Porcupine Tree?
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Recommendations/Featured albums
Forum Description: Make or seek recommendations and discuss specific prog albums
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=99733
Printed Date: April 27 2024 at 09:15
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Topic: Porcupine Tree?
Posted By: WrytXander
Subject: Porcupine Tree?
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 11:28
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I've listened to the first half of Deadwing, including the famous "Arriving Somewhere but Not Here", but I just don't see what the fuss is all about. It seems to me, at my current state, that they're barely prog!
Though this opinion is only based on 6 songs (and "Trains" from In Absentia too), and I'd like your help at giving me another starting point: Which Porcupine Tree album(s) should a beginner listen to? Keep in mind that I'm quite experienced in progressive rock in general, so I'm not a total newbie!  ------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Replies:
Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 11:32
Coma Divine. The track http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akOQQuRSQs" rel="nofollow - 'The Sky Moves Sideways' is fantastic. ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 11:37
My God! They must be absolutely dreadful! |
WrytXander wrote:Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:03
Erm, what? ------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:03
Thanks a lot for the suggestion, will check it out! Any others? ------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:10
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Good band, but like any other they're not for everyone. I think Signify, Deadwing, In Absentia and Fear of a Blank Planet are all excellent albums. The others I've heard are all around 3 stars imo. I don't know what you mean when you say they're not prog. What sort of music do you think they make? ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:13
I never said "they're not prog", I meant what I heard of them didn't sound much like prog. Then again, I know that they're prog and only want more progressive examples of their music, since I didn't really like some of Deadwing (especially "Shallow" and "Halo"). I did like the title track, and I guess I have to give "Arriving Somewhere..." some time to grow on me.
------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:15
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I'm also really liking Coma Divine, thanks a lot for the suggestion! I'll look more into their 90s/ early 00s albums.
------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:18
Well, prog comes in many flavours. Does King Crimson sound like Jethro Tull..?  ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:20
That's a really good point  ------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:21
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I prefer the psychedelic era so I would also suggest Coma Divine because there are songs from every studio album of that era. |
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:24
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Fear of a Blank Planet was voted the Collaborator's Top Prog Album of 2007. (to the chagrin of many I'm sure). It is more in the vein of his "modern" prog sound. Alex Lifeson guests with a guitar solo on Anesthetize and Robert Fripp guests on Way Out of Here, so these might be of some interest to you.
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Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:30
 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!  ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:36
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I would have said Deadwing to start with. I'm not that familiar with the stuff before "In Absentia" but I believe they were more Floyd-like in those days. I'm not that keen on "The Incident" which is the most recent one. Have you tried Steven Wilson's solo stuff? I prefer most of that to PT.
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Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:37
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 ------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 12:43
I thought I'd take a look at his band before moving on to his solo projects, since that's what I do with any band. Porcupine Tree came first, so I'll start with them, then move on to solo work if I like what I hear ------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 13:04
90125 is actually one my favourite Yes albums...  I love the 80's KC albums, and yes Beat is certainly the most commercial album. Some prog bands did commercial very well imo, Genesis were not one of them imo...  ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 13:32
Yeah, Genesis pretty much died with Hackett's leave. There Were Three is just bad. Duke is actually good for the 30-minute Duke story, the rest is just straight up pop. And we all know what happened after that... ------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 13:41
I can handle everything up to and including Duke, beyond that they lost me! I really like ATTWT though. It was the album that really got me into them, so I guess there's some sentimentality in it for me. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: SteveG
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 13:49
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In Absentia, Dead Wing and Fear Of are more properly prog metal in my book but still great. If you're looking for more of an ambient/heavy prog sound you're going to have to go back to earlier albums like Signify, Stupid Dream and ones earlier than those. The live Coma Devine suggested by David is an excellent introduction to PT's earlier work. Those albums may suit your taste better. "Doing the right thing is never superfluous." |
Posted By: Catcher10
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 13:53
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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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Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 14:09
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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 ------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 14:11
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Coma Divine is pretty damn nice. I had forgotten how good it was. |
Posted By: SteveG
Date Posted: September 16 2014 at 14:16
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^As a matter of fact so did I. "Doing the right thing is never superfluous." |
Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 17 2014 at 02:18
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Are there any songs on Coma Divine that werent included in previous/later albums? Are there any exclusives, basically... ------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: Roj
Date Posted: September 17 2014 at 03:10
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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  .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. |
Posted By: tamijo
Date Posted: September 17 2014 at 03:18
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Never mind Deadwing is one of my favorite PT ------------- Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours |
Posted By: Billy Pilgrim
Date 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. |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: September 17 2014 at 04:12
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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 Trains. Grace 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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Posted By: Guldbamsen
Date Posted: September 17 2014 at 05:38
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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... ------------- “The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” - Douglas Adams |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: September 17 2014 at 06:11
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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Posted By: Argonaught
Date Posted: September 17 2014 at 06:15
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.  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. |
Posted By: Metalmarsh89
Date Posted: September 17 2014 at 16:55
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. ------------- Want to play mafia? Visit http://www.mafiathesyndicate.com" rel="nofollow - here . |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date 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. |
Posted By: pianoman
Date 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. |
Posted By: Rednight
Date 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. |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: September 18 2014 at 22:49
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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. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: PrognosticMind
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 05:19
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Never got into these guys. Where's a good place to start? ------------- "A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous. Got me?" |
Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 06:08
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^ Read the previous posts
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Posted By: Argonaught
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 06:22
I've heard that Porcupine Tree isn't even a tree  Can't trust nobody
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Posted By: PrognosticMind
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 06:37
I have been able to read them since the thread decided to load fully  .
 .------------- "A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous. Got me?" |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 08:42
------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 08:45
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This live version of Dark Matter is as good as it gets imho.....nice guitar solo by Wilson.
------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: PhideauxFan
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 08:45
So try the albums: The Sky Moves Sideways, Up The Downstair and Signify. ;) |
Posted By: Horizons
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 09:21
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Coma Divine Up the Downstair Stupid Dream In Absentia ------------- Crushed like a rose in the riverflow. |
Posted By: WrytXander
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 12:43
Having had another listen, I really do have to agree with that. It really was a psychedelic/proggy side, but at times, it sounded too much like it was trying to save the album from a "commercial" status for the sake of their general fan base... The intro of "Neurotica" was just trying too hard in my opinion. ------------- 20+ prog bands discovered and explored in 3 years, still going strong... |
Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 12:50
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I've never been a fan of early PT stuff and can't get what's so special about The Sky Moves Sideways which is so praised in prog community. My favourite early PT song is definitely 'Fadeaway' from 'Up the Downstair'. XMII live vesion is arguably even better than the album version. ------------- This night wounds time. |
Posted By: Unitron
Date Posted: September 19 2014 at 12:54
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Porcupine Tree is my favorite band of all time, so I would recommend all of their albums
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Posted By: A Smart Kid
Date Posted: September 25 2014 at 11:10
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I don't know why everyone ignores Lightbulb Sun. I enjoy that album a lot. The lyrics particularly on the first half of the album can be a little cringe worthy but other than that the musicianship and songwriting is superb. My favorites are Russia on Ice and Hatesong. Plus I have a lot of friends who were introduced to the band by this album and still really enjoy it. I think it was the third album I heard by them after Blank Planet and In Absentia.
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Posted By: Billy Pilgrim
Date Posted: September 30 2014 at 03:12
You think I deserve this... you said I was stupid Other than the terrible Lyrics and Four chords that made a million, it is quite nice, definitely like it more than Stupid Dream.
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Posted By: A Smart Kid
Date Posted: October 01 2014 at 00:59
| Steven Wilson is the only person I have ever known who can make a trio of breakup albums (Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, and Recordings) |
Posted By: Vic333
Date Posted: October 09 2014 at 14:11
| I'm in a strange place with Porcupine Tree. I'm really not sure how much I like them. I know I don't "not" like them. At one point, Wilson's "raven" solo album sounds brilliant, and at others it just don't work for me. PT proper, still on the proverbial fence. I have In Absentia, Fear, and Stupid Dream. Perhaps one day I'll fall onto one side or the other. |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: October 09 2014 at 21:13
Perhaps you should check out "Coma Divine". Before that album, I had heard a few songs from PT, and wasn't much impressed. I wouldn't say I didn't like it, but they didn't inspire me to check out further. However, after a very enthusiastic review of "Coma Divine", and coinciding that they had it at the local CD store, I got it and really got to love it. From then on I have gotten further into PT and Steven Wilson solo. |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: October 10 2014 at 01:19
| Deadwing was the first PT album I got passionate about. I had Stupid Dream but that seemed a bit 'flacid' although my opinion on that gradually changed and now I regard it as a full blown masterpiece. In Absentia is the other one I love. The Incident and FOABP don't quite hit the mark for me although both are solid. Steven has done well with the solo music and the use of different types of musicians less set in their ways has allowed a bit more exploaration. I like where he is at now. |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: October 10 2014 at 08:54
Signify , Stupid Dream , and Absentia have always been my favorites...Lightbulb Sun and Deadwing are also solid.
FOABP is my least favorite. There's not a song on there that sticks with me after I listen to it.
Raven has some nice parts also but I still have not bought that one. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: A Smart Kid
Date Posted: October 10 2014 at 23:21
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Raven is a grower for me. It wasn't even in my top 25 for last year but if I went back and redid my list now then it would probably be in the top ten. When I first heard it I felt like it was a step back for him but now I understand where he was coming from with that album.
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Posted By: Kashmir75
Date Posted: October 26 2014 at 02:45
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I don't understand the 'terrible lyrics' comments. I always thought Wilson's wordplay was as genius as his songwriting. But, then, I am a fanboy! PT are one of my favourite bands. I don't particularly care if they're 'prog' or not. The music is what counts ------------- Hello, mirror. So glad to see you, my friend. It's been a while... |