Is Porcupine Tree's In Absentia a Concept album?

Matt Till · #1 04-15-2005, 11:45 AM

The lyrics are incredibly interesting, but I'm not sure if I grasp it all. I've been very baffled by The Creator Has a Mastertape... the verses and the chorus don't seem to go together. But overall the album has lyrical phrases that match up and seem to tell similar stories. What's it all about? This is a very generic guess, but is seems to be about a man who witnessed something disturbing (Maybe a train wreck... is that what Trains is about? "60 Ton angel falls to the earth..."), then one day flips out and ties up his family and kills them. Is that what the album is about? And what's up with "The creator had a mastertape But he left it in a cab. I stared into the void tonight, the best dream I ever had"?

Also, sound of Muzak doesn't really related, despite how cool it is... or does it?

Matt Till · #2 04-15-2005, 03:11 PM

It's strange, because some songs seem to intertwine. Others don't. It's almost like two or more storylines are going on. Because like I was saying about the sound of muzak not seeming to relate, "master tape" suggests it could have something to do with a musician/producer/band member?

msquared · #3 04-15-2005, 07:06 PM

I tried really hard to get into it but as much as I dig previous Porcupine Tree stuff, I couldn't really get into any of the stuff on In Absentia aside from Blackest Eyes.

Matt Till · #4 04-15-2005, 08:13 PM

I haven't heard anything earlier. I assumed them a new band, it wasn't until looking up the lyrics online that I discovered the other stuff. I'll have to explore. What can I say... I dig keys in weird rock/metal.

Matt Till · #5 04-15-2005, 08:18 PM

Something to further my theory:

- Lips of ashes says, "Black Eyes Fading" referencing the mascara girl in "Blackest Eyes"

- Strip the Soul "Raise the kids good, beat the kids good and tie them up Spread it wide, my wife, my life, push the camera deeper I can use, I abuse, my muse, I made them all" lyrically similar to "The Creator has the master tape."

I've always had trouble with lyrics/concepts... but this album is very interesting to me.

**Adam Barkley** · #6 04-15-2005, 10:32 PM

I really don't think the lyrics are as interconnected as you as thinking. Maybe I am the one totally missing the concept though.

That album rocks hard though.

That said if you like concept albums, get Zarieureka by the Flaming Lips. It's a four disc album in which all four discs are meant to play simalteneously. Wayne was playing with tape loops/multi-tracking and got a few CD players to play parts he had written to go to together, but he found out that CD players won't play perfectly in synch with each other. Essentially, it allows the album to be different everytime you listen to two or more discs of it at a time.

DigMe · #7 04-16-2005, 09:20 AM

On a side not, Robert Fripp will be opening for Porcupine Tree playing soundscapes on some of their California dates.

brad cook

Matt Till · #8 04-16-2005, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigMe

On a side not, Robert Fripp will be opening for Porcupine Tree playing soundscapes on some of their California dates.

brad cook

It's official. I'm moving to Cali

Viiper · #9 08-09-2011, 02:25 AM

In Absentia is a concept album about a kid with an abusive family who develops several personality disorders, gets married, has a family, and eventually goes mad and "kill[s] them all". The Sound of Muzak has been confirmed by Porcupine Tree not to contribute to the album's story. I'm not sure on the specific details of the story, but that outline should be correct.