In Absentia by Porcupine Tree

Pros: Prog rock influenced musicianship; excellent interplay of various instruments; many moods and textures.
Cons: Can be scary/disturbing.

Porcupine Tree is a rock group from England led by talented singer/songwriter/instrumental ist Steven Wilson. They are often classified in the progressive rock genre, which is understandable since Wilson is admittedly inspired by ...

Pros: great songwriting, stays interesting with diversity, vocals
Cons: a little unfocused

I've heard on and off great things about this band and "In Absentia" seemed to be the most acclaimed piece of work and a recommended must buy by some respected music fans. So on solely hype I ended up purchasing this before a long car trip knowing ...

Pros: The Tree continue to change their sound and progress
Cons: Almost needs to be played extremely loudly

Back in 1996, as the progressive rock band and erstwhile bearers of Gentle Giant's torch Echolyn, were being dumped by a major label (Sony) after 1 album, Porcupine Tree released Signify on the independent Delerium label. It proved that the Tree...

Pros: One of the best rock bands I've heard in the past decade.
Cons: nothing.

Pure and magical, you can't really label this! With "Absentia", what do you call this album? Prog rock sure, but it almost does take on a folk appeal at times, while other times the change towards more melody driven, catchier tunes and the absence of ...

Pros: Amazing Production. All the songs are well written and preformed. Heavy.
Cons: Um...

Porcupine Tree is one of the most talented bands in the world today. The Tree is no newbie to the music world either. It started out in the 80s as a joke project for vocalist/guitarist, Steven Wilson. At about 1995, Porcupine Tree became a main ...

Pros: Trains
Cons: Uninspired drivel

I had heard of Porcupine Tree before and thought they were supposed to be a good progressive rock band. How wrong I was. I bought this album only to find that it is, in fact, Australian Pop Music. That's right, Australian. I don't know if any of the ...

Pros: Music quality, Recording quality
Cons: After about an hour or so, the album ends!

This is one of those great finds that pop up, totally unexpected, only once in a while in one’s life. I went to a “Yes” concert in Hartford CT in Nov 2002, and right before the lights went down, the announcer says “The opening band is...

Pros: Songs, Musicianship, Atmosphere, Sound Quality.
Cons: Too short!

I had heard of Porcupine Tree as a prog band, but had not heard them until one of my bandmates loaned me his copy of In Absentia. HOOKED! This has got to be one of the most cohesive and enjoyable records in my collection,(spanning jazz to technical metal from the 70's to Today). The songs are diverse, going from crunchy instrumentals to softly sung dark passages.

These guys are great and TASTEFUL players. Drummer Gavin Harrison deftly weaves his signature rhythm alterations and chops into the mix, Steven Wilson plays some very nice guitar passages and sings with a great voice as well. Ex-Japan keyboardist Richard Barbieri lends his atmosphere to the mix, and bassist Colin Edwin holds down the low end with TIGHT fretless grooves.

Oh, and the engineering/production is superb. If you have DVD Audio capability I HIGHLY suggest you pick up the DVD-A version.