Blackfield
„Blackfield I“
Pop, Rock, Art-Rock. Enhanced CD. 2004

Steven Wilson, founder of the band Porcupine Tree and prog-rock mastermind, founded Blackfield with the Israeli musician Aviv Geffen in 2001. Blackfield is characterized by shorter, melodic pop/art-rock songs. The songs are written by Steven Wilson (guitar, vocals, keyboard) and Aviv Geffen (guitar, vocals, keyboard). Blackfield often invites guest musicians to join in. Blackfield is not a band in the traditional sense, but an international project by Wilson/Geffen. So: is this still Porcupine Tree, or has it emancipated from it? Is the praise for this album justified and why do I only really like this one Blackfield album? I have the enhanced CD. In addition to the actual album, a second CD is included.

Let's start with the second CD. It contains three additional songs and a video track. The songs fit in well. Personally, I could do without the additional CD.

I'll say right away that I like the strong Porcupine Tree influence. Some of the songs could be a poppy, melodic part of a longer Porcupine Tree song. When pop and art rock come across in such an intelligent way, I can't say no. I would like to highlight "Open Mind", "Blackfield" and "Pain". These three songs impress with the flow of the music and the cleverly arranged lyrics. "Open Mind" in particular could be an opener on any Porcupine Tree album. "Lullaby" and "Summer" are more relaxed. They are not cheesy pop ballads. "Glow" also stands out well. The closer "Hello" is too pop for me and I feel the same about "The Hole In Me". "Cloudy Now" is actually a song by Aviv Geffen written in Hebrew. Who doesn't hear Porcupine Tree in this version? If someone had played this song for me without me knowing that it was by Blackfield, I would have sworn I was hearing Porcupine Tree. A brilliant, emotional song and my highlights along with "Pain", "Blackfield" and "Open Mind". And that is in a way the dilemma of this album.

Is this already Blackfield or still Porcupine Tree? In fact, Blackfield only emancipated itself over time and became more independent from Blackfield II onwards. For me, everything from Blackfield II onwards was too poppy. But it was intelligent pop. Blackfield I, on the other hand, is still firmly tied to Wilson/Porcupine Tree for me and that is exactly why I love this album. Blackfield I was rightly praised by critics, but for hardcore Porcupine Tree fans it was a "betrayal" of prog. Which is of course nonsense, because Steven Wilson doesn't owe us anything. Blackfield I is an excellent album and I recommend it.

The photos are all from my CD. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.