*. Porcupine Tree .* (HQCD Japan 2013)

Album: Deadwing (2005)(HQCD Japan Remaster 2013)
Genre: Prog Rock (Crossover/Heavy/Alternative/Psych)  /  UK

This album did take awhile to grow on me, but one thing was clear from the beginning: there was pretty much fantastic musicianship the entire time. The sound is definitely prog and very much layered. One thing that I found particularly interesting is the fact that so much is going on at one time in the music. I found this very interesting. There is a lot more than just your conventional one or two guitars, a bass, and a drummer. There seems that there is always a mellotron and/or keyboard going on pretty much all the time which adds a nice ambient effect throughout. As Wilson sings on track 6, "the scratching of a mellotron always seems to make it right." Also, it seems as if sometimes there are even three guitar parts, which adds a nice intricate effect. To even further add to the layering, Wilson many times has multiple vocal parts going on at one time. On tracks 1, 3, and 5, Opeth's Mickael Akerfeldt adds additional backing vocals as well. There is so much going on at a time! It really has taught me a lot as a guitarist the importance of harmonies and depth that can really be unlocked. I would encourage all musicians to listen to this album to get a feel for the depth that can be present in music. Review by "almostreal" (Prog Archives).

RATING:  8.75 / 10

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