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What does anyone hear in Porcupine Tree?
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Cambus741 View Drop Down
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It took me a couple of attempts to get into Porcupine Tree.
If you like shorter songs, then maybe give On the Sunday of Life a go. If you like Floydian soundscapes, then maybe give The Sky Moves Sideways or Voyage 34 a listen.
If you give either or both of them a try, then obviously Porcupine Tree isn't for you. After all, you can't force yourself to like a band. I could list probably at least half a dozen progressive rock bands that for some reason I've never got.
At the end if the day, you will have tried. Maybe it will click. Maybe it won't. If its the latter, we'll heaven only knows you've got plenty other progressive rock bands to investigate
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Originally posted by JD JD wrote:

Originally posted by rushfan4 rushfan4 wrote:

You come across as someone who would enjoy falling down the stairs with a pan on your head.  
Are you sure you're not thinking of someone else?




How did you find out my secret? Tongue

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Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

Pretty much anything past the 80's is not progressive anymore. 
...
By PT, I hope you mean! Or SW.

[QUOTE=Catcher10]
...
The music simply has prog attributes but really does not have any newness or progressing qualities to it, overall. This is why you feel Porcupine Tree has so much Pink Floyd elements/influence, especially the early albums, very psychedelic.
...

Hi,

My thoughts are, on occasion, that it is just a token moment to make it seem like it is progressive. Heck, the Hand.Cannot.Erase is probably more "progressive than some of the stuff PT did in their last years together.

IF, anyone is "looking" for progressive, starting with Porcupine Tree is not a good example. Even in the early days, I did not think they were progressive. Just a super nice trip band! AND, they have lost the trip and are now using SW's words instead. Not a very progressive idea! Just about the same thing in his solo albums! He won't let the music flow anymore!
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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Originally posted by Dellinger Dellinger wrote:

Well... I hear music.

You say music... I say "muzak".
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Stars Die but prog lives on forever! Thumbs Up 

Here's a timely warning from Steven Wilson whilst on tour in America:- 

"I don't know how closely you guys follow the news of what's going on in the United Kingdom at the moment, but we've had a pretty terrible disease sweeping the country. 
Do you know about that? I am of course talking about the spread of boy bands." Tongue

Having just completed a  Porcupine Tree listening marathon, these are my humble album ratings. I can Signify there's only one 2-star acoustic album for "Collectors Only" and no less than three outstanding 5-star compilations, although in all honesty, my singular album ratings pale into Insignificance compared to the collective ratings of the good members of ProgArchives.  Thumbs Up

The albums list below is as complete as it's ever going to be, or at least until Porcupine Tree's long-awaited new studio album is eventually released in June 2022 - the first new PT studio album in 13 years! Clap


3 stars 1992: Porcupine Tree - On the Sunday of Life - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEYaUb-0bW0hnmbzq1OzHv8Z
4 stars 1994: Porcupine Tree - Staircase Infinities - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEYRUNFhWuzJJ6nsxiZ8uUx7
4 stars 1994: Porcupine Tree - Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEafA7__DdW438DUN_EtRWfJ
4 stars 1995: Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEYXnLdF1W_GdlTuzh14P8kx
4 stars 1997: Porcupine Tree - Coma Divine: Live in Rome - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEYUrbK1KZupyOw6X3_T7G3O
5 stars 2000: Porcupine Tree - Voyage 34: The Complete Trip - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEbSjFjGkBerABaxfz-ZNwgA
5 stars 2002: Porcupine Tree - Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991-1997 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEaZkvRczFrW6LCBCsIYsLEj
2 stars 2008: Porcupine Tree - We Lost the Skyline - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEbtckiIQY28XFA05NlLETDH
5 stars 2020: Porcupine Tree - The Sound of No One Listening - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdktF-lL0yEZ-BSE0WkDi4-Derh5fyL9D


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - February 13 2022 at 14:21
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The sounds of munching on tree bark, leaves, and terminal twigs.
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Originally posted by progaardvark progaardvark wrote:

The sounds of munching on tree bark, leaves, and terminal twigs.

That sounds more like Mostly Autumn than Porcupine Tree. Tongue
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Whole I appreciate the musicianship, I don't always like PT's music. BUT I do believe SW is one of the rare chroniclers of the human condition in the late 20th and early 21st Century: his song themes seem to capture so perfectly and beautifully--often in a quite "modern" photo-literary capacity--many of our key social-psychological themes in near-historiographic fashion. I'm thinking especially of "Every Home Is Wired," "Piano Lessons," "Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled," "Blackest Eyes," "Time Flies," and everything on Hand.Cannot.Erase. and Fear of a Blank Planet. 

Plus, nobody records an acoustic guitar as well as Steven.
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Originally posted by BrufordFreak BrufordFreak wrote:

Plus, nobody records an acoustic guitar as well as Steven.
Disagree. Not sure of the engineers, but Neil Young, Jim Croce, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Jethro Tull, and others, have better acoustic guitar sounds, imo.
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The only Porcupine Tree album I have listened to that has not resonated with me is The Incident. Experimental, spacey, poppy, metal - I'm on board with pretty much of all of it. Their music has always been interesting and engaging and emotionally I've connected with it.

There are always bands we simply don't connect with, tis the way... for me, for example, I have never gotten into Pink Floyd despite enjoying bands similar to them.
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Originally posted by Canterbury23 Canterbury23 wrote:

As a 19 year old Prog fan who got into the genre with the 70s classics it's been interesting dipping my toe into Modern Prog. I enjoy most of the Technical Death Metal and Mathcore albums I've heard but Prog Metal itself is one of my least favorite metal subgenres and bands like Opeth and Dream Theater bore me(I've heard around 4 albums by each band) and I can hear when they are obviously ripping off an old band but there not even the worst offenders.
 I've had Porcupine Tree/ Steven Wilson's solo work recommended to me a lot and when I've checked it out I've found it very underwhelming and unprogressive. With Early PT it sounds like there ripping off Early Pink Floyd with a hint of Beatlesque pop but at least these albums aren't overrated or anything. But with this bands release in the 2000s I get even more frustrated. A lot of their songs follow a set formula with alt rock influences and poppy choruses followed by some "Prog Metal" riffs and the production sounds way too clean to the point that it lacks any meat to it. The long songs lack any interesting structures and get buried under long ambient sections. It's obvious that Steven Wilson was trying to be the next Pink Floyd/King Crimson and failing miserably. His solo work gets even more derivative and many songs sound like imitations of early Genesis and King Crimson and the Canterbury scene. I'm not trying to criticize Modern Prog or it's musicians just that I have little interest in it, I like bands like Tool and Primus that have clear Prog influences but don't try to sound like or harken back to the 70s and as a result they often aren't called Prog which I think isn't a bad thing, bands that are called Neoprog often sound a bit dull to my ears like they lack an artistic edge.the new British Art Rock/Post-Punk bands I've been really enjoying such as black midi and Black Country, New Road and I feel like there going for a unique style that has influences from Prog without repeating it. Overall what I'm saying is that Progressive Rock had such an amazing run in the early 70s that maybe it's ok that we leave it there and expand on the ideas that inspired them without copying there music.

This is a really interesting view and I appreciate the sentiment.

Yep when I first heard the Stupid Dream album I was so underwhelmed it was ridiculous . This was a guy that was holding himself up as the saviour of prog rock (and still to some extent does) but there is barely anything interesting going on. Yep the structures are lacking and really a lot of it is uninteresting. Still for some reason it still managed to grab me over time. And that my friend is the problem. You actually have to give it time to settle and not be too judgemental. 

My feeling is that there are at least 3 masterpieces in his catalogue notably In Absentia, Deadwing and The Raven That Refused To Sing. These are tremendous albums on a technical level and to some extent resonate well enough emotionally. The key for me is to stop judging whether something is 'progressive' or not. This is a massive mistake as I realised about 20 years ago and will stop you enjoying music fully. Not everything has to be ground breaking because if that was the case there would be bugger all worth listening to post 1970's. Smile 
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SW holds himself up as the savior of prog rock? Hasn’t he been trying to distance himself from the «prog» label all the time?

Whatever he has said or how someone has interpreted it, the fact remains that PT and SW are some of the most successfull and acclaimed acts of the 20th century. His work obviously connect with a lot of listeners, but everything can’t suit everyone. And that is fine.

When I look past the 70’s, PT/SW has put out some of the best music the last forty years. Certainly more interesting than what a lot of the top 70’s bands has produced in the same forty years.

I think he’s done a great job working metal and heavy rock into his music.
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Originally posted by Psychedelic Paul Psychedelic Paul wrote:

Originally posted by progaardvark progaardvark wrote:

The sounds of munching on tree bark, leaves, and terminal twigs.

That sounds more like Mostly Autumn than Porcupine Tree. Tongue

Steven Wilson eats tree bark all year round. I think Bryan Josh only eats it mostly in autumn.
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Originally posted by progaardvark progaardvark wrote:

Originally posted by Psychedelic Paul Psychedelic Paul wrote:

Originally posted by progaardvark progaardvark wrote:

The sounds of munching on tree bark, leaves, and terminal twigs.

That sounds more like Mostly Autumn than Porcupine Tree. Tongue

Steven Wilson eats tree bark all year round. I think Bryan Josh only eats it mostly in autumn.
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Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Originally posted by BrufordFreak BrufordFreak wrote:

Plus, nobody records an acoustic guitar as well as Steven.
Disagree. Not sure of the engineers, but Neil Young, Jim Croce, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Jethro Tull, and others, have better acoustic guitar sounds, imo.

No I agree, you miss the point from BrufordFreak......SW is an excellent recording engineer and mixing engineer. So how he captures an acoustic guitar in this case, he is clearly one of the best.

Your talking about the sound these players make with their acoustic guitar vs how it is recorded.
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My 73 year old wife loves porcupine tree and you do not mess with that
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Originally posted by timothy leary timothy leary wrote:

My 73 year old wife loves porcupine tree and you do not mess with that

Then your 73 year old wife is truly lovely and wise, and I would not dare mess with that (I say as my wife and I celebrate today our 21st wedding anniversary) Tongue
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Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Originally posted by BrufordFreak BrufordFreak wrote:

Plus, nobody records an acoustic guitar as well as Steven.
Disagree. Not sure of the engineers, but Neil Young, Jim Croce, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Jethro Tull, and others, have better acoustic guitar sounds, imo.


No I agree, you miss the point from BrufordFreak......SW is an excellent recording engineer and mixing engineer. So how he captures an acoustic guitar in this case, he is clearly one of the best.

Your talking about the sound these players make with their acoustic guitar vs how it is recorded.
You miss my point and have said the opposite of what I mean. I am not taking about the sounds those players make with acoustic guitar, I'm talking about how those instruments were recorded. All the artists I listed have better recorded sounds than SW, imo.
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Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Originally posted by BrufordFreak BrufordFreak wrote:

Plus, nobody records an acoustic guitar as well as Steven.
Disagree. Not sure of the engineers, but Neil Young, Jim Croce, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Jethro Tull, and others, have better acoustic guitar sounds, imo.


No I agree, you miss the point from BrufordFreak......SW is an excellent recording engineer and mixing engineer. So how he captures an acoustic guitar in this case, he is clearly one of the best.

Your talking about the sound these players make with their acoustic guitar vs how it is recorded.
You miss my point and have said the opposite of what I mean. I am not taking about the sounds those players make with acoustic guitar, I'm talking about how those instruments were recorded. All the artists I listed have better recorded sounds than SW, imo.

Ok, I'll play.......what are your reasons why you think this?
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Points: 11635 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Grumpyprogfan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 14 2022 at 15:23
Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Originally posted by BrufordFreak BrufordFreak wrote:

Plus, nobody records an acoustic guitar as well as Steven.
Disagree. Not sure of the engineers, but Neil Young, Jim Croce, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Jethro Tull, and others, have better acoustic guitar sounds, imo.


No I agree, you miss the point from BrufordFreak......SW is an excellent recording engineer and mixing engineer. So how he captures an acoustic guitar in this case, he is clearly one of the best.

Your talking about the sound these players make with their acoustic guitar vs how it is recorded.
You miss my point and have said the opposite of what I mean. I am not taking about the sounds those players make with acoustic guitar, I'm talking about how those instruments were recorded. All the artists I listed have better recorded sounds than SW, imo.

Ok, I'll play.......what are your reasons why you think this?
There is nothing to "play". Hearing is subjective. Sonically albums like Neil Young "Harvest", James Taylor "Sweet Baby Jane", Jethro Tull "TAAB", Eric Clapton "Unplugged", Cat Stevens "Tea for the Tillerman", etc. have better recorded acoustic guitar sounds than anything SW has done. And it's not because the albums mentioned were recorded in analog. Eric Clapton's "Unplugged" was a digital recording. They sound good because the engineers who recorded the guitar sounds were as good or better than SW. 
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