Writing and Recording
Frontman Steven Wilson remarked that album was "The quickest album we ever made (in 3 months flat)" and yet still "our best work to date", and was released a mere 14 months after their previous album, Stupid Dream. Lyrically, Wilson had tired of writing about abstract concepts like war or religion, and felt he had the confidence to write more personal and emotional lyrics, leading to some especially negative lyrics beings displayed in tracks such as "Hatesong" and "Feel So Low".
Musically, Wilson stated he wanted to bring back some of the experimental aspects they had moved away from on Stupid Dream, stating "Richard and I worked on creating some unique keyboard sounds for the album – e.g. the 'fairground' on 'How is Your Life Today?' and the 'insects' at the end of 'Russia On Ice'". He also spoke of the influence of metal music on the album, stating, "... part of the beauty of the guitar solo on 'Where We Would Be' comes from the fact that it was played relatively straight but then fed through so many distortion and lo-fi processes that it began to fizz and disintegrate. The riffing guitars on 'Russia On Ice' are pure metal and one of the solos of 'Hatesong' I call my 'Korn solo' on account of the fact that the bottom strings on the guitar are tuned down so low that the notes can be bent several tones". Conversely, the band added more unconventional instruments to the compositions as well, such as the banjo, hammered dulcimers, and more string sections. String sections in Lightbulb Sun were arranged and produced by Dave Gregory from alternative rock band XTC at Christchurch Studios, Clifton, Bristol in January 2000, recorded by John Waterhouse.
Wilson describes the album as more organic sounding than his previous albums, stating that, "In a song like 'Winding Shot' ] there are shades of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Nick Drake, although the end result is hopefully pure Porcupine Tree. This effect is accentuated by the fact that many of the instruments and vocals on the album are much more up front and given less of a sheen than on Stupid Dream ... Organic is the word I like to use."
Richard Barbieri described his approach to his keyboard playing, saying that "... Much of my keyboard experimenting took place on tracks like 'Russia On Ice', 'Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth ...', 'Feel So Low' and '4 Chords That Made a Million', while other tracks didn't seem to need a great deal of keyboards. I'm not one for playing all over a track if I can't see a genuine need for it."
Many songs from Lightbulb Sun and Stupid Dream recording sessions, that were left off their respective albums, were later released on the b-side compilations album Recordings in 2001.
Read more about this topic: Lightbulb Sun
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