RECORDINGS

I tend to think of Recordings as the oft-overlooked third album of Porcupine Tree's "crossover prog trilogy" - the first two instalments, of course, being Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, which this album compiles B-sides and unreleased tracks from. All three albums include attempts to merge Porcupine Tree's spacey soundscapes with the Radiohead end of indie rock, as demonstrated on here with tracks such as Access Denied, but Recordings has a greater emphasis on extended spacey, proggy soundscapes than the other two - including a great extended version of Even Less and the absolutely superb Buying New Soul. Even though it's an odds and sods collection, I honestly think it's the best album from this phase of Porcupine Tree.