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Whistle Stopper - Fear of a Blank Planet
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List Price: $15.98
Our Price: $7.37
Your Save: $ 8.61 ( 54% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0075678999444
Label: Atlantic / Wea
Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Atlantic / Wea
Release Date: 2007-04-24
Studio: Atlantic / Wea
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Comment:
I have most all PTree releases and at first, Fear of a BP did not do much for me. But as I listened to it more, I find myself playing it all the time and loving it.
This release to me seems like a great mix of old and new PTree, thus making it sound fresh and new. Did that make sense? :>
I also picked up Nil Recurring, the mini album follow up to Fear. Its a excellent complement to Fear.
Wish I was old and a little, sentimental. Well not really.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: This is very interesting.
Comment: I have never heard of these guys except by name. Until i bought this CD. And I ended up buying it out of curiosity. This reminds me a bit of... well I'm not sure what to say. They have a very unique sound that no one can define. And that is good if you are looking for something to stand out. And these guys definitely do. Lyrically, they have an unusual way they look at things, I guess. I have to get used to their sound. But I recommend this if you are looking for something different.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Porcupine Tree continues to impress
Comment: I first heard this cd at a friend's house. It was so incredible that I just had to buy it for myself. Every time I listen to this music, I get transported into another magical world.
Porcupine Tree has that incredible power to get the listeners entranced. The music, the singing, the lyrics are top-notch. This band has made many unforgettable cds. The music in this one ranges from a melancholic sound to a frantic beat. All the songs fit in with each other magnificently. Give it a listen through a sampler, and you'll discover one of the best bands of today.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not quite as strong as the previous two PT releases
Comment: Okay, I'm pretty new to Porcupine Tree, having only gotten into them this year. I started off by purchasing Deadwing and In Absentia. Deadwing is a darn near perfect album from beginning to end, and In Absentia isn't that close behind. So I had really high hopes for this album (Especially considering all of the great reviews on Amazon).
Now don't get me wrong. Musically and sonically, this is one fantastic album. It may take a few listens, but there are some melodies here that are truly haunting and will remain with you for a long time. Steven Wilson is simply a song writing genius (and just an all around musical genius, really).
But what I think turns me off about this album (at least more than the previous two) are the lyrics. I kinda get the whole conept about the alienation and isolation of our youth, but I'm a 38 year old guy and quite frankly, I don't want to hear an entire album about bored teenagers. Give me something I can relate to. Okay so In Absentia was (more than likely) about a serial killer. But at least it's a realm of fantasy I can get into....and not a sociological statement like this album.
Yes, I agree that there is a problem in America (and in many other parts of the world) regarding the fact that our youth have become isolated and alienated and spend way too much time doing nothing but zoning out in front of their TV's and X boxes and getting into prescription pills to zone out even more.
But do I really want to listen to an entire album about kids wandering around the mall, stoned and bored? Ehhhhh...not really. Hearing songs about a guy burying bodies in his shed (Ala In Absentia) may not be any more releveant to my life than this particular topic. But at least it's more fun to listen to. :-)
Bottom line: The music and instrumentation is brilliant. But I have a real hard time relating to the lyrics. Steven: For the next album, maybe lay off of the social and political lyrics. Or at least include a song or two about a girl riding around in a car in her summer dress with her hair blowing in the wind (A little reference to Deadwing there). :-)
Customer Rating:
Summary: When the bar's set so high, even average seems weak...
Comment: Out of the last 5 albums Steve Wilson and his band have released (FOABP, Deadwing, In Absentia, Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun), this is far and away the weakest. That's not to say it's a bad album, because it isn't; it's just not the in same league as its predecessors.
Why is this the case? There's a couple of reasons, but it really boils down to the tone of the album, which I would describe as detached at best, and bored to tears at worst. Sure, you can try and explain it away by bringing up the subject matter (which enough people have done so thoroughly as to allow me to avoid doing the same), but, if anything, that should've made the band's approach to the album all the more urgent, or even aggressive. It's a lesson Pearl Jam learned from Riot Act that translated really well to the self-titled album: in order to engage your audience (particularly when you're trying to get a pretty definite point across), you need to sound engaged yourself.
With the notable exception of the title track, I found myself pretty disinterested throughout the album. "My Ashes?" Please. "Anesthetized?" A mediocre guitar solo performed by a rock legend isn't nearly enough to save a bloated, less-than-intriguing song. And I don't even recall the rest of the album well enough to write an opinion on it.
I should close by saying that, were FOABP released by virtually any other band in the world, it would probably be a dramatic step forward in their evolution as artists (Thrice, I'm looking in your direction, here), but for Porcupine Tree, it's at best treading water. The outtakes CD blows most of this record out of the water.
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Editorial Reviews:
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On Fear of a Blank Planet veteran progressive-rock act Porcupine Tree takes up the task of exploring the alienating forces of the media and its impact on our youths and ourselves. Fear's titular cut features lyrics rife with allusions to the confusing, isolating effects of TV, the X-Box, drugged out consumer escapades, and the ennui that arrives with prescription and self-prescribed numbness. "My Ashes" advances the themes of isolation, as a young person becomes increasingly estranged from himself; "Anesthetize" aptly captures dull apathy with accuracy and knowing but perhaps delves to deep into the dark depths and instead of alleviating pain and pressure instead deepens it via a track that fails to offer much emotional or mental counterpoint. The tune does feature an exceptionally lyrical guitar solo from Rush's Alex Lifeson and proves that if anyone can write a sprawling, throbbing epic it's most likely Porcupine Tree. Elsewhere, such as on the beautifully crafted "Sentimental" and "Way Out of Here," Wilson and Co. land squarely between the epic grandeur of peak-era Pink Floyd and the psychically distant cool of Radiohead, a feat that doesn't as much demonstrate how well PT echoes those bands as it shows us how expansive the English quartet's music and emotional vocabulary is. For elder listeners Fear probably won't serve as the powerful statement it wants to be--its themes have been explored to more exacting impact before and, musically, it's fairly standard progressive fare--but it is a strong and intelligent album and for a generation that's grown numb from three-minute ditties about life at the end of the country club cul-de-sac that embrace rather than rage against the dying of the light, it may serve as a wake up call and provide hope for a brighter and more color-infused tomorrow. --Jedd Beaudoin
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