Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. The band began essentially as a solo project for Wilson, who created all of the band's music. However, by 1993, Wilson desired to work in a band environment, and so brought on frequent collaborators Richard Barbieri on keyboards, Colin Edwin on bass and Chris Maitland on drums as permanent band members. With Wilson still in charge of guitar and lead vocals, this would remain the lineup until 2001, when the band recruited Gavin Harrison to replace Maitland on drums.

Grammy Nominated Album features guest appearances from Robert Fripp (King Crimson), Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson and ex-Japan keyboardist Richard Barbieri.

• 2LP Vinyl
• Gatefold Cover
• Designed by Carl Glover

In December 2006, recording commenced on the band's ninth studio album. The album, Fear of a Blank Planet, is the band's most ambitious and cohesive work to date. Much of it was debuted in November 2007 to enthusiastic fan response on Porcupine Tree's sold-out U.S. and European tours in support of the release of "Arriving Somewhere...." The album title is a reference to the lyrical content of the song-cycle on the album: a 21st century cocktail of MTV, sex, prescription drugs, video games, the internet, terminal boredom, and subsequent escape.

Fear's titular cut features lyrics rife with allusions to the confusing, isolating effects of TV, the X-Box, drugged out consumer escapades, and the ennui that arrives with prescription and self-prescribed numbness. "My Ashes" advances the themes of isolation, as a young person becomes increasingly estranged from himself; "Anesthetize" aptly captures dull apathy with accuracy and knowing but perhaps delves to deep into the dark depths and, instead of alleviating pain and pressure, deepens it via a track that fails to offer much emotional or mental counterpoint. The tune does feature an exceptionally lyrical guitar solo from Rush's Alex Lifeson and proves that if anyone can write a sprawling, throbbing epic it's most likely Porcupine Tree.

Originally released in 2007, Fear Of A Blank Planet was Porcupine Tree's ninth studio album. It was the band's biggest selling album at the time, was their first album to break into the Billboard top 100 in the U.S. as well as charting across Europe, earned the band a Grammy nomination and has been featured in Rolling Stone's Greatest Prog Albums Of All Time.

Fear Of A Blank Planet was an ambitious 50 minute piece of music that flows together to create a cohesive whole, the British art-rockers Porcupine Tree created a concept album based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park, with lyrics that addressed how the adolescent protagonist battled his bipolar and attention-deficit disorders with a regimen of prescription drugs and Internet over stimulation.

The music used sprawling vocal melodies, atmospheric guitars and drums that tumbled through chaotic passages to echo the main character's manic-depressive states. Fear Of A Blank Planet features guest appearances from Robert Fripp (King Crimson), Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson and ex-Japan keyboardist Richard Barbieri.

Musicians:

Orchestrated By – Dave Stewart
Bass Guitar – Colin Edwin
Drums – Gavin Harrison
Keyboards, Synthesizer – Richard Barbieri
Strings – The London Session Orchestra
Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards – Steven Wilson
Guitar - Alex Lifeson
Soundscapes - Robert Fripp

Track Listing:

01. Fear of a Blank Planet
02. My Ashes
03. Anesthetize
04. Sentimental
05. Way Out of Here
06. Sleep Together

Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫