by S. Victor Aaron
A lot of hay has been made of Porcupine Tree’s 2007 release Fear Of A Blank Planet, and yes, I’ve joined in the fray. It’s a solid effort from a band that hadn’t stumbled much to begin with. But PT’s leader Steven Wilson is just too talented to stand pat with Fear being his only contribution for this year. For the second time in about as many years, he’s gotten together with Israeli singer/songwriter Aviv Geffen to collaborate on a more mellow, mainstream sounding album than Wilson’s prog rock alter ego. The incredible thing is that “more mainstream” didn’t mean any real drop off in artistic quality. The songs have distinguishable melodic lines that contains just enough turns and surprises to keep you continuously engaged. The production is meticulously Pink Floydian, the vocals are superb and the choruses just soar. It’s really as close to a flawless mainline rock record you will find that’s come out this year.
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