Porcupine Tree Album: “On the Sunday of Life”

Okay. So it has no moments of fully plugged in neoprog metal. So it has some of the most whacked-out lyrics in the history of music. So listening to it is pretty akin to witnessing a supertalented musical genius lose his mind and feel absolutely no shame for it. Back in 1991, when this CD first came out, Steven Wilson was a much more adventurous guy. His careless creative abandon allowed him to completely invalidate the opinions of others, and thus he's as free as can be throughout the duration of these 18 tracks. In this way, this is probably the finest album he's ever released under the Porcupine Tree name, and I'm not saying this just to earn brownie points as a "true fan." I'm saying it because if you don't like OTSOL, you really don't know that much about this band (i.e., you only have Deadwing and maybe IA), and you definitely don't appreciate the intricacies of SW's talents.

Just look at the personas he delves into in the course of only about 75 minutes. He ranges from a cheeky Herman's Hermits-type '60s-psych-rock cheeseball in "Jupiter (NOT JUNIPER) Island" to a disenchanted commentator on Cold War politics in "Radioactive Toy." He even tries his super-evil alien shoes on with the hilarious "Space Transmission." The music is equally varied. "Linton Samuel Dawson" is Rush being maliciously raped by a drum machine, which of course makes it amazing. "And The Swallows Dance Around The Sun" is a beguiling, hypnotic little trancey number, pretty characteristic of PT's early days. "Nine Cats" is absolutely gorgeous, echoey and charming. And the epic closer "It Will Rain For A Million Years," which is about as prog as you can possibly get without actually being Yes, should logically appeal to EVERY fan of this band.

I say this with all honesty: OTSOL is an incredible record, and I recommend it to PT fans and fans of psych/prog/astoundingly original music. Just don't think you'll get a "Shallow" riff here, because you're definitely not going to find one.

This is not what I was expecting when I bought this album, of course. If you are new to PT you shouldn't start here. I'll admit that I don't listen to this all too frequently, but I actually think the songs are pretty good. Yes, some of it is weird music. Yes, some of the lyrics are silly. But I think it's enjoyable all the same. It is interesting (to me) to hear what some of the earliest compositions were like from this musical genius, Steve Wilson. This isn't the sort of thing you throw on just to chill and listen to, it's the sort of album you get because it's interesting. It's an intriguing listen in my eyes (I guess I should say ears...but that's not how the saying goes). Songs like Linton Samuel Dawson are quite strange and vocal effects are used, but I still think they are fun songs. There's a lot of cool material on this album.

In short, don't get this if you are new to the band, don't get this if you expect it to sound ANYTHING like the other albums, and don't get this if you don't like strange music. But if you are a fan, and you are open minded, and you want to hear the beginnings of PT, then by all means, pick this up. I never regretted my purchase. It may be different but it's still impressive to me that one guy could write and record all this stuff with just his guitar and synthisizers.

You should buy the album, not only to familiarize yourself with the band's beginnings, but for one song: "It Will Rain for a Million Years". I agree that most of the album isn't very good, and all the other good songs on here (Nine Cats, Radioactive Toy, Nostalgia Factory, And the Swallows Dance Above the Sun) can be found on Stars Die, the compilation of their early work. But I would recommend buying the album just for the beautiful closing song, which itself is worth the price of admission. It can't be found anywhere else, and it's one of my favorite Tree songs of all time. It's classic PT, and really showed where the band (Or really, just Wilson at the time) was going with their sound. Anyway, yeah. Overall, a lot of experimental stuff, but still worth buying for the closer.

Those who critique this album for being what appears, at first glance, to be a thrown together mess seem to be missing the point that On The Sunday Of Life... is not an album on par with the sweat and tears that surely must have gone into later PT studio masterpieces such as In Absentia. Rather, Steven Wilson's debut album is almost entirely devoid of any commercial strain to be recognized by record companies, the almost randomness of the songs keeping true to Steven's notes in the reissue of this album, which states that most of the songs were written, recorded, and mixed in a matter of a few hours. While much of the album sounds horrible in retrospect to later PT classics, this still says a lot for Wilson's musical imagination as far as songs like Nine Cats and Third Eye Surfer go.

More present than on any other album, the psychedelic influence is especially present here, most notably on the aforementioned Third Eye Surfer, Music For The Head, and the title track, which are all euphoric exercises in space-like early Pink-Floydish jams. Footprints and It Will Rain For A Million Years are also a lot of fun, but not nearly as much as Nine Cats, which is in my opinion one of Wilson's most beautiful and soaring compositions to date, as well as the explosive Radioactive Toy, which has since become an epic concert favorite (as highlighted on their live album Coma Divine.) And yes, as just about every other review has and probably will mention, Jupiter Island and Linton Samuel Dawson are about as pleasing to listen to as nails on a chalkboard when I'm in the mood for PT, but stay true to the playful mood in which much of this album was conceived.

Steven had yet to take on a full-time band lineup for PT yet, and his musicianship was not up to the level it is at now, but for the primitive recording techniques he had available (and considering all the drums are created by his cheap drum machine) On The Sunday Of Life... should be studied by all students of the studio engineering programs rapidly growing in music schools, as to how exactly an amateurish home recording should sound. 4 stars, even with the filler.

Only buy if die hard fan. This are recordings from teenage Wilson. So buy at own risk. Dont waste your money.