Deadwing

Deadwing
Cover art by Lasse Hoile
Studio album by
Porcupine Tree
Released24 March 2005 (2005-03-24)
RecordedVarious English cities
March–October 2004
Genre
Length59:35 (Europe/Original edition)
64:34 (US edition)
79:07 (DVD-A edition)
LabelLava
ProducerSteven Wilson, Gavin Harrison, Richard Barbieri
Porcupine Tree chronology
In Absentia
(2002) 		Deadwing
(2005) 		Fear of a Blank Planet
(2007)
Singles from Deadwing
  1. "Shallow"
    Released: 22 February 2005 (2005-02-22)
  2. "Lazarus"
    Released: March 2005 (2005-03)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
DIY[3]
Kludge9/10[4]
KNAC(favourable)[5]
Metal Storm10/10[6]
musicOMH(favourable)[7]
Record Collector[8]
Rock Hard8.5/10[9]
Sputnikmusic[10]
Virgin Media(favourable)[11]

Deadwing is the eighth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in Japan on 24 March 2005, in Europe on 28 March,[12] and in the US on 26 April. It quickly became the band's best selling album, although it was later surpassed by Fear of a Blank Planet. The album is based on a screenplay written by Steven Wilson and Mike Bennion, and is a ghost story. Wilson has stated that the songs "Deadwing", "Lazarus", "Arriving Somewhere but Not Here", "Open Car", and "Mellotron Scratch" were originally intended for the film soundtrack, but when the project failed to find funding they were instead recorded for the next Porcupine Tree album. The album versions of "Lazarus" and "Open Car" essentially remain Wilson solo tracks onto which Gavin Harrison overdubbed drums.

The album produced two singles: "Shallow" and "Lazarus". "Shallow" also appeared in the movie Four Brothers.[13] It can be heard as background music in a bar. The album also produced music videos for "Lazarus", "The Start of Something Beautiful", and "Glass Arm Shattering".

The album includes collaborations with King Crimson's Adrian Belew, who plays guitar solos on the title track and "Halo", and Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, who adds vocal harmonies on "Deadwing", "Lazarus", and "Arriving Somewhere but Not Here". He also plays the second guitar solo on "Arriving Somewhere but Not Here".

In 2017, Kscope Records purchased the album as well as the previous album In Absentia; both were remastered and rereleased in 2018 through the label, with the new versions having less compression and an overall improvement in sound quality.[14]

  1. ^ Milano, Brett (3 November 2020). "How Steven Wilson Made Prog Rock Cool Again". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Deadwing - Porcupine Tree". All Media Network. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  3. ^ "Porcupine Tree : Deadwing". Archived from the original on 8 November 2005.
  4. ^ "Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike". Kludge. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  5. ^ "KNAC.COM - Reviews - Porcupine Tree Deadwing". knac.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  6. ^ "Porcupine Tree - Deadwing review - Metal Storm". metalstorm.ee. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  7. ^ "Porcupine Tree - Deadwing". musicOMH. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  8. ^ Deadwing promotional poster Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Rensen, Michael. "Rock Hard review". issue 215.
  10. ^ Schroer, Brendan (27 June 2015). "Porcupine Tree - Deadwing". Sputnikmusic.
  11. ^ "Porcupine Tree - Deadwing - Album reviews - Reviews - Music - Virgin Media<". virginmedia.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  12. ^ "Deadwing released!". Nomansland.demon.co.uk. 26 March 2005. Archived from the original on 7 April 2005. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Four Brothers (2005) - Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
  14. ^ "Porcupine Tree Classics 'In Absentia' and 'Deadwing' to be Reissued on Vinyl in 2018". stevenwilsonhq.com. Retrieved 28 August 2020.