SIGNIFY

An overall very nice and moody piece of music. There are a lot of ambient-orientated pieces of music on this one.

You have the spacey ambient interludes alike Bornlivedie, Pagan and Light Mass Prayers. These are very nice in a specific way, because they let you relax until the next 'real' tune picks you up.

Than there are the ambient orientated songs; Waiting P2, Idiot Prayer and Intermediate Jesus are the songs that come to mind. Two of these are songs I instantly loved, Intermediate Jesus isn't a song I like most, but it's surely a wonderful piece of music.

No Porcupine Tree release without their trademark 'ballads'. On this release we can see the songs Waiting P1, Sleep of no Dreaming and Every Home is wired. These are two songs that fall in the same category as songs like Stars die and The Moon touches your Shoulder from 1995's Sky moves sideways. They're really lovely and could easily get some airplay I think, but they're still very progressive.

Then there are of course the more rocking songs. In this case those are the titletrack, Sever and Dark Matter. Signify and Sever are really more straight-ahead rocksongs, while Dark Matter is really a typical porcupine tree rocker, something alike Russia on Ice.

I can't of course forget that most of the album is instrumental (!); Signify, Waiting P2, Idiot Prayer, Intermediate Jesus. they're all fully instrumental. And the spacey interlude that I mentioned somewhere at the beginning of this review, those are also instrumental, with the occasional talking by some guy who acts as the host for a radioshow??? If I'm not mistaking.

Overall it's a very good addition to your record collection! Try to find the 2-cd re-issue edition it features a second disc called 'Insignificance', which sounds like signify but with some other tracks. Yes, it has some demos of Signify songs on it, but also some non-album tracks, making it sound like an alternative version of Signify.

Worthy to check out, I recommend it to you.

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Porcupne Tree - Signify (2004 Re-Issue)

1996 was the year in which the first real band release by Porcupine Tree was released. "Signify" saw the incorporation of a more hard rock approach in their music, while still remaining very atmospheric and moody.

In 2004, record label Lava decided to release a re-issue of this CD, which by many is seen as one of Porcupine Tree's best up to date. Just as all the other re-issues, this CD now comes with an additional second disc.

The first disc comprises the whole of the Signify album, which is a collection of ambient songs featuring only synthesizer waves and samples, up tempo rockers and instrumental improvisations. Disc 2 is something different. Originally released only as a gift to the subscribers of the Porcupine Tree information service Transmission in 1997, this is a remastered and revised collection of songs from the recording period 1995-1996. Besides several demo's of album tracks there are also a few songs included which did not make it to the final album. A nice extra is the cover version of NEU's Hallogallo track.

Although the second disc is a 'demo' disc, it is in perfect shape, audio wise. The sound quality is brilliant for a demo. The disc is an album on its own, which I sometimes listen to without even touching the Signify disc.

Two albums for the price of one!

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