Porcupine Tree
„Fear of a Blank Planet“
Double Black Vinyl LP. Reissue 2024 (2007).
Progressive Rock.

Five years after the groundbreaking album "In Absentia" and two years after "Deadwing", "Fear of a Blank Planet" was released in 2007, a rocky, metal and progressive concept album. Anyone who feared that "In Absentia" was a commercial "premonition" of the following albums was proven wrong. The increased media attention increased the fan base and "Deadwing" and "Fear of a Blank Planet" (FOABP) continued the development of Porcupine Trees (PT). "FOABP" was a commercial success, as was "Deadwing". Neither album is radio compatible, however. Both albums invite you to linger, because they want to be heard in their entirety.

Back to Fear of a Blank Planet. There are no breaks between the songs. The shortest of the six songs is 5:09 and the longest 17:52. One theme, guitar-heavy, sophisticated drum and electric bass playing, and underlying keyboard structures, and suddenly we have progressive rock with metal elements. The topic is the then-emerging information revolution via the Internet, Xbox, Playstation, the excessive prescription of slow-release medication, the download craze, and commercial re-education. According to Steven Wilson, this would distract the generation of that time and those that followed from the real problems and lead to isolation. Music would become a mass-produced commodity. In contrast to reality, which never develops as expected, Wilson also refers lyrically to the novel "Lunar Park" by Bret Easton Ellis.

Sides A and B contain “Fear of a Blank Planet” and “My Ashes” at under 13 minutes, and side B contains the 17:52 minute, congenial “Anesthetize.” For me, that’s clearly the heart of this album.

Side C begins with the wonderful "Sentimental" and "Way out of Here", a total of just under 13 minutes. Side D only has "Sleep Together" and at 07:26 the rest is wasted. Which of course doesn't detract from the quality of the album.

Porcupine Tree:
Gavin Harrison – Drums
Colin Edwin- Bass
Richard Barbieri – Keyboard, Synthesizer
Steven Wilson – Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Keyboard

Guest- Musicians
Robert Fripp
John Wesley
Alex Lifeson

FOABP is another great prog rock work by Porcupine Tree. It seems a little cold and that's a good thing. The future may not have developed quite as predicted here, but some things have already developed in that direction. Musically, the path offered by "In Absentia" is further developed. My way back to the LP is also a bit of a rebellion against the always available streaming world. Nostalgia, of course, and it sounds better too.

Signify 1996
Coma Divine 1997
In Absentia 2002
Deadwing 2005
Fear Of A Blank Planet 2007
The Incident 2009
Anesthetize – Live In Tilburg 2008
We Lost The Skyline Live 2008
Octane Twisted Live 2012
Closure/Continuation Live 2022

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