HiRez Poll Porcupine Tree - DEADWING [DVD-A/BDA]

ss9001 said:

Recently got In Absentia, and except for 1 or 2 songs that were just too metal for me, I really liked it!! Sort of reminds me of a mix of Floyd, Alan Parsons, Peter Gabriel and NIN all together. I especially liked Gravity Eyelids and Strip the Soul.

Maybe a redundant question, but I'd appreciate opinions on how Deadwing compares. More metal or more eerie synth sounds? The surround mix on Absentia one of the best in my collection.

ss9001

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Personally speaking, I think Deadwing is better. Sonically more consistant, and I think the writing is stronger. There are some very long songs so hopefully that won't discourage you. Mixwise, it's superb. As far as being too "metal", I'd say no.

ss9001 said:

.. how Deadwing compares. More metal or more eerie synth sounds?

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I'd say less metal and less eerie synths @: A notch more towards mainstream rock.
I liked In Absentia instantly, but Deadwing had to grow on me.

This album will meanwhile be familiar to a lot of people here, here are my remarks.
I like this in surround much better than in stereo
Steven Wilson makes a point of it to change the sound from album to album. This one and the one before had more "rock" influences than their older repertoire. But, contrary to many rock bands, the singing never becomes screaming, it's often a bit undercooled so to speak. And there are also the other sides of Porcupine Tree, melodic, sensitive.
It starts off in the title track, with an organ/guitar combination intro that reminds me a lot of the track "The Nostalgia Factory" that Steven Wilson recorded somewhere around 1990. But it goes a different direction from there. There is variety, and a very nice surround mix. Also the 4 bonus tracks are not too shabby.

To stay critical a few nitpicks.
- I don't like the menu (and most of Lasse Hoile's other artwork for the band).
- In Deadwing the front to back ping pong of the voice is a bit gimmicky. I noticed the (3rd) line of that section ("Sucking in the air") starts with the sylable "S" behind, while the rest of the word switches to the front.

But the rest is so well done so I gave this DVD-A a 9.

I've had this for some time and heard it again in its entirety yesterday. It is brilliant, musically and sonically. My only nitpick is the tinge of sibilance on the vox now and again, which seems to disappear in the middle of the album. The drum sound is I think the best I've heard in a rock surround title.

For those that lament the lack of creativity in new rock music, this is the release of your dreams - solid vocals, musicianship, and odd meters to boot! How often do you hear 5s, 7s, and 9s in rock anymore (and have it sound appropriate)?

Steven Wilson told me he was a bit frustrated with In Absentia in surround as all the fader moves and EQ settings had to be recalled and recreated about a year after they did the stereo mix. Deadwing was conceived and recorded with surround in mind and the surround and stereo mixes were done back to back. He told me in the Summer of 2005 that he wanted to mix Lightbulb Sun himself and that was supposed to be the next surround title, but it looks like we're getting Stupid Dream first.

Highly, highly recommended!!

I just received this one, I am often last and I never dreamed a group named Porcupine Tree would be anything I could like. I loved "In Absentia" and gave it a 9 and this one is the same. Well maybe "Deadwing" is an 8.8 and
"In Absentia" a 9.2. I can't understand the complaints I read at AVSforums about the surround mixes for either of these discs. Heavy Rock isn't rocket science but these guys do it really well. I should have waited until I had my 150 discs before voting on any, then I could have put it in better perspective. The two Flaming Lips DVD-A discs won't get played nearly as much as the Porcupine Tree discs here but I have them rated about the same. Bring on "Stupid Dream" and "Lightbulb Sun" although I understand they are considerably different albums.

Chris

I had forgotten about the extra tracks and just played those for the first time. I don't much care for them and won't play them often at all so I am glad they don't automatically play. It may have been done this way so the album plays as intended, realizing some people might feel as I do. They are harmless as they are, you can take them or leave them and let a multidisc player move on to the next disc.

Chris

If you did not like the bonus cut "shesmovedon" then you probably are not going to like LightBulb Sun. That is a cut from that album.

splinter7 said:

If you did not like the bonus cut "shesmovedon" then you probably are not going to like LightBulb Sun. That is a cut from that album.

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I may not "Lightbulb Sun", but the three bonus tracks on my disc are "Ravenant", "Mother & Child Divided" and "Half-Light". Mine was labeled promotional copy, not for resale but I bought it. Is this different than the non-promotional version? Is "Shesmovedon" only on the CD or DTS version?

Chris

Chris Gerhard said:

I may not "Lightbulb Sun", but the three bonus tracks on my disc are "Ravenant", "Mother & Child Divided" and "Half-Light". Mine was labeled promotional copy, not for resale but I bought it. Is this different than the non-promotional version? Is "Shesmovedon" only on the CD or DTS version?

Chris

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On the bonus track menu, click on the heart. That's where you should find "She's Moved On".

zabble said:

On the bonus track menu, click on the heart. That's where you should find "She's Moved On".

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All I get on my bonus track menu are the three songs I mentioned, no star or anything else that I could find.

Chris

On the bonus track menu, naviagate until the picture of the heart in the middle of the screen is highlighted. It is a little like an easter egg.
You can also go through your players' menu and select the cut.

I just pulled out the disc (the directions I posted before were from memory).

In order to find "She's Moved On", go to Extras. There you will see the words "Bonus Tracks", "Video", "Photos", "Lyrics", etc. across the top of the screen. Below these words should be a throbbing heart. Click on that.

Got it, thanks.

Chris

Gave this one a 9. Only because it's no Stupid Dream, and I gave that one a 10.

Absolutely the best surround mix I've ever heard.

As mentioned months ago, I made a Road Edition of Deadwing that stayed in both my can and van for over a year. It is essentially Deadwing minus the silence and remake of She's Moved On replaced by:

So Called Friend (cut from final Deadwing)
Half-Light (cut from final Deadwing)
Drown With Me (In Absentia b-side)

This brings me closer to the album's original intention...

Have any of you guys checked out the Stereo track on this?

Maybe it's just me... but it sounds terrible to my ears. Brick walled to the millionth degree. Listen to the chorus of "Shallow" and you might hear what I hear.

I seem to notice this is the case on a lot of the DTS releases I have. The 5.1 is breathtaking, but the stereo leaves a lot to be desired.

Is the DVD-A of Deadwing available from Burning Shed the dts disc?
It doesn't mention dts anywhere in the description (same thing with In Absentia)

This is the Burning Shed page for Deadwing:
http://www.burningshed.com/store/porcupinetree/product/51/313/

The Catalog Number on the website matches the number on my copy - which definitely has DTS.

This is probably my favourite DVD-Audio disc.

I seem to go back to it all the time....10