Porcupine Tree

There are probably aren't a lot of fans here, but this band really deserves its own thread. In Absentia, Deadwing, and Fear of a Blank Planet are all juggernauts in the 2000's rock catalog. I love the fusion of prog rock and metal that those three releases managed to blend, and they honestly do it better than most other bands I know that try for a similar sound. They aren't perfect records by any means, and there are certainly some misses here and there (*cough cough* "Open Car"), but when they are good ("Prodigal", "Deadwing", "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here", "Anesthetize", and "Sleep Together" to name just a few examples) they are REALLY good! They have a bunch of other albums spanning back more than 20 years, but I wasn't huge on anything pre-In Absentia, and The Incident, while not awful, is not, in my opinion, a very strong showing of what they are capable of.

I figured I'd start this thread now because the 10th anniversary of FOABP is coming up next month. It's hard to pick favorites because all three of the albums I have mentioned have their own unique strengths, but I would say FOABP has the least filler and flaws, and has also withstood the test of time the best. It's also a very beautifully mixed record thanks to Steven Wilson's ear for making albums sound really good.

 

I'm a huge fan of all the SW associated projects. I think, of the three albums you listed, Blank Planet is my least favorite though. Sleep Together is a juggernaut of a track, but nothing else really stands out. Still love the album though.

 

I miss this band.

 

Got big into this band in the early 2000s, loved Deadwing, but they started to lose me some after that.

I find all of SW's solo stuff to be a mixed bag, with Raven the most consistent.

Now that it's been almost a decade and I don't listen to them that much anymore, I'd say in hindsight that Steven is a great songwriter and a fantastic producer/engineer, but a below-average lyricist and only a serviceable vocalist. The Stupid Dream to Deadwing run is great in spite of those limitations, though.

 

One of my favorites. Steven's solo work is fine, but it's not the same.

 

Interesting. I personally would have included Fear Of A Blank Planet in their good album run. Love it. Agree with you that lyrics are not steven's strong point.

Opinion on Deadwing: fantastic album, but I wish they had left off Open Car and replaced it with So Called Friend. Open Car is easily the weakest song on the album and So Called Friend is a much better heavier song both musically and lyrically imo.

 

I should listen to The Incident again soon. It has some very good moments, its just not as consistent as the three before it.

 

I wouldn't be opposed to that swap-out on Deadwing. They had some kick ass B-sides around that time. "Drown with Me" has to be one of the highlights in their whole catalog. "Half Light" and "Meantime" stand out too, in addition to "So Called Friend."

I liked the majority of FoABP a lot. The thing is I feel like it's precisely the point in SW's career when he started giving precedence to some of his worst tendencies. Lyrically, it's the cringey takes on modern youth/society ("but a song comes onto my iPod and I realize it's getting late" literally ruins that whole song for me before it even starts). And musically, I see it as the record when he stopped using Floyd/Rush/Crimson/etc. as loose inspiration for a modern rock sound and started just trying to emulate 70s prog outright half the time. Both of these things have tempered his solo career, IMO.

Still, "My Ashes," "Anesthetize," "Sleep Together"... all fantastic songs in their own right.

 

It doesnt ruin the song or music for me per say, but Steven does come off as very pretentious at times which is disappointing.

 

It’s funny, I’m not overly a fan of Porcupine Tree or his proggy writing in general, but Lazarus is literally my favorite song of all time, and Trains would probably be top 20

When they nail it they nail it so fucking beautifully

Embed thyselves damn thee

 

Trains is wonderful. The first porcupine tree song I ever heard actually!

Have you ever heard Prodigal? If you like Trains you might love that song. It's my favorite off In Absentia.

 

Loving In Absentia. Trains is a bit reminiscent of Elliott Smith, oddly.

 

Latest single for the new LP actually feels fairly old school PT in a good way

 

I'm not listening to any of the new singles (listened to Harridan like 3 times and Of The New Day twice) but I've been reading interviews and reviews. I'm so excited for this album to come out!

 

Have to be honest: I've listened to all of them, and Rats is the first that's resonated much at all. Harridan is cool I guess. I think I've just drifted a bit from this style since PT's heyday, though, so this may not be relevant to hardcore fans.

 

Really into the new album. Separates itself a lot more from SW's solo work than I expected.

 

really genuinely surprised how good the new album is. been years since I was a hardcore fan but Dignity is probably their best song since Deadwing. gorgeous stuff

 

Onto my third listening and I think the bass is really a big part of what's keeping me engaged here. Steven Wilson really brings an unconventional approach to the bass and it gives the songs a whole lot of flavor. That and Richard's soundscapes on the more mellow songs.

 

I've tried to dig into SW/PT stuff before and couldn't get into it. I like the new PT album to a good degree, and it's making me dig into some more of his material. I'm surprised just how proggy his solo efforts are (I listened through Raven and am listening to Hand Cannot Erase now), I was expecting it to sound more... like solo material, not full blown prog rock I guess. I initially wrote them off for reasons stated in this thread (not huge on his voice) but it's growing on me, and I love what's happening instrumentally most of the time in his solo stuff and the new PT album.

 

Based on what you're saying, you should check out the Stupid Dream/Lightbulb Sun era of PT if you haven't already. After that era, they did a pretty abrupt shift from atmospheric soundscapes blended with folksy-leaning rock to more of a prog metal approach (which I enjoy equally, but it's much different than his solo stuff). His first four solo records are definitely more jazz influenced and focused on showing off virtuoso players than anything PT did, but there's some overlap in mood with circa-2000 PT, at least to me.

 

This is probably a blasphemous thing to say to SW/PT fans, but I think I like those two solo albums because it sounds like late era Opeth but a little bit more cohesive from a songwriting perspective. It’s also odd because I’m much more of “prog metal” fan than “prog rock” usually, so that’s why I thought the later PT albums would be more up my alley.

EDIT: haha okay so the Opeth thing must be known since Mikael talks about it in this video.

 

Fascinating - yeah, the Opeth link has been there for a long while. Seems like SW producing Blackwater Park led him to take a 90 degree turn toward metal in his songwriting that lasted the better part of a decade, and that ultimately produced PT's commercial success.

I'm very much like you in preferring the metal-tinged stuff over 70s prog worship, at least on paper. I feel like pre-Blackwater Park SW was great at weaving in prog influence tastefully, whereas both SW and Mikael for the past decade have just gone waaaaay too all-in on trying to resurrect their childhood heroes. I still loved Raven and liked HCA alright, though. Late Opeth irritates me because I feel like Mikael is still writing pretty good stuff, but bogging it down with muddy production, cheesy melotrons, and all the other trappings of old school prog.

 

Lightbulb Sun era is by far my favourite of Wilson's output. the fact that a song as good as Buying New Soul is just chilling in the b-sides is wild

 

Omg we have a PT thread?!

 

All I wanted was for the band to tour again. I didn't even need new music.

Not only did we get a tour, but the new record is astonishingly good! Such a good time to be a fan.