UP THE DOWNSTAIR

Porcupine Tree

Heavy Prog

3.88 | 1145 ratings

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ProgBagel
Prog Reviewer

Porcupine Tree - 'Up the Downstair' 4 stars

My review is based off of the re-mastered version. I treat to those late PT fans.

This is truly Porcupine Tree's first 'true' album, unlike the debut which was merely a collection of some songs Steven Wilson cooked up in minutes and hours. 'Up the Downstair' had the aim of being an actual album this time around. As a result, the album is more cohesive and made into a considerably shorter and stronger record. Richard Barbieri and Colin Edwin make their first appearance on this album also. Richard does the electronics on 'Up the Downstair' and Colin plays the bass guitar on 'Always Never'. Both of these men will later become official Porcupine Tree members for a long time to come. On the reissue, Gavin Harrison would fix up the drum-work, without taking any attention away from the music that was displayed on the original.

Again, I do not listen to that much psychedelic music, but I found this album to be an excellent one. There are a few traces of Wilson's hard rock influence that is abundant in future releases on some of the songs on the album. The drums are a lot more fitting to the music and not over indulgent like on the debut. There is also a bit of trip-hop and some space rock added in here as well. One of the songs even seems like it is an Ozric Tentacles track, one of my favorite bands.

Since I know little of the genre, it is very hard to describe psychedelic music. This album is clearly a huge step above the debut though. Recommended also for the bonus material, which is the 'Staircase Infinities' EP. I will make a separate review for the CD. I'll fix this review up eventually when I know how to put this crazy genre into words.

ProgBagel | 4/5 | 2008-3-11

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