Last month, I reviewed the album To The Bone by
“The
Complete Trip” is a 70-minute musical journey mixing psychedelic rock,
progressive rock, space rock, ambient music, and trance music. Conceptually,
this album is about the mind-altering drug LSD, as evident by the spoken words
and sounds heard on this album. According to Wilson ,
he came up with the narrative of “Voyage 34” after someone gave him an anti-LSD
propaganda album. In addition, Wilson wanted to take several 1960s and 70s
psychedelic, progressive, and space rock influences and combine them with what
was happening in the “ambient-dub” genre during the early 90s.
Phase
I introduces us to a man named Brian going on his 34th LSD trip after ingesting
a sugar cube containing the drug. He goes on a trip for 12 hours, and the
spoken word heard throughout the track describes what Brian is doing and how he
feels during the trip. Musically, the track starts off with a slow, ambient
sequence before a guitar riff reminiscent to the one famously heard on Pink
Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Part I” begins to play. This indicates that
Brian’s trip has begun and is going smoothly. After the sequence containing
this riff ends, we begin to hear a space rock jam coming into formation as
Brian’s trip continues but gets more intense. As soon as we are told Brian’s
trip goes from joyous to horrific, we suddenly get a David Gilmour-esque guitar
solo and more aggressive drums in the jam. The track concludes with another
ambient sequence with spoken words claiming Brian’s 34th trip traumatized
him.
Phase
II is a track that has Pink Floyd written all over it. It starts off with a
creepy and slow ambient sequence with guitar effects that may remind one of
Pink Floyd’s “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “Echoes” before a guitar riff,
similar to the one used on Phase I, takes over. The song eventually transcends
into another rock jam consisting of more Gilmour-inspired guitar work and solos
accompanied with keyboards and drums. Phase II consists of several spoken words
that view LSD in a positive light. For example, one woman compares her LSD trip
to a massage and speaks about seeing various paintings dripping and melting
from a wall onto a floor during the trip. Another example is of a different
woman saying: “psychedelics are stimulators of ideas and feelings, but
generally these ideas and feelings would express themselves constructively
rather than violently”. However, the track slowly fades out as a voice
repeating “Is this trip really necessary?” is heard.
Phase
III is a trance, remix track performed by the British electronic group
Astralasia. The track contains a repetitive electronic beat; backing up this
beat are additional synth and electronic beats and samples of the guitar sounds
heard on Phase I and II. The track also includes samples of the previous
tracks’ spoken words added with echo effects. This track is more of a relaxing,
19-minute listen that won’t suit well for the impatient.
Concluding
the album is Phase IV, a 20-minute, ambient soundscape made by Steven Wilson
and Richard Barbieri, who would later become Porcupine Tree’s main keyboardist.
It is a very unsettling track containing creepy synth sounds, a low-pounding
bass drum, barely audible electric guitar, etc. The heavy-wind like sounds
heard on the beginning and the end of the track made me feel paranoid about my
surroundings despite the fact no one was home and I took no substances while
listening to this album. Just like the previous tracks, it comes with spoken
words; but two in particular stick out; one encourages the use of LSD while the
other condemns using it. Here are samples of the two spoken words:
“…the college students who are using LSD
and marijuana today do not comprise a criminal class, they are not drug addicts
seeking to escape, they are your best educated, your best creative, and your
most courageous young people. And like it or not, they will build you a new
civilization”
“They may be severely depressed with
suicidal tendencies, or may be very serious suicide attempts, they may be
confused, wandering about, not knowing where they are… they may be
hallucinating, that is hearing voices or seeing things, or they may be
extremely anxious to the point of panic…”
Even
though this is not a review of a new album, this is an older album that many do
not know about, yet it’s one that fascinates me and took me on a musical
journey. What I admire about this record is not only its creative, atmospheric,
and trippy sound, but that Porcupine Tree is looking at LSD from a neutral
point of view; in other words, PT isn’t promoting or condemning LSD use, but
rather presenting both sides of the argument to make you decide whether LSD
should be taken recreationally.
Finally,
like I said before, I did not take LSD or any illegal substances while
listening to Voyage 34, so I cannot tell you what it was like listening to the
record while under the influence. I don’t plan on experimenting with drugs
while listening to this or any other record any time soon. Whether you decide
to take this journey by sitting down sober in a dark room or by using
substances to enhance your experience, enjoy the ultimate trip!
Sources:
FaceCulture.
“Porcupine Tree 2008 Interview - Steven Wilson (Part 1)”. YouTube, 29 Aug.
2012. <www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaktuoaX0wM>
Menon,
Tushar. “Backstage with Steven Wilson”. Rolling Stone India, 24 June 2012. <rollingstoneindia.com/backstage-with-steven-wilson/>
“Voyage
34: The Complete Trip.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 July 2017. <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_34:_The_Complete_Trip#cite_note-4>
