But then again, putting theory to practice is rarely a guaranteed success. 'The Incident' is a disjointed, random collection of songs - with sloppily executed, 'hip' parts, trite lyrics and bare-bones instrumentation. The entire album is one long snoozefest - made even more so by a pointedly lacklustre performance on vocals by the otherwise stellar Steven Wilson. Gone are the sudden, in-your-face heavy bits, gone are the booming bass licks - all replaced by a pronounced stupor that the band seems unwilling to wake from. What is almost completely missing is PT's mesmerizing use of the acoustic guitar - which is mere background noise on the album, but for the Animals rip-off that is 'Time Flies' which is inexplicably the most memorable track on the album. There's no quirks going around either (and by quirks I mean, say the saxophone on 'Don't Hate Me') but for the goofy modernisms the band throws by the listener every now and then. In seeking to push the band further and further down the road of progression, it appears Wilson has taken it over the edge - with the very soul of the band seemingly at stake on this record.

I can only see this one in two ways, either this album is a desperate cry from a band that see themselves constrained by the limitations of their chosen genre or its a sign that after more than two decades of producing quality music - they may have finally lost it. One hopes for the sake of us hardcore fans, who can't get through the week or even a day without their dose of PT that it is the former. Perhaps more time was what the band required to flesh out something truly worthy of the Porcupine Tree tag. Time has a way of erasing the undue, and for Wilson's sake at the least - one hopes that the memory of this one falls through and the brilliance that is the mark of PT invigorates itself once more.

(That said, I probably will be attending the PT gig next month in Bombay anyway.)

Related Links:

Review of Fear of a Blank Planet

Review of Porcupine Tree live at IIT Mood Indigo 09