Album
Fear of a Blank Planet
Fear of a Blank Planet is Porcupine Tree's ninth studio album, released on 16 April 2007. It was their best-selling record until The Incident arrived in 2009. Steven Wilson took the title from Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet, but turned the idea towards a different worry: a generation lost to broken homes, endless screen time and over-medication, left mentally and spiritually "blank". Prog rock and prog metal sit side by side here.
The songs were written in Tel Aviv and London during 2006 and aired live on the Arriving Somewhere... tour that autumn. Listening parties followed at Abbey Road and in New York. The album entered the US Billboard 200 at number 59, charted across most of Europe, and Classic Rock named it Album of the Year for 2007. The Nil Recurring EP followed later that year, and Wilson explored related ideas again on his solo debut, Insurgentes.
Fear of a Blank Planet on Riffology
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Fear of a Blank Planet: tracklist, credits and charts
6 tracks · 50:51Tracklist
- 1Fear of a Blank PlanetSteven Wilson7:28
- 2My AshesRichard Barbieri and Steven Wilson5:07
- 3AnesthetizeSteven Wilson17:42
- 4SentimentalSteven Wilson5:27
- 5Way Out of HereBarbieri, Edwin, Harrison, Wilson7:38
- 6Sleep TogetherSteven Wilson7:29
- Produced by
- Porcupine Tree, John Wesley, Steven Wilson
- Recorded at
- No Man's Land (Hemel Hempstead), Bourne Place, New Rising, The Artillery, Nightspace, Mark Angelo, Red Room Recorders, DGM
- Mixed by
- Steven Wilson
- Engineered by
- Mark Prator
- Labels
- Atlantic, Roadrunner (Europe)
- Length
- 50:51
Line-up
- Alex Lifeson · electric guitar · guest
- Richard Barbieri · synthesizer, keyboard · guest
- Colin Edwin · bass guitar · guest
- Gavin Harrison · drums (drum set) · guest
- Steven Wilson · piano, guitar, keyboard, vocals · guest
- Robert Fripp · guest
Singles
- “Fear of a Blank Planet” · April 2007
- “Way Out of Here” · 2007
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2007 | 31 |
| US Billboard 200 · 2007 | 59 |
| Dutch Albums · 2007 | 13 |
| Finnish Albums · 2007 | 16 |
| US Billboard Top Rock Albums · 2007 | 17 |
| German Albums · 2007 | 21 |
| Italian Albums · 2007 | 34 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2007 | 34 |
| Swedish Albums · 2007 | 38 |
| Swiss Albums · 2007 | 41 |
All 12 charts
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2007 | 66 |
| French Albums · 2007 | 70 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
67.5
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.5k
ListenBrainz listeners
52k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
9.3k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 16 April
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Full discography →
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1990
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1992
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1992
Voyage 34: The Complete Trip
1992
Spiral Circus
1993
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1993
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1993
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1994
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1994
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1994
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1995
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1996
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1997
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1998
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1999
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2000
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2001
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2001
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2002
In Absentia
2002
Futile
2003
XM
2003
Deadwing
2005
XMII
2005
Rockpalast
2006
Arriving Somewhere…
2006
Nil Recurring
2007
We Lost the Skyline
2008
Ilosaarirock
2009
The Incident
2009
Anesthetize
2010
Atlanta
2010
Octane Twisted
2012
Pure Narcotic – Acoustic Session 2012
2020
Closure / Continuation
2022
IA / DW / XT
2023
Closure / Continuation. Live. Amsterdam 07/11/22
2023
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 2007-04-13 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 13 April 2007 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 16 April 2007 | |
| Wikidata | 16 April 2007 | |
| US release | 24 April 2007 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 16 April 2007 | earliest UK or European date |
24 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | CA | Atlantic | 075678999444 | other |
| 2007 | XE | Roadrunner Records | 016861801120 | other |
| 2007 | XE | [no label] | other | |
| 13 April 2007 | DE | — | original | |
| 16 April 2007 | XE | Roadrunner Records | 016861801151 | other |
| 16 April 2007 | GB | Roadrunner Records | other | |
| 16 April 2007 | XE | Roadrunner Records | 016861801120 | other |
| 24 April 2007 | US | Atlantic | 075678999444 | other |
| 24 April 2007 | US | Atlantic | 075678999437 | other |
| 25 April 2007 | JP | WHD Entertainment, Inc. | 4582213911251 | other |
| 1 October 2007 | GB | Transmission | other | |
| 3 October 2007 | NL | Tonefloat | 075678999444 | other |
| 2008 | JP | WHD Entertainment, Inc. | 4582213915587 | other |
| 12 November 2008 | JP | WHD Entertainment, Inc. | 4582213912593 | other |
| 2011 | GB | Burning Shed | other | |
| 2012 | XE | Kscope | 802644822921 | other |
| 2012 | XE | Kscope | 802644822921 | other |
| 2012 | US | Kscope | 802644822921 | other |
| 3 July 2012 | XW | Kscope | 802644721064 | other |
| 2016 | DE | Kscope | 802644886718 | other |
| 2020 | XW | Kscope | remaster | |
| 30 April 2021 | XE | Transmission Records | 802644725178 | other |
| 2024 | XW | Snapper Music | 802644442525 | remaster |
| 1 November 2024 | XW | Transmission Recordings | 802644825359 | deluxe |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 220×220 | upscaled |