The Incident (album)

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"There was a sign saying 'POLICE – INCIDENT' and everyone was slowing down to see what had happened... Afterwards, it struck me that 'incident' is a very detached word for something so destructive and traumatic for the people involved. And then I had the sensation that the spirit of someone that had died in the accident entered into my car and was sitting next to me. The irony of such a cold expression for such seismic events appealed to me, and I began to pick out other 'incidents' reported in the media and news, I wrote about the evacuation of teenage girls from a religious cult in Texas, a family terrorizing its neighbours, a body found floating in a river by some people on a fishing trip, and more. Each song is written in the first person and tries to humanize the detached media reportage".

Steven Wilson [8]

Reception

The Incident
The Incident cover.jpg
Studio album by
Released14 September 2009
Recorded2009
Genre Progressive rock, progressive metal
Length75:43
Label Roadrunner/Victor
Producer Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree chronology
Fear of a Blank Planet
(2007)
The Incident
(2009)
Closure/Continuation
(2022)
Singles from The Incident
  1. "Time Flies"
    Released: 11 August 2009
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 72/100 [9]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [10]
CHARTattack Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Caller-Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
NOW Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [14]
Radio City Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Rocksound (9/10) [16]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [17]
Weekender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [18]

In January 2010, Eclipsed magazine critics named The Incident their "Album of the Year" and also gave credit to the band for "Best Concert of The Year", while "Time Flies" reached No. 5 in the "Best Song of the Year" category. [19]

Readers of the Teraz Rock Polish magazine voted Steven Wilson as the "Best Foreign Instrumentalist/Musician of 2009", surpassing other widely known artists, such as The Edge, Jerry Cantrell, Jack White, Kerry King, Kirk Hammett, Tom Morello, Mark Knopfler, and Omar Rodríguez-López. [20]

Classic Rock magazine critics voted Porcupine Tree #1 "Best Band" and The Incident as #1 "Album of the Year"; The Incident tour was voted #4 and Gavin Harrison gained second place for "Best Drummer"; Steven Wilson achieved #4 as "Best Guitarist" and was chosen #1 "Prog Icon of 2009". [21]

Once again, a Porcupine Tree song was chosen "Song of the Day" by NPR. "Drawing the Line" is the second NPR pick from the band since "Sentimental", off 2007's Fear of a Blank Planet . [22]

Indian newspaper The Hindu commented on "Time Flies" by asserting, "The epic 11-minute track is simply one of Porcupine Tree's best. Embodied in melodic simplicity with a rhythmic strumming pattern, the piece undulates with cascading crescendos, a rumbling mid-section and a propulsive finish." [23]

Track listing

Disc one

The first disc of the album was intended to be a single 55-minute song, but it is segmented into 14 sequential tracks.

All lyrics written by Steven Wilson.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Occam's Razor"Steven Wilson1:55
2."The Blind House"Wilson5:47
3."Great Expectations"Wilson1:26
4."Kneel and Disconnect"Wilson2:03
5."Drawing the Line"Wilson4:43
6."The Incident"Wilson5:20
7."Your Unpleasant Family"Wilson1:48
8."The Yellow Windows of the Evening Train"Wilson2:00
9."Time Flies"Wilson11:40
10."Degree Zero of Liberty"Wilson1:45
11."Octane Twisted"Porcupine Tree5:03
12."The Séance"Wilson2:39
13."Circle of Manias"Porcupine Tree2:18
14."I Drive the Hearse"Wilson6:41
Total length:55:08

Disc two

Disc 2 contains tracks recorded outside the song cycle. All lyrics written by Steven Wilson.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Flicker"Porcupine Tree3:42
2."Bonnie the Cat"Porcupine Tree5:45
3."Black Dahlia" Richard Barbieri 3:40
4."Remember Me Lover"Steven Wilson7:28
Total length:20:35

Some CD pressings and all DVD-A pressings combine both discs on one single disc. [24]

Japanese & iTunes bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Way Out of Here" (Live)Porcupine Tree7:49
6."What Happens Now?" (Live)Porcupine Tree8:09

These two bonus tracks were recorded in Tilburg, The Netherlands, in 2008 for the live DVD Anesthetize.

DVD-A edition

No.TitleMusicLength
2."Flicker" Porcupine Tree 3:42
3."Bonnie the Cat"Porcupine Tree5:45
4."Black Dahlia"Richard Barbieri3:40
5."Remember Me Lover"Steven Wilson7:28
6."Extra Features
  • Time Flies Video
  • Octane Twisted Film
  • TV spot
  • Photo Gallery"
  

Personnel

Porcupine Tree

Production

Charts

Chart performance for The Incident
Chart (2009)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [25] 35
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [26] 45
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [27] 79
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [28] 40
Canadian Albums ( Billboard ) [29] 23
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [30] 5
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [31] 11
French Albums (SNEP) [32] 35
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [33] 17
Italian Albums (FIMI) [34] 33
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [35] 19
Polish Albums (ZPAV) [36] 5
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [37] 77
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [38] 23
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [39] 20
UK Albums (OCC) [40] 23
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [41] 2
US Billboard 200 [29] 25
US Top Rock Albums ( Billboard ) [29] 7

References

  1. Get Your First Taste of Porcupine Tree's 'The Incident' roadrunnerrecords.co.uk. 2009. Retrieved on 10 July 2009.
  2. "Nominees And Winners". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  3. "Porcupine Tree-News". 16 December 2008. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008.
  4. "The Incident". Porcupine Tree. 12 June 2009.
  5. Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) Talks About 'Time Flies' roadrunnerrecords.co.uk. 20 July 2009. Retrieved on 27 July 2009
  6. "PORCUPINE TREE'S 'I DRIVE THE HEARSE' PERFORMED ACOUSTICALLY". Roadrunner Records. 12 April 2010.
  7. The Worldwide Video Premiere of Bonnie the Cat roadrunnerrecords.co.uk. Retrieved on 10 July 2010.
  8. "Porcupine Tree Reveal Details of the Incident" . Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  9. "Critic Reviews for The Incident". Metacritic. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  10. The Incident review allmusic.com. Retrieved on 19 September 2009.
  11. Porcupine Tree - The Incident [ usurped ] chartattack.com. Retrieved on 23 September 2009.
  12. Tough as Porcupine Tree Corpus Christi Caller-Times . Retrieved on 2 October 2009.
  13. NOW Magazine // Music // Porcupine Tree
  14. The Incident review popmatters.com. Retrieved on 12 October 2009.
  15. Steve Wilson Delights, Again [ usurped ]
  16. Porcupine Tree - `The Incident´ - Reviews - Rock Sound. Rocksound magazine. Retrieved on 8 December 2009.
  17. Fricke, David. "Porcupine Tree: The Incident". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  18. Porcupine Tree outdoes itself Weekender . Retrieved on 30 September 2009.
  19. "Eclipsed again". Porcupine Tree - Official Website. 29 March 2010. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010.
  20. "Pollwinner!". Porcupine Tree - Official Website. 5 February 2010. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010.
  21. "PT Tops The Polls". Porcupine Tree - Official Website. 22 January 2010. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010.
  22. "Porcupine Tree: The Virtual and the Visceral : NPR". NPR. 30 March 2010.
  23. "Metro Plus Bangalore / Music : Beatstreet". The Hindu . Chennai, India. 12 April 2010. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  24. "Porcupine Tree – The Incident". discogs.com. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  25. "Australiancharts.com – Porcupine Tree – The Incident". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  26. "Austriancharts.at – Porcupine Tree – The Incident" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  27. "Ultratop.be – Porcupine Tree – The Incident" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  28. "Ultratop.be – Porcupine Tree – The Incident" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  29. 1 2 3 The Incident - Porcupine Tree (2009) billboard.com. Retrieved on 26 September 2009.
  30. "Dutchcharts.nl – Porcupine Tree – The Incident" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  31. "Porcupine Tree: The Incident" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  32. "Lescharts.com – Porcupine Tree – The Incident". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  33. "Offiziellecharts.de – Porcupine Tree – The Incident" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  34. "Italiancharts.com – Porcupine Tree – The Incident". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  35. "Norwegiancharts.com – Porcupine Tree – The Incident". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  36. "Porcupine Tree - The Incident - Music Charts". acharts.us. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  37. "Spanishcharts.com – Porcupine Tree – The Incident". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  38. "Swedishcharts.com – Porcupine Tree – The Incident". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  39. "Swisscharts.com – Porcupine Tree – The Incident". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  40. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  41. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 December 2023.