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Porcupine Tree - In Absentia



8.9 | 877 votes |
Release date: 24 September 2002
Style: Progressive rock

Owners:

1135 have it
95 want it
2 trade it


01. Blackest Eyes
02. Trains
03. Lips Of Ashes
04. The Sound Of Muzak
05. Gravity Eyelids
06. Wedding Nails
07. Prodigal
08. .3
09. The Creator Has A Mastertape
10. Heartattack In A Layby
11. Strip The Soul
12. Collapse The Light Into Earth

[European Special Version bonus disc]
01. Drown With Me
02. Chloroform
03. Strip The Soul [video edit]

Top 20 albums of 2002: 2
Top 200 albums of all time: 63

Additional info
Lava/Atlantic Records - 83604-2

- European Special Edition: January 2003 (Lava Records 7567 93163-2)
- 2LP edition: March 2003 Lava / Atlantic Germany - 7567 93178-1
- DVD-A surround sound edition: March 2004 (Lava/DTS 69286-01111-9-6): DVD-audio disc containing three versions of the album : (1) A high resolution audio surround version for playing on dedicated DVD-A players, (2) A standard resolution surround version for any DVD player, (3) The original stereo mix. Also contains bonus material, including video, photo galleries and three additional tracks mixed for surround.

Guest review by
Mindheist
Rating:
9.4
The fact that Porcupine Tree caught my attention is that mainman Steven Wilson had helped Opeth on co-writing many songs on Damnation and Black Water Park, so I was sure I will not be deceived by this release "In Absentia," released in September 2002 via Lava/Atlantic Records. I was very excited to hear what an Opeth manager could offer and what "In Absentia" is all about.

Read more ››
published 17.09.2006 | Comments (20)

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Comments

Comments: 14   Visited by: 1171 users
30.06.2012 - 11:20
Rating: 10
lord artan

Omg!!!!!!!!!this album is awesome.The Sound Of Muzak...Trains.best of progressive rock.
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30.06.2012 - 20:17
Rating: 8
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by lord artan on 30.06.2012 at 11:20

Omg!!!!!!!!!this album is awesome.The Sound Of Muzak...Trains.best of progressive rock.


Yea man, this band blows me away. So underrated here in the states. "Blackest Eyes" is soooo fucking good.
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rekt
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30.06.2012 - 23:23
Rating: 10
lord artan

Written by tea[m]ster on 30.06.2012 at 20:17

Written by lord artan on 30.06.2012 at 11:20

Omg!!!!!!!!!this album is awesome.The Sound Of Muzak...Trains.best of progressive rock.


Yea man, this band blows me away. So underrated here in the states. "Blackest Eyes" is soooo fucking good.

oh yes "Blackest Eyes" is awesome:thumbup:
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23.02.2013 - 04:17
Jaeryd
Nihil's Maw
Written by lord artan on 30.06.2012 at 23:23

oh yes "Blackest Eyes" is awesome:thumbup:

The best songs on this album are Lips of Ashes, Gravity Eyelids, Wedding Nails, and Heartattack in a Lay By. The whole album is great, but those aforementioned tracks are some of the most fantastic songs created.
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23.02.2013 - 19:28
Rating: 8
Azarath
Free as a.. Fish
I'm going to stick my neck out and say that this album is a minor disappointment. By focusing on a harder-edged sound the band has almost completely lost the hypnotic beauty of their earlier work. The sound and production is quite cold and colourless. Monochromatic, if you will.

That's not to say that there aren't some great songs here. The first four, for example. "Heartattack in a Layby" is heartbreaking and "Collapse the Light into Earth" is stunning. The rest tends to blend together most of the time. Maybe it's just me. Overall, I prefer Deadwing.
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27.06.2013 - 01:32
Rating: 9
Bloodshotmage

This is one of my favorite Porcupine Tree albums for how varied it is. It does a great job of showcasing their hypnotic side as well as some of their heavier tendencies. The only downside would be that it doesn't go too far either way like some of their other work.
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14.11.2013 - 21:55
Rating: 8
CobiWan1993
Secundum Filium
I love this album, so many great songs to choose from. There's just so much to enjoy, from the anthemic "Trains", to the gut-wrenching "Collapse The Light Into Earth" to a particularly tasty bass line in "Strip The Soul" (which in itself is another kick-ass, harder edged song as well). I love the drum line in "The Creator Has A Mastertape" also. I could go on, but it would probably end up being an entire essay mentioning things I love about this release. Simply awesome...
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Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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14.11.2013 - 21:59
Rating: 10
BloodTears
ANA-thema
Written by CobiWan1993 on 14.11.2013 at 21:55

I love this album, so many great songs to choose from. There's just so much to enjoy, from the anthemic "Trains", to the gut-wrenching "Collapse The Light Into Earth" to a particularly tasty bass line in "Strip The Soul" (which in itself is another kick-ass, harder edged song as well). I love the drum line in "The Creator Has A Mastertape" also. I could go on, but it would probably end up being an entire essay mentioning things I love about this release. Simply awesome...


You only forgot to mention that it deserves a 10 I'm kidding really. It's just that this is one of my all time favourite albums, hands down.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.


My Instagram
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14.11.2013 - 22:01
Rating: 8
CobiWan1993
Secundum Filium
Written by BloodTears on 14.11.2013 at 21:59

Written by CobiWan1993 on 14.11.2013 at 21:55

I love this album, so many great songs to choose from. There's just so much to enjoy, from the anthemic "Trains", to the gut-wrenching "Collapse The Light Into Earth" to a particularly tasty bass line in "Strip The Soul" (which in itself is another kick-ass, harder edged song as well). I love the drum line in "The Creator Has A Mastertape" also. I could go on, but it would probably end up being an entire essay mentioning things I love about this release. Simply awesome...


You only forgot to mention that it deserves a 10 I'm kidding really. It's just that this is one of my all time favourite albums, hands down.

The only reason I gave it a 9 is that I feel it sometimes drags a little in some parts, but that's just me personally, there's too much to love for me to really complain about . And I've reserved that honor for Fear of A Blank Planet anyway.
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Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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29.10.2015 - 01:05
Mountain King
K i K o
It's not bad but I prefer Lightbulb Sun by far and their earlier sound in general. That's the special thing about them although u can still hear that on "In Absentia" sometimes...
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19.08.2017 - 04:49
RikkiTikiTavi

A beautiful, yet melancholic affair.
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12.10.2017 - 11:11
Rating: 9
rashaverak

Oh man this was unexpectedly bad. First 2 songs are decent, easy to like, fast to become boring but the rest is boring immediately. This is pop in its purest form and if there is progressive part it is ugly and exactly why people say about progressive it is l'art pour l'art. It reminds u2 or coldplay, the songs are utterly boring going to nowhere, hard to recognize when one starts and other ends, melancholic (read depressive) as hell.
Edit: initially I gave this album 3. It is because usually I can rate album after 3-4 loops but oh how I was wrong with this one. For some reason I continued to listen and it grew on me, the first 2 songs are great and I still like them after 50+ listenings, and the other songs, well I started to like most of them as well. So I need to change my rating of this great album.
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14.10.2019 - 20:23
Drekavaц
Account deleted
Τhe track 'Trains', has very strong lyrics that describe myself as a human being. The music makes your brain travelling and "arriving somewhere, but not here..."
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31.10.2023 - 10:59
Fritzl_Dungeon
Account deleted
Nice pop album.
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