Odd, then, that he gave this serious album a title that seems to parody Public Enemy’s classic Fear of a Black Planet. “I thought it was funny,” he admits. “Fear of a Black Planet was one that you had to own when I was growing up: it summed up the zeitgeist of the time. And I think that the issue of information overload is something that kids have to think about in this era, just as they had to think about race relations when I was growing up.”
In true prog fashion, Porcupine Tree will play the album in its entirety, scattered through a two-hour set, on a tour that arrives at the Roxy on May 25. As Wilson prepares to hit the road, he sees cause for optimism in the audience the band attract. “I think it’s a hopeful sign that kids are getting into sophisticated music. Maybe they’ll hear what I’m talking about and it will be part of the solution. That’s certainly the hope.” The antidote to a regressive culture just might be progressive rock.
PORCUPINE TREE | Roxy, 279 Tremont St, Boston | May 25, 7 pm [doors at 6 pm] | $30 | 617.931.2000
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