Lightbulb Sun (Porcupine Tree)

Like 1999's "Stupid Dream" before it, this 2000 effort features the band moving away from their spacy Pink Floyd sound and into more song-oriented territory. Musically, the band features a great deal of genre experimentation, complex song structures and time signatures, and an excellent vocal performance courtesy of vocalist/guitarist Steven Wilson. Lyrically, the album covers a wide variety of topics in an abstract fashion.

Lightbulb Sun: The album starts off with its mostly mellow title track. It features lonely accoustic guitars, soft piano touches, and gently sung vocals during the opening verse; heavier riffs and distorted vocals during the chorus; spacy bass playing added in during the following verses; and sweet falsettos during the bridge that lead smoothly into the spacy guitar solos. A pretty cool way to start things off.
9 out of 10

How Is Your Life Today?: Another mellow track, though this song is more unsettling than melancholic. Almost completely devoid of the rhythm section, this song just focuses on the simple but spooky piano melody and the echoing vocal lines. A pretty neat tune.
9 out of 10

Four Chords That Made A Million: One of the more exotic songs on the album. It comes with Eastern guitar effects, building bongos, and catchy vocal lines during the opening verse; one of the most infectious vocal lines during the chorus; a more driving rhythm during the following verses; and a slower pace during the bridge with some neat sitar effects thrown in the background. An awesome track that may be the best on the album.
10 out of 10

Shesmovedon: Later re-recorded as a bonus track for "Deadwing", this track features a melancholic atmosphere combined with a pretty nice groove. It also offers pleasant vocal/guitar harmonizing and a steady drum beat during the verses, beautiful layering during the chorus, some neat keyboards in the background, and heavier distortion thrown in during the third verse, and some great jamming at the song's climax.
10 out of 10

Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled: Perhaps the unusual PT song title of all time, we are treated to another tune dominated by accoustic guitars and gentle vocals. The first part of the song ("Winding Shot") focuses on this typical sound while the second part (see title) goes into a more jam based direction with an interesting speech delivered above it all by cult leader Marshall Applewhite, taken from a tape made just before the Heaven's Gate cult committed a mass suicide. . .
9 out of 10

The Rest Will Flow: Originally released at a faster pace to help make it sound poppier, this song was one of the album's bigger singles. It is another accoustic track that feature some pleasant guitar strums, nearly overwhelming strings in the background, more drawn out vocal patterns, and another catchy chorus. Perhaps a little too simplistic and slightly sugar coated, but another excellent track nevertheless.
9 out of 10

Hatesong: As expected, this might be one of the heaviest songs on the album. It is made memorable by its catchy bass riffs, neat guitar and keyboard effects, steady drum beats, repressed vocal lines, powerful outbursts of distortion, a more melodic chorus, and some great jamming during the song's second half. A pretty cool tune.
9 out of 10

Where Would We Be: Sounds of singing birds open this song in an atmospheric fashion before more accoustic guitars take their place, the verses and choruses bring in more drawn out vocal lines into the mix, the solo sections bring in some soaring guitars that recall Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, and the lyrics are particularly depressing ("Strange how you never become/The person you see when you're young"). A lesser track, but still quite enjoyable.
8 out of 10

Russia On Ice: Now we come to the album's thirteen minute epic track. It comes in with soft piano flourishes and spacy guitar playing during the introduction before a more muscular riff comes in, the verses continue with more suppressed vocals and building guitars in the background, the chorus features more awesome layering, and the solo sections offer cool jamming that recalls the haunting atmosphere of "Hatesong". A pretty sweet song that fortunately never outstays its welcome.
9 out of 10

Feel So Low: Closing the album out is a final accoustic track. It comes with mournful guitar melodies during the introduction and lonely vocals brought in for the verses. A sweet closer, though perhaps the least exciting song on the album.
8 out of 10

Overall, this album gets 90 out of 100, 90%, and 4.5 stars. Like any PT effort, this album offers an awesome mix of technical sophistication and emotionally genuine songwriting. I would recommend this album to anyone interested in looking into the band, especially if you are a listener with more mellow tastes. This could be even more accessible than its last three albums!