Porcupine Tree v. Glarung is a Lightbulb

[Buddyhunter1]

I've never really gotten the appeal behind the first three albums, so even if OTSOL isn't considered a proper album there's still Up The Downstair and TSMS that I'd easily rank below The Incident.

[Zantera]

I've never really gotten the appeal behind the first three albums, so even if OTSOL isn't considered a proper album there's still Up The Downstair and TSMS that I'd easily rank below The Incident.

I think they're both pretty great. A lot of Pink Floyd worshipping but done quite tastefully IMO. The Incident is very okay (I don't think it's bad but it lacks highlights for me) and there's more great songs I vibe with from UTD/TSMS than The Incident - like Always Never, Burning Sky, Fadeaway, The Sky Moves Sideways & Stars Die to name a few.

[faizoff]

In my hunt for the Bill Burr podcast episode with Wolfgang VH talking about Steven Wilson, I came across one he did last week talking a little bit about Prog metal. In it Bill was praising the new PT album to high skies. Was kinda surprised he was a fan of PT, I know he's spoken about Meshuggah before and in this episode he does mention that he hasn't listened to the new album yet. A fan also recommends him Cynic.

[KevShmev]

On the Sunday of Life is a good rough draft, with a few songs I enjoy on occasion, but the leap from that to Up the Downstair, to me, was pretty significant. And then once The Sky Moves Sideways dropped, peak Porcupine Tree was reached and stayed at that level for the next decade and a half. 

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I mean, technically On the Sunday of Life was the proper album of the Tarquin's Seaweed Farm demo, The Love, Death & Mussolini EP, and The Nostalgia Factory.

[KevShmev]

This can be discussed more when the countdown gets going perhaps, but the upgrade from Chris Maitland to Gavin Harrison really wasn't that significant.  I listened to Lightbulb Sun yesterday (still possibly my favorite PT record) and came away amazed again by how great all four members were on that record, Maitland included.  His ability to groove and stay in the pocket and not overplay (which Harrison is guilty of on occasion), along with Edwin's style, really gives the bottom end a great overall sound.

[Zantera]

This can be discussed more when the countdown gets going perhaps, but the upgrade from Chris Maitland to Gavin Harrison really wasn't that significant.  I listened to Lightbulb Sun yesterday (still possibly my favorite PT record) and came away amazed again by how great all four members were on that record, Maitland included.  His ability to groove and stay in the pocket and not overplay (which Harrison is guilty of on occasion), along with Edwin's style, really gives the bottom end a great overall sound.

Yeah I love Gavin but I agree. PT were already making good music before Gavin joined and while I appreciate what he brought, I think Maitland would have done a fine job on those later PT albums as well.

[PixelDream]

Maitland is a great drummer with excellent feel and sound. His drumming on Russia On Ice is amazing. Love Gavin a lot as well, but I agree that the upgrade isn’t like day and night. They already had a fantastic drummer.

[nick_z]

Maitland is a great drummer with excellent feel and sound. His drumming on Russia On Ice is amazing. Love Gavin a lot as well, but I agree that the upgrade isn’t like day and night. They already had a fantastic drummer.

Yes! Actually, his drumming on Lightbulb Sun in general is fantastic. It's my favorite performance of his among the albums he played on.

[dparrott]

I've been making homemade music since the 80s, and while yes they're not the same as a real studio recording, I can appreciate the older albums.  I love Jupiter Island, and I think the music he made is amazing with what basic equipment he had. 

[faizoff]

Been listening to a ton of older and the unreleased rare PT stuff, I kinda listened to it in order of release with a few exceptions, needed a break from the experimental stuff so stuck Nil Recurring in there. It's very interesting to listen to the evolution of the sound from being a one mand band to have an album composed and written with other band members. A great variety is there. And some of the stuff from the demos and improv sessions have some really good gems in there.

I particulary really like the 2nd half of the Sky moves sideways thats on the bonus disc. Really good stuff. Same with the full version of Even Less, hadn't heard it in ages but still love that tribal/tom beat pattern Chris had going. Recordings on its own could really be an official album and I'd have zero complaints. Not a bad song on there.

On The Sunday of Life
Up The Downstairs
Up The Downstairs - Disc 2 aka 'Staircase Infinities'
Voyage 34 - The complete Trip
The Sky Moves Sideways
The Sky Moves Sideways - Disc 2
Signify
Signify - Disc 2 aka 'Insignificance'
Recordings
Nil Recurring

Next up

Metanoia
Transmission IV
Stars Die '91-'97
Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape

[KevShmev]

Recording as an actual studio album would have been a letdown overall, though, especially following Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, both of which are jam packed from start to finish with nothing but great songs.  It has a handful of fantastic songs, but Recordings, IMO, has a few average songs, so I like that it was released as a compilation album. 

[faizoff]

Of course, Recordings wouldn't have worked as an official album at the time as you said after those two amazing releases, I was speaking more in retrospect. I became a fan of the band after In Absentia came out so at the time Recordings was an extremely hard to find CD with its limited release and all. It was also difficult to find it somewhere to download at the time. From all the compilations and B-sides that is definitely my favorite collection.

That said Stars Die '91-'97 was a great listen. The extended Synesthesia and Signify II tracks are my personal highlights. Metanoia is more a loose jam set of ideas so apart from certain sections, it's mostly just improv jams. The 40 min edition Moonloop is an interesting track. I think it has very interesting parts but again mostly a series of jams.

Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape is next and I think that's the last of all the B-sides compilations albums. I can then finally dive into the albums from Stupid Dream all the way to The Incident again.

[KevShmev]

I haven't listened to the extended Synesthesia in forever. I need to revisit that one.

The Metannoia jams are okay, but they seem mostly inferior to the ones on the proper studio albums of that era, so I rarely feel the urge to turn on that one.

[The Letter M]

Porcupine Tree - Coma Coda (180g opaque red vinyl)
Pre-order now: https://burningshed.com/store/porcupinetree

This is a limited one-off pressing of additional tracks from our live recordings at the Frontiera Club, Rome in March 1997.

When we made our first official live album Coma Divine, we decided to record our 3 night stand at Rome's Frontiera club in order to capture as much repertoire as possible. The original live album was almost entirely drawn from the third and final night, but this new selection of material comes from the second night. As well as alternate versions of Signify, Dislocated Day (incomplete but fun because of an impromptu drum solo!), and Radioactive Toy, this selection includes several songs that were not chosen to be on Coma Divine. Most notable among these is an unreleased group composition Cryogenics that was prepared especially for the concert recording, but didn't make the cut and was subsequently never played again.

The original Coma Divine album was subject to a fair amount of repairs and overdubs to bring it up to a high audio standard. These new selections are exactly as recorded on the night so there are some technical and performance shortcomings which we hope won't spoil your listening enjoyment!

Mastered for vinyl by Steven Wilson in 2021 and with new artwork by Carl Glover. In a gatefold with printed inner sleeves.

Pre-order for August 19 release from Burning Shed. Also available in a bundle with the remaining copies of House Of Blues.

Speaking of the jams from Metanoia, I am just now listening to this album on bandcamp and realized that the piece titled "Cryogenics" pulls from those sessions.

-Marc.

[faizoff]

Yup Cryogenics is a fun piece, I listen to those bandcamp releases and they are fun like that Coma Coda album among others.

[The Letter M]

*FINALLY* got my shipment notification from LaserCD for my special edition of Closure/Continuation.

-Marc.

[faizoff]

*FINALLY* got my shipment notification from LaserCD for my special edition of Closure/Continuation.

-Marc.

Was just about to post the same thing.

[ProfessorPeart]

*FINALLY* got my shipment notification from LaserCD for my special edition of Closure/Continuation.

-Marc.

Was just about to post the same thing.

Make that 3!

[Nick]

Mine arrived from Amazon today.

[The Letter M]

There is now an official Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson Discord server! By joining the server you can get all the latest announcements (without addictive news feeds, ads and endless scrolling!), chat with fellow listeners, participate in community events and more: https://discord.gg/2pVqx5GUYm

This totally won't go south fast...

But hey, if you use Discord, and you want to see what goes down, might as well join the server!

-Marc.

[ReaperKK]

I'm going to join so I can make a sincere and impassioned case as to why Limp Bizkit was one of the best bands of the 90's.

[axeman90210]

SW likes being contrarian enough that he might side with you.

[faizoff]

*FINALLY* got my shipment notification from LaserCD for my special edition of Closure/Continuation.

-Marc.

Was just about to post the same thing.

Make that 3!

Finally arrived today and loving the blu-ray audio. the stereo is sublime on my headphones.

After reading this of how the Atmos mix sounds, I'm so tempted to get some kind of Atmos setup for home.

[RoeDent]

Still trying to figure out if Closure/Continuation is an all-timer or not. How does it fare for you all after a couple of months?

[Kwyjibo]

It's nice but will probably end up somewhere in the middle for me.

[Mladen]

I thought it was fine, but it hasn't really made me go back to it. I haven't listened to it since the week it came out.

[faizoff]

I'm digging it way more than before, once I got the blu-ray, listening to that on headphones has been fantastic. It elevated the experience for sure.

[goo-goo]

I keep playing on repeat the last two bonus tracks Never Have and Love in the Past Tense. Those are my favorites. This would be my ranking of PT albums from the Gavin era as of today. I think C/C has the potential of leap frogging In Absentia but I don't think it will top Deadwing or FOTBP.

1. Deadwing
2. Fear of the Blank Planet / Nil Recurring
3. In Absentia
4. Closure/Continuation
5. The Incident (personally, I would put Disc 2 on top of Disc 1)

[frogprog]

Those two bonus tracks have become my favorites as well. I'm  really looking forward to seeing the live show in a few weeks! I wonder if they are doing any tour rehearsals yet? It would be neat to observe that and see how it all comes together. I've seen them 4 or 5 times and I have a feeling this tour will be really spectacular.

[goo-goo]

Those two bonus tracks have become my favorites as well. I'm  really looking forward to seeing the live show in a few weeks! I wonder if they are doing any tour rehearsals yet? It would be neat to observe that and see how it all comes together. I've seen them 4 or 5 times and I have a feeling this tour will be really spectacular.

I'm very interested in seeing SW as the front man with PT. If you have seen PT before the hiatus and attended/watched some of the SW solo shows, you can tell that he is a totally different front man.

[devieira73]

Those two bonus tracks have become my favorites as well. I'm  really looking forward to seeing the live show in a few weeks! I wonder if they are doing any tour rehearsals yet? It would be neat to observe that and see how it all comes together. I've seen them 4 or 5 times and I have a feeling this tour will be really spectacular.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0sBZWRS1jLtAwGMNrjZQQa6xuzQjxkSFouuEDvGt3wx2Dqnn5rz2DMv2YgAWQb9cHl&id=100044495613732

"@porcupinetreeofficial rehearsals day one, sounding massive, see you somewhere out there!"

[hefdaddy42]

Still trying to figure out if Closure/Continuation is an all-timer or not. How does it fare for you all after a couple of months?

All-Timer for me.  Not my favorite PT album (that would be Deadwing for me), but definitely in my top 3 or 4.

[Zantera]

I would say it's in the upper half of their discography and I'd probably take it over half the other Gavin albums so I'm still happy with it.

[axeman90210]

I would put the new album below the IA -> FoaBP run, but comfortably above The Incident, and it may beat out Lightbulb Sun and Stupid Dream for me as well.