Product: Porcupine Tree: Anesthetize (2008)
Rating: 4.0
Excellent addition to PT's live video offerings
After the debacle of "Arriving Somewhere" (only a debacle because of Hoile's weird film editing, not the music), I was reluctant to purchase this video, but I was pleasantly surprised with Anesthetize. I was a bit hesitant when I learned that Hoile would once again be driving the editing of the film, but he kept his over-creativity in check for this. What bugged me about "Arriving Somewhere" was not the music, but rather Hoile's ADD when it comes to switching camera angles, and mostly his pseudo-film grain effects, 2 second black and white shots, out-of-focus shots, and extreme close-ups. This video has SOME of those things, except I didn't notice any strange film-grain, black and white, or sepia insertions. There are, however, some out-of-focus shots and extreme close-ups, but they don't detract (however, they also don't add to the film, IMO). Regardless, it's still better than a Kevin Shirley debacle (think "Led Zeppelin DVD" or anything he's done with Iron Maiden), for which I'm grateful.The music and musicianship is superb. I think the mixing was done perfectly, and it's nice to hear a PT concert in uncompressed audio (from the Blu-Ray). The song choice was fairly simple, and has been a PT approach for a few years now - just play the entire album for which you're touring, then some b-sides, and then some back catalog material (and don't forget "Trains"). While I have mixed feelings about the whole-album approach, Fear of a Blank Planet is one fine PT album, so this works out.I knocked off a star because of the filmography. The fixed position/mounted cameras (on tripods, etc.) suffered from camera shake with each bass drum kick. While this is somewhat difficult to cushion in a live show in a small venue such as this one from Tilburg, it does stand out quite a bit (on the Blu-Ray). Moreover, due to the low-light nature of PT shows, the film is a bit grainy at times. I've got other concerts in Blu-Ray which aren't quite so grainy, which leads me to believe the choice in camera equipment might not have been the best. I must warn the reader, however, that these are MINOR gripes that only a perfectionist like me would notice. For the most part, PT fans (many of whom are audiophiles) will be deeply satisfied with this release.Highly recommended!