March 22, 1999 - Stupid Dream

A month and a half after my last release and two and a half years since "Signify", Porcupine Tree released their fifth album "Stupid Dream" on March 22, 1999. Porcupine Tree have almost entirely abandoned their psychedelic past on this album in favour of a much more straightforward, almost pop-y style at times. They still have some of their progressiveness though and they even had a full orchestra help out on a few songs as well as some guest flute and saxophone. The album's name comes from a long quote of frontman Steven Wilson, where he describes his feelings towards the music business and says that it's a stupid dream to want to be a musician, because it's actually a lot of hard work. Let's check out the latest from Steven and pals!

The album kicks off with the seven minute "Even Less" and it has a very long droning synth note in the background until Wilson comes in with a slow but pretty cool guitar riff. Chris Maitland starts a catchy drum beat and Colin Edwin plays some cool bass as well as things come crashing in for a loud and pretty cool chorus riff. Richard Barbieri plays some catchy piano in the verse and Steven sounds pretty great singing softly overtop. There are oddly no lyrics in the chorus, but everything sounds great still as there are cool contributions from everyone. After another solid verse and chorus we hear a nice heavy new riff that keeps the pace and then a nice distorted guitar solo by Wilson that sounds good and fits with this new riff well. This pretty much takes us to the end of the song, where we hear a women's voice start saying a bunch of 4 digit numbers that don't appear to have any significance. Certainly an odd way to and what was otherwise a pretty cool opener. Up next is the album's first single "Piano Lessons" and Barbieri fittingly leads the way with a cool piano riff that everyone else nicely builds around to form a catchy and fairly pop-y main riff. Despite the light and more accessible mood, things still sound solid and it's a nice catchy beat that Wilson smoothly sings along with. He goes pretty high in the chorus, but he has a really nice voice and I think he can do the pop-y singing quite well. After a couple verses and choruses Wilson plays a bit of cool new guitar, then it's right back to the catchy main riff to predictably jam things out. A little repetitive, but still solid. Track 3 is the title track "Stupid Dream" and it's a mere 28 seconds long! It's got some trippy and droning synths the whole time and it's just a little bridge between the last track and the next one "Pure Narcotic". Wilson plays a nice acoustic guitar riff and Barbieri plays some nice piano that goes really nicely along with it. Wilson sings a nice verse to match the mood perfectly and this is another great example of Porcupine Tree going a little more radio-friendly, but they are still nailing it and compared to a lot of that style, this is some top tier radio stuff! There's no drums the whole song, but the lack of heaviness doesn't take away from this cool song and it has a pretty cool light solo as well. There's even some dueling Wilson's as we hear two simultaneous vocal tracks at the end of the song that gives things a slightly psychedelic feel. Track 5 is "Slave Called Shiver" and Edwin starts us off with a pretty funky and cool bass riff and Maitland plays a cool and catchy drum beat to make a great rhythm section. Barbieri comes in with some slow piano and Wilson sings nicely overtop while playing some trippy guitar as well. Things sound pretty groovy and I love it! The solo fits the mood perfectly and sounds pretty sweet and this is definitely an early favourite for me, there is something cool playing at every moment of this song! Up next is the eight and a half minute "Don't Hate Me" and Wilson plays a slow but solid guitar riff to keep the pace while Barbieri adds some trippy keyboards and Maitland plays a nice drum beat. Steven holds some long notes in the verse and things sound pretty epic and cool. The chorus is pretty light, but everything sounds very smooth and silky. After a couple goes through Edwin starts up a new bass riff that sounds pretty cool and then we hear a little flute solo! Theo Travis plays the guest flute which sounds pretty cool, and he also plays some guest saxophone, which sounds even better! Both the flute and saxophone are atypical for P-Tree, but both sound really good and it's an interesting take on the back-to-back solo! There's some more flute actwr the solos before they eventually return to the chorus, and then it's Steven's turn for a guitar solo. It's a slow but epic solo that fits the mood perfectly and it's also the perfect way to wrap things up. Track 7 is "This Is No Rehearsal" and they roll right into a catchy drum beat and acoustic guitar riff to drive things and Wilson sounds good as usual singing overtop. The verse and chorus are pretty much the same, and things sound light but good before things get loud after the chorus. This part sounds good, but it's short and they hit reset and do it all again. After this round Edwin cues up a great backing bass riff and Wilson proceeds to play a pretty epic and wicked solo. The ending is very unique and an interesting way to finish things off as well. I love how this song had a very accessible and pop-y sound, but also had lots of great parts that really made it shine. The end leads right into the next track "Baby Dream In Cellophane" and the verse is led by an acoustic guitar riff as Barbieri adds some trippy synths to the background and Wilson sings softly and beautifully, his voice just rolls so smoothly. We hear lots of Steven's in the chorus as they nicely overdub his voice so it sounds like he's always starting a new verse and it's done well. This song is somehow psychedelic-pop and Porcupine Tree are really nailing the pop side once again with another really smooth and silky song. Track 9 was also a single and it's titled "Stranger By The Minute" and it's easy to see why with a light and really catchy lead guitar riff. Wilson sings nicely overtop and when Edwin'a bass finally joins in we have another very smooth and pretty solid main riff. Wilson sings in a great high voice in the chorus and how could you not like thos easy breezy song? Wilson's guitar solo is spot on as well and has some pretty cool stuff that continues into the final chorus. Up next is "A Smart Kid" and Barbieri plays some long, droning synths while Wilson plays a soft guitar riff overtop and together things sound quietly epic. Steven's vocals fit the mood perfectly as usual and once the bass and drums come in for the chorus the completed riff sounds pretty good for one that's quiet and light. Wilson plays a pretty epic and cool solo towards the end and it nicely devolves into a bit of acoustic guitar and then some trippy noises that take us right into track 11 "Tinto Brass'. It's named after an Italian film director of the same name and the spoken word part of the song is simply a biography about him. Only catch is, it's in Japanese! It's actually Steven Wilson's girlfriend who speaks in Japanese and her voice is a little quiet overtop of a very psychedelic backdrop that sounds like it should be off their debut album! After a minute of this we hear what sounds like a phone's busy signal and they build a riff around this unlikely beat with some decent drums and bass. We hear some more guest flute by Theo Travis that sounds pretty good to me and finally Wilson joins in with some nice light guitar. There's lots of cool flute in this part and it's followed by a short but pretty sweet heavier part with some great loud guitars. After a bit more cool jamming they end things with another heavy bout and aside from the odd Japanese biography, I thought this was a really coop instrumental song! The final track on the album is "Stop Swimming" and Maitland plays a cool little drum beat to start us off before Barbieri comes in on piano and Wilson sounds good singing lightly overtop. An orchestra even joins in eventually, but even with them there's honestly not enough going on for this song to be nearly seven minutes long. They never stray from the main riff and while it of course still sounds good, I think it's a lesser one off this mostly very solid album.

That is the end of "Stupid Dream" and I thought it was a very good album with no real weak points. They definitely play a more accessible style on some of the songs, but Porcupine Tree show on this album that they can sound great playing any style they want. Steven Wilson continues to write, sing and play lots of catchy and cool songs and I think it's their best album so far hands down! I thought their last album "Signify" was good, but I think this latest effort is way better and these guys nust continue to up their game! Will they upward trend continue?