Porcupine Tree – Stupid Dream

Ah, yes. Porcupine Tree. One of the 21st century’s most relevant prog bands and, for many years, the main project of Steven Wilson himself.

I came into the Porcupine Tree party relatively late (my first conscious listen of their music was 2002’s “In Absentia”) and, at the time, I was more into the metal side of the prog scene so the guys didn’t quite fit my bill and I kept moving. However, and after Steven’s became increasingly ubiquitous as producer or collaborator of bands such as Opeth, I kept probing his music here and there until it clicked. The year was 2007, and the album was “Fear Of A Blank Planet”.

I then started to trace PT’s discography back following the proverbial path of white pebbles and enjoying each chapter as I discovered them.

1999’s “Stupid Dream” meant a further step towards that signature sound that made PT reach global success (for the genre standards, anyway), as they became less purely psychedelic and atmospheric, integrating more rock and pop influences and structures. 1996’s “Signify” already had been a change from the sprawling, vast soundscapes in “The Sky Moves Sideways”, but “Stupid Dream” took this even further.

So, even if the album still has the more purely “soundscape” signature of the band popping its head all across the album here and there, and still owns the stage in “Tinto Brass”, to me “Stupid Dream” is a wonderfully crafted art rock album, where pop and rock are ed through Wilson’s vast musical vision that puts together a really balanced album that understands the power and value of melody and classic structures (listen to the vocal harmonies in “Stranger By The Minute”) without sacrificing the search for new places and sounds.
Highlights are “Even Less”, “Piano Lessons”, “A Smart Kid”, “Slave Called Shiver”, the above mentioned “Tinto Brass” and “Stop Swimming” with my favourite being “Don’t Hate Me”, where the balance I was speaking above reaches perfection entwined with one of Wilson’s many masterstrokes of songwriting and musical storytelling.