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Catcher10 View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 13:53
If most of what you listen to has to be very heavy "prog" ,whatever that is , then some of their albums don't fit your bill including Deadwing.
The early albums are more psychedelic and a heavier flavor of progressive attributes I suppose.

With PT it seems to me you either like what the band does or not, because they cover a lot of ground...I suspect you will like Signify.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 14:09
I'm okay with prog metal (I do love Dream Theatre), as long as it's not just heavy metal presented as prog (Falling into Infinity, I'm looking at you). Deadwing had some of those in my opinion, and that's why I didn't like it too much. Though Arriving Somewhere is definitely getting better as I listen!

Guess I'll listen to Signify next then Smile


Edited by WrytXander - September 16 2014 at 14:10
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 14:11
Coma Divine is pretty damn nice.  I had forgotten how good it was.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 14:16
^As a matter of fact so did I.







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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2014 at 02:18
Are there any songs on Coma Divine that werent included in previous/later albums?

Are there any exclusives, basically...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2014 at 03:10
On The Sunday of Life is crazily psychedelic and strange at times but there are enough moments of genius (The Nostalgia Factory, Radioactive Toy) to make it well worth having.  Jupiter Island and Linton Samuel Dawson are a riot!!  Personally I love it.

Up The Downstair is classic early period PT.  If you like your prog in a jamming space rock vein, fused with trance/techno then this will be right up your alley.  The bonus cd is brilliant, especially the mindbending instrumental Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape which is my favourite PT song of all time and one of my favourites by anybody, ever.

The Sky Moves Sideways is outstanding, another must have.  Very Floydy and spacey.  If you like Coma Divine then you are guaranteed to like this.

Voyage 34 is a hypnotic trancey acid trip with several nods to The Wall era Floyd.  Essential for the die-hards.

Signify is very good, just less good than it's predecessors Wink.

Metanoia was largely culled from Signify and is in my opinion far superior.  This really is improvised space rock, totally off the cuff and it's a great album.  If that sounds good to you then I'd recommend this one.  That opinion is not one that is largely shared.  Most people dislike it but certainly not me.

I hope that helps so far as concerns PT's early days.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2014 at 03:18
Never mind
Deadwing is one of my favorite PT

Edited by tamijo - September 17 2014 at 03:24
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2014 at 03:20
Everyone has pretty much covered it. But I will say, Signify and Up the Downstair to me are much better than Sky Moves Sideways. The Start of Something Beautiful, Blind House, Heart Attack in a Layby, and Anesthetize are my favorites from the Modern era, and lastly, Grace For Drowning is the best thing Wilson's ever written, and The Raven that Refused to Sing might be the worst. Those are my current opinions on the subject.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2014 at 04:12
A lot of Porcupine Tree's music is just plain kinda commercial alternative rock made by skilled musicians. Which isn't a crime but its just so much of it out there already and samey-sounding to my ears. + in late 90's early 00's Steven Wilson wrote some of the most cringeworthy lyrics in rock. Then Deadwing came sounding all Tool-lightish (exept when they sound like Coldplay instead), so I barely bothered checking out Fear... and Incidident (probably heard 60-70 % of both). I felt I had given them more than a fair share of chances by then.

...but I also enjoy Coma Divine and some of their AOR songs are excellent such as the already mentioned TrainsGrace For Drowning is better than 90% of his stuff with PT imo. 40 years after their classic era ended a King Crimson pastiche still sounds more innovative and fresh than all modern rock it seems.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2014 at 05:38
To be fair, I don't think I can recall anyone else doing the kind of space rock n electronica as Steven were in the 90s. Up the Downstairs is, in my opinion, a very original sounding album - still is actually.

I agree with your last comment though (although I prefer early psych PT), and it underlines the power and imagination of those early KC records. They still sound fresh - even when played by other bands...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2014 at 06:11
Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:

To be fair, I don't think I can recall anyone else doing the kind of space rock n electronica as Steven were in the 90s. Up the Downstairs is, in my opinion, a very original sounding album - still is actually.
..

Yup, I didn't make that very clear. I start losing interest around/with Signify, but enjoy the occasional well-written altrocker here and there after that. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2014 at 06:15
Originally posted by Roj Roj wrote:


Voyage 34 is a hypnotic trancey acid trip with several nods to The Wall era Floyd.  Essential for the die-hards.
 

I'd say the Phase I (which is the only track on the EP that it of any musical interest to me) sounds like it was plucked out of The Wall in its entirety. Ironically, this was how Porcupine Tree grabbed my attention.  Wacko

To my ear, the PT was a real late bloomer as far as their musicianship and the composition skills. In the 2000s, "The Gavin Harrison PT" finally attained a good level of competence and developed a solid, recognizable sound, but  Wilson's cringeworthy vocals didn't quite go away. 

IMO, the Nil Recurring EP was the Porcupine Tree's pinnacle. 
 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2014 at 16:55
Originally posted by WrytXander WrytXander wrote:

Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:




I'd certainly agree that at times they sound quite commercial and mainstream, but that's not always a bad thing. The same could be said for Rush, Queen, Floyd, Genesis, Yes at certain points in their careers, and even KC in the early 80's... All good though - discounting various 80's efforts from Genesis!

Haha yeah, some of my favourite artists did make some really cheesy stuff at a certain point. Best to ignore them sometimes... I actually didn't mind 90125 at all, for example; sure, it was pop, but it still had the Yes feel!

The only real commercial album KC did was Beat in my opinion; Three of a Perfect Pair had its share of prog, and Discipline was just great Big smile


I know it's a relative statement, but side 2 of 'Beat' is anything but commercial.


I've heard people say Porcupine Tree isn't prog. I've heard 4 of their albums, and they all are relatively proggy, especially 'The Sky Moves Sideways'. I would recommend that one as well.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2014 at 22:14
I have almost all of their albums from their later (Gavin Harrison) period, except for the Incident (which I already ordered, though in the Octane Twisted version), and from the earlier period I have Coma Divine and Warzawa. Even though I have less from the earlier period, I have kind of liked it better... or perhaps it's because they are live versions and that helps them, but I feel there's something more special about those ones, less generic... and even though Gavin Harrison has been the one who's always been put on a pedestal, I have kind of enjoyed a bit more the drumming on those earlier albums... it was a kind of more melodic/ambient drumming, I guess. So, if you did like Coma Divine, Warzawa may just as well be the perfect complement for it, since the first closes the period when PT's albums were mainly a solo recording with some asistance (but here played by a full band), while the second one closes the period with the first drummer, and both albums repeat only one song, but otherwise have a rather similar feel to it. Also, I would insist that you check out Wilson's solo stuff, if you felt that PT isn't proggy enough, you won't have the same issues with Grace for Drowning, and even less with The Raven, but it still keeps the trademark depressing Steven Wilson sound.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 18 2014 at 00:43
Anesthesize from Fear of a Blank Planet is one of the best songs ever written. So yeah. I recommend that one.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 18 2014 at 12:29
Is Kit Watkins(Watson[?]) of Porcupine Tree or Happy the Man fame? He'd take over some of the lead vocals when he was with Camel live and just kill. Posed by an ignoramus.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 18 2014 at 22:49
I've been buying their albums from the beginning and my personal favorite is Stupid Dream but I think their best might be In Absentia....but everything from Up The Downstair...to Fear is good though imo Fear has a sameness to the songs that cause none of the tracks to stand out as much for me.
I would start with In Absentia and work both forward and backwards to see which period suits you.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 19 2014 at 05:19
Never got into these guys. Where's a good place to start? Smile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 19 2014 at 06:08
^ Read the previous posts Tongue
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 19 2014 at 06:22
Originally posted by Metalmarsh89 Metalmarsh89 wrote:


I've heard people say Porcupine Tree isn't prog. 

I've heard that Porcupine Tree isn't even a tree Shocked

Can't trust nobody
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