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| Artist | Porcupine Tree |
| Title | Lightbulb Sun |
| Type | Album |
| Released | 22.05.2000 |
| Genre | Alt-rock, Pop |
| Style | Britpop, prog |
| My rating | (8/10) |
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Tracklist:
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Credits:
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Here we have the last record of the Chris Maitland era of the band and at the same time the last truly pop-centered one. The vibe here is indentical to it's predecessor's - warm, cheerful pop melodies that are intertwined with proggy elements that sometimes shine through. From two albums of this era think I prefer this one, at least during the time when I'm writing this. I think the songs are more refined and polished here, as Steven and crew got more comfortable writing music in this very interesting style.
"Lightbulb Sun" is a phenomenal opener. It really neatly sets the tone for the rest of the songs to come. The lyrics here are very intriguing, and they resonate with me in a very weird way... They talk about a child who is sick(?) and has to stay home as the world out of his house just moves along. I think this is a perspective that almost everybody can put themselves in. Besides lyrics this is just an interesting song on it's own - Steven plays weird chords in a weird sequences on a capo'd guitar. Exceptionally decent opener!
It's commonly agreed by the fans that the next 2 songs here are the low points of this record... "How's Your Life" is hardly ever talked about and "Four Chords" is deemed to be annoying, cringy and badly written. Though I don't really mind both of them tbh. Well, I rarely go back to the former and I think it could be the least exciting song here, but the latter is a very fine piece of music! I don't find it annoying at all! It has very creative and unuque instrumentation, an AWESOME bassline and the main riff sounds very goofy in a good way! The lyrics truly are not very clever tho, as it often is with Steven's work in that field...
"Shesmovedon" tho is simply epic, nothing much to add here, as it's a fan favourite. It's simply a very neat pop song. The solo here is considered to be legendary and yeah it's cool but I'm not the biggest fan of the guitar tone used.
Then we have the wonderful "Last Chance", which is a strong contender for my favourte PT song. I love the contrast between the nostalgic, sweet pastoral and creepy voice sample that serves as a scaffolding for the spacey/proggy part of the song to build itself around. Hearing this song live is something that I've never even thought to be able happen, but yeah they performed it on a concert in Katowice that I attended in october 2022.
"The Rest Will Flow" I believe to be a hidden gem of this era. This track is just so unbeliveably cute and sweet! I love it <3, nothing much to say.
The proggiest songs here are definitely "Russia on Ice" and "Hatesong", both of which feature amazing work from Colin and Chris. I really enjoy the interplay between them. And what the actual time-signatural hell happens during the "start-stop" section in the "Hatesong"?! This sounds so cool, but is extremely difficult to follow along, let alone play along... "Russia On Ice" is another fan favourite here, a true certidied PT classic. An epic alt-rock meets prog adventure that features one of the best guitar work that Steven ever put out. The solo here is I think his literal best, it's simple but emotional and features really creative melodies.
"Where we Would Be" is another often forgotten gem here. Tho I don't enjoy it all that much, it has a special place at my heart. I often go back to this cute little song, especially to the live version featured on "Warszawa" live album.
The album end is weirdly dissappointing imo. "Russia On Ice" should've been the closer! Instead we got "Feel So Low" that features cringy (childlishly immature?) lyrics that aged poorly. I can't help to think that they kinda are almost incel-ish? In a way? I don't know... The song's not bad, it's just I'm not a big fan of it. The melodies are beaitiful and hauting and the atmosphere here is warmly bittersweet. Fine song but as I said, I'm not a big fan of it being a closer...
To recap: awesome album. Very cute and neat effort by the band. It's a shame they didn't got much radio play... These songs have a lot of potential for it. To me this is a spring/summer album. It sounds very warm and embracing. The Chris Maitland era of PT ends on a very high note!