| | Full Review | Ratings (1029) |
Give your Rating |
| 3.5 great | Jorn van Schaïk | September 6th 09 | This sounds like Porcupine Tree - the modern metal edition. Bits and pieces (Circle of Manias) could have been taken from Meshuggah records, there are lots of juddering metal grooves, as if NIN were playing and suddenly they are asked to do a duet with Opeth. The album's centrepiece, Time Flies, however, is a disappointing exercise in self-indulgence, and the quieter, mellow moments seem to work the best (particularly Kneel and Disconnect is a fantastic track). The band-collaborated second disc is more conventional PT material, like Lightbulb sun material with an updated guitar tone. Make no mistake: audio-wise it's complete ear candy, the performances are flawless and it's all done like a love of labour. But something's missing here that's on other albums. It seems to lack the uber-tracks that most other PT albums have; "Kneel and Disconnect" is just too short to claim the crown, and heavy thunkers like Octane Twisted seem to meander a tad too often for them to become truly memorable. As far as prog rock/metal goes, Porcupine Tree are undoubtedly on top of their game, but the absence of any truly instantly hitting material, which was always present on previous albums in one way or another, is a disappointment, given SW's ability to pen instantly memorable moments on every album. And that's why this Porcupine Tree record, although great in its own right, can't be rightfully included with the top picks of their extensive discography, metal era or not.
4 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | Edmund Blackadder | September 7th 09 | Predictable and boring, PT have clearly overworked themselves here. Did you think the 20 minute epic was going to be amazing? Well, prepare to be dissapointed. The best songs here are often under 4 minutes, which is a shame, because the longer songs show potential if not for their repetitiveness.
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | Decapod | September 1st 09 | Hooked on it after only 3 listens. I suspect it will grow on me continuously during the winter months. Thank you Porcupine Tree.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | Sean Wallace | May 20th 11 | Not as great as their previous albums, but it's not a bad album
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | Mike Allen | July 13th 10 | Porcupine Tree disappoints for the first time. The concept is fragmented and not well-developed, and the music is just an inferior recreation of the band's last two or three records.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | Matthijs van der Lee | September 19th 09 | The Incident is a reworking of Fear of a Blank Planet's style in an ambitious 2 discs, but lacks the impressiveness and coherence of its predecessor. It is like typical modern Porcupine Tree, but without something that binds it all together properly. Just passable.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Rob Heald | September 10th 09 | Far from he pretentiousness a 55-minute song implies...this album displays every style Porcupine Tree is known for, in a genuine manner. Nothing is forced for "conceptual" reasons, rather the concept comes naturally from the music itself. Bravo PT
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | Skyler | September 2nd 09 | A rather predictable release from Porcupine Tree. You probably have a pretty good idea of what this album sounds
like without actually having to listen to it.
Don't get me wrong, there are a number of really solid songs here, but none of them are particularly fresh or
interesting.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | sblevins95 | April 29th 13 | My opinion on this album changes every time I listen to it but I think a 4 is pretty solid. (For now at least!)
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Travis Montgomery | January 30th 13 | Even if a bit predictable, still an enjoyable album. The band hasn't really gained or lost anything over the past decade, just that they've found a formula that they all enjoy and they're sticking to it. The variables in this formula are always fluctuating (members' emotional states, new instrumental techniques, new found inspiration, etc.) but, if anything, this album shows me that Porcupine Tree will continue making competent albums (if not amazing ones) from here until the end of time. 3.8/5
Bump |
| 0.0 | Static | October 4th 12 | this band got so gay
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | conesmoke | January 13th 12 | Album is definitely solid, it's got a great story behind and and i really don't see why i have to give an explanation every time i want to change a rating...
Bump |
| 4.5 superb | porcupinetheater | November 7th 11 | The main, 55 minute, 14 movement title track is worth a 5 rating, easily. Unfortunately, the album's quality takes a severe dive on the second disk, which, while still an occasionally decent listen, is some of the weakest Porcupine Tree material ever recorded. Still, it's definitely a smaller portion of the record than The Incident (the song), so it doesn't bring down the album rating all that drastically.
Bump |
| 5.0 classic | ConsBroms | October 22nd 11 | Every song is beautiful and flows together well. Not a single track seems out of place and blends well with the album as a wholer
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Dostoyevsky | July 29th 11 | The Incident follows Fear of a Blank Planet, one of Porcupine Tree's most vital, experimental and ultimately brilliant albums yet. Whilst that would always be a hard act to follow, The Incident fails not in that it's significantly worse than its predecessor, but merely in that it's far too similar.
The production on the album is cold and sterile, perhaps playing on the theme of incidents being reported on in a similarly detached manner, but Steven Wilson is such a great producer that to deliberately hinder the sound of the album for artistic reasons would be a criminal waste. The music is good, if uninspired, with The Blind House featuring a killer riff in particular. Time Flies has a great psychedelic solo, and there are some wonderful ambient moments scattered throughout.
Despite this, it still doesn't feel quite fresh enough for this PT fan. FOABP really did consolidate all of their experiments up to that point in one glorious whole, but The Incident feels far too much like a retread of previous successes to be considered anywhere near as brilliant.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Staker | December 17th 10 | Ach, this album disappointed me, after the awesome that was FoaBP. Don't get me wrong, it's good, it's just not up to the PT standard.
Bump |
| 5.0 classic | digimental101 | October 13th 10 | Top of the line production and songwriting, wrapped up in a thought-provoking concept album.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Mike C | May 30th 10 | It's much harder to get into than the bands previous works. While it does show signs of being great throughout the whole listen, it is not as brilliant as it seems in retrospect. The whole record is very dark and devoid of any real uplifting moments, minus the single, "Time Flies". While it's not the masterwork that I believe In Absentia and FOABP to be, but it does live up to the Porcupine Tree title, and is a worthy addition that any band would love to have in their catalog.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Islandjam2990 | March 4th 10 | I just can't dig on this album as much as everyone else does. Sure, everything up to, and including, "Time Flies" was absolutely fantastic, but afterward... well, I couldn't differentiate the songs if you wouldn't let me see the titles. The bonus tracks were pretty cool, ESPECIALLY "Bonnie The Cat." In short, Mr. Wilson, I love your music, but this album was just not fantastic.
Bump |
| 2.5 average | Tom Tom | October 7th 09 | Just not good enough Steve, sorry. The "metal" parts sound like a watered down Meshuggah and don't push any boundaries, the industrial parts just plain suck and the poppy parts aren't catchy. The best parts of the album are the acoustic or psychadelic sections. The lyrics are fairly average but insrumentally it's solid, especially the rhythm section (great drums). Just download Time Flies and I drive the Hearse.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | OlDirtyPaule | September 24th 09 | After reading the first reviews on my favorite music sites - sputnikmusic, allmusic and rateyourmusic - I was expecting a huge disappointment from The incident, especially since Wilson's weaknesses (the patronizing, schoolmasterly lyrics, the small lack of focus on a few earlier songs/albums) and his tendency to aim for memorable, melodic compositions, rather than for technical extravagances (which is quite refreshing!), might be a dangerous combination with a concept album. Many early reviews criticized the disjointedness of the first 14 songs (announced as the concept album) and the allegedly uninteresting, forgettable interludes were seen as cons.
I admit that the 14-part-suite is not as much one big song as, for example, Edge of Sanity's Crimson is, but, besides I don't think it necessarily has to be, in my opinion the interludes not only elegantly connect the long-tracks (listen to 'The incident'/'Your unpleasant family'/'The Yellow Windows of the evening train'/'Time flies'), but are also highly enjoyable on their own (especially 'Great Expectations' and 'Kneel and disconnect'). Furthermore, all long-tracks (Blind House/Drawing the line/The incident/Time Flies (!)/Octane Twisted & The Seance/I drive the hearse (!)) are among the best stuff Wilson has ever written. This part of The incident is about as good as In Absentia.
However, the second CD is weaker. While 'Remember me lover' is ingenious and 'Black Dahlia' is still great, 'Flicker' is nothing more than solid and 'Bonnie the Cat' rather annoying.
4.2 stars.
Bump |
| 4.5 superb | om39a | May 6th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | lynx23 | April 22nd 13 |
| 3.5 great | Oji | April 20th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Will | March 30th 13 |
| 4.5 superb | rasi | March 24th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | cgor17 | March 19th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | nicoot | March 11th 13 |
| 3.0 good | UED | March 8th 13 |
| 3.0 good | mcchub | February 8th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Lobber | February 3rd 13 |
| 3.5 great | JS19 | February 3rd 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | CRS5 | January 31st 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Zamora | January 28th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | limbs | January 27th 13 |
| 2.0 poor | Cuso47 | January 26th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Lazarvs | January 22nd 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Voltia | January 17th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Tib | January 10th 13 |
| 1.5 very poor | Caelum | January 7th 13 |
| 3.0 good | Sunlar | January 7th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | sjp55555 | December 30th 12 |
| 3.5 great | BrentV | December 26th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | vkristi | December 25th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Meshike | December 24th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Smartys | December 18th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | abaeza | December 8th 12 |
| 3.5 great | br1nk | November 26th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Tulten | November 21st 12 |
| 2.5 average | busybee | November 9th 12 |
| 2.5 average | sj666 | October 30th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | DRZ | October 24th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Defcol | October 22nd 12 |
| 1.5 very poor | salnak | October 11th 12 |
| 1.0 awful | Lynx1 | October 8th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Bozo39 | October 7th 12 |
| 1.5 very poor | IcyLily | October 4th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Selh | October 3rd 12 |
| 5.0 classic | 16awal | September 30th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | ilkal | September 29th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Trajan | September 28th 12 |
| 3.5 great | floyd62 | September 22nd 12 |
| 3.5 great | Danyll | September 19th 12 |
| 1.0 awful | Signify | September 11th 12 |
| 1.0 awful | gravy64 | September 11th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Sean Mc | September 1st 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | j1myz | August 26th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Ophion | August 8th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Alex | July 24th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Titan | July 24th 12 |
| 3.5 great | WSH | July 3rd 12 |
| 3.5 great | Jgpj95 | June 27th 12 |
| 3.0 good | tmage | June 26th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | yarong | June 8th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Meuric | May 23rd 12 |
| 3.5 great | Rail | May 19th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Artuma | May 19th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | awal16 | May 18th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Ian | May 18th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | vtown | May 15th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | viri | May 13th 12 |
| 3.5 great | llima | May 8th 12 |
| 3.5 great | JohIV | April 30th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Gavwah | April 26th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | G.M.B. | April 23rd 12 |
| 3.5 great | Cyuss | April 14th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Thomas | April 5th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Dashy | April 1st 12 |
| 3.5 great | drds89 | March 30th 12 |
| 2.0 poor | Slask | March 30th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | adace1 | March 30th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Guido | March 20th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Host78 | March 19th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | tazwell | March 6th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Brink | February 24th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Jiag | February 22nd 12 |
| 3.0 good | nex77 | February 22nd 12 |
| 2.5 average | Lambda | February 9th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Vyndax | January 27th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Themac | January 19th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Trexx | January 7th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | tmm87 | December 29th 11 |
| 3.5 great | drite55 | December 29th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Coast | December 23rd 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | veteli | December 16th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | craig337 | December 13th 11 |
| 3.0 good | Mojito | December 13th 11 |
| 3.0 good | zxlkho | December 5th 11 |
| 3.5 great | Andrea | December 3rd 11 |
| 2.0 poor | itldob | November 25th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Strayver | November 13th 11 |
| 3.5 great | Severyn | November 13th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | promanow | November 10th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | CoConi | October 30th 11 |
| 3.5 great | smeaf | October 28th 11 |
| 3.0 good | FOLT | October 25th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Valtair | October 23rd 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | BenRaah | October 15th 11 |
| 4.5 superb | wonky | October 13th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | ptkc123 | October 6th 11 |
| 3.0 good | rica | October 6th 11 |
| 2.5 average | Adam | October 4th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | cwise | September 27th 11 |
| 3.0 good | Reagan | September 26th 11 |
| 3.5 great | jg777 | September 25th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | NimZiiik | September 24th 11 |
| 3.0 good | BugZoid | September 15th 11 |
| 3.0 good | MikeM | September 9th 11 |
| 2.0 poor | GLaDOS | September 5th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | TyzTv2 | September 2nd 11 |
| 3.0 good | mopman | September 1st 11 |
| 3.0 good | KILL | August 27th 11 |
| 5.0 classic | Prog92 | August 22nd 11 |
| 4.5 superb | op3th | August 19th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | SteveP | August 15th 11 |
| 3.5 great | cmclay | July 31st 11 |
| 5.0 classic | Earthe | July 25th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | dPsychc | July 14th 11 |
| 3.0 good | Akimp | July 8th 11 |
| 3.0 good | John | July 6th 11 |
| 3.5 great | xcsm | July 2nd 11 |
| 3.5 great | Luke | June 18th 11 |
| 3.5 great | Dan | June 8th 11 |
| 3.5 great | Dan | June 6th 11 |
| 3.5 great | BSX | June 5th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | dre517 | May 31st 11 |
| 4.5 superb | Gard3n | May 23rd 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Kalt96 | May 2nd 11 |
| 2.5 average | flessj | May 2nd 11 |
| 3.5 great | Batman | April 27th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | W477ZY | April 22nd 11 |
| 3.5 great | Jumaos | April 21st 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | mrend55 | March 27th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | cater13 | March 23rd 11 |
| 2.0 poor | roland | March 22nd 11 |
| 3.5 great | ast | March 6th 11 |
| 3.5 great | stvnbyd | February 23rd 11 |
| 2.5 average | Lebren | February 5th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Tom | February 5th 11 |
| 3.0 good | Meggs | February 2nd 11 |
| 3.5 great | 37er00 | January 31st 11 |
| 2.5 average | ruukie | January 28th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | stakor | January 24th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | FLRTE | January 17th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | geeko35 | January 14th 11 |
| 4.5 superb | MrD | January 12th 11 |
| 5.0 classic | GodL1ke | January 5th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | MelbCro | December 28th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Zoop | December 16th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | wilfried | December 16th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Math | December 10th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Marv18 | December 10th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | 32left | December 9th 10 |
| 3.0 good | mnwild | December 8th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | NoamBr | December 8th 10 |
| 3.5 great | tuttle | December 4th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | laralan | December 3rd 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Tommy93 | November 26th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Slug | November 26th 10 |
| 3.0 good | nick77 | November 21st 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | wrax | November 20th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | Jarvig | November 14th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | echoed | November 13th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | teamster | November 13th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | tom6 | November 8th 10 |
| 2.5 average | o971 | November 6th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | Track11 | November 6th 10 |
| 5.0 classic | sjohn | November 5th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Hep Kat | October 20th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | NoXoR | October 15th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | pippo22 | October 14th 10 |
| 3.5 great | deco20 | October 10th 10 |
| 1.0 awful | airz | October 6th 10 |
| 3.0 good | kabster | September 30th 10 |
| 3.0 good | fsharp | September 21st 10 |
| 3.0 good | MO | September 20th 10 |
| 3.0 good | xcrari | September 13th 10 |
| 3.0 good | noisy | September 12th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | semoraz | September 7th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Del Mar | September 7th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | Edub991 | September 6th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | progjay | September 6th 10 |
| 3.5 great | thawey | September 2nd 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Arman | August 20th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Tyler | August 20th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | dav4550 | August 15th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Benwx | August 14th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | BenX02 | August 8th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Wael | August 5th 10 |
| 3.5 great | CutMan | July 29th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Adam | July 22nd 10 |
| 4.5 superb | apan | July 19th 10 |
| 2.5 average | neuli | July 7th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | Volk23 | June 30th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | dubtr3 | June 26th 10 |
| 2.0 poor | const | June 25th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Voivod STAFF | June 22nd 10 |
| 3.5 great | Rojo | June 18th 10 |
| 2.5 average | TAB | June 10th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | iRox | June 9th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Deneb | May 30th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Photon | May 28th 10 |
| 2.5 average | KP23 | May 17th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Niels | May 16th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Trez | May 14th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Paul W | May 14th 10 |
| 3.5 great | ot63 | May 11th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Valle | May 5th 10 |
| 5.0 classic | Clarky | May 4th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | dan1171 | April 14th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | GhostK | April 11th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Hilty | April 8th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | oalston | April 8th 10 |
| 3.5 great | M87 | April 3rd 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Keilo | March 19th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | djnoble | March 15th 10 |
| 1.5 very poor | Gustaf | March 14th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Chunsak | March 12th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Kubox79 | March 5th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Dev518 | February 26th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | Mctasty | February 25th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Mendigo | February 21st 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Hro | February 15th 10 |
| 3.5 great | tomayw | February 13th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | TheEZA | February 12th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Tzibo | February 6th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | detommy | January 25th 10 |
| 3.0 good | matt4 | January 11th 10 |
| 4.5 superb | ART36 | January 11th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Markk1 | January 6th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | idk | December 22nd 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Wamwig | December 21st 09 |
| 3.5 great | cb123 | December 20th 09 |
| 3.0 good | dre458 | December 17th 09 |
| 2.0 poor | 1zero | December 16th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Phalanx | December 10th 09 |
| 2.5 average | bloc | December 10th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | BlissX | December 7th 09 |
| 2.5 average | Jordan | December 7th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sach360 | December 1st 09 |
| 3.0 good | ameypv | November 29th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | blabony | November 27th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Jethro | November 23rd 09 |
| 3.5 great | DaMorg3 | November 21st 09 |
| 3.5 great | krazaln | November 11th 09 |
| 3.5 great | ferrum | November 5th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Unit731 | October 23rd 09 |
| 3.5 great | Motiv3 | October 23rd 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | pdbn | October 21st 09 |
| 3.5 great | nico | October 18th 09 |
| 3.0 good | Jim | October 14th 09 |
| 4.5 superb | fazzy | October 11th 09 |
| 4.5 superb | bloodah | October 11th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | GnrJuul | October 6th 09 |
| 3.5 great | Bagas | October 3rd 09 |
| 4.5 superb | Grog50 | October 2nd 09 |
| 5.0 classic | entadus | September 29th 09 |
| 3.5 great | iganja | September 29th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Awake | September 29th 09 |
| 2.0 poor | cjacob6 | September 29th 09 |
| 3.0 good | avestin | September 28th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | SamJ5001 | September 28th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | nanders | September 28th 09 |
| 3.5 great | alsid | September 28th 09 |
| 4.5 superb | Undead | September 26th 09 |
| 3.5 great | Marc7 | September 26th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Justus | September 25th 09 |
| 3.0 good | proxymo | September 25th 09 |
| 4.5 superb | OdinX | September 23rd 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | M@rty | September 20th 09 |
| 2.5 average | Ali CONTRIBUTOR | September 19th 09 |
| 3.5 great | hykinix | September 18th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | MrGlass | September 18th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Jamdbz | September 17th 09 |
| 5.0 classic | Darren | September 17th 09 |
| 3.5 great | Amazone | September 17th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Taxt | September 15th 09 |
| 4.5 superb | Fuzzboy | September 15th 09 |
| 4.5 superb | Rob | September 15th 09 |
| 3.5 great | klonere | September 15th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | wakeem | September 15th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Stones99 | September 13th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Hiyruu | September 11th 09 |
| 3.0 good | DsRaMoS | September 10th 09 |
| 3.5 great | Billy | September 10th 09 |
| 3.5 great | Nicole | September 8th 09 |
| 3.5 great | Flyboy | September 7th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | joobakka | September 3rd 09 |
| 3.5 great | RedSky | September 3rd 09 |
| 3.5 great | Irad | September 3rd 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Thef | September 3rd 09 |
| 3.0 good | Ire | September 2nd 09 |
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Give Your Opinion on The Incident
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