In Absentia

Though the absence of neo-classical solos and floofy synth leads will make some question its authenticity, "In Absentia" is a remarkable example of what progressive music should be. After moving from spacey, psychadelic jams to layered, hook-ridden rock songs, PT morphed again and created a haunting, epic masterpiece while ushering in a new, darker and more aggresive phase in PTs development. In short, "In Absentia" is mandatory listening for any fan of progressive music, both rock and metal. Lyrically, "In Absentia" tackles murder, molestation and mental illness, and the album's style reflects the fractured minds. Here PT move from achingly beautiful clean and acoustic instrumentation to crackling, ominous electro-synth ambience to explosive metal, sometimes in a single track. Mastermind Steve Wilson's vocals, however, remain a constant, though he's equally schizophrenic, evoking vulnerability, rage and frightening indifference. Like most concept albums, "In Absentia" is quite lengthy, and sometimes dominated by instrumental passages. Unlike most prog, however, "In Absentia" is not an instrumental showcase. Wilson and company are surely talented musicians, they're content to leave the pyrotechnics to others. No, they display something better: extraordinary songwriting ability. Indeed, though some songs are better than others, there is nary an outright misstep here, a rarity in lengthier albums. Towards the open we have the nostalgic and wistful "Trains," the most purely melodic track. Wilson's vocal are simply on, and the first run through the chorus always gets to me. "The Sound of Muzak" is a similarly commercial effort, but it's more off-kilter and profoundly bleak, with another insistent chorus. The middle of the album tends toward greater moodiness and less melodicism, and is dominated by the slow and spacey "Gravity Eyelids", and the pounding instrumental "Wedding Nails." It's not as grabbing as some of the early material, but it all has an impact. PT saves much of the best for last 4 tracks. "The Creator Has A Mastertape" and "Strip the Soul" play like a twisted pair. They're violent, disturbing tracks driven by an isolated bass and Wilson's affectless vocals, though "Creator" is concise with a nervous energy, while "Strip" is epic and moody. We're also treated to a couple gorgeous ballads. "Heartattack In A Layby" is one of the most devastating songs I've heard. The prosaic, desperate lyrics and wall of harmonies and overdubs at the songs climax. . .the effect, I just can't hope to describe it. Simply a remarkable song. The closer, "Collapse The Light Into Earth" is equally brilliant. It's mostly a few piano chords and a simple, melancholic melody. Eventually more harmony and variation are introduced, but it's this core that drives the song, creating an elegant coda to the album. In closing, "In Absentia" may not grab you immediately. Some will be disappointed by the lack of prog conventions, while others may not find the moodier sections impressive at first. Personally, I thought it was good, but not altogether great, on my first listen Keep at it, though, and I think most open-minded prog fans will find something truly remarkable in this release. Check it out.

This was my first exposure to PT. Ran across several references to them in other reviews of prog music here on Amazon, so I decided to give (album title) a listen and one-clicked a copy to try out. First thing I have to say I noticed about the disc was the recording quality. It is PRISTINE and crystal clear. Not sure what Steve Wilson and/or his recording engineer did while recording this to make it sound so good, but hats off to them for pulling it off. This is one of the best sounding CDs I've bought in the last decade. Second thing that struck me was, while I very much enjoyed the music, it didn't necessarily strike me as being obvious prog-rock. Rock, yes. Prog, sort of. I admit my definition of progressive rock is more defined by the 70's prog sound, and PT reminds me more of early 80's Triumph, Rush or Blue Oyster Cult (peppered with a touch of 90's grunge) than 70's Yes, Genesis, or ELP. The use of heavier electric guitars layered with some feathery strummed acoustic reminded me of Triumph (or the like) quite a bit. But is it good music? Oh yeah...the team Steve Wilson put together consists of solid musicians, and they deliver on here, pulling out powerful performances of his material. Another aspect of PT I really like are the vocals. I've moaned in several other reviews about the vocalists in a few other prog bands, and I was pleasantly surprised with Wilson's voice. He tends to sing in a lower register than a lot of Dream Theatre-inspired prog outfits, and it's a nice change. I think it better relates the more personal-sounding lyrics Wilson tends to write. Though I'm not a hard rock fanatic, I tend to like the harder rocking tunes on this. The ethereal-sounding, slower numbers sound great (production wise) but don't really carry the energy the harder numbers do (the slower songs come across a little more emotionally heavy). And don't expect any massive B3 or moog solos or any other prog rock keyboard staples. All the keyboard work is very subtle and textural, flavoring the music much more than leading it. Though some of the songs are less than 5s (the slower, keyboard driven numbers for me), the disc as a whole is a work of art for production and musicianship. So, if you like prog-ish rock with good energy and a darker mood, this is definitely one to consider.

I first saw PT two years ago when they toured with Opeth. I had only heard one tune from PT (Strip the Soul), and I figured they would be worth checking out. After the show, we thought their performance was so excellent, that my wife and I bought this CD for $10. I've spent $10 on a lot of things, but never has something been so worth it before. I am a big fan of those quiet, genious, mastermind artists that crank out music because they actually enjoy it and have something to say (i.e. Devin Townsend). The frontman for PT is one of these people. Anyhow, you could classify PT as "progressive hard rock", but that is really a shallow description. There are elements of many other musical genres (as others have said) and they all blend together nicely. The guitars are clean and groovy, and they aren't afraid to whip out some heavy, power-chorded riffs. There are just enough crunchy, heavy and softer tunes on this album for anyone that enjoys real music. The vocal melodies can be both creepy and moving at the same time. The music is pleasing to listen to, and it's plainly obvious that each member is a professional musician. There's no cheapness to this album. You can sense the perfection they were striving for. The production quality is excellent; everything sounds great. The songs and lyrics are both sad and inspiring. Every time I listen to this album, I get a different feeling. Get the DTS/DVD version of this for an extra treat. We ended up buying that version a year later just for the bonus tracks and DTS track. As a result of this album, we have now purchased many other PT albums and been to two more shows. Do yourself a favor and see PT live (they are currently touring America!) to understand this band fully. So, turn off that crappy, radio "mainstream" trash and enlighten your mind with PT.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I hadn't even heard of Porcupine Tree until a couple of weeks ago, when my teenage son put on the song "Shallow" from Deadwing in the car, and while listening I thought "wait a minute, this is actually good," and investigated further. After seeing the overwhelmingly positive reviews for PT CDs on Amazon, I went on a Porcupine Tree spending spree, picking up Warszawa, In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet, Anesthetize, and The Incident in one swoop. I watched Anesthetize with my sons, but only had one pass through it on a school night. I then wanted to listen to the oldest stuff first; however, Warszawa won't arrive for several more weeks, so I went full-gorilla with In Absentia. I love this album, and have listened to it at least five times now (haven't even moved on to Deadwing yet). Good music for me has to be listened to several times to "soak in," and I've been enjoying the In Absentia experience. I would say that a couple of the songs are weaker than the others, but even those are past my "remove this song from my library" threshold (I have no problem nuking songs I don't like, even from my favorite artists, as I care about quality, not completeness). Additionally, removing any of the In Absentia songs would be like removing a track from The Wall or 2112 - you just don't do that. I'm a forty-something who spent my young-adult life listening to the likes of Rush, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Boston, and a variety of others...and I must say that I haven't been this excited about happening upon a "relatively new" artist since coming across Vertical Horizon a few years ago. I very much look forward to listening to the other PT albums, and soaking them in like I'm doing with In Absentia. Last but not least, I've seen comments saying PT is not really "progressive rock." Long ago I decided I would strip the genre tag from every song in my library, because it is such a subjective thing, as well as time-sensitive (exactly when does rock become classic rock, for example). For me, music is either "good" or "not good," and I have no need to place subjective labels on it. So far, every PT song I've heard is in the "good" category.

Porcupine Tree's latest album is the smooth, enchanting fix metal heads like myself need without feeling guilty. I've heard a few songs by them before this album (they have lots, and aren't all easily accessible), and they definitely are one of the most original bands in music history. Why? Well, Steve Wilson is just a musical genius, and the whole band came out with a album of HIGH variety, amazing creativity, hypnotic grooves, and progressive 70's flare. He can write extremely catchy songs with great longevity and replay value, and more intriguing tunes that put you in a trance, thus, a few more listens are necessary to appreciate them, but you'll be glad you did. The album sounds like a less technical RadioHead with a 70's influence. I loved almost every song off this record, from their most catchiest to their most mellow to thier most technical and hypnotic. No instrument is ever overused; for example, the keyboard work isn't in every song, and only in those parts where it would be most effective, nothing is ever used to "save" a song from bordem like tons of other bands do. Also, no 2 songs sound alike. Every single one is distinctive and unique from the ones before and after it, yet still keeping the progressive rock roots in mind, which I should say is an INCREDIBLY difficult thing to achieve. You'll have to hear it to know what I mean. Although, from all the other PT stuff I've heard before, that's nothing new, all thier songs are very unique from one another. For example, with some songs I couldn't help but think of outer space, other parts made me feel like dancing like a hobbit, and others made me think of the seasons (if this makes any sense). Anyway, with all this said, the reason I didn't give this a full 5 stars is only because there are 2 mediocre tracks on it. Track 10 just seems to go on forever and is one I tend to skip, track 11 is pretty good, mostly during the end but I won't listen to it all the time. Track 12 though ends the album BEAUTIFULLY. I don't know why, but the whole mood during that final masterpiece just makes you feel like you took a huge journey through the minds of these guys and are recalling every gorgeous second of it; a great ending. Still, about 90% of this album is remarkable, and I highly recommend it to any metalhead or just plain rock music fan, or folk music for that matter. There's not many albums out there that make you listen to the whole thing and just word to yourself "niccce " once it's over. This is one of them. Buy this NOW!!

"In Absentia" is one of the the best, may be the best, album of Porcupine Tree. It contains silent, psychedelic Songs, with an influence of 60s Psychedelic Music and also modern Electronic Music on one side. On the other side it contains powerfull "Alternative Rock" at its best. New on this album is the strong Heavy Metal influenced guitarsound of Bandleader and superb guitarplayer "Steven Wilson". I heard he hang around with band members of "Opeth", so may be there is the metal influenced based. But not only him all other members of the band do a really fantastic job! There are parts on "In Absentia" which are really heavy, so may is not the best album to start with. Or you like anyway Metal or excessive guitar players like "Robert Fripp" for example. If you like it more soft, look for "Lightbulb Sun". The production and the performing of the songs is really fine. The Songwriting is excellent. There are many "pearls" on this album like: Blackest Eyes, The Sound Of Muzak, Gravity Eyelids, Wedding Nails, The Creator Has A Mastertape. Porcupine Tree are marked as "Progressive Rock", but for me it is more intelligent Alternative Rock. There is still a little influence of early sounds of "Pink Floyd". Anyway this album is really a masterpiece of Rock Music. And if youre not afraid of heavy guitars - enjoy it!

'In Absentia' Is a perfect example of what true musical genius is! Steven Wilson and the band are both masterfully creative and technically perfect, which creates music that NEVER gets old and always seems to sound or feel a bit different each time I listen to the album. It is brilliantly produced, which only further enhances the amazing music written and performed on this album. The only problem with this album, or any of Porcupine Tree or Steven Wilson's music is that it does not appeal to, how should I say this, ....STUPID PEOPLE. OK, that does mean mean stupid because you disagree with my taste, BUT, I have come to notice over all my many years as a Porcupine Tree fan that there are some common 'traits' amongst the listeners. One person put it as 'Mensa Metal', which refers to the group MENSA that is for those people who have a tested IQ at or above 98% of the rest of the population and Metal as a simple way to refer to Rock. Oddly enough, I was a MENSA member, I just applied on a dare and qualified, then left, who wants to sit around with people who are only together because they all have higher IQs than everyone else? Not Me, But I digress... Porcupine Tree fans share a type of intelligence which allows us to understand the complexity, difficulty and genius of the music we hear. It is not for the casual music listener who likes an instant 'hook', a 'catchy' beat, etc... Porcupine Tree's music, does have it's own type of hook and once it catches you you will never be loose!

There were three discs which I simply thought could not be equaled or paralleled -- "Lightbulb Sun," "Stupid Dream," and "Signify." Those three discs of Porcupine Tree are the quintessential brilliance of this band and Steve Wilson . . . . and then along comes "In Abstentia." As difficult as it was for me to believe that anything could ever be as great as those three discs, "In Abstentia" is just as fabulous! To start off with "Blackest Eyes," I thought to myself, "Ah, it has the same grab you by the throat attention-getting as does 'EvenLess' from 'Stupid Dream.'" And then "Trains," of course, is beautiful and poetic. "Gravity Eyelids" has that heavy, brooding overtone which characterizes so many of PT's greatest heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching songs. "Wedding Nails," "Prodigal," and "Dot Three," they are all great, wonderful, powerful songs. "Strip" has that same brooding intensity as "Gravity Eyelids." One of the many things PT does so brilliantly is ending their cd's with those beautiful, softer pieces which cool you down after the intensity of their disc's earlier songs. "Dark Matter" ending "Signify;" "Fadeaway" at the end of "Up the Downstairs;" and "Stop Swimming" at the end of "Stupid Dream" -- they are all perfect bookends to complete and close POWERFUL cd's. Well, PT does it again by ending "In Abstentia" with the haunting and yet beautiful "Collapse The Light Into Earth." Wonderful, perfect placement. Now, there are a number of songs which I did not mention, but trust me, what I failed to mention in this review, they are all still wonderful! Porcupine Tree is absolutely a force to be reckoned with, and we will (hopefully and thankfully) hear much and much more of them in the future. GET THIS DISC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top notch apart from slow delivery!

Album fantastico

Prensagem perfeita!

Calidad del disco y del paquete excelente Identificador del disco: 802644823270

ポキュパインの中で、一番好きなアルバムです。 素晴らしいです。