I'm enjoying the fuck out of this album even when I know it's not their best material and there is a lot of recycled riffs or odes to other songs. I'm surprised to see all the positive reactions towards Dignity. That is the only track I don't like and can barely listen to it.
Favorites so far are Never Have, Love in the Past Tense, Rats Return, Harridan and Of The New Day.
I’m going to go a step further and make a presumably controversial statement: this new album is, at least to me, their best work.
Now, don’t worry, I’ll show my work.
I am by no means a Steven Wilson acolyte — I’ve checked out every SW-adjacent release over the years, and some of it blows my mind (like the Raven title track), and some of it kinda goes over my head or simply makes me shrug (like most of Grace For Drowning).
Like many, I prefer the ‘metal’ years for PT, and hold In Absentia in particularly high esteem. That said, thus far, the band (or, more specifically, Wilson) has yet to produce what I consider a flawless, ‘love every single second’ album. That is, until now.
C/C is the perfect combination of familiar and foreign, and when taking into account the 3 bonus tracks, it is easily my favorite release of the year. I realize this may be the band’s last hurrah, but after a dozen or so listens, I certainly hope not. After all this time, I’m pretty impressed that Wilson has released something that has so captured my interest. Hats off indeed.