Warszawa

The energy and sound of PT comes through really well on this live album. Steven Wilson's singing voice live is not the best, and with only drummer Chris Maitland's backing vocals in support the harmonies and counter melodies are not as effective as they are in the studio versions of the songs. It is a shame, as that is one of PT's strongest most beautiful aspects.

However, that is the negative stuff out of the way first, and the positives outweigh them comfortably. The instruments all sound great and the songs when performed live are different enough to the originals whilst retaining the quality to make it well worth buying. Even Less sounds great with a guitar singing out the chorus riff rather than the synthesiser, Shesmovedon contains the greatest guitar solo of all time (well OK that's quite a bold claim but it is awesome, no doubt about it) as well as the instrumentation being a bit clearer than the original album version.

Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth I definitely prefer to the studio one - the instrumental section really comes to life and turns it into a highlight of the album for me. Russia On Ice is glorious in its power and explosive volume, if any song was meant to be performed live it was this one, and Chris Maitland is clearly having a great time going berserk towards the end of it. Voyage 34 is fantastic as well, the live setting makes it a more energetic lively song than the original version, which simply used drum machines. The added spice given by the live instruments works really well. Hatesong is fab as well.

The only songs which I don't feel work so well are Slave Called Shiver and Where We Would Be, but they are by no means bad, just not as good when translated into the live setting as the other tracks. Definitely worth it for an established PT fan, full of energy and enjoyment. Not sure about for a newcomer to the band, it would probably be better to go with the highly polished studio albums before going for the live stuff.

(THIS REVIEW IS BASED ON THE LIMITED RELEASE ON THE BANDS OWN LABEL, WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE GENERAL RELEASE WILL BE EXACTLY THE SAME - AS STATED ON THE PT WEBSITE)

Warszawa comprises a 70+ minute show that was broadcast on Polish radio in 2001. So no In Absentia here, but the majority of songs are from the nearest release at the time, Lightbulb Sun. If you have only heard In Absentia - don't be disillusioned, because the earlier stuff is very much along the same lines, so you will not be dissapointed!

The rest of the show is somewhat of a 'Greatest Hits', with songs such as Voyage 34, Signify, Even Less etc. The Lightbulb Sun songs sound vibrant (Russia On Ice, the 10+ minute epic, sounds superb), and the older songs sound arguably better live than they do on the albums: Slave Called Shiver sounds especially powerful, and the guitar is more prominent in Stop Swimming which makes the song even more beautiful.

Overall, this is an excellent set. The crowd do not feature prominently, and the 70+ minutes of music showcases Porcupine Tree doing what they love - playing live. How could we begrudge them that? They do it so well.

This is one of my most listened to Porcupine Tree albums.

It covers a crucial period of the bands time and highlights some great tracks.

The production is superb.

From the opening guitar on Even Less it is fantastic.

If you haven't seen them them live then this is a great introduction.

My personal highlights are Last Chance and Slave Called Shiver.