Gold man bites down on a silver tongue

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts

01/07/22 : Closure/Continuation - Porcupine Tree


Our second and a half visit with Porcupine Tree - we've had one from PT and one from SW.  I'd never heard of him or them before I joined the #AOTD channel - loads of them LOVED all things Porcupine related.   I seem to recall not minding it, but being a bit perplexed about the whole thing.

And yeah, that's pretty much where we are.  It all sounds very Pink Floyd-y to me - full of obviously skilful musicians doing their best to demonstrate their skills, which I'm sure plenty of people will appreciate.  But, well, whilst I don't mind it, I'm just left thinking that I'm missing out on the very particular set of skills needed to appreciate it.  And part of me feels like it's my fault - if I just put the effort in, I'd love it.  But, well, life's too short I'm afraid - particularly with no guarantee of "success".  So, if you love it, I envy you the pleasure but will leave you to it - I do like the album cover though!

We're at #2 with a new entry this week - Harry continues to reign supreme at the top with his fourth week at the top (out of six and the other two were at #2).  There are three other new entries in the top ten from Chris Brown (#6), Conan Gray (#8) and Luke Combs (#9) - a trio whose names sound like they could have been Aston Villa's midfield in the 80s.  There are also big jumps in the charts for Billie Eilish, Sam Fender and Wet Leg on the backs of storming Glasto sets - the youngsters are taking over the world!

Wikipedia has a huge amount for a new album - 151 milliPeppers.tells me this is their first album since 2009 and it's been recorded in secret over a decade.  By three of the previous members - poor old Colin wasn't invited to the party (and it's not implausible to believe that the album's title is related to that turn of events).  It was well received by both the critics and the public - #1 in Germany and The Netherlands, which didn't overly surprise me because they do like their serious rock over there.

"Customers also listened to" Steven Wilson (no surprise there!), The Pineapple Thief and Pure Reason Revolution - two fine band names.  As is Porcupine Tree - and whilst I wish I could appreciate them for more than that, it just doesn't quite happen for me, I'm afraid.  But I'm happy for all those that have rushed out to buy it on vinyl and are loving their umpteenth listen.

24/06/22 - It's all a complete mystery to me
08/07/22 - Admirable rather than enjoyable

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