YELLOW HEDGEROW DREAMSCAPE

Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape is the first compilation album from Porcupine Tree and was first released in 1994 in a limited 2500 copies. It was later released on vinyl in 2000 and 2005.

Here i am reviewing the 1994 CD version and the sound quality is good. I have read that some people have heard this album with poor sound quality which i can only imagine is the same quality as the ones from the cassettes. I do wonder whether people have heard the pirate versions of this album and are only listening to the tracks compiled from the cassettes into the same order as this album. However i have read that the 2LP version of this album uses better master tapes including additional sleeve notes correcting factual errors made and dates of when some of the material dates back to that was on the CD version.

This compilation comprises most of the tracks from the early era that didn't appear on the album On The Sunday Of Life...

1) Mute - This track is a newer version of the same track that appeared on the album Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and as i said on that review this track is very similar to that of a sound that would appear on a No-Man album which is one project that Steven Wilson would work on.

2) Landscare - This track is a ambient/soundscape one that appeared on the album The Nostalgia Factory however the quality of sound is much better on this album.

3) Prayer - Again this track is an ambient track which first appeared on the album The Nostalgia Factory but now i can actually hear it because the sound quality has been cleared up.

4) Daughters In Excess - This track first appeared on the album Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and as i explained on that album review this track also had very poor sound quality and on this album it is refreshing to hear the track without the background noise.

5) Delightful Suicide - This track is an instrumental and has a Eastern feel to it. If you like music that has lyrics i would say that you should probably stay clear of this album.

6) Split Image - Once again an ambient interlude track.

7) No Reason To Live, No Reason To Die - This is one of only 2 tracks that break the 10 minute mark on this album and it first appeared on Tarquin's Seaweed Farm. I can tolerate and i enjoy ambient music depending on my mood and it is nice to hear this album because this is the only album that has these tracks on that actually has good sound quality to listen to.

8) Wastecoat - This track again is an ambient interlude and we are now half way through the tracks and there hasn't been a single lyric. Once again stay clear if you like words.

9) Towel - This track is another instrumental and first appeared on Tarquin's Seaweed Farm however the quality has been cleared up and the use of a drum machine is less apparent.

10) Execution Of The Will Of The Marquis De Sade - This track appeared on The Nostalgia Factory but under the title Hokey Cokey and is the first track that has lyrics in the words of the Hokey Cokey tune.

11) Track 11 - This track appeared on The Nostalgia Factory as well but under the title Colours Dance Angels Kiss. This track always reminds me of people who are on drugs tripping.

12) Radioactive Toy - The most well known track from this era of Porcupine Tree however this is the original cassette version and not the re-recorded and extended version that appears on the album On The Sunday Of Life...

13) An Empty Box - This is a track that has not been released on any other album that Porcupine Tree have done to date but is still material from the same time. The track begins with an echoed monologue and then delves into the instrumental track.

14) The Cross - This is a cover song from Prince and on the vinyl edition of this album this track has been replaced with the track Out. This track also has a similar build up to the next track Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.

15) Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape - This is the second track on the album that breaks the 10 minute mark. This track is also later released on the Staircase Infinities EP in 1994 but was later released in 2005 on the reissued and expanded album Up The Downstair which is how the album was originally intended. In my opinion i prefer the version that would appear on Staircase Infinities and Up The Downstair because it dosen't include the monologue on the list of fictious credits.

16) Music For The Head - This is an instrumental outro track that appeared as the outro to Side A of the album Tarquin's Seaweed Farm.

This album is for collectors and hardcore fans only however i am giving it 3 stars because of its sound quality. This album i am able to listen to and enjoy more than the cassette versions however i prefer the album On The Sunday Of Life... with its selection of tracks. I have only been back to listen to this album a couple of times which is why this is not 4 stars.