Fear of a Blank Planet
Encyclopedia
Fear of a Blank Planet is the ninth studio album by British
progressive rock
band Porcupine Tree
and their best selling (until it was beaten by The Incident
in 2010). Released by Roadrunner
on 16 April 2007 in the UK and Europe
, 24 April 2007 in the United States
through Atlantic
, 25 April 2007 in Japan on WHD and 1 May 2007 in Canada
by WEA. Steven Wilson
has mentioned that the album's title is a direct reference to the 1990 Public Enemy album, Fear of a Black Planet
. He explained that race relations were a major issue when it was released and he sees "coming to terms with information technology and...the 21st century" as a modern issue.
The album was written in Tel Aviv
and London
between January and July 2006. The promotion of the record included a premiere performance of the songs during the shows in support of the Arriving Somewhere... DVD tour between September and November 2006, and a series of listening parties at New York
's Legacy Studios, and London
's Abbey Road Studios
during January 2007. Fear of a Blank Planet was followed later the same year by release of the Nil Recurring
EP. With the release of Insurgentes
, his first album as a soloist, Wilson would further develop some of the ideas on which Fear of a Blank Planet was conceived.
Even though it doesn't include any singles
, the album charted in almost all European countries and entered the U.S. Billboard 200
at #59. Allmusic, which gave the album a 4.5 out of 5 score, assured that "While there is no "radio single" on the disc most songs transcend their complex structure and feel as provocative as any traditional rock tune". The album was highly acclaimed by the critics and gained the status of "Album of the Year" in many magazines and websites.
was "Way Out of Here
" (a song co-written between all the band members), as it had not been written yet. The song that later would be titled "Cheating The Polygraph" (conceived by drummer Gavin Harrison and Steven Wilson) was used in its stead.
On 12 January 2007, Robert Fripp
from King Crimson
posted in his blog that he contributed on a track called "Nil Recurring" (another band written song), during the Fear of a Blank Planet recording sessions. A few days after, the mixing and recording processes was finished, so Wilson
unveiled the 5.1
mix edition of the album at two listening parties at New York
's Legacy Studios, and London
's Abbey Road Studios
, where the official track list was finally unveiled; there was a third pre-release listening party without the presence of Steven Wilson in the Club Phoenix of Brisbane
later on 14 April, organised by OzProg.com along with Roadrunner Records
. A medley
of the album tracks was posted to the band's MySpace
page and the Fear of a Blank Planet microsite
on 21 February. Then on 6 March, the title track was released in the US iTunes Store
as a bonus track with Blackfield II
, the second album from Wilson's side-project, Blackfield
. On 12 April, the CD came out in parts of Europe four days earlier than intended, and was soon leaked onto the internet.
On 16 April, the same day as the European release date of the album, the music video for the title track debuted on Porcupine Tree's MySpace
, though it was temporarily removed a day later in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre
due to the band finding the content, namely children wielding guns, distasteful at the present. Wilson expressed his opinion about the tragedy:
Meanwhile, fans were encouraged to purchase the album from record stores rather than from the Burning Shed
online store, in order to have impact in the charts.
The video was finally launched on the Fear of a Blank Planet microsite to view in high resolution on 25 April; until October the same year, when it was replaced by the projection used for the live performance of "Sleep Together". The video is now included as a bonus along with the 17-minute film for "Anesthetize
" on the DVD-A version of Fear of a Blank Planet
.
"Sentimental" was NPR
's "Song Of The Day" on 4 June.
On 6 August, on their official website, Porcupine Tree announced a new EP
was going to be released on 17 September the same year named Nil Recurring
, featuring four tracks (just under 30 minutes of music) that were written during the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions, including the title track featuring Robert Fripp on guitar, and "Cheating the Polygraph".
The song "My Ashes" was featured in the American
television series The Shield
in episode #81, entitled "Animal Control", which originally aired on 7 October 2008.
worked with the band creating a video to accompany the performance of the whole album.
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Starting in Glasgow
, the tour led the band through many major international music festivals such as the twins Hurricane Festival
and Southside Festival
in Germany
, the Download Festival
at Donington Park
, the Voodoo Music Experience of New Orleans, and the Ilosaarirock Festival
in Finland
(their first show ever in this country); a radio broadcast
from this performance was recorded and later remastered by the band for a release in March 2009 under the title Ilosaarirock
, given away to members of the Residents of a Blank Planet ticketing club. Support acts included Pure Reason Revolution
, Amplifier
and Absynthe Minded
across Europe, and 3
for the US. The second leg started in October in North America
. Head>>Fake
(only in New York City) and 3 (rest of the US and Canada) were the supporting bands during this month; that stretch of the tour included their first performance ever in Mexico
at the Teatro Metropolitan of Mexico City
. Alternative rock
band Anathema
joined them on tour from November as support for the European gigs that lasted until December (except for Finland were Hidria Spacefolk
opened the show). Along 2007, they played 92 dates in total.
The tour continued in April 2008, with their first appearance ever in Australia
, where they played three consecutive dates from 25 to 27 April in Melbourne
, Sydney
and Brisbane
respectively. They performed at the Dutch
Pinkpop Festival on 30 May, the Rocksound Festival of Switzerland
on 6 June, the Austria
n Nova Rock Festival
on 13 June, the Hellfest Summer Open Air
in France
on 21 June and the Finnish
Ruisrock
on 4 July 2008. Shortly after they played for the first time in Russia
, on 6 July at the B1 Club of Moscow
. Thereafter in October the band started a brief European tour, during which a second official DVD was shot. The filming took place along two consecutive shows on 15 and 16 October, in Tilburg
, the Netherlands
, at the 013 venue. This was the final leg for the Fear of a Blank Planet tour and included their first performance ever as headliners in Portugal
. Oceansize
opened for the UK shows.
, while he was recording the second Blackfield
album. In the meantime, Richard Barbieri
wrote most of the music for the song "My Ashes". "Cheating The Polygraph" was a Harrison/Wilson composition whilst "Way Out Of Here", "What Happens Now?" and "Nil Recurring" was written by all four band members. The Blackfield album was finished in June so Wilson travelled back to London
and met the other band members to work on the material he had been writing. These sessions took place between July and August and produced a good number of songs from which just six were picked for the record.
Porcupine Tree's first DVD
, entitled Arriving Somewhere..., was released in August of the same year. The band started a short tour in September to promote it, during which the six new songs selected for the forthcoming album were performed at the first half of the shows. Along the tour, that lasted until November, the band began recording the album; eventually rejecting the song "Cheating the Polygraph", since they felt it was somewhat weak when compared to the other five of the live set list
, and writing a totally new song called "Way Out of Here" to replace it. "Way Out of Here" was a collaboration between all band members and resulted in the only full-band composition of the record. They contacted King Crimson's guitarist Robert Fripp since he has toured with them many times before, so he provided some soundscapes to the song and lead guitar for the track "Nil Recurring", an instrumental
song not included in the album but later released in the EP of the same name along with "Cheating the Polygraph".
Around the time of the recording, Wilson read an interview in Classic Rock
magazine in which Rush
's guitarist Alex Lifeson
had mentioned he was a big fan of Porcupine Tree. Wilson quickly got in touch with Alex to ask him if he would like to play on the album. Lifeson was pleased to contribute so Wilson wrote a section of the song "Anesthetize" for him to play a solo on it. Alex recorded the solo in his own studio and sent it to Wilson.
The album recording process was finished in December of the same year. In January 2007 it was revealed that the album title would be Fear of a Blank Planet.
' novel Lunar Park
. The novel is told from the perspective of a father, who bears the name of the novel's author himself, whereas the album is mostly from his son's perspective, an eleven-year-old kid named Robby. Many of the lyrics for Fear of a Blank Planet are lifted directly from the novel, particularly "My Ashes", which is a homage to the last chapter, in which the ashes of Bret's father are scattered and cover the memories of his life.
The lyrics deal with two typical neurobehavioural developmental disorders affecting teenagers in the 21st century: bipolar disorder
and attention deficit disorder, and also with other common behaviour tendencies on youth like escapism
through prescription drugs, social alienation
caused by technology
, and a feeling of vacuity product of information overload
by the mass media
. In an interview with Revolver
magazine, Wilson described the main character of the story as "...this kind of terminally bored kid, anywhere between 10 and 15 years old, who spends all his daylight hours in his bedroom with the curtains closed, playing on his PlayStation, listening to his iPod, texting his friends on his cell phone, looking at hardcore pornography on the Internet, downloading music, films, news, violence..."
from Rolling Stone
perceived Porcupine Tree had evolved into "an aggressively modern merger of Rush’s arena art rock, U.K. prog classicism —especially Pink Floyd’s eulogies to madness and King Crimson’s angular majesty— and the post-grunge vengeance of Tool". Greg Kot
from Chicago Tribune
defined the music in the album as "stellar in its serpentine mood-shifting". Sound and Vision
praised that "Porcupine Tree is at the height of its powers" and voted it #3 CD of 2007. Decibel
lauded: «Porcupine Tree prove they can play with the best of ’em». The Phoenix
newspaper stated "Fear of a Blank Planet is not only their most vintage-sounding album, it’s also their best.", Jim DeRogatis
from the Chicago Sun-Times
thinks the album is "easily as strong as any of the band's previous eight releases, and the most timely" and Revolver
magazine proclaimed "England’s prog princes return at their most limber and conceptually relevant". PopMatters
placed it at #5 of "The Best Metal Albums of 2007". Reason
magazine chose it as one of the "Best Albums of 2007" though they were more severe than other critics about the lyrical content saying that "Lyrically, it's ridiculous" and "if your grandma was theming a prog rock album, it'd come out something like this". Dan LeRoy from Alternative Press announced it "as heavy as P-Tree have ever been" but "wistfully, sprawlingly melodic as well-sometimes in the same tune" and concluded that "if Wilson's vision of today's kids as overmedicated, overstimulated robots seems like a blatant appeal to the over-30 crowd, it's still worth setting the Xbox aside to listen".
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for the first time, debuting at #59. The album also entered the European Top 100 Albums
at #21, and charted the Top 40 in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Poland. It debuted in the Top 10 of Amazon.com
's top sellers, and was the #3 seller on Buy.com
, and #2 at Newbury Comics
. The special edition limited to 10,000 copies was sold out worldwide within the same day of its release. The album also ranked very well in many poll-based sites such as Rate Your Music
, eventually reaching #3 of the "Top Albums of 2007". It climbed to #1 of the "Top Prog Albums of 2007" in Prog Archives and ranked #14 amongst the Top 20 albums of 2007 in Metal Storm
webzine. The album received an average rating of 82% on Metacritic
, based in reviews of nine magazines and websites. The album has sold 250,000 copies worldwide.
magazine awards. This is the second time the band has won this award, the first time was in 2005 with Deadwing
. On 12 December 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet received a nomination for a Grammy Award
in the "Best Surround Sound Album
" category.
Gavin Harrison
won the Modern Drummer
magazine readers' poll for "best progressive drummer of the year" consecutively in 2007 and 2008; the last time he also came second in the "best recorded performance" category for Fear of a Blank Planet.
and 5.1 Surround Sound
mixes plus a forty-page booklet. This limited edition of 10,000 copies was sold out the day of its release.
EP. There is also a special pink vinyl edition limited to 500 copies released on 1 May 2008, to coincide with the band's recent appearance at the Pinkpop festival in Holland. This was originally provided to Dutch record stores only but was made available for purchase from the band's online store for a very limited run from 14 June 2008. The stock lasted less than five days.
Side one
Side two
Side three
Side four
Audio content
Video material
Produced and arranged by Porcupine Tree
. Mixed and mastered by Steven Wilson
.
Guitars produced by Steven Wilson and John Wesley
, engineered by Mark Prator.
String arrangements by Dave Stewart and Steven Wilson, orchestrated by Dave Stewart. Performed by the London Session Orchestra. Leader: Gavyn Wright. Session fixer: Isobel Griffiths. Engineered by Steve Price.
Photography by Lasse Hoile
.
Design by Carl Glover.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
and their best selling (until it was beaten by The Incident
The Incident (album)
The Incident is the tenth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. It was released on September 14, 2009 by Roadrunner Records. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album and reached the Top 25 on both the US and UK album charts.-History:The band...
in 2010). Released by Roadrunner
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
on 16 April 2007 in the UK and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, 24 April 2007 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
through Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, 25 April 2007 in Japan on WHD and 1 May 2007 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
by WEA. Steven Wilson
Steven Wilson
Steven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
has mentioned that the album's title is a direct reference to the 1990 Public Enemy album, Fear of a Black Planet
Fear of a Black Planet
Fear of a Black Planet is the third studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released April 10, 1990, on Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. Production for the album was handled by the group's production team The Bomb Squad, who expanded on the dense, sample-layered sound of the...
. He explained that race relations were a major issue when it was released and he sees "coming to terms with information technology and...the 21st century" as a modern issue.
The album was written in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
between January and July 2006. The promotion of the record included a premiere performance of the songs during the shows in support of the Arriving Somewhere... DVD tour between September and November 2006, and a series of listening parties at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Legacy Studios, and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
during January 2007. Fear of a Blank Planet was followed later the same year by release of the Nil Recurring
Nil Recurring
Nil Recurring is an EP by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released on 17 September 2007 through the band's online store...
EP. With the release of Insurgentes
Insurgentes (album)
Insurgentes is the title of the first full-length solo album released by British musician and record producer Steven Wilson, known for being the founder and frontman in psychedelic/progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
, his first album as a soloist, Wilson would further develop some of the ideas on which Fear of a Blank Planet was conceived.
Even though it doesn't include any singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, the album charted in almost all European countries and entered the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
at #59. Allmusic, which gave the album a 4.5 out of 5 score, assured that "While there is no "radio single" on the disc most songs transcend their complex structure and feel as provocative as any traditional rock tune". The album was highly acclaimed by the critics and gained the status of "Album of the Year" in many magazines and websites.
Premiere and release
Seven months prior to the release of the album, all the songs debuted live during the tour in support of the Arriving Somewhere DVD that ran from 13 September to 29 November 2006, though their titles were not revealed at the time. People attending the concerts could hear 50 minutes of brand new music during the first half of the shows. The only song not included in the set listSet list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
was "Way Out of Here
Way Out of Here
"Way Out of Here" is a song by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, and the fifth track from their ninth studio album, Fear of a Blank Planet. It is remarkable for being the only full-band composition of the record. A promo two-track single was released by Roadrunner Records intended for...
" (a song co-written between all the band members), as it had not been written yet. The song that later would be titled "Cheating The Polygraph" (conceived by drummer Gavin Harrison and Steven Wilson) was used in its stead.
On 12 January 2007, Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
from King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
posted in his blog that he contributed on a track called "Nil Recurring" (another band written song), during the Fear of a Blank Planet recording sessions. A few days after, the mixing and recording processes was finished, so Wilson
Steven Wilson
Steven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
unveiled the 5.1
5.1 surround sound
5.1 is the common name for six channel surround sound multichannel audio systems. 5.1 is now the most commonly used layout in both commercial cinemas and home theaters. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low frequency enhancement channel . Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, and...
mix edition of the album at two listening parties at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Legacy Studios, and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, where the official track list was finally unveiled; there was a third pre-release listening party without the presence of Steven Wilson in the Club Phoenix of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
later on 14 April, organised by OzProg.com along with Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
. A medley
Medley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
of the album tracks was posted to the band's MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page and the Fear of a Blank Planet microsite
Microsite
A microsite is an Internet web design term referring to an individual web page or a small cluster of pages which are meant to function as a discreet entity within an existing website or to complement an offline activity...
on 21 February. Then on 6 March, the title track was released in the US iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
as a bonus track with Blackfield II
Blackfield II
-Reception:Q: "... an album of mournful, one-paced rock, Geffen's infatuation with Radiohead very evident in the melancholy synth-string washes...
, the second album from Wilson's side-project, Blackfield
Blackfield
Blackfield is a collaboratory musical group between Porcupine Tree founder and lead singer Steven Wilson and Israeli rock singer Aviv Geffen.-Formation, self-titled debut :...
. On 12 April, the CD came out in parts of Europe four days earlier than intended, and was soon leaked onto the internet.
On 16 April, the same day as the European release date of the album, the music video for the title track debuted on Porcupine Tree's MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, though it was temporarily removed a day later in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre
Virginia Tech massacre
The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people...
due to the band finding the content, namely children wielding guns, distasteful at the present. Wilson expressed his opinion about the tragedy:
Meanwhile, fans were encouraged to purchase the album from record stores rather than from the Burning Shed
Burning Shed
Burning Shed is an independent record label established in April 2001 by musicians Tim Bowness and Peter Chilvers, in association with duplication company manager and former Noisebox Records boss, Pete Morgan....
online store, in order to have impact in the charts.
The video was finally launched on the Fear of a Blank Planet microsite to view in high resolution on 25 April; until October the same year, when it was replaced by the projection used for the live performance of "Sleep Together". The video is now included as a bonus along with the 17-minute film for "Anesthetize
Anesthetize
"Anesthetize" is a Porcupine Tree song. It is the third track on the 2007 album Fear of a Blank Planet. It is the longest song on this album, clocking in at 17:42, making Fear of a Blank Planet the studio album containing the longest composition since 1995's The Sky Moves Sideways "Anesthetize" is...
" on the DVD-A version of Fear of a Blank Planet
Transmission (record label)
Transmission is an independent record label set by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree in 2003. It was named after an information service by mail of the same name the band had during the nineties...
.
"Sentimental" was NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's "Song Of The Day" on 4 June.
On 6 August, on their official website, Porcupine Tree announced a new EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
was going to be released on 17 September the same year named Nil Recurring
Nil Recurring
Nil Recurring is an EP by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released on 17 September 2007 through the band's online store...
, featuring four tracks (just under 30 minutes of music) that were written during the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions, including the title track featuring Robert Fripp on guitar, and "Cheating the Polygraph".
The song "My Ashes" was featured in the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series The Shield
The Shield
The Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...
in episode #81, entitled "Animal Control", which originally aired on 7 October 2008.
Tour of a Blank Planet
On 18 April 2007, two days after the European release of the album, the band embarked on an extensive tour until the end of the year, with a short break during August and September resuming in October. During the first run of shows, the band played all of the album either in one go, or spread throughout the set. For the second run of shows (after the release of Nil Recurring) this was stopped. Once again, Lasse HoileLasse Hoile
Lasse Hoile is an acclaimed artist of mix media, photographer, graphic artist writer, film-maker/director, and cinematographer. Recognized for his unique vintage style intertwined with a modern day twist, Hoile is best known for his close work with Steven Wilson and his projects Porcupine Tree and...
worked with the band creating a video to accompany the performance of the whole album.
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, the tour led the band through many major international music festivals such as the twins Hurricane Festival
Hurricane Festival
The Hurricane Festival, also just Hurricane, is a music festival that takes place in Scheeßel near Bremen, Germany, usually every June. It is promoted by German private music television channel VIVA, which belongs to Viacom, the MTV Network's parent company, as of 2004...
and Southside Festival
Southside Festival
The Southside Festival, also just Southside, is a music festival that takes place near Tuttlingen, southern Germany, usually every June. It is promoted by German private music television channel VIVA, which belongs to Viacom, the MTV Network's parent company, since the end of 2004...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...
at Donington Park
Donington Park
Donington Park is a motorsport circuit near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England.Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it was created as a racing circuit during the pre-war period when the German Silver Arrows were battling for the European Championship...
, the Voodoo Music Experience of New Orleans, and the Ilosaarirock Festival
Ilosaarirock
The Ilosaarirock Festival is an annual rock festival held on the second weekend of July in Joensuu, Eastern Finland. Founded in 1971, Ilosaarirock is the second oldest rock festival in Finland still active, and one of the oldest in Europe. In 2007 the event had 21,000 daily visitors...
in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
(their first show ever in this country); a radio broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
from this performance was recorded and later remastered by the band for a release in March 2009 under the title Ilosaarirock
Ilosaarirock (album)
Ilosaarirock is a live album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in March, 2009. It was sent out only to members of the Residents of a Blank Planet ticketing club and is not commercially available...
, given away to members of the Residents of a Blank Planet ticketing club. Support acts included Pure Reason Revolution
Pure Reason Revolution
Pure Reason Revolution are a British rock group formed at the University of Westminster in 2003 and who are playing their final dates together in November 2011. Their music incorporates elements of progressive rock and electro. Their music has been variously described as 'Astral Folk' and 'New...
, Amplifier
Amplifier (band)
Amplifier are a progressive rock band from Manchester, England. The main trio forming the band are singer and guitarist Sel Balamir, bassist Neil Mahony and drummer Matt Brobin. The band has released three albums and two EPs since its inception in 1999. Their self-titled debut album was released in...
and Absynthe Minded
Absynthe Minded
Absynthe Minded is a Belgian rock band, around frontman, vocalist and guitarist Bert Ostyn. Their tracks have been known to contain a mix of thirties jazz, with a touch of funky soul, Balkan beats and Merseyside pop....
across Europe, and 3
3 (band)
3, also known as Three, is an American hybrid band formed in Woodstock, New York in the early 90s.-History:...
for the US. The second leg started in October in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Head>>Fake
Doug Wimbish
Doug Wimbish is a bass player, primarily known for his studio work for the rap/hip hop label Sugarhill Records and his membership of the funk metal band Living Colour. He has played for a vast range of artists, including Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, Madonna, George Clinton, Paula Cole, Bomb the Bass,...
(only in New York City) and 3 (rest of the US and Canada) were the supporting bands during this month; that stretch of the tour included their first performance ever in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
at the Teatro Metropolitan of Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. Alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Anathema
Anathema (band)
Anathema are an English band from Liverpool primarily known for their ever evolving sound. Beginning as pioneers of the death/doom metal sub-genre, their later albums have been associated with genres such as alternative rock, progressive rock, art rock, new prog, and post-rock.-History:Anathema...
joined them on tour from November as support for the European gigs that lasted until December (except for Finland were Hidria Spacefolk
Hidria Spacefolk
Hidria Spacefolk is a Finnish folk-influenced progressive / psychedelic rock band. The group's space rock sound is often compared to Kingston Wall and Ozric Tentacles. The band describes their musical style as Astro-Beat...
opened the show). Along 2007, they played 92 dates in total.
The tour continued in April 2008, with their first appearance ever in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where they played three consecutive dates from 25 to 27 April in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
respectively. They performed at the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Pinkpop Festival on 30 May, the Rocksound Festival of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
on 6 June, the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Nova Rock Festival
Nova Rock Festival
The Nova Rock Festival, also just Nova Rock, is a music festival that has existed since 2005 and takes place each year in June. It is Austria's biggest rock music festivals, and also one of the largest in Europe. It is located in Burgenland, the easternmost federal state of Austria, near...
on 13 June, the Hellfest Summer Open Air
Hellfest Summer Open Air
Hellfest is an annual music festival which takes place in Clisson, France in mid-June. It is held within the Val de Moine sport complex in Clisson, approximately 35 km south-east of the city of Nantes, and approximately 400 km south-west of the nation's capital Paris. Billed as an "extreme music...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on 21 June and the Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
Ruisrock
Ruisrock
Ruisrock is a rock festival held annually on the island of Ruissalo in Turku, Finland.Ruisrock, founded in 1970, is the second oldest rock festival in Europe and the oldest in Finland. The festival has attracted world-famous artists throughout its lifetime except in the turn of the 2000s, due to...
on 4 July 2008. Shortly after they played for the first time in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, on 6 July at the B1 Club of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. Thereafter in October the band started a brief European tour, during which a second official DVD was shot. The filming took place along two consecutive shows on 15 and 16 October, in Tilburg
Tilburg
Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout....
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, at the 013 venue. This was the final leg for the Fear of a Blank Planet tour and included their first performance ever as headliners in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Oceansize
Oceansize
Oceansize were a British rock band, formed in Manchester, England on 19th October 1998. The band consisted of Mike Vennart , Steve Durose , Richard "Gambler" Ingram , Mark Heron and Jon Ellis for the majority of its career, with Steve Hodson replacing Ellis on bass in 2006...
opened for the UK shows.
Writing and recording
Steven Wilson started writing the album in early 2006, in Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, while he was recording the second Blackfield
Blackfield
Blackfield is a collaboratory musical group between Porcupine Tree founder and lead singer Steven Wilson and Israeli rock singer Aviv Geffen.-Formation, self-titled debut :...
album. In the meantime, Richard Barbieri
Richard Barbieri
Richard Barbieri, is an English synthesiser player, keyboardist and composer. He was educated at Catford Boys' School, Catford, South East London...
wrote most of the music for the song "My Ashes". "Cheating The Polygraph" was a Harrison/Wilson composition whilst "Way Out Of Here", "What Happens Now?" and "Nil Recurring" was written by all four band members. The Blackfield album was finished in June so Wilson travelled back to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and met the other band members to work on the material he had been writing. These sessions took place between July and August and produced a good number of songs from which just six were picked for the record.
Porcupine Tree's first DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, entitled Arriving Somewhere..., was released in August of the same year. The band started a short tour in September to promote it, during which the six new songs selected for the forthcoming album were performed at the first half of the shows. Along the tour, that lasted until November, the band began recording the album; eventually rejecting the song "Cheating the Polygraph", since they felt it was somewhat weak when compared to the other five of the live set list
Set list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
, and writing a totally new song called "Way Out of Here" to replace it. "Way Out of Here" was a collaboration between all band members and resulted in the only full-band composition of the record. They contacted King Crimson's guitarist Robert Fripp since he has toured with them many times before, so he provided some soundscapes to the song and lead guitar for the track "Nil Recurring", an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
song not included in the album but later released in the EP of the same name along with "Cheating the Polygraph".
Around the time of the recording, Wilson read an interview in Classic Rock
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
magazine in which Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
's guitarist Alex Lifeson
Alex Lifeson
Aleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...
had mentioned he was a big fan of Porcupine Tree. Wilson quickly got in touch with Alex to ask him if he would like to play on the album. Lifeson was pleased to contribute so Wilson wrote a section of the song "Anesthetize" for him to play a solo on it. Alex recorded the solo in his own studio and sent it to Wilson.
The album recording process was finished in December of the same year. In January 2007 it was revealed that the album title would be Fear of a Blank Planet.
Concept
The concept of the album was heavily influenced by Bret Easton EllisBret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and short story writer. His works have been translated into 27 different languages. He was regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack, which also included Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney...
' novel Lunar Park
Lunar Park
Lunar Park is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis with elements of faux autobiography and pastiche. It was released by Knopf on August 16, 2005. It is notable for being the first book written by Ellis to use past tense narrative.-Plot summary:...
. The novel is told from the perspective of a father, who bears the name of the novel's author himself, whereas the album is mostly from his son's perspective, an eleven-year-old kid named Robby. Many of the lyrics for Fear of a Blank Planet are lifted directly from the novel, particularly "My Ashes", which is a homage to the last chapter, in which the ashes of Bret's father are scattered and cover the memories of his life.
The lyrics deal with two typical neurobehavioural developmental disorders affecting teenagers in the 21st century: bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
and attention deficit disorder, and also with other common behaviour tendencies on youth like escapism
Escapism
Escapism is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an "escape" from the perceived unpleasant or banal aspects of daily life...
through prescription drugs, social alienation
Social alienation
The term social alienation has many discipline-specific uses; Roberts notes how even within the social sciences, it “is used to refer both to a personal psychological state and to a type of social relationship”...
caused by technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, and a feeling of vacuity product of information overload
Information overload
"Information overload" is a term popularized by Alvin Toffler in his bestselling 1970 book Future Shock. It refers to the difficulty a person can have understanding an issue and making decisions that can be caused by the presence of too much information...
by the mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
. In an interview with Revolver
Revolver (magazine)
Revolver is a bi-monthly rock and heavy metal magazine published by Future US. Before covering heavy metal, rock & hard rock solely, it was a more mainstream oriented magazine. The magazine is structured in a manner similar to publications such as Spin while covering many avenues within the heavy...
magazine, Wilson described the main character of the story as "...this kind of terminally bored kid, anywhere between 10 and 15 years old, who spends all his daylight hours in his bedroom with the curtains closed, playing on his PlayStation, listening to his iPod, texting his friends on his cell phone, looking at hardcore pornography on the Internet, downloading music, films, news, violence..."
Structure
While its predecessor, Deadwing, consisted of nine separate tracks without any thematic continuity across the music, the songs on Fear of a Blank Planet seem to have a connection not just between the lyrics but also musically; every track flows into the next, comprising a single fifty-minute piece of music. Wilson said the idea was to make an album that could be listened to in one sitting, in contrast to some bands tendency to make very long records that do not maintain the attention of the listener. He described Fear of a Blank Planet as an homage to '70s records, whose moderate length helps the listener maintain focus:Critical reception
Critical reception to the album was extremely positive, regarded as "a dramatic, wide-screen, expertly executed, even genuinely thrilling rock record worthy of an audience way beyond nu-prog's regular constituency" by Q Magazine. David FrickeDavid Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
perceived Porcupine Tree had evolved into "an aggressively modern merger of Rush’s arena art rock, U.K. prog classicism —especially Pink Floyd’s eulogies to madness and King Crimson’s angular majesty— and the post-grunge vengeance of Tool". Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
from Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
defined the music in the album as "stellar in its serpentine mood-shifting". Sound and Vision
Sound and Vision (magazine)
Sound & Vision is an American magazine, published by Bonnier Corporation, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products....
praised that "Porcupine Tree is at the height of its powers" and voted it #3 CD of 2007. Decibel
Decibel magazine
Decibel is a monthly heavy metal and extreme music magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media. Since October 2004, Decibel has featured a plethora of extreme metal bands and musicians. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame...
lauded: «Porcupine Tree prove they can play with the best of ’em». The Phoenix
The Phoenix (newspaper)
The Phoenix is the name of several alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts including the Boston Phoenix, the Providence Phoenix, the Portland Phoenix and the now-defunct Worcester Phoenix...
newspaper stated "Fear of a Blank Planet is not only their most vintage-sounding album, it’s also their best.", Jim DeRogatis
Jim DeRogatis
James "Jim" DeRogatis is an American music critic and co-host of Sound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as Spin, Guitar World and Modern Drummer, and for fifteen years was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.He joined Columbia College Chicago as a full-time...
from the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
thinks the album is "easily as strong as any of the band's previous eight releases, and the most timely" and Revolver
Revolver (magazine)
Revolver is a bi-monthly rock and heavy metal magazine published by Future US. Before covering heavy metal, rock & hard rock solely, it was a more mainstream oriented magazine. The magazine is structured in a manner similar to publications such as Spin while covering many avenues within the heavy...
magazine proclaimed "England’s prog princes return at their most limber and conceptually relevant". PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
placed it at #5 of "The Best Metal Albums of 2007". Reason
Reason (magazine)
Reason is a libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 60,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the Chicago Tribune.- History :...
magazine chose it as one of the "Best Albums of 2007" though they were more severe than other critics about the lyrical content saying that "Lyrically, it's ridiculous" and "if your grandma was theming a prog rock album, it'd come out something like this". Dan LeRoy from Alternative Press announced it "as heavy as P-Tree have ever been" but "wistfully, sprawlingly melodic as well-sometimes in the same tune" and concluded that "if Wilson's vision of today's kids as overmedicated, overstimulated robots seems like a blatant appeal to the over-30 crowd, it's still worth setting the Xbox aside to listen".
Rankings and sales
With Fear of a Blank Planet, the band broke the selling mark established by Deadwing, and reached the Top 100 of the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
for the first time, debuting at #59. The album also entered the European Top 100 Albums
European Top 100 Albums
The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.The European Top 100...
at #21, and charted the Top 40 in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Poland. It debuted in the Top 10 of Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
's top sellers, and was the #3 seller on Buy.com
Buy.com
Buy.com, Incorporated is an online retailer based in Aliso Viejo, California.Buy.com began by selling computers and electronics in 1997 and has since expanded into many other categories...
, and #2 at Newbury Comics
Newbury Comics
Newbury Comics is a New England-based music retailer. Newbury Comics began as a comic book vendor on Newbury Street in Boston. The company was founded in 1978 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology students John Brusger and Mike Dreese. Over the next few years, the focus of the company changed...
. The special edition limited to 10,000 copies was sold out worldwide within the same day of its release. The album also ranked very well in many poll-based sites such as Rate Your Music
Rate Your Music
Rate Your Music is a metadata database where musical albums, EPs, singles, videos, bootlegs, and movies are rated and reviewed by users. This data is then used to generate recommendations for users and to create rated lists of albums...
, eventually reaching #3 of the "Top Albums of 2007". It climbed to #1 of the "Top Prog Albums of 2007" in Prog Archives and ranked #14 amongst the Top 20 albums of 2007 in Metal Storm
Metal Storm (webzine)
Metal Storm is a webzine specializing in various forms of heavy metal music. It is based in Tallinn, Estonia but caters to an international audience, symbolically recognized by the acquisition of an EU domain in 2008...
webzine. The album received an average rating of 82% on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, based in reviews of nine magazines and websites. The album has sold 250,000 copies worldwide.
Awards and nominations
Fear of a Blank Planet won the prestigious "Album of the Year" award for the 2007 Classic RockClassic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
magazine awards. This is the second time the band has won this award, the first time was in 2005 with Deadwing
Deadwing
American edition10. "Shesmovedon " – 4:59DVD-A edition10. "Revenant" – 3:04 11. "Mother and Child Divided" – 4:59 12. "Half-Light" – 6:20 13. "Shesmovedon " - 4:59 LP edition...
. On 12 December 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet received a nomination for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in the "Best Surround Sound Album
Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album
The Grammy Award for "Best Surround Sound Album" was first awarded in 2005, as the first category in a new "Surround Sound" field.-Nominees::*An Evening With Dave Grusin...
" category.
Gavin Harrison
Gavin Harrison
Gavin Harrison is a British drummer and percussionist. He is best known for playing with the British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree which he joined in 2002. As of 2008, he also plays with the band King Crimson....
won the Modern Drummer
Modern Drummer
Modern Drummer is a monthly publication targeting the interests of on drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public...
magazine readers' poll for "best progressive drummer of the year" consecutively in 2007 and 2008; the last time he also came second in the "best recorded performance" category for Fear of a Blank Planet.
Track listing
Special edition
In addition to the regular issue, a special two-disc edition was released, containing both StereoSTEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
and 5.1 Surround Sound
5.1 surround sound
5.1 is the common name for six channel surround sound multichannel audio systems. 5.1 is now the most commonly used layout in both commercial cinemas and home theaters. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low frequency enhancement channel . Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, and...
mixes plus a forty-page booklet. This limited edition of 10,000 copies was sold out the day of its release.
Vinyl edition
The 2LP vinyl edition was released through Tonefloat Records, there is a standard edition on 180g black vinyl in a gatefold sleeve and a special edition (limited to 1000 copies) on black/blue marbled vinyl packaged in a numbered slipcase with a 12x12" 16-page booklet. The vinyl edition has a slightly different track listing, and includes the Nil RecurringNil Recurring
Nil Recurring is an EP by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released on 17 September 2007 through the band's online store...
EP. There is also a special pink vinyl edition limited to 500 copies released on 1 May 2008, to coincide with the band's recent appearance at the Pinkpop festival in Holland. This was originally provided to Dutch record stores only but was made available for purchase from the band's online store for a very limited run from 14 June 2008. The stock lasted less than five days.
Side one
- "Fear of a Blank Planet" – 7:28
- "My Ashes" – 5:07
- "Cheating the Polygraph" (Harrison/Wilson)– 7:10
Side two
- "Anesthetize" – 17:46
Side three
- "Sentimental" – 5:26
- "Way Out of Here" – 7:37
- "Sleep Together" – 7:28
Side four
- "Nil Recurring" (Harrison/Edwin/Barbieri/Wilson)– 6:08
- "Normal" – 7:09
- "What Happens Now?" – 8:23
DVD-A edition
A Grammy nominated special limited edition audiophile 5.1 Surround Sound version released on the band’s own Transmission label, featuring the 5.1 mix of the album in advanced resolution/MLP lossless 5.1 surround, DTS 5.1 digital surround sound, and 24 bit stereo, as well as all 4 tracks from the Nil Recurring mini album in surround sound. The disc also includes three video works directed by Lasse Hoile: a special Blank Planet Introduction short film, the uncensored version of the "Fear of a Blank Planet" promo video, and the full length 17 minute film for "Anesthetize" as seen during the band’s live shows.Audio content
- "Fear of a Blank Planet" – 7:28
- "My Ashes" – 5:07
- "Anesthetize" – 17:46
- "Sentimental" – 5:26
- "Way Out of Here" – 7:37
- "Sleep Together" – 7:28
- "Nil Recurring" (5.1 only) – 6:08
- "Normal" (5.1 only) – 7:09
- "Cheating the Polygraph" (5.1 only) – 7:10
- "What Happens Now?" (5.1 only) – 8:23
Video material
- Blank Planet - short film – 5:03
- Fear of a Blank Planet - uncensored promo video – 4:56
- Anesthetize - live film – 17:13
Personnel
- Steven WilsonSteven WilsonSteven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
– vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards - Richard BarbieriRichard BarbieriRichard Barbieri, is an English synthesiser player, keyboardist and composer. He was educated at Catford Boys' School, Catford, South East London...
– keyboards and synthesizers - Colin EdwinColin EdwinColin Edwin is a member of the British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, where he plays both fretted and fretless bass guitar as well as double bass and guimbri. He joined the band in December 1993...
– bass guitars - Gavin HarrisonGavin HarrisonGavin Harrison is a British drummer and percussionist. He is best known for playing with the British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree which he joined in 2002. As of 2008, he also plays with the band King Crimson....
– drums, tapped guitar on "Nil Recurring" (vinyl and DVDA editions)
Produced and arranged by Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
. Mixed and mastered by Steven Wilson
Steven Wilson
Steven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
.
Guitars produced by Steven Wilson and John Wesley
John Wesley (guitarist)
John Wesley is an American singer, songwriter and guitar player. John Wesley's professional music career began in the early 1980s in the Tampa, Florida area where he founded 1991 Southwestern Music Conference's showcase act Autodrive along with drummer/producer Mark Prator...
, engineered by Mark Prator.
String arrangements by Dave Stewart and Steven Wilson, orchestrated by Dave Stewart. Performed by the London Session Orchestra. Leader: Gavyn Wright. Session fixer: Isobel Griffiths. Engineered by Steve Price.
Photography by Lasse Hoile
Lasse Hoile
Lasse Hoile is an acclaimed artist of mix media, photographer, graphic artist writer, film-maker/director, and cinematographer. Recognized for his unique vintage style intertwined with a modern day twist, Hoile is best known for his close work with Steven Wilson and his projects Porcupine Tree and...
.
Design by Carl Glover.
Special guests
- Alex LifesonAlex LifesonAleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...
(RushRush (band)Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
) – guitar solo on "Anesthetize" - Robert FrippRobert FrippRobert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
(King CrimsonKing CrimsonKing Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
) – soundscapesSoundscapes by Robert FrippA musical style developed by guitarist Robert Fripp, involving the use of audio loops created and modified by a specific set of digital music synthesizers and digital audio processing devices....
on "Way Out of Here" and lead guitar on "Nil Recurring" - John WesleyJohn Wesley (guitarist)John Wesley is an American singer, songwriter and guitar player. John Wesley's professional music career began in the early 1980s in the Tampa, Florida area where he founded 1991 Southwestern Music Conference's showcase act Autodrive along with drummer/producer Mark Prator...
– backing vocals - Ben Coleman – electric violin on "What Happens Now?" (vinyl and DVDA editions)
Chart positions
| Chart | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
59 |
| Billboard Top Internet Albums | 3 |
| Billboard Top Rock Albums | 17 |
| UK Album Chart | 31 |
| Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
21 |
| Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
34 |
| Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
13 |
| Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... |
34 |
| Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... |
16 |
| Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... |
11 |
| France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
70 |
| Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
38 |
| Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
41 |
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... |
16 April 2007 | Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:... |
CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... +DVD-V DVD-Video DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder... |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
24 April 2007 | Atlantic Records Atlantic Records Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz... |
CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... +DVD-V DVD-Video DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder... |
| Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
25 April 2007 | WHD | CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... +DVD-V DVD-Video DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder... |
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
1 May 2007 | WEA | CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
| Worldwide | 25 September 2007 | Tonefloat Records | Double LP LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
| Worldwide | 3 October 2007 | Transmission Transmission (record label) Transmission is an independent record label set by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree in 2003. It was named after an information service by mail of the same name the band had during the nineties... |
DVD-A DVD-Audio DVD-Audio is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio is not intended to be a video delivery format and is not the same as video DVDs containing concert films or music videos.... |