just exagerated and untrue, but I can imagine that Hawkwind (and Uriah Heep) is probably where this stereotype originated. This album is basically a space opera, about what actually I don't know.

This is quite the favorite Hawkwind album among prog fans, and I have to agree, this is a defining space rock album, with all the little things proggers like but also cool and interesting enough that everybody should give it a listen.

Assault & Battery (part 1)/The Golden Void (part 2): Fantastic opener, an epic song divided by two parts. Great opening with mellotron and bass. The Golden Void is especially excellent and already sets a good example of how Hawkwind have improved as musicians and songwriters. Great combo of mellotron, moog, Lemmys very melodic bass parts and some excellent flute and sax work by Turner, pure space rock. This sets the tone for the rest of the album perfectly.

The Wizard Blew His Horn: Not really a song, just some weird poem by Moorc*ck accomplied by spacey keyboards and drums, about a wizard natrually.

Opa-Loca: Instrumental jam, a really odd one, with just a basic up-tempo beat that dosen't change during the whole song, along with psychedelic moog and flute. It's so simple, but I quite like it.

The Demented Man: One of my favorites, a great acoustic ballad by Brock and quite a change of pace for this album (and the band), love the interplay with the acoustic guitar and mellotron, quite gorgeous. Proof enough that the band has more range than you would think.

Magnu: Excellent, might be my favorite. I wonder how a song like this never became a classic rock radio staple. Great riff, one of Hawkwinds best hard rock songs. Love the psychedelic guitar and moog and Houses crazy violin playing.

Standing on the Edge: Another spoken word track, with weird delayed voice effects and moog. Even filler tracks like these are interesting just for the feel and weird things going on, thats what I love about this album.

Spiral Galaxy 28948: Another real highpoint here. Fantastic instrumental, a rare example of a Hawkwind song that is actually in odd time. Starts off with some really ugly sounding synth, but it kicks off into an amazing symphony of violin, flute, moog, mellotron and guitar, with a great drum and bass rhythm to go with it. Just gorgeous. And prog purists say these guys aren't good musicians, pfft.

Warriors: Yet another poem for this space opera. With distorted vocals, percussion and moog.

Dying Seas: God I love this one. Great bassline and a lot of ecco. Yet another masterwork of psychedelic rock n roll.

Kings of Speed: This closer for the album is a return to their more basic rock n roll sound. A lot more guitar than the rest of the album, Brock finally lets loose with a great psychedelic blues solo.

Motorhead: Bonus track that can be found on all the CD versions of this album. It's sung by none other than Lemmy, gee, I wonder where Motorhead got their name from, eh? Another great hard rock track, but Houses violin (which has a country flavor here) still makes it quite distinctive.

Once again I have to say that even if you're not a prog fan I still think you should try this one out. And for the prog fans this is certainly a must have for your collection. It's quite the grower.

Great review Boo Boo, I hate to admit it but Hawkwind slipped right past me back in the 70's, my brother had one of their albums but he was going through his hippy phase so I never really talked to him about the new bands he was into. I have Warrior On The Edge Of Time, and Hall Of The Mountain Grill now and I like them both, what other Hawkwind albums would you recommend?

Lemmy's reveiw of it : F*cking rubbish

Brock said he played bass on this track coz Lemmy was asleep :laughing:

Space Ritual, In Search of Space, Astounding Sounds Amazing Music.

http://tralfaz-archives.com/coverart...iant_octof.jpg

Octopus - Gentle Giant - 1972

Personell:
Derek Shulman - Lead vocals, Alto Saxophone.
Raymond Schulman - Bass, Violin, Guitar, Percussion, Backing vocals.
Phillip Shulman - Saxophones, Trumpet, Mellophone, Lead and backing vocals.
Gary Green - Lead guitar, Percussion.
Kerry Minnear - Keyboards, Moog synthesizer, Vibraphone, Cello, Percussion, Lead and backing vocals.
John Weathers - Drums, Percussion, Xylophone.

Gentle Giant is my favorite of the lesser known prog bands, and this is probably my favorite album from them. Gentle Giant made their debut in 1970, formed by the Shulman brothers, they were known for their very unique sound even for a prog band, their rich vocal harmonies and consistant use of counterpoint, polyphony and several other classical techniques, the band consisted entirely of talented multi-instrumentalists who all contributed greatly to the bands rich multilayered but very playful sound. They're compared to Yes for their eclectic range of styles and for their symphonic compositions, but other than that they don't sound like Yes or any other prog band. Contrary to the prog stereotype theres no showboating between the musicians, and the chemistry is just magic, one common element in their music is a technique called racketing which is a melody that carries itself through one instrument at a time, which is especially notable here. Gentle Giant have an eclectic sound but their sound from album to album never changed much, but it's a sound that at least for their first several albums never wore thin.

And this, their fourth album, is one of their finest, it's the first to feature John Weathers on drums (who brought a more solid drum sound than previous drummers, and an interesting personality overall) and the last to feature Phil Shulman, who left the band around the time of this albums release.

The songs here are actually not very long for a prog band, clocking around just 3 or 4 minutes, but they manage to get everything done.

The Advent Of Panurge: Fantastic opener, but I can barely describe it, it fluctuates between so many styles and moods, yet it's a short and rather simple song for Gentle Giant, some classical here, some psychedelic rock there, sounds gimmicky when I describe it like that but you just need to hear these guys yourself, their sound is just way too hard to describe.

Raconteur Troubadour: A lovely medieval kind of ballad with a baroque style string arangement, excellent song that marries different classical elements together for a surprisingly poppy outcome.

A Cry For No One: Compared to most 70s prog bands GG do have some traditional rock elements that pop out of nowhere every now and then, so in addition to their more progressive stuff they're still not above doing a simple classic rock song. Though this is a pretty good one, and theres still a lot of prog going on and some cool twists.

Knots: One of the bands most memorable songs, and for good reason. Their really odd vocal harmony style is in great form here, starting out as an acapella that eventually builds up into a great catchy pop song with many twists. Sounds like the oompa loompas on lsd, f*cking love it.

The Boys In The Band: Great instrumental, great showcase for the band, Weathers especially lets loose with some great drums, great use of brass and moog too.

Dog's Life: A ballad, about a dog. :-/ GG never take themselves too seriously, especially here, a silly but likable little song.

Think of Me With Kindness: The real lowpoint of the album, it's not bad, but just a rather dull sappy piano ballad, dosen't really fit in here at all.

River: But this sure as hell puts everything back on track, this is a brilliant closer and easly my favorite track on the album. Great violin riff, with some great organ and "wind" like moog effects. Somehow the song progresses into a very psychedelic section with beautiful vocals and eerie moog, and then somehow leads to a bluesy guitar solo (whih feels a little out of place but is still a really good solo) before coming back. An awesome atmospheric piece.

Maybe I'm a bit too specific in describing the music and not anything else about the songs (like the lyrics or meaning, don't f*cking ask me), but hey, you should take a gander at some of the progarchives user reviews, they're no help at all, they just go on about every needless detail and talk about how a song isn't good because the "guitar and drums are not in the appropriate time signature".

Theres no excuse for any prog fan not to have this album, it's an essential for sure. One of my absolute favorites.

Ain't that the truth. :laughing:

Good timing Boo Boo,,,I just started listening to Gentle Giant this week, I ahem, have their whole discography now and will take my time checking them out the same as I did with KC. I was reading some reviews in another forum and they trashed most of the later GG catalog as rubbish, and only considered 4 of their albums worthy of owning. I don't mind reading other people's opinions about music but in the end I will make up my own mind. Another good review from your prog hoard.:)

Knots is one of the best songs ever. The rest of Octopus is almost as good.

Yeah they kinda went downhill after Free Hand.

Anyway, this is a perfect excuse to post this.



Weathers (the drummer) is one sexy beast.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...n_absentia.jpg

In Absentia - Porcupine Tree - 2002

Personell:
Steven Wilson - Lead and backing vocals, Guitar, Piano.
Gavin Harrison - Drums, Percussion.
Colin Edwin - Bass.
Richard Barbieri - Keyboards.

Porcupine Tree was formed in 1987 by Steven Wilson first as a solo project but eventually evolved into a band, their influences range from the space rock of Pink Floyd and Hawkwind (more notable in their early work) to ambient, electronic and metal, over time the band developed a more accessible sound. This is the 7th Porcupine Tree album, and it's the first to embrace more metal influences, though overall it's still a very mellow album, somewhat contrasted by some very dark themes about death and insanity.

This is basically a concept album, and the songs can be interpreted in different ways and very often reference each other. The first side is notably lighter (I use that word relatively because the lyrics are still pretty ****ed up) and the second is darker, very much in the spirit of Floyd, but it dosen't actually sound like Pink Floyd, so please ignore all those foos who write the band off as nothing more than a Floyd ripoff. This is a fantastic album, maybe a bit too commercial sounding for some prog fans, and the radio friendly riffs and processed vocals will surely turn others off as well, but nonetheless I think this is an excellent record.

Blackest Eyes: Starts off with an almost Tool-ish kind of riff but ends up being a very mellow song, I like this song, it's a very upbeat sounding song, so I was surprised to learn that it's about rape. Maybe a bit christian rock sounding at times, but this is a really good opener.

Trains: This is one of my favorites, the lyrics are about Wilson's childhood, it start out with acoustic guitar and mellotron, before everything else kicks in, somehow Wilson managed to throw a Banjo solo in there (or at least it sounds like a Banjo). A very damn good song.

Lips of Ashes: I don't know what this song is about, but if I had to guess I'd have to say it seems to be about f*cking a corpse. Yet this is a very beautiful and angelic song, with gorgeous guitars. God I hope I'm wrong about the necrophilia thing. :laughing:

The Sound of Muzak: To break away from the main themes of this album, this is a critique of the music industry, with Wilson explaining that "The music of rebellion makes you wanna rage but it's made by millionaires who are nearly twice your age". I guess Wilson ain't much of a Who fan. ;) Not quite as memorable as the other songs on here, but I like it.

Gravity Eyelids: Finally things are getting more proggy. This a f*cking gorgeous song, and it's easly my favorite. A very serene sounding sound, it starts out very mellow with some ethereal piano and mellotron, but the song eventually turns heavy. Wilson really has fun with lyrics that could be interpreted different ways. Since this song has been interpreted to be about a variety of things, either it's about a troubled relationship, or it's about a murder, or it's about child mollestation, or it's about.... butt ****ing? God songmeanings.net is no help at all. Seriously.

Wedding Nails: PT embrace their metal influences fully with this instrumental track. Wilson really shows off his guitar licks here, awesome guitar riff.

Prodigal: Another real highlight here, and this for me is one of the most moving songs for me, it's about contemplating suicide. I really love the vocals (Wilson obviously uses processing to create all the vocal harmonies, since no one else in the band sings) and melody here, great guitar too, especially the solo at the end.

3: Really lovely one here, starts out with a simple drum and bass beat, eventually a string section comes in. And the vocals which simply repeat the lyrics "Black the sky, weapons fly, Lay them waste for your race". So yeah, know you know why they called it 3. I really love this one, the strings combined with the great bassline and the guitar that comes in later.

The Creator Has a Mastertape: So after all this stuff about rape, murder, suicide, war, necrophilia and possibly butt ****ing, Wilson finally brightens things up... with a song about a guy who tortures and kills his family. Happy music. Musically this one is quite different from everything else so far, with a more uptempo rhythm and an industrial metal kind of thing going for it.

Heartattack In a Lay Bay: This is such a moving song, and quite a contrast to the rest of the album, lyrics deal with love and death, yet it comes out being a more uplifting song for this very dark album. An absolutely beautiful song.

Strip the Soul: According to Wilson he was inspired to make this album after reading a story about a family that lured people into their homes, raped and killed them and buried their bodies around their house, this song deals with that directly. A very grungey sounding song at first, with a little Opeth sneaking in at the end. It uses practically the same bassline as 3. Really love this one.

Collapse The Light Into Earth: This has been a really depressing album so far, so Wilson widely ends things on a more uplifting note, though it still deals with the main theme of death, I think this is about the victim coming to terms with fate, or something like that. Good ballad and a great closer for the album, really wraps everything up nicely.

If theres one criticism to be made here it's that it's not quite prog enough, but while Porcupine Tree are certainly a prog band, they always make melody and the lyrical themes the top priority, they certainly don't lack chops, and theres certainly some great licks here to admire, if not enough to please some of the more stingy prog fans.

I really love this album, it's so dark but beautiful at the same time.

Nice review, I'm giving PT a bit of a spin today since I haven't listened to them in so long.

Have you heard Drown With Me from the bonus disc (also appears on Futile EP)? It's quite a beautiful song, somewhat harrowing given the lyrical matter yet somehow uplifting. It also has the most eloquent 2 note solo I've ever heard. Definitely one of my fav PT songs.