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Porcupine Tree - help me like them!


Rod in Toronto
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Over the years I´ve heard nothing but praise to Porcupine Tree, and a few years back I bought Deadwing. I couldn´t get it at all, and found it quite boring and monotone, then typecats the whole band´s discography because of it, and didn´t give them another chance.

 

When Fear of a Blank Planet came out I got it just because Alex played in it, and thought it was great! Then I did a road trip through New Zealand and bought what ended up being the perfect soundtrack to that trip, The Incident. Now I want to get more into the band, but I put The Incident on and it seems to much of an effort to go through the whole album - it´s too demanding, I think...so for all you PT fans, what should be my next move in terms of acquiring a taste for the band?

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Over the years I´ve heard nothing but praise to Porcupine Tree, and a few years back I bought Deadwing. I couldn´t get it at all, and found it quite boring and monotone, then typecats the whole band´s discography because of it, and didn´t give them another chance.

 

When Fear of a Blank Planet came out I got it just because Alex played in it, and thought it was great! Then I did a road trip through New Zealand and bought what ended up being the perfect soundtrack to that trip, The Incident. Now I want to get more into the band, but I put The Incident on and it seems to much of an effort to go through the whole album - it´s too demanding, I think...so for all you PT fans, what should be my next move in terms of acquiring a taste for the band?

 

try their earlier stuff

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Up the Downstair is a great one. Pretty accessible if you like psychedelic rock. In Absentia shows the beginnings of their metal direction, but if you didn't like Deadwing, you might not like it. I'd also recommend Lightbulb Sun, which is very accessible.

 

Additionally, I'd suggest checking out Steven Wilson's solo material, specifically Insurgentes and The Raven. Insurgentes is more like early PT, where as The Raven kind of reminds me of Jethro Tull.

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My time is too limited as it is to branch out to a new band. I will stick with Rush.

 

You have 24 hrs a day, same as the rest of us.

Life's too short not to broaden your musical horizons.

 

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Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun are not only two of their best albums to date, they are both more instantly accessible than most of their other albums. But they aren't as hard rocking as the last four albums, so don't be thrown when you don't hear any major riffing like heard on the albums you already have.
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Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun are not only two of their best albums to date, they are both more instantly accessible than most of their other albums. But they aren't as hard rocking as the last four albums, so don't be thrown when you don't hear any major riffing like heard on the albums you already have.

 

Agreed. Those are two great albums.

 

I like the "crunchy stuff", so In Absentia and Deadwing get a lot of play in my changer. So does The Incident.

 

But there's lots to love about SD and LS, and I think you hit the nail on the head when you taled about them being more accessible to a new fan.

 

Enjoy!!!

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Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun are not only two of their best albums to date, they are both more instantly accessible than most of their other albums. But they aren't as hard rocking as the last four albums, so don't be thrown when you don't hear any major riffing like heard on the albums you already have.

 

Agreed. Those are two great albums.

 

I like the "crunchy stuff", so In Absentia and Deadwing get a lot of play in my changer. So does The Incident.

 

But there's lots to love about SD and LS, and I think you hit the nail on the head when you taled about them being more accessible to a new fan.

 

Enjoy!!!

 

I'd add a third to this. SD and LS are good for starters.

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They're so varied that it just doesn't matter where you jump in.

 

I'll say (just because it's gotten no love so far here) give the oft-overlooked Signify a chance. It's a bit of a transition, bridging the more atmospheric earliest PT (snore in my opinion) and the vastly improved PT of Stupid Dream-era onward. Signify is the first PT album I really liked, sequentially.

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They're so varied that it just doesn't matter where you jump in.

 

 

 

I agree for the most part, except that I would suggest that someone NOT start with On the Sunday of Life, Voyage 34 or any of that other very early stuff that was basically just Wilson and glorified demoes. Once PT became a full-time, "real" band, from that point till now is where you can't go wrong! :D

 

Not that I don't like some of that early stuff, but I don't think hearing it will make a lot of people want to explore further.

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They're so varied that it just doesn't matter where you jump in.

 

 

 

I agree for the most part, except that I would suggest that someone NOT start with On the Sunday of Life, Voyage 34 or any of that other very early stuff that was basically just Wilson and glorified demoes. Once PT became a full-time, "real" band, from that point till now is where you can't go wrong! :D

 

Not that I don't like some of that early stuff, but I don't think hearing it will make a lot of people want to explore further.

 

Aye, it would've put me right off.

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Fellow TRFers, I have great news to report: I decided to bring Deadwing to work today, and I guess taste changes with age more than I thought - I´m really digging it! Shallow and Lazarus are my favourite so far. I haven´t had a chance to listen to the longer tracks yet, but I´ll try Deadwing and "Arriving Somewhere..." in the afternoon. I guess this proves that some bands/albums take more than one or two listens to be fully understood, right?
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Fellow TRFers, I have great news to report: I decided to bring Deadwing to work today, and I guess taste changes with age more than I thought - I´m really digging it! Shallow and Lazarus are my favourite so far. I haven´t had a chance to listen to the longer tracks yet, but I´ll try Deadwing and "Arriving Somewhere..." in the afternoon. I guess this proves that some bands/albums take more than one or two listens to be fully understood, right?

 

I had In Absentia for about a year before I really sat down and gave it a good listening...and that was after Fear of a Blank Planet came out. Sometimes it takes time and persistence.

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...once it clicked, I started devouring everything PT.

 

I guess it´ll start soon then. At least they haven´t been anywhere near where I live yet, so there´s less to regret.

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...once it clicked, I started devouring everything PT.

 

I guess it´ll start soon then. At least they haven´t been anywhere near where I live yet, so there´s less to regret.

 

And they may never tour again. SW seems awful prolific (and happy) without them.

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...once it clicked, I started devouring everything PT.

 

I guess it´ll start soon then. At least they haven´t been anywhere near where I live yet, so there´s less to regret.

 

And they may never tour again. SW seems awful prolific (and happy) without them.

 

And in a way I understand why SW might like his current situation. He gets the freedom to create the framework of a great song but then let very proficient musicians interpret the structure. SW has admitted in past interviews that PT is very structured and I think he still might be tired of that.

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I think I know what put me off for so long - I found SW´s voice kind of dull. Now I can´t say I like it, but I got used to it. And it fits the songs quite well.

 

I can understand the voice thing. It gets less of an issue over time, trust me.

 

If we're talking fave PT: Fear > Deadwing > Absentia > Incident. That lot will do me nicely, thankyou :D-13:

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