Since the Richard Barbieri section of the forum was becoming the Porcupine Tree topic I thought that I would shift the conversation over to a more appropriate place. So... here we are!
Now that I've had a few days to really dig into Deadwing (my first PT experience, for those just tuning in) I thought I would share some of my impressions.
First, I'm loving this band! I had just about given up hope that there was anything new that was worthwhile over the past few years. (Other than David Sylvian and related artists of course ... wait a minute, I guess PT is related... ah, whatever - you know what I mean.)
As I said earlier "Arriving Somewhere" is probably my favorite track on Deadwing, although I'm finding that there isn't a dud track in the bunch. Anyway, on Arriving Somewhere I love the line "Never look for the truth in your mother's eyes". This got me thinking about how your mom will always tell you that everything's OK, you look great, etc. In other words she will lie in an attempt to protect you. Quite an interesting concept to put into a song.
Also, with several of the women on this forum speaking about the goosebumps that they get from music I wanted to remind everyone that this happens to men as well. In fact I believe this is why my life has revolved around music, having had my first "chills" when I was around 10 years old. I was forever hooked on music from that point, and like a drug I was constantly seeking my next "fix" - but what a wonderful drug music is! I suspect that the degree to which people experience this phenomenon determines how much they will get into music. I have met some people that don't really care much about music, and I wonder if they don't experience the goosebumps, or if they do perhaps to a lesser degree than others. That said, I find that I get the effect less and less as I grow older (and probably more jaded). Like the drug analogy, it takes more and more to get the same effect.
Now after all of that rambling I know you're saying "Get to the point!". Well, back to Arriving Somewhere: when it drops into the sections with the line "All my designs, simplified..." I get the chills big time. That hasn't happen to me in a LONG time, so now I need more! Needless to say, I'm off to Tower tonight to buy another PT release, probably Signify.