Metal Reviews

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More like 65-70/100 for me.

Pshaw! Great album; agree with review and score.

That's when I started to lose interest in the band.
I'd like to see a review of "Stupid Dream" though.

I really need to hear older PT. This has become one of my favorite bands.

To PT fans this will sound blasphemous, but I actually enjoy their later work a lot more. Later meaning starting with Signify. And of course, I like their more metal-influenced records (In Absentia onwards).

This is the strongest of the pre-In Absentia albums, I think. Every song is interesting, layered, and diverse. Good review

I'm ashamed to say I have never heard anything from this band. Is this the best place to start?

Depends on what you're looking for as there been several stages in their musical evolution.
The first albums are very Pink Floyd influenced, Signify is the best of them all.
Then comes a transitional stage of two albums with Stupid Dream (a personal fav') and Lightbulb Sun.
After this album, PT added metal to their mix. I'm personally less fond of their "new" style but it sure fits more a metalhead's taste.

So, to sum things up:
- Pink Floydesque: Signify
- Transitional: Stupid Dream
- Metal inside: Fear of a Blank Planet

Heh, I completely disagree with those album recommendations. First--I consider Signify to be the start of their transitional phase, as it was the first album where all songs had input from more than Wilson himself, and has much less noodling/more songs. Here's what I recommend:

Early Pink Floydesque- Sky Moves Sideways (although I don't like this album that much, I think this is the best of the three Floyd-like albums).

Middle Period- Lightbulb Sun. This album. The songs are strongest here.

Metal period- In Absentia. Their first move into metal territory was the most successful, I believe. FoaBP has too many riffs rehashed from Deadwing.

To be honest, if you're a fan of prog rock from the 70s then I see no reason why you can't just start at the beginning and work chronologically. On The Sunday... is a pretty darn good album for the circumstances, not their best admittedly, but sometimes the songwriting on later PT albums gets a little tiresome, especially when it's obvious that Opeth riffs have been stolen. I think PT are better at writing psychedelic melody than big riff-driven songs, personally.

I actually do like Stupid Dream a bit more than this album and I plan on reviewing it.

With time and consideration I think this has grown into my favourite PT album. Very easy to relate to, song-meanings-wise, full of smiles and tears, a lovely, heartfelt album.