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Porcupine Tree

Band formed in 1991

Porcupine Tree's Genre:

Art Rock, Post-Rock, Experimental Rock, Experimental, Alternative/Indie Rock, Ambient, Electronic

Biography

Though he initially came to wider attention (at least in the U.K.) with No-Man, his long-running collaboration with Tim Bowness throughout the '90s, singer/guitarist Steven Wilson gained as much of a reputation for Porcupine Tree. Embracing and exploring prog rock inspirations while always keeping an ear out for newer musical connections, thus sidestepping the pointless revivalism of many of the band's peers, Porcupine Tree has created some noteworthy albums and songs over the years, continuing full-strength into the new millennium.

The group itself was just Wilson at the start. Born in London in 1967, he was too young to participate in the first full flush of psychedelic and experimental rock music, but swiftly made up for lost time, turning out to be a talented musical prodigy. Having learned guitar and keyboards at a young age, he contributed to work by underground prog outfits of the early '80s such as Altamont and Karma, while continuing his own musical growth and exploration. 1987 saw the founding of both No-Man and Porcupine Tree, the latter actually starting as a joke between Wilson and a friend about a legendary lost '70s group. Elaborate discographies and other material were created à la Spinal Tap, while Wilson himself created a slew of music meant to be the band's lost recordings. In a humorous twist of fate, two tapes of this material ended up in the hands of other folks interested in hearing more from Wilson, who ended up collating the best tracks for Porcupine Tree's real debut album on Delerium Records, On the Sunday of Life, in 1992. Those songs having been something of a nostalgia exercise, Wilson aimed for a more contemporary approach on his follow-up release -- the extended single "Voyage 34," with a clear debt to ambient techno jokesters the Orb.

Up the Downstair, Porcupine Tree's next full album, found Wilson coming fully into his own, creating a majestic, sweeping album that took the prog inspirations of the past fully into a realm of mysterious hush and beauty as much as full-on rock charge. Two collaborators on other projects, bassist Colin Edwin and keyboardist Richard Barbieri, the latter one of the core members of early-'80s pop art geniuses Japan, guested on the album. Later that year, the two formally joined Porcupine Tree, along with drummer Chris Maitland, establishing a four-piece lineup.

The first release by the new version of the group, The Sky Moves Sideways, was actually something of a transitional affair, a number of the songs still being Wilson solo compositions and performances. A slew of fine songs stood out regardless, notably "Moonloop," but the bandmembers themselves considered the quartet's true debut to be 1996's Signify, another stunning step forward for the Porcupine Tree sound, with new highlights everywhere, including the epic blast of the title track itself. A nice nod to the past came that year with the vinyl-only Spiral Circus album, featuring selections from the first three performances of the four-piece lineup in 1993, while 1997's Coma Divine featured live recordings from the Rome stop on the Signify tour. By this time, Porcupine Tree's reputation had spread throughout Europe and elsewhere, including an increasing cult following in America.

A friendly parting from Delerium led Porcupine Tree to Snapper/K-Scope, which released 1999's Stupid Dream, notable for its stronger song focus and slightly more accessible feel all around. The band's reputation and fan base continued to grow, with another album, Lightbulb Sun, taking its bow in 2000. Porcupine Tree continued to tour and plan ahead for both new recordings and reissues of older, rarer material, the first of which surfaced in May 2001, titled Recordings. Various unreleased cuts from the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun sessions as well as a few B-sides were included. They spent the rest of the year putting together Stars Die: The Delerium Years '91-97, a box set that looks at their catalog from 1991 to 1997. Many more unreleased and rare tracks found their way onto the set, and the album finally came out in late autumn 2001. Drummer Chris Maitland left the band in March of 2002, but luckily, Gavin Harrison was available to take his place. A year later, In Absentia was released, followed by Warszawa and Deadwing in 2005. Up the Downstair was reissued that same year, complete with a bonus disc of the band's 1994 EP Staircase Infinities. Porcupine Tree did some sporadic touring in summer 2006 before fall dates were completed around the U.K., Europe, and the United States. Around the same time, Stupid Dream was reissued with bonus material. In 2007, the band released their ninth studio LP, a loose concept album with an underlying theme of escapism in the 21st century, aptly named Fear of a Blank Planet (not to be confused with the similarly titled Public Enemy classic). The following year, the band released the mini-album Nil Recurring, which consisted of tracks written during the recording of Fear of a Blank Planet. In 2009, the group released Incident, which was comprised of a single long song that featured many different movements, as well as a handful of shorter compositions that close the album. The double-live album, Octane Twisted, followed in 2012. ~ Ned Raggett

AOL Radio Stations Porcupine Tree is Featured on (2)

Prog Rock

Prog Rock on Slacker Radio is a grand departure from the regular. From it's early beginnings with psychedelic concept albums to the most recent melodic metal, this radio station covers the forty-year history of the genre. Explore the vast array of music with odd time signatures, epic songs, technical musicianship and often challenging musical forms.

Porcupine Tree

This station plays the best music from and music from related artists like Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, Opeth, Liquid Tension Experiment, King Crimson, Marillion, Transatlantic, Rush, Yes, Riverside and more.

All Stations

Porcupine Tree's Selected Discography (48)

The Incident

2009 Porcupine Tree Issued under license from Porcupine Tree to The All Blacks B.V. Roadrunner Records is a registered trademark of The All Blacks B.V.200918 Songs

Deadwing

2005 Lava Records LLC for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United StatesECD200510 Songs

In Absentia

2002 Lava Records llc for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside the United StatesECD200212 Songs

Stupid Dream

2006 Snapper Music199912 Songs

Nil Recurring

2010 Porcupine Tree Ltd20084 Songs

Time Flies

2009 Porcupine Tree Issued under license from Porcupine Tree to The All Blacks B.V. Roadrunner Records is a registered trademark of The All Blacks B.V.DIGITAL20091 Songs

Shallow

2005 Lava Records LLC for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United StatesDIGITAL20051 Songs

The Sound of Muzak

2002 Lava Records llc for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside the United StatesDIGITAL20031 Songs

Warszawa

2005 Snapper Music200511 Songs

Up the Downstair [Bonus Disc]

200515 Songs

Lightbulb Sun

200010 Songs

On the Sunday of Life

200018 Songs

Signify

199812 Songs

Fear Of A Blank Planet

2007 Porcupine Tree under exclusive license to Atlantic Recording Corporation for the United States and WEA International Inc. for Canada.20126 Songs

Sky Moves Sideways [Bonus Disc]

20048 Songs

Sky Moves Sideways [Bonus Disc]

20039 Songs

Fear of a Blank Planet

SINGLE20073 Songs

Recordings

COMPILATION20019 Songs

Nil Recurring

EP20074 Songs

Coma Divine: Recorded Live in Rome [Bonus Disc]

200414 Songs

Signify [Bonus Disc]

200922 Songs

Lightbulb Sun [CD/DVD]

200823 Songs

Signify

200822 Songs

Up the Downstair

200810 Songs

Signify [Bonus Disc]

200722 Songs

Arriving Somewhere

200617 Songs

Deadwing [Bonus Tracks]

200620 Songs

In Absentia

200515 Songs

Signify

200422 Songs

In Absentia

200415 Songs

In Absentia [Bonus Disc]

200315 Songs

Up the Downstair [Bonus Disc]

199315 Songs

The Sky Moves Sideways

20099 Songs

The Sky Moves Sideways

20089 Songs

The Sky Moves Sideways

20039 Songs

Signify

200332 Songs

Metanoia

20028 Songs

Sky Moves Sideways

20026 Songs

Delerium Years EP

20024 Songs

The Sky Moves Sideways

20016 Songs

Stranger by the Minute

ECD19993 Songs

Staircase Infinities

19965 Songs

Octane Twisted

201221 Songs

Coma Divine: Recorded Live in Rome [Bonus Disc]

200714 Songs

Porcupine Tree

200611 Songs

Coma Divine

199910 Songs

Coma Divine

200314 Songs

Anesthetize: Live in Tilburg - Oct. 2008

39 Songs

All Albums

Artists Related to Porcupine Tree (50)

	Dream Theater	The technically proficient guitar playing of John Petrucci elevated Dream Theater to the upper echelons of contemporary heavy metal.
	Spock's Beard	Spock's Beard began in 1992 when brothers Neal (lead vocals) and Al Morse (guitar) teamed up with drummer Nick D'Virgilio.
	Opeth	Brought together in Stockholm by guitarists Peter Lindgren and Mikael Åkerfeldt in 1990, Opeth added progressive influences and acoustic instrumentation to their brand of Swedish death metal.
	Liquid Tension Experiment	A sort of instrumental prog-rock/prog-metal supergroup, Liquid Tension Experiment features Dream Theater's John Petrucci (guitar) and Mike Portnoy (drums), keyboardist Jordan Rudess (who has worked with the Dixie Dregs and has since joined Dream Theater), and bassist extraordinaire Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, and many others).
	King Crimson	If there is one group that embodies progressive rock, it is King Crimson. Led by guitar/Mellotron virtuoso Robert Fripp, during its first five years of existence the band stretched both the language and structure of rock into realms of jazz and classical music, all the while avoiding pop and psychedelic sensibilities; the absence of mainstream compromises and the lack of an overt sense of humor ultimately doomed the group to nothing more than a large cult following, but made their albums among the most enduring and respectable of the prog rock era.
	Marillion	Marillion emerged from the short-lived progressive rock revival of the early '80s to become one of the most enduring cult acts of the era.
	Transatlantic	Drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment) had a brainstorm that gave birth to the band Transatlantic.
	Rush	Over the course of their decades-spanning career, Canadian power trio Rush emerged as one of hard rock's most highly regarded bands; although typically brushed aside by critics and rarely the recipients of mainstream pop radio airplay, Rush nonetheless won an impressive and devoted fan following, while their virtuoso performance skills solidified their standing as musicians' musicians.
	Yes	Far and away the longest lasting and the most successful of the '70s progressive rock groups, Yes proved to be one of the lingering success stories from that musical genre.
	Riverside	Drawn together by a shared love of metal and prog rock, Riverside were founded in 2001 in Warsaw, Poland, by Mariusz Duda (vocals, bass, guitar), Piotr Grudzinski (guitar), Piotr Kozieradzki (drums), and Jacek Melnicki (keyboards).
	Symphony X	Michael Romeo formed Symphony X in New Jersey in 1994. The original lineup of the group also included Thomas Miller (bass guitar), Rod Tyler (vocals), Jason Rullo (drums), and Michael Pinnella (keyboards).
	The Flower Kings	Sweden played a crucial part in the progressive rock revival of the 1990s, but amid dark-sounding King Crimson-influenced bands like Anekdoten and Anglagard, the positive-thinking Yes-enlightened act the Flower Kings felt almost out of place.
	Ayreon	The progressive metal outfit Ayreon is essentially just Dutch multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Arjen Anthony Lucassen (formerly of the more mainstream metal band Vengeance), plus a revolving-door cast of collaborators and guest musicians that changes from project to project.
	Camel	Camel never achieved the mass popularity of fellow British progressive rock bands like the Alan Parsons Project, but they cultivated a dedicated cult following.
	Pink Floyd	Pink Floyd is the premier space rock band. Since the mid-'60s, their music relentlessly tinkered with electronics and all manner of special effects to push pop formats to their outer limits.
	Steve Hackett	Steve Hackett is best known as the guitarist with Genesis during their best years as both a progressive and commercial band, across ten albums of their history.
	O.S.I.	The word "supergroup" has often been used to describe O.S.I., one of the best-known progressive metal/progressive rock acts to emerge in the United States in the 2000s -- and considering who has been leading O.
	Gentle Giant	Formed at the dawn of the progressive rock era in 1969, Gentle Giant seemed poised for a time in the mid-'70s to break out of its cult-band status, but somehow never made the jump.
	Ozric Tentacles	A band from another time, Ozric Tentacles served as the bridge from '70s cosmic rock to the organic dance and festival culture that came back into fashion during the '90s.
	Emerson, Lake & Palmer	Emerson, Lake & Palmer were progressive rock's first supergroup. Greeted by the rock press and the public as something akin to conquering heroes, they succeeded in broadening the audience for progressive rock from hundreds of thousands into tens of millions of listeners, creating a major radio phenomenon as well.
	King's X	Few hard rock bands are as widely respected yet criminally overlooked as King's X. The trio (bassist/vocalist Doug Pinnick, guitarist/vocalist Ty Tabor, and drummer/vocalist Jerry Gaskill) seemed destined for the big time with their irresistible blend of melodic Beatlesque harmonies, metallic riffing, and prog rock detours, yet for reasons unknown, never truly broke through to a mainstream audience.
	John Petrucci	Not all hard rock 'guitar heroes' that emerged during the late '80s-early '90s were instrumental solo artists, as evidenced by Dream Theater's John Petrucci.
	Fates Warning	When prog rock first reared its head during the early '70s, it contained elements of hard rock, but few bands crossed the line into heavy metal.
	David Gilmour	David Gilmour gained international fame for his incisive, atmospheric guitar work and vocals with Pink Floyd, and eventually became the leader of the group during their late period as well as pursuing a successful solo career and working with some of the most respected names in British rock.
	Tool	Tool's greatest breakthrough was to meld dark underground metal with the ambition of art rock. Although Metallica wrote their multi-sectioned, layered songs as if they were composers, they kept their musical attack ferociously at street level.
	Jordan Rudess	Jordan Rudess has the distinction of taking classical piano training at the Juilliard School of Music at nine years old.
	IQ	Formed in the 1980s, IQ is comprised of Martin Orford, Paul Cook, Mike Holmes, Peter Nicholls, and John Jowitt.
	The Mars Volta	Picking up the pieces from At the Drive-In, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez formed the Mars Volta and wasted little time branching out into elements of hardcore, psychedelic rock, and free jazz that expanded on the boundaries of their previous work.
	Joe Satriani	Along with teaching some of the top rock guitar players of the '80s and '90s, Joe Satriani is one of the most technically accomplished and widely respected guitarists to emerge in recent times.
	Robert Fripp	Throughout his career, guitarist Robert Fripp has continually pushed the boundaries of pop music, as well as pursuing many avant-garde and experimental musical ideas.
	Queensrÿche	Although they were initially grouped with the legions of pop-metal bands that dominated the American heavy metal scene of the '80s, Queensrÿche were one of the most distinctive bands of the era.
	Renaissance	The history of Renaissance is essentially the history of two separate groups, rather similar to the two phases of the Moody Blues or the Drifters.
	Steve Vai	Six-string wizard Steve Vai, along with his one-time teacher Joe Satriani, set the standard for rock guitar virtuosity in the '80s.
	Genesis	Genesis started life as a progressive rock band, in the manner of Yes and King Crimson, before a series of membership changes brought about a transformation in their sound, into one of the most successful pop/rock bands of the 1980s and 1990s.
	Planet X	Set a course for Planet X, full speed ahead. No, Planet X is not the newest sci-fi film; it is actually a progressive rock/fusion band headed by keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Kiss, Alice Cooper, Dream Theater, Platypus).
	Van Der Graaf Generator	An eye-opening trip to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury during the summer of 1967 inspired British-born drummer Chris Judge Smith to compose a list of possible names for the rock group he wished to form.
	Fish	Born April 25, 1958, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Derek William Dick (aka Fish) was the dramatic lead vocalist for prog rock band Marillion until beginning a solo career in 1988.
	Pain of Salvation	In 1984, Daniel Gildenlow formed the band Reality at the whopping age of 11. The group stayed together under that name for seven years, albeit not without personnel changes.
	Echolyn	Echolyn's style has been termed updated progressive rock, due to the band's classically trained, highly professional members -- vocalist Ray Weston, guitarist/vocalist Brett Kull, keyboard player Chris Buzby, bassist Tom Hyatt and drummer Paul Ramsey.
	Arena	With nearly as many lineup changes as one of their influences, Yes, Arena was one of the dominant neo-prog groups of the 1990s.
	Chris Squire	Born Christopher Russell Edward Squire, in Wembley, England, on March 4, 1948, Chris Squire's main claim to fame is as the bassist for prog rock super heroes Yes.
	Caravan	Caravan was one of the more formidable progressive rock acts to come out of England in the 1960s, though they were never much more than a very successful cult band at home, and, apart from a brief moment in 1975, barely a cult band anywhere else in the world.
	Peter Gabriel	As the leader of Genesis in the early '70s, Peter Gabriel helped move progressive rock to new levels of theatricality.
	Happy the Man	Often compared to Yes for their melodicism and Gentle Giant for the complexity of their compositions, Happy the Man added their own high-caliber musicianship, a sense of symphonic drama, odd time signatures, spacy sound, and occasional whimsy to their brand of progressive rock.
	Jethro Tull	Jethro Tull was a unique phenomenon in popular music history. Their mix of hard rock; folk melodies; blues licks; surreal, impossibly dense lyrics; and overall profundity defied easy analysis, but that didn't dissuade fans from giving them 11 gold and five platinum albums.
	Rick Wakeman	Born in Perivale, Middlesex, England, Rick Wakeman's interest in music manifested itself very early, and from the age of seven on he studied classical piano.
	Starcastle	Starcastle (along with Styx, Fireballet, and Kansas) were part of a belated stateside response to British progressive rock.
	Jon Anderson	Born as John Roy Anderson on October 25, 1944, in Lancashire, England, Jon Anderson would grow up to become one of the most recognizable voices in progressive rock.
	Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe	The group Yes has had a long and complicated history. By 1989, there were two different factions, one led by bassist Chris Squire that owned the rights to the name "Yes," and this one, featuring singer Jon Anderson, drummer Bill Bruford, keyboard player Rick Wakeman, and guitarist Steve Howe.
	Kaipa	Before the seeds of the Flower Kings were planted, Kings' guitarist/vocalist Roine Stolt was working in the band Kaipa.