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The Porcupine Tree Corner

Uncle Skid

By Uncle Skid
in Miscellaneous Music

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Shawn Newbie

Shawn

Posted
Posted

In my, not so humble opinion, PT's last good album was Fear Of A Blank Planet, which from the interviews that Wilson gave at the time, was a album he felt compelled to make (compelled in a good, creative way). Wilson tried very hard to make FOABP a hit record, but it mostly got overlooked. After that, I felt the albums had their moments, but the spark was gone. I would not be troubled if PT called it a day, besides, my favorite PT era ends with Deadwing, which was a departure from the more prog-rock style, moving toward the Opeth thing that Wilson got obsessed with.

I don't really hear much Opeth in PT's albums. If you follow the chronology, after Wilson produced Blackwater Park in 2001 and then Deliverance/Damnation in 2003...PT got heavier to a certain degree on In Absentia, Deadwing and FOABP. However, the heaviness in PT is of a completely different variety than what Opeth was doing, the riffs that Wilson used were closer to stuff like Tool, a more "modern sounding" approach which has never been Opeth's thing.

I know that working with Mikael kicked in Wilson's more metallic approach, but I hear a very different conception at work. By the time they got to The Incident the heavier approach started to dissipate and the full-on Pink Floyd worship came back again...PT's early albums owed alot to stuff like Meddle...while The Incident focused on the Animals era.

I'm fine if Porcupine Tree calls it a day at this point, I love them dearly and hope they continue, but I'm sure Wilson will continue to make interesting music on his own.

Now the next big question is what direction Opeth will take after Heritage...

  • 3 months later...
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Shawn Newbie

Shawn

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Really enjoying Octane Twisted (although unfortunately I don't have the DVD).

Standouts: hearing the full 13-minute version of "Even Less" performed live, Stars Die and the slamming version of "Dislocated Day".

The Incident also works really well live.

jazzbo Grand Master

jazzbo

Posted
Posted

I'm enjoying it too, and am really surprised to see negative comments about the sound, it's quite good. The DVD is nice but not as well-shot as previous video of the band, i think they were unhappy with the shoot overall and so decided to just offer it to the diehards.

Aggie87 Collaborator

Aggie87

Posted
Posted

Nice interview with Richard Barbieri, who goes back and discusses the evolution of PT's different studio albums.

http://www.rocksquar...redartists/1548

I went back and re-read this. What's even more interesting to me than Richard's comments about the individual albums are the comments about Steven. He obviously has some great respect for Steven as a songwriter, but how he interacts with the rest of the PT band members seems like an issue for Barbieri, as well as how SW wasn't exactly "professional" early on.

I wonder if this is indicative of tension between SW and RB, and maybe a factor in why SW wasn't ready to work with PT again any time soon.

Quincy Newbie

Quincy

Posted
Posted

I'm enjoying it too, and am really surprised to see negative comments about the sound, it's quite good.

I think part of the disappointment for some (not me) might be that the Anesthetize blu-ray was considered one of the finest examples of how to present a live show (both sound & video) - it was even listed in those sorts of audiophile threads by people who didn't even necessarily like the band. And Octane doesn't have that sort of clarity to it. I still haven't had a chance to watch the DVD yet. Funny thing was when I ordered it I thought the 2nd CD was the bonus, not the DVD. :lol: I was so eager to get a live lengthy "Even Less" that I pre-ordered very quickly without getting the facts straight. In the end whichever was the bonus I had to have.

jazzbo Grand Master

jazzbo

Posted
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Granted, it's not the hires sonic wonder that is Anesthetize. Sounds good to me though, and not as bad as some (especially one person on the Hoffman board) make it out to seem.

Shawn Newbie

Shawn

Posted
Posted

The tracks from the Royal Albert Hall at the end of disc 2 do sound better than the Chicago show, but of course the incredible acoustics of that venue probably play into that.

People on the Hoffman board are generally nuts anyway, they all stand so close to the painting to see the brush strokes they completely miss the picture.

jazzbo Grand Master

jazzbo

Posted
Posted

Well, there are some there that way, but not "generally" in my estimation.

Anyway, the price for the two cd set makes this an easy recommendation to Porcupine fans.

Aggie87 Collaborator

Aggie87

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My copy finally arrived today, along with North Atlantic Oscillation's "Grappling Hooks" 2 disc set, and Engineer's "In Praise of More" 2 disc set. My personal Black Friday purchases I guess!

Now if I can convince the kids to find somewhere to go, I can crank it up! :tophat:

Quincy Newbie

Quincy

Posted
Posted

And I got to play the DVD on Friday afternoon. Quite the bonus! We sure are lucky as fans to have 3 PT DVDs to choose from. Since I was in need of glasses when I saw them around this time it's good to be able to see the screen effects more clearly now.

  • 2 months later...
Aggie87 Collaborator

Aggie87

Posted
Posted (edited)

Well, if we're not gonna have any new PT for a while, at least SW is doing some vault things - first up is a reissue of Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape, which is the companion album to On the Sunday of Life (both of these two albums were compilations of SW's early PT cassettes). I've got YHD on vinyl (and a cd that i'm not sure if it's truly legit or a bootleg from Russia or somewhere - probably the latter), so I'll be getting this.

Also of more interest probably, will be a 10th anniversary reissue of In Absentia!

From a new interview with SW in Innerviews: "Porcupine Tree’s In Absentia turned 10 years old last year. It’s 11 years old this year. We’ll reissue that as a special edition with a Blu-ray disc featuring the video material we have. There were a lot of other tracks recorded during those sessions that didn’t make the album, like “Meantime,” “Drown with Me,” “Chloroform,” “Futile,” and “Orchidia.” We’re going to bring all of those together, perhaps along with some instrumental versions and demo versions. It’ll be an all-singing, all-dancing experience."

:tup

Edited by Aggie87
Shawn Newbie

Shawn

Posted
Posted

Glad to see the deluxe edition of In Absentia will be coming out, I was hoping they would eventually reissue the album and include the Futile EP. There are many great demos from those sessions that have been traded in bootleg form, I hope we'll get to see some of those...especially the full length version of Strip The Soul which clocks in at 16 minutes.

Not sure about Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape, I'm not that crazy about that era of PT, I kind of start with "The Sky Moves Sideways".

  • 1 year later...
Aggie87 Collaborator

Aggie87

Posted
Posted

Would be nice if he decided to pass through Texas again some day.

How about Philly on May 28, Aggggggggggg?

Now why on earth do you think I have any affiliation with Philly?? :w

Yeah, might have to consider that one for sure!

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