Stupid Dream

by

Porcupine Tree

Edit

This was first released back in 1999, and at the time I considered Porcupine Tree to be a pretty good progressive-rock band. Not necessarily great, but pretty good. I had even skipped over getting their "Coma Divine: Live in Rome" album (thinking that I didn't really need a live album from them), and "Metanoia" (which was described as some extra music they had left over from previous recording sessions, and that didn't sound too interesting...). But after listening to "Stupid Dream", I went back and bought "Coma Divine". And with those two albums, I considered them the best new band of the 1990's.

"Stupid Dream" is a little slower-paced than previous albums, with more intricate, varied and interesting instrumental work on it. Not that their previous music had been bad, but the music here is even better. The music has more of an edge to it, and distances the band a bit more from the "Pink Floyd Sound" that they had on "The Sky Moves Sideways". But the more notable improvement is in the lyrics. Steve Wilson managed to come up with songs that were more about people and personal emotions, instead of "spacy vague trippy topics". Lyrically, the songs here are more of a rock album, instead of the psychedelic lyrics from earlier albums. Mind you, I also liked those psychedelic lyrics, but I can only take so many of those before they seem trite. The songs on "Stupid Dream" are certainly not trite.

You can check out all the lyrics at PTree's web site, so I won't bother typing in all the ones I like. But I personally like "Piano Lessons". It could be a theme song for anyone who is young, talented, and eager to come up with "something new", even though the people around them are very cynical. ``She said there's too much out there. Too much already said. You'd better give up hoping, you're better off in bed. -- You don't need much to speak out. No class, no wit, no soul. Forget you own agenda, get ready to be sold''.

The lyrics are still sparse, so different listeners can fill in the details of the song from their own experiences. "Even Less" is a song about a friend dying, and the feeling that maybe you could have helped him out in some way. "Pure Narcotic" is a song were one person is hopelessly infatuated with someone, but the other person doesn't seem to care all that much. "This Is No Rehearsal" is a parent who has their only child abducted. Note that it isn't a long song about the details of the *abduction*, but just a few sentences which express the feeling of loss. The album ends with "Stop Swimming", about someone who is just too tired of struggling and wants to stop, even if that means they will die. Obviously a number of sad themes there.

"A Smart Kid" is a bit of a throwback to earlier PTree songs like "Radioactive Toy", in that it's more like an excerpt from some science-fiction story. ``Winter lasted five long years. No sun will come again I fear. Chemical harvest was sown. -- And I will wait for you, until the sky is blue. And I will wait for you, what else can I do? -- A spaceship from another star. They ask me where all the people are. What can I tell them? -- I tell them I'm the only one. There was a war but I must have won.''

Okay, so that's the album. If you don't have it, then this is a great album to pick up and listen to. For those who already have the original album, the question is whether this remastered version is worth buying. I think it is. It's obviously worth it if you have a good 5.1-capable DVD-audio system (I don't, but this album might get me to buy one!), due to the second disk with the new 5.1 audio mix. But even the regular stereo CD is a little clearer-sounding in spots. The music isn't much different, in that there's no new solos or anything, and all the songs have basically the same playing time as the original. But some of the details seem a little sharper (IMO), and there were a few spots in the original version where I couldn't quite make out the lyrics, and those spots seem more understandable in this version.

I really think this is one of the best albums of the past ten years, especially for anyone who likes a variety of solid substantial music surrounding short, memorable lyrics. After this album, I switched to pre-ordering any new release from the group. I was confident that these guys really knew what they were doing, and their "Lightbulb Sun", "In Absentia" and "Deadwing" albums released after this one have certainly continued to prove that.