Porcupine Tree top 50 Countdown! (top 2 featured! - countdown over)

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

And so I do not forget, the 22 participants in this one were:

Duetsch Dream Dates   

WHO?

John Denver

So when is the John Denver song countdown happening? Surely Kev has that one dialed up next.

After seeing the Billy Joel one pop up, I suppose anything can happen.

[The Realm]

And so I do not forget, the 22 participants in this one were:

Duetsch Dream Dates   

WHO?

John Denver

So when is the John Denver song countdown happening? Surely Kev has that one dialed up next.

After seeing the Billy Joel one pop up, I suppose anything can happen.

Very true.

[Elite]

Haken countdown

BUT FIRST THIS ONE

I’m actually excited, because I have no idea what to expect

[SomeoneLikeHim]

I'm really excited for this one as well! I have enjoyed reading along with the other ones but this is the first one I have submitted for.

[Zydar]

As usual I haven't submitted anything, but I'll be reading the updates as they come.

[KevShmev]

And away we go!!


49 (t) Normal
Appeared on 10 of 22 lists
Highest Finish: 20 (toro, DTA)
0 Top 10 Finishes

This one didn't rank for me, and I honestly didn't even consider it, but it's still a very good song.  I always thought it was interesting that the production of this song is a bit dirty, relative to the other Nil Recurring tracks and all the songs from Fear, which I am sure was intentional.


49 (t) Where We Would Be
Appeared on 10 of 22 lists
Highest Finish: 8 (Mladen)
1 Top 10 Finish

Love this song and ranked it 46th.  Lightbulb Sun is one of two favorite PT albums, so you pretty much can't go wrong with anything from it.  Love how lush the vocal harmonies were in this era, and the ones in this song are just sublime.

[ReaperKK]

I really liked Normal and thought it would place higher on my personal list (it made 36) but it just didn't hang when comparing it to some of my more liked tracks. I can't really say why, it's a perfectly fine song and I listen to it often but it doesn't really leave an impact on me.

Where we would be is a good tune but didn't make the top 50. I don't think I ever really go out of my way to listen to this song.

[PixelDream]

I used to like Normal more than its sister song Sentimental because of the heavy parts and generally more driving instrumental, but nowadays that metal part feels a bit out of place to me. Still a good track though. Where We Would Be also didn’t rank for me, maybe undeservedly so. Lovely song and that guitar solo is beautifully wild and joyful.

[romdrums]

49 (t). Normal (NR).  This one I think just missed my list.  Cool story about it though.  I got to see the first time they ever attempted this live, at the acoustic in-store performance that was released as We Lost The Skyline.  Steven Wilson told an interesting story about soliciting practice advice from Robert Fripp regarding learning difficult guitar parts, and then he and John Wesley performed the second half of the song, starting with that guitar lick.  I was able to get my Stars Die single signed by Steven, Richard, and Colin, which was super cool.  That whole set was pretty awesome actually. 

49 (t). Where We Would Be (41).  I've always thought this was one of their most beautiful songs, especially in the vocals.  I've always enjoyed it's placement between Hatesong and Russia On Ice as well.

[ReaperKK]

49 (t). Normal (NR).  This one I think just missed my list.  Cool story about it though.  I got to see the first time they ever attempted this live, at the acoustic in-store performance that was released as We Lost The Skyline.  Steven Wilson told an interesting story about soliciting practice advice from Robert Fripp regarding learning difficult guitar parts, and then he and John Wesley performed the second half of the song, starting with that guitar lick.  I was able to get my Stars Die single signed by Steven, Richard, and Colin, which was super cool.  That whole set was pretty awesome actually. 

49 (t). Where We Would Be (41).  I've always thought this was one of their most beautiful songs, especially in the vocals.  I've always enjoyed it's placement between Hatesong and Russia On Ice as well.

Oh I remember that story! It was something along the lines of SW asking Robert how long it takes to get comfortable with a song live and Robert responded with (I think) 3 months and SW said they only had a few weeks.

[nobloodyname]

Neither ranked for me but neither are bad at all. Just not too familiar with them.

Just listening to Where We Would Be now and a couple of lines have leapt out at me: Strange how you never become/The person you see when you're young - I got those two lines handwritten on a piece of card in a limited edition of Steven Wilson's recent book. More a fan of his solo output, I didn't recognise them at the time.

[Buddyhunter1]

50. Normal

Normal literally just made my list, so I'd say that's right where it should be. It's a good song, but at the end of the day it still feels like the alternate version of a song that'll place much higher on my list.

Where We Would Be didn't make my list, but I still like it. It has a very nice nostalgic atmosphere and a good guitar solo, but I guess it just never emotionally resonated with me as strong as some other similarly-simple ballads.

[SomeoneLikeHim]

49 (t) Normal - Pretty good song but I much prefer its counterpart. Didn't rank it.


49 (t) Where We Would Be - Love this one though! It landed at 27 for me, just a beautiful song. "Strange how you never become the person you see when you're young".

[romdrums]

49 (t). Normal (NR).  This one I think just missed my list.  Cool story about it though.  I got to see the first time they ever attempted this live, at the acoustic in-store performance that was released as We Lost The Skyline.  Steven Wilson told an interesting story about soliciting practice advice from Robert Fripp regarding learning difficult guitar parts, and then he and John Wesley performed the second half of the song, starting with that guitar lick.  I was able to get my Stars Die single signed by Steven, Richard, and Colin, which was super cool.  That whole set was pretty awesome actually. 

49 (t). Where We Would Be (41).  I've always thought this was one of their most beautiful songs, especially in the vocals.  I've always enjoyed it's placement between Hatesong and Russia On Ice as well.

Oh I remember that story! It was something along the lines of SW asking Robert how long it takes to get comfortable with a song live and Robert responded with (I think) 3 months and SW said they only had a few weeks.

Yes! That's the one!  I remember joking with Gavin Harrison during the signing session afterward saying, "man, great show tonight, and you were amazing!" He laughed and said, "thanks, it was a tough gig but I made it through." 

[The Great Zo]

49 (t) Normal (my ranking: NR)
Normal and Sentimental are not among my favorite songs of the era, but Normal is the more interesting of the two. Not enough to make my top 50, though.

49 (t) Where We Would Be (my ranking: 36)
This one didn't click right away when I got Lightbulb Sun, but I grew to love the wistful mood, the fading optimism of what you hope for in your youth. The guitar solo is great, and although this track is a nice respite between two absolute monsters, it's much more than that too.

[DTA]

Based on how much I love WWWB, I'm surprised it didn't make it past #17 for me. Absolutely beautiful track with a really unique, if not ugly, guitar solo. I'm surprised this was never brought back into a setlist past the LS tour.

[Buddyhunter1]

49 (t) Where We Would Be (my ranking: 36)
This one didn't click right away when I got Lightbulb Sun, but I grew to love the wistful mood, the fading optimism of what you hope for in your youth. The guitar solo is great, and although this track is a nice respite between two absolute monsters, it's much more than that too.

Oh yes, I can't wait until we get to those.

[Elite]

Neither of these stood a chance of making my list. I ranked 90 songs in total when preparing his countdown and both these songs weren’t among those 90 tunes.

49 (t) Normal - UNRANKED
49 (t) Where We Would Be - UNRANKED

[Evermind]

Normal would've been on my list (which I didn't submit as I don't really know the earlier albums well enough), probably somewhere around ~30ish. I rank it back to back with Sentimental these days, both songs are fairly good.

[Mladen]

49 (t) Where We Would Be
Highest Finish: 8 (Mladen)
1 Top 10 Finish

I knew I would be this song's biggest fan. Its placement on my list says enough. Absolutely gorgeous. 

[Duetsch Dream Dates]

I mentioned this in my message to KevSchmev, but these countdowns have converted me from an occasional lurker to newly-minted active member.  Love the details, history, and personal stories that have come out of some these.

Nice one! Welcome aboard. Are you participating in this one? (or still lurking...)

Yep, I got in at the deadline for this one.

[Duetsch Dream Dates]

WHO?

I love Dream Theater as well as 70s folk rock/Americana, and I live in Denver, so I thought it would appropriate to combine John Denver's real name (Henry Duetschendorf Jr.) with the name of a somewhat well-known DT bootleg (Dutch dream dates).

[HOF]

Where We Would Be is a nice tune, from probably my favorite PT album. The SW guitar solo really makes this one. 

Haven't heard Normal.

[Revenge319]

Spoilers for my list... I've only ranked songs from Stupid Dream through The Incident, not including the EPs. I've been meaning to get around to the rest of Porcupine Tree's discography, but as of this point in time, I just don't know those albums/EPs well enough or at all to include (although I feel bad that I forgot to rank Dark Matter, that totally would've appeared somewhere in at least the Top 30). But I am aware of PT's magnum opus, "Message From a Self-Destructing Turnip", and I will be very disappointed if it does not take the top spot.


Normal
My ranking: (Not ranked, haven't listened to)

Where We Would Be
My ranking: #54. This one didn't make my list, but this song has grown on me over time. I like the atmosphere of this song a lot, and the lyrics are pretty good. Not much else stands out, but it's always a pleasant listen.

[DTwwbwMP]

49 (t) Normal - UNRANKED
49 (t) Where We Would Be - UNRANKED

[jammindude]

I did not make a list, but I’m already surprised by the first couple of songs.

Porcupine Tree has such a dense catalog, that to see a couple of tracks that seem almost like afterthoughts show up is a bit surprising.

[Elite]

Porcupine Tree has such a dense catalog, that to see a couple of tracks that seem almost like afterthoughts show up is a bit surprising.

Honestly, that was my first thought as well. But what do I know, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of my top 25 doesn’t show up at all. And on my list there are a couple of songs that never were on an album too.

[devieira73]

I love Neil Recurring EP, it's at the same level as FOABP to me. And the pairing Neil Recurring/Normal elevates Normal (#21) even more to me.

[The Letter M]

49 (t) Normal
Appeared on 10 of 22 lists
Highest Finish: 20 (toro, DTA)
0 Top 10 Finishes

49 (t) Where We Would Be
Appeared on 10 of 22 lists
Highest Finish: 8 (Mladen)
1 Top 10 Finish

NR. Where We Would Be
22. Normal

I don't recall where it sat outside of my Top 50, but WWWB is a pretty good song, but it just didn't make the cut for me. "Normal" is a favorite of mine off the FOABP era, but there were four other FOABP era songs that I ranked higher. Honestly, I enjoy most of PT on a fairly equal level, so putting my list together was almost like splitting hairs, so I'm not sure how much I'll have to say about my placements outside of maybe the Top 10 or 15. Otherwise, good songs to start us off!

-Marc.

[The Realm]

49 (t) Normal
Appeared on 10 of 22 lists
Highest Finish: 20 (toro, DTA)
0 Top 10 Finishes

49 (t) Where We Would Be
Appeared on 10 of 22 lists
Highest Finish: 8 (Mladen)
1 Top 10 Finish

Normal - I ranked at 31. Yeah, its sister song will also feature but Normal is also a really great song.

Where We Would Be - This is unranked for me but only just (I am probably going to say this for lots of songs), it was really tough to get a top 50, many of my 30 to 70 are pretty interchangeable on any given day and this one missed out in the end. It is a beautiful track, fantastic vocals and melody and a nice driving acoustic guitar surrounded by some really subtle but lush instrumentation. I can't deny its placement here. 

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Normal - I had this at #31. Such a good rocker with some depth. Probably should have been on the album proper, but oh well.

Where We Would Be - Just missed at #54. Great song. Something about it just feels so nostalgic to me. A little sad, a little melancholic, a little moody. Sounds like a PT song 

[KevShmev]

Maybe it's just me, but I am never quite sure if that solo in the studio version of Where We Would Be is a guitar or a keyboard.  There are certain bends and accents that feel more like a keyboard than a guitar.  I think it was done with a guitar live on the LS tour, so I guess it is a guitar in the studio as well, but it really sounds like it could be either.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Maybe it's just me, but I am never quite sure if that solo in the studio version of Where We Would Be is a guitar or a keyboard.  There are certain bends and accents that feel more like a keyboard than a guitar.  I think it was done with a guitar live on the LS tour, so I guess it is a guitar in the studio as well, but it really sounds like it could be either.

Probably running through some sort of pedal.

[The Great Zo]

Maybe it's just me, but I am never quite sure if that solo in the studio version of Where We Would Be is a guitar or a keyboard.  There are certain bends and accents that feel more like a keyboard than a guitar.  I think it was done with a guitar live on the LS tour, so I guess it is a guitar in the studio as well, but it really sounds like it could be either.

Found this on the Neural Rust website.

SW: “… part of the beauty of the guitar solo on ‘Where We Would Be’ comes from the fact that it was played relatively straight but then fed through so many distortion and lo-fi processes that it began to fizz and disintegrate.”

[KevShmev]

Ah, okay!! Thanks for the info, that is good to know.