Porcupine Tree Lists-thread - Currently rocking you: mikemangioy

[TioJorge]

What the fuck is P3? 

[Sacul]

 

[Zantera]

What the fuck is P3? 

I've actually never seen people use the acronym "P3" over "PT" before. The "3" doesn't make much sense IMO.

[TioJorge]

I kinda figured it was for PT but genuinely couldn't figure out what the heck the 3 means. I still can't. It's a nonsensical (and pointless considering that it's the same length as PT) acronym, unless I'm missing something.


Anyway, Chloroform is best.

[KevShmev]

To touch on IA some more, I love both Drown with Me and Chloroform to death, but don't think either would have fitted well on the album.  IA is pretty much perfect as is, and as always, Wilson did a terrific job of crafting the perfect running order. 

[TioJorge]

Eh, I'd much rather have Chloroform than Creator/Mastertape, and think it'd fit perfectly too, in it's track place.

[Zantera]

IA is a bit all over the place anyways, throwing Drown With Me and Chloroform on there instead of two of the weaker tracks would only have made the album stronger quality-wise.

[seasonsinthesky]

IA is a bit all over the place anyways, throwing Drown With Me and Chloroform on there instead of two of the weaker tracks would only have made the album stronger quality-wise.

exactly. the running order doesn't have any particular flow (like, say, Signify or LBS) so nothing gets ruined if you swap stuff out (even if there happen to be crossfades, like TCHAM -> HAIAL).

also, "Chloroform" basically is on the album, and has been from the start — every vinyl copy has it after "Creator" to end that side.

[mikemangioy]

What the fuck is P3? 

 
IDK but I like that more than PT, it's more unique, even if it doesn't make sense 

Anyways, don't worry about the B-sides, I'll do them along with the Deadwing ones after I do Deadwing, with a fictional record called "Recordings II"

[Tomislav95]

I love this album but it's not my favorite. There are songs that I may consider to beamong my all time favorites: Heartattack in the layby, Trains and Blackest Eyes. Also, I didn't know Prodigal isn't loved that much. Great song IMO.

[KevShmev]

Prodigal is most awesome, and certainly one of my favorites from IA.

Calling Porcupine Tree P3 because it's more unique would be like calling Dream Theater DQ, because, hey, it's more unique.

Also, does this strike anyone as a clever way of doing another discography thread?

[emtee]

I love the whole album but Lips Of Ashes is my favorite. Don't like the subject matter but the song itself is bliss.

[seasonsinthesky]

just realized the mellotron (chorus patch!) fadeout at the end of "Creator" is the same chord as the starting mellotron in "Gravity Eyelids." was that too obvious a transition or something? jeez SW

What the fuck is P3? 

 
IDK but I like that more than PT, it's more unique, even if it doesn't make sense 

two things:
1) i figured you thought of the most contemporary PT sound as 'phase 3,' with the previous phases being spacerock P1 and pop rock P2
2) "tree" is how a lot of French first-languagers say "three" when they speak English, so that could be considered... err... insulting? maybe? if any French(wo)men are feeling edgy already? 

[TioJorge]

It's just stupid. 

[BRGM]

Amazing album, every song is great, though Wedding Nails is probably the least interesting one for me while Prodigal and .3 are two of my favorites. And Gavin is just a phenomenal drummer, love his work! Nice touch with the 10" (I think?) snare before the first verse in Strip The Soul.

Oh and these writeups are great fun, it's nice reading along while listening to the albums.

[Sacul]

"Three" (3) and "tree" have a similar phonetic. End of mystery. And I think it's cool .

[?]

The P3 abbreviation doesn't make any sense, because "t" and "th" are different phonetic sounds

just realized the mellotron (chorus patch!) fadeout at the end of "Creator" is the same chord as the starting mellotron in "Gravity Eyelids." was that too obvious a transition or something? jeez SW

I never noticed that before Well, he also recycled the intro to Lips of Ashes from a Bass Communion song

Also, does this strike anyone as a clever way of doing another discography thread?

I thought of that too, but I don't mind

[seasonsinthesky]

Well, he also recycled the intro to Lips of Ashes from a Bass Communion song

one of the best BC songs (the impossibly-titled "43553E99.01")!

he also used elements from a BC track in ".3" and created No-Man's "Together We're Stranger" out of the BC song "Drugged" all around the same time, so i guess he was really liking what was coming out of the 'processed natural textures' thing. tbh, i'm surprised the earlier PT spacerock stuff didn't have the overlap instead (i guess that went into I.E.M., which also had a 2001 release!), though the beginnings of BC are all over OTSOL and YHD.

i must say i like the selective application of the 'BC process,' like the ambience in "Russia on Ice" and "Feel So Low" or the piece he wrote with Barbieri for the Arriving Somewhere photo gallery, more than actual BC records.

[Zantera]

Bass Communion is actually really good. At this point I think I put on BC albums just as often as PT albums really. SW is great at making ambient music.

[mikemangioy]

Guys, sorry for the delay but I had the most ridicolous week and yesterday I started the write-ups but I didn't save them. Wow, me.

Anyways, do you know what my favorite PT album is? No? Well

DEADWING

Deadwing is the perfect PT record. It has various mood changes: from hard rock, to melodic, to psychedelic, to some quite heavy pieces. It's the opus by the band.

This album has a story, the only thing is we don't actually know it, since Steven didn't want us to get any spoiler to the movie he was writing (which is what Deadwing became in the end).
What I know so far is that it's a ghost story. That's it.

Let's see.

Deadwing
Music and lyrics by Steven Wilson, 9.47

The first track on this record is a quite long piece of music that will make you go  the first time you listen to it, but I think it's a grower. At least, that's what happened to me.

Deadwing has some of the coolest riff that Steven wrote, but on the contrary the vocal line is kinda meh. Although the chorus is amazing.

Like a cancer scare
In the dentist's chair
Sucking in the air
Wire across the stair
Kicking down the door
At your local store
With the world at war
Voices through the floor
Unexpected news
Wearing high heeled shoes
Blowing out the fuse
Paying all your dues
Deadwing lullaby
Like a fracture tied
It's a worthless lie
To the public eye

This whole thing is spoke with very creepy hummed vocals, and it fits very well.

Also, I forgot to mention, this track has Mr.Mikeal Akerfeldt on backing vocals and Adrian Belew on lead guitar, so the album starts out on a great note.

So, this track is pretty cool, even though it's repetitive and it's also fun to play (on guitar I mean, on drums it's basically the same 4/4 beat overandoverandover with some pauses here and there  ).

VOTE: 8.5

Shallow
Music and lyrics by S.Wilson, 4.17

This track here is badass. It's one of the few straight heavy songs that PT have.

You know, once in a while it's nice to have a simple song, don't get me wrong, I love complex music but a breath of fresh air is also nice.

Shallow talks about a guy who basically gave up on social life. The riff is great, the verses are too but the chorus. THE CHORUS!! 

The chorus is one of the most badass moments in a PT song.

SHALLOW! SHALLOW!
Give it to me, give-it-to-me
Scissors cutting out your anger
SHALLOW! SHALLOW!
 No good to me, not if you bleed
Bite your tongue, ignore the splinter

It's so high energetic and very adrenalinic sounding.

After the second chorus the song goes in 6/4 with yet another awesome riff, that is played in various dynamics until the chorus starts once again.
And after that Gavin kicks it up a notch playing in double time and it's just 

Main riff once again, over and out.
VOTE: 9+

Lazarus
Music and lyrics by S.Wilson, 4.18

This song is basically a throwback to Lightbulb Sun, but with different lyrical theme. In fact, if Lightbulb Sun is mostly about breaking up with someone you love, this song is rejoining with someone you love even if it's back from the grave.

Musically the song is very sweet, but the vocal lines aren't all that great, apart from the bridge and the outro which are shiver inducing.

Overall, it's a very nice listen

VOTE: 8 +

Halo
Music by Porcupine Tree, lyrics by S.Wilson, 4:38

And the tradition continues! Once again, in fact, the worst song on the album is written by the whole band :DD
But the worst song on this album is Halo. And Halo is awesome!

The song is based off a mlmlmlmlml bassline and one heck of a groove, following the structure of soft/heavy/soft/heavy.

Steven performance is great, there's a moment when he sound absolutely evil

God is freedom, God is truth
God is power and God is proof
God is fashion, God is fame
God gives meaning, God gives pain


and one moment later, the chorus, which is the best part of the song.

You can be right like me
With God in the hole you're a righteous soul
I got a halo round me, I got a halo round me
I'm not the same as you
Cos I've seen the light and I'm gaining in height now
I got a halo round me, I got a halo round me
I got a halo round my head


After the second chorus there's a confusing riff. Guys, seriously what time signature is that?! Thank God Gavin overrides it

The last chorus is heavier, and it's the best chorus, too.

So, Halo is definetly a fun listen but compared to the rest of the album, I think it's the least epic song, let's put it that way 

VOTE: 8 -

Arriving Somewhere, But Not Here
Music and lyrics by S.Wilson, 12.02

Oh God, it's gonna be hard to write this.

Arriving Somewhere is basically a sum up of the band. All three of the eras are perfectly squeezed into one single, mind blowing song. Yeah, if there's an adjective to this song it's "mind blowing"

The lyrics are absolutely the best lyrics that Steven ever created. They start with the concept of a car crash in which someone dies, and it develops in basically very deep and philosophical questions, and they make you really think.

And the music, oh my god. The song opens up slowly with a synth intro. After a while you hear Steven's guitar playing an arpeggio that you'll never forget. For the first few minutes, the song stays quiet. After the first chorus ends, though, the full band enters and you're up in the skies, riding rainbows. Not even kidding.
The groove of it is just something special.

Although the real epic moment is after the second chorus.

The song just starts to build up slowly, you feel like you're watching a tzunami coming, closer and closer. And when the tension breaks, your neck also breaks.

PT was a 15 year-old project at this point, and they've reached their climax right here, in those two minutes of pure heaviness, riff after riff. You literally feel like if armageddon has begun.
It sadly finishes, though, and the song is quiet again.

What now? Another verse? Nope. Not yet. Ambient section? Nah.

MIKAEL
FUCKING
AKERFELDT
GUITAR SOLO

This song just doesn't let up. It's epic from start to finish.
After that awesome, clean and emotional solo, the groove is back again. One more verse and the song fades out.

And at the end  you're just sitting there like this

Arriving Somewhere is truly a masterpiece. Do yourself a favor if you've never listened to it. Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbWhpfXisZw

VOTE: 10

Mellotron Scratch
Music and lyrics by S.Wilson, 6.06

This song is just beautiful. It's divided in two parts: the first part is very melanchonic sounding.

The guitar parts are top notch in this song, they work very well. The lyrics? I have no idea. Help me pls.

The chorus is beautiful, the vocal layer effect is used greatly in this one.

The magic happens after the second chorus, though. The song suddently gets electric, but not in a metal way, more in an AOR type way and it just gets happy for a while. Then it shifts into 6/8 with some beautiful arpeggios and then...

Don't look back into black                                         To end as friends so painful                                          Don't look down, shut it down
Don't let the memory of sound drag you down                                                                                              Don't look down, shut it down


Steven... just thanks for these amazing moments. This right here is my favorite vocal layer. It's beauty in its pure form. And it goes on and on, until the instrument fade out and everything remains suspended, just with vocals. And that's the best outro for a PT song.

VOTE: 9.5

Open Car
Music and lyrics by S.Wilson, 3.46

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Polyrythms you say? Hm.

This is a trademark riff.

Dundundundun. dundundundun. dundundundun. dun. dundundundun. dundundundun. dundundundundundun.
 
Open Car is a song about sex that isn't creepy for once!
This song kicks ass, and it's a perfect opener for a concert. The main riff is great, it's fun to play both on drums and guitar and what more can I say?
Oh yeah, the chorus is beautiful, unexpectedly emotional. I love the acoustic outro, but I wish the song could be longer, that's why I like the Arriving Somewhere version, with the extended instrumental section in it. It's djenty, too.

So, Open Car? 
VOTE: 8.5

The Start Of Something Beautiful
Music by S.Wilson and Gavin Harrison, Lyrics by S.Wilson, 7.40

Yet another masterpiece.
This song is very powerful both musically and lyrically. Especially the lyrics, I mean come on, who never felt like this at least once? We all can relate to this song, that's why it's so powerful.

Also, Gavin contributes with some cool time signatures like 9/8, or more of a basic 5/4, which make the song interasting in a technical sense too.

The vocal line is top notch. Steven uses in a very clever way his usual distortion effect. And once the chorus hits, oh my god.

The more I show the way I feel
The less I find you give a damn
The more I get to know
The less I find that I understand
Innocent, the time we spent
Forgot to mention we're good friends
You thought it was the start of something beautiful?
Well think again.


BAM! Right in the feels. This is one of those songs you sing while crying and eating ice cream.

The instrumental section is great, especially near the end, that melody is beautiful. The way it builds up, playing it softly on the guitar and then it explodes on the mellotron is shivering. Truly one of the most beautiful and moving moments in a PT song.

The Start Of Something Beautiful is like a big fuck you to those people who made us feel bad. Take that, bitch.

VOTE: 9/10

Glass Arm Shattering
Music by Porcupine Tree, Lyrics by S.Wilson, 6.17

This is a  piece, it's nice to listen to and it's also very beautiful. Steven sounds kinda nostalgic in this one. He repeats basically eight phrases, but the best moment of this song is the

SHATTERING            SHATTERING           SHATTERING
LAAAALALALALALALAAAALALAALALALAAAAAAALALALALAALAAAA

That remidns me a lot of How Is Your Life Today.
Great closure for a great record.

VOTE: 8.5

---------------------------------

Wow. Just wow. No wonder why it's my favorite album by the band. IT'S NEAR PERFECT!

Really guys, give this album a spin if you haven't, it's a masterpiece.
OVERALL VOTE: 9.5

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Awesome writeups. Mellotron Scratch has one of my favourite outros ever.

[Tomislav95]

Great writeups once again
I think Arriving somewhere but not here and Lazarus with Trains are the songs that get mi into PT. Mellotron scratch is song I fell in love with recently, amazing song. And few days ago I realised how great guitar sound under chorus in Open Car is, simple riff but powerful sound.

[Zantera]

I have a few minor problems with Deadwing, like Shallow being a pretty meh (by PT standards) radio-song that would belong in an MTV teenage angst musical program almost, Arriving Somewhere starting off so good but ending up 15 minutes too long for it's own good, and Glass Arm Shattering being one of the more mediocre PT closers in the sense that it doesn't leave me with much to remember.

Exaggerations aside, the truly good stuff on the album like the title-track, Mellotron Scratch and The Start of Something Beautiful more than enough makes up for the not-so-good aspects. It's a pretty solid album for the band. 

[KevShmev]

mikemangioy, you gave a majority of the songs under a 9, but the album as a whole is a 9.5?  Okay.

Anyway, on many days, I agree that this is their best album.  Deadwing and Lightbulb Sun are usually 1a and 1b for me, and which one I say I like better on a particular day often depends on my mood and which one I've listened to more recently.

Arriving Somewhere But Not Here is definitely in the conversation for Best PT Song Ever, and most of the rest are totally awesome, too.  The only songs I would not say are not totally great in a vacuum are Shallow and Glass Arm Shattering, but both work extremely well within the context of the album.  I cannot imagine the album without either.

I also have to say: THANK GOD he left the two bonus tracks off.  So Called Friend is not that good, and while Half Light is enjoyable, Glass Arm Shattering is a far better close than that would have been. Smart moves by Mr. Wilson.

[Zantera]

I would say Half-Light is better than at least half of the album and So Called Friend is pretty cool. Taking a song like Shallow off for So Called Friend and taking Glass Arm Shattering off for Half-Light would have improved the album IMO. But you forgot about Mother and Child Divided, that's a great B-side imo.

[Tom Bombadil]

 Deadwing is probably my favorite PT album, and the first one I ever heard. I agree about Arriving Somewhere but Not Here. It might be my favorite song from them. Great write ups

[Sacul]

Completely agree about Deadwing. It's one of those cases when an artist makes it's masterpiece later in their career.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

mikemangioy, you gave a majority of the songs under a 9, but the album as a whole is a 9.5?  Okay.

Nothing wrong with doing that. Albums are more of a whole experience that can equal more or less than the sum of the parts I find.

[mikemangioy]

Yep, the way I decide the overall ranking is based partially on the average of each song's vote and partially on my feelz

[jammindude]

mikemangioy, you gave a majority of the songs under a 9, but the album as a whole is a 9.5?  Okay.

Anyway, on many days, I agree that this is their best album.  Deadwing and Lightbulb Sun are usually 1a and 1b for me, and which one I say I like better on a particular day often depends on my mood and which one I've listened to more recently.

Arriving Somewhere But Not Here is definitely in the conversation for Best PT Song Ever, and most of the rest are totally awesome, too.  The only songs I would not say are not totally great in a vacuum are Shallow and Glass Arm Shattering, but both work extremely well within the context of the album.  I cannot imagine the album without either.

I also have to say: THANK GOD he left the two bonus tracks off.  So Called Friend is not that good, and while Half Light is enjoyable, Glass Arm Shattering is a far better close than that would have been. Smart moves by Mr. Wilson.

I would say Half-Light is better than at least half of the album and So Called Friend is pretty cool. Taking a song like Shallow off for So Called Friend and taking Glass Arm Shattering off for Half-Light would have improved the album IMO. But you forgot about Mother and Child Divided, that's a great B-side imo.

I'm with Zantera on this one.  Although I love Shallow, So Called Friend is at least its equal.   And I strongly believe that Half Light is much better than Glass Arm Shattering.   Mother and Child Divided is in a dead heat with Idiot Prayer for all time best PT instrumental.    I consider Mother and Child to be PT's proverbial "YYZ". 

Also remember they did a re-record of Shesmovedon for these sessions...although I can see why it didn't get mentioned.   It's so closely identical to the original that I had to do research to find out that it was, in fact, a re-record with Gavin.   

Much of what I feel has already been mentioned.   I love this album.   The second half of the album is particularly strong, and the run of Arriving thru Something Beautiful is one of the strongest run of songs from any PT album.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Removing Shallow in favour of So Called Friend I'd be good with. Glass Arm Shattering is the perfect closer though IMO.

[seasonsinthesky]

The only songs I would not say are not totally great in a vacuum are Shallow and Glass Arm Shattering, but both work extremely well within the context of the album.  I cannot imagine the album without either.

I also have to say: THANK GOD he left the two bonus tracks off.  So Called Friend is not that good, and while Half Light is enjoyable, Glass Arm Shattering is a far better close than that would have been. Smart moves by Mr. Wilson.

i don't like "Shallow" and GAS either, but i'd gladly take "Half-Light" as the album closer. it's what Wilson originally intended anyway. have you heard the live version?!

"Shallow," though... there's no clear-cut solution imo. the choruses and bridge are great, but the verses are one of SW's dumbest riffs imo, and i find "So Called Friend" has the exact same problem, so maybe he could've made a song i really like if he'd combined the disparate parts of the two. i dunno.

MACD is great, but the mix is totally messed — the bridge should be way quieter and the whole thing was WAY overblown in mastering, even more than the rest of the record (with DW being the worst offender of the 2002-2006 superloud PT albums).

and "Revenant" just... is. it's like a 2 minute "Chloroform," but that song has a nice solo.

[?]

Deadwing is alright, but not even close to the level of the surrounding two albums.

I would say Half-Light is better than at least half of the album and So Called Friend is pretty cool. Taking a song like Shallow off for So Called Friend and taking Glass Arm Shattering off for Half-Light would have improved the album IMO. But you forgot about Mother and Child Divided, that's a great B-side imo.

Agreed.

[KevShmev]

I'm with Zantera on this one.  Although I love Shallow, So Called Friend is at least its equal.   And I strongly believe that Half Light is much better than Glass Arm Shattering.   Mother and Child Divided is in a dead heat with Idiot Prayer for all time best PT instrumental.    I consider Mother and Child to be PT's proverbial "YYZ". 

 

I liked So Called Friend a lot when it first came out, but it hasn't aged well with me.  The "What kind of friend of you?" bridge kind of gets on my nerves now.

Mother and Child Divided is enjoyable, but I've never thought that much about it to where I'd call it a favorite.  I don't get the YYZ comparison either, as they are completely different in feel and style.  The fact that they are both instrumentals is the only thing similar about them.

  i'd gladly take "Half-Light" as the album closer. it's what Wilson originally intended anyway. have you heard the live version?!
 

Of course.  Like I said before, it's enjoyable, and I like it, but the song is like one big tease.  It's like every vocal line in the second half of the song is building to a release that never happens vocally.  Sure, you could argue it happens musically at the end, but every time I listen to it, I feel unfilled.

[BRGM]

This is one of my favorite albums as well. Surprised to see that most of you aren't too fond of Glass Arm Shattering since it's one of my  favorites on the album.