Porcupine Tree [Archive] - Metal Throne Forums

Hélder

04-11-2007, 10:41 AM

Porcupine Tree defies categorization. They're not a traditional radio band, or a pretty-boy band, or commercial sellouts. This unique London-based quartet make unconventional, uncompromising music that qualifies them as Europe's premiere art-prog/rock cult band. Steered by primary songwriter and guitarist/producer Steven Wilson, and powered by the textural "sound designs" of keyboardist Richard Barbieri (heralded in musicological circles for his work in proto-new wave icon band Japan), Porcupine Tree's cogent musical personality is a force to be reckoned with.

Website:Porcupine Tree (www.porcupinetree.com).

Brozeth

06-10-2009, 02:15 PM

I love Porcupine Tree. Going to see them in September. Lightbulb Sun is my favorite album.

Zulszaek

06-10-2009, 05:05 PM

These guys are excellent. Really great music, and you can tell that they actually put themselves into writing the music for the sake of the music, and not for money, fame, or glory.

Master Cthulhu

06-10-2009, 05:19 PM

I've seen these guys fellated a ton, but I haven't checked them out yet.

WhipperSnapper

06-10-2009, 10:42 PM

I've seen these guys fellated a ton, but I haven't checked them out yet.

Same. TBH The hype and their fanbase has been offputting, but I guess I'll check and see what the fuss is about one day.

Demon

06-15-2009, 01:39 PM

From what I have heard of there's Porcupine Tree are awesome.

diaolosh

06-22-2009, 11:17 PM

"The Sky moves sideways" is a masterpiece!

diaolosh

06-22-2009, 11:18 PM

"in absentia " too and also "voyage 34" . . . oh God somebody stop me. . .

Type O Nickative

06-25-2009, 01:03 AM

I've got Fear of a Blank Planet, In Absentia, Deadwing, and Nil Recurring. Love em all, i should expand my PT collection. I hear they're coming out with a new album soon, with a 55 minute title track. Can't wait.

diaolosh

06-25-2009, 01:09 AM

It'll definitely Rock!

Zulszaek

06-25-2009, 02:37 AM

ThePerennial

07-04-2009, 01:59 AM

Definitely have some cheesy parts, but also have incredible parts. Absolutely worth getting into.

Nymik

08-29-2009, 01:24 PM

Absolutely amazing band, great band to get stoned to aswell. Can't wait to see these guys live one day.

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 01:47 PM

I fucking hate Porcupine Tree. They're no where near as clever or artistic as they think they are - half their riffs could have come from a Creed album, and the other half sound like Muse. I recall reading an article in which Steve Wilson claimed that Porcupine Tree are "more textured" than Opeth. What an arsehole.

Master Cthulhu

08-29-2009, 02:08 PM

I like 'em.

Zulszaek

08-29-2009, 04:51 PM

Nymik

08-29-2009, 06:24 PM

You disappoint me.

This

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 06:27 PM

Honestly Zuszaek, if it weren't for their epically pretentious song lengths and Steve Wilson's incurably unfashionable vocals, no one here, with the exception of possibly Demon, would even give them the time of day. Sit down and actually listen to their riffs - when it really comes down to it, all they play is sub par post grunge with out of place pop/ambient interludes/choruses.

Zulszaek

08-29-2009, 06:32 PM

What a crock. Song lengths can't be "pretentious" (even if they were, how is an average four-seven minutes pretentious?) and Wilson has a decent voice.

"when it really comes down to it, all they play is sub par post grunge with out of place pop/ambient interludes/chorusses." <- Biggest load of shit I've ever read.

Nymik

08-29-2009, 06:33 PM

Don't feed the troll... lol

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 06:36 PM

Song lengths are pretentious when they're long for no other reason than that "it's oh so cool and progressive to make them long". Anyway, if you look at their last couple of albums, there were some pretty fuckign long songs on those (and most people here probably only got into porcupine tree over the past couple of years).

No, Steve Wilson's vocals aren't bad, it's just that they don't fit into any given scene, and are decidedly un-mainstream. Put it like this, if he sounded like Scott Stapp, a lot more people would listen to Porcupine Tree - but nobody here would.

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 06:38 PM

Don't feed the troll... lol

I am known to occasionally troll, but in this instance I am deadly serious - Porcupine Tree are just so massively overrated that it's criminal - and I really can't stand idly by while intelligent people delude themselves into believing unoriginal mainstream twaddle is good music just because it's been unintentionally disguised.

Zulszaek

08-29-2009, 06:41 PM

No, Steve Wilson's vocals aren't bad, it's just that they don't fit into any given scene, and are decidedly un-mainstream.

Huh.

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 06:44 PM

That's the crux of my point; Porcupine tree are a mainstream band kept from the mainstream by un-mainstream vocals, and all the underground types don't seem to realise that said vocals are the only aspect of their sound that isn't immensely unoriginal.

Zulszaek

08-29-2009, 06:45 PM

Their sound isn't mainstream, though. I'm not sure exactly where you're getting that from.

Of course, I haven't listened to their last couple albums, so I might be firing blind here, but In Absentia, Stupid Dream, ect aren't mainstream at all.

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 06:53 PM

Obviously I'm not an expert when it comes to their discography, given that I hate them and all, but to take a song I'm familiar with, listen to the title track off of Signify. Just listen to the riffs on that. The songs sounds like the intro to a fucking anime show, only worse. If I'd written that, I'd be so embarrassed that I'd delete it before it could ever see the light of day.

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 06:58 PM

An even better example is Blackest Eyes, off In Absentia - the very first track I might add. The main riff sounds like Alter Bridge. Actually, screw that, Alter Bridge is way, waaay better than that.

Zulszaek

08-29-2009, 07:00 PM

I haven't heard Signify. Like I said, none of their newer stuff is familiar to me. I've only actually heard four albums.

Songs like Blackest Eyes, Even Less, Stop Swimming, Piano Lessons, Trains, or Collapse The Light Into Earth are all wonderful. All off of Stupid Dream and In Absentia.

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 07:02 PM

If you like Blackest Eyes, there is absolutely no musical reason why you shouldn't like the following song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DRCVuvj6T8

In fact, you should like that song a bit better.

Zulszaek

08-29-2009, 07:05 PM

You're joking, right? Tell me you're joking. You're not that dumb.

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 07:11 PM

The riffs are exactly the same thing. Explain to me in what way those on Blackest Eyes are superior. Also, do me a favour and actually listen to the title track on signify, because if anything could shake your inexplicable, ill founded faith in Porcupine Tree, that steaming turd could.

The only reason Porcupine Tree are acceptable around these parts is due to their ugliness and the fact that they're English. If they were good looking and American, someone would have screamed the "M" word long ago, and that would have been the end of that. Ironically, if they were good looking and American, they would have probably been accepted by the mainstream and made a fortune selling bad music to unintelligent people. As it is, they make less selling the same music to slightly more intelligent people.

Zulszaek

08-29-2009, 07:19 PM

It doesn't sound a fucking thing like Blackest Eyes. Have you ever even heard the song?

So what you're saying is that one shitty song can determine the worth of a band's entire discography?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQf_widpR2M

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 07:22 PM

No, what I'm saying is that there is no way for me to logically prove to you that every Porcupine Tree song is shit without going through every single fucking one and explaining to you why it's unoriginal, pretentious and half arsed - and even that wouldn't work. That said, any band with even the slightest hint of pride or conscientiousness would never allow a song as fucking dismal as signify to come to light. I know I wouldn't.

Zulszaek

08-29-2009, 07:26 PM

Considering that you haven't heard every single Porcupine Tree song (and you blindly hate the ones you have simply on the virtue that Porcupine Tree wrote them), I'm afraid you're full of shit. Plenty of bands lose touch after a few years. It doesn't mean their older stuff is bad.

Besides, you're not allowed to call bands out on being pretentious when you listen to black metal.

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 07:28 PM

So what your saying is that in order to establish that you dislike a band, you have to seek out their entire discography, listen to every single song, and tick it off on your list of shiteness? You go do that. In the mean time, I'll go back to listening to good music.

Zulszaek

08-29-2009, 07:31 PM

Of course not, but judging all of Porcupine Tree's music based on a few bad songs is like judging all of Metallica's music based on St Anger.

Besides, you're the one who invoked "every Porcupine Tree song," not me.

Master Cthulhu

08-29-2009, 07:34 PM

Here we go again, another infamous "Yellowign vs. Zulszaek" flame war.

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 07:36 PM

I invoked the "every PT song thing" in order to prove the exact point you are failing to get - The only way I could provide any form of accute, musical criticism of PT was by singling out a few songs - if I'd just gone, "oh this and this album were shit because they were unoriginal" I'd have just been repeating myself. I wanted you to actually listen to a shit piece of music and tell me that it was good. And by God, that's exactly what you did - and you couldn't even justify your opinion beyond "no you're stupid".

When I first heard about Porcupine Tree, I bought into all the shit. I really did try and like them, honestly, but there's a time in every man's life when he's got to realise that even intelligent people are capable of believing absolute bullshit under the right circumstances.

Zulszaek

08-29-2009, 07:46 PM

I wanted you to actually listen to a shit piece of music and tell me that it was good. And by God, that's exactly what you did - and you couldn't even justify your opinion beyond "no you're stupid".

I did what now? When did I say that the song you showed me was good?

The reason I brushed it off was because it was a fucking idiotic comparison. Like I said, that song and Blackest Eyes sound absolutely nothing alike. I don't know how to make that much simpler. They just don't.

TheYellowSign

08-29-2009, 08:27 PM

I'm referring to Blackest Eyes. You said Blackest Eyes was a good song. And those songs sound very, very similar.

Zulszaek

08-30-2009, 05:17 AM

They really don't. At all. The song you linked to sounded like some dumb Staind or Nickelback clone's song or something. At any rate, I still find a lot of Porcupine Tree's music very soothing and relaxing, and I enjoy it despite its supposed mainstream-ness, and you telling me that it sucks isn't going to make me like it any less. I feel dirty using that argument, as it's one I hear from Slipknot fans all the time, but it's true nevertheless.

Also, I'd like to apologize for getting so flared up earlier. I wasn't having the best day.

I like you, man, but sometimes you make me ARGLBLARGLFUCK.

Cargést

08-30-2009, 11:42 AM

"when it really comes down to it, all they play is sub par post grunge with out of place pop/ambient interludes/chorusses." <- Biggest load of shit I've ever read.

Biggest load of shit I've ever read.

TheYellowSign

08-30-2009, 12:16 PM

They really don't. At all. The song you linked to sounded like some dumb Staind or Nickelback clone's song or something.

Lol yeah, sorry for getting you riled, but the Pocrupine Tree issue is a touchy one for me. I don't know what it is about them, but they piss me off. I think it's Steve Wilson's intensely punchable face that does it:

http://www.wpm003.com/images/steven2006.jpg

Don't you just want to kill that guy?

With regards to the quote, Yeah, the song really deos, but that's what I'm saying about Porcupine Tree. They take different types of bad popular music, mash them together - and when I say mash, I literally mean mash, their songs are so stop start/cut and paste that they probably laugh themselves to sleep wondering why no one has noticed it - then call it "progressive rock".

Zulszaek

08-30-2009, 05:38 PM

Cargest: What are you doing here? I didn't think you'd be done picking Varg's pubes out of your teeth for a few more hours.

Yellow: I'm telling you, man; The two songs don't sound a thing alike. I might be wrong, but I gather you haven't listened to Blackest Eyes in some time. Listen to it and then listen to the song you put up. I seriously see virtually no comparison between the two.

Yeah, his face definitely begs to be kicked. I still think he's a good musician. Hell, look at Devin Townsend. Goofiest looking motherfucker on the planet, but an amazing songwriter and musician.

TheYellowSign

08-30-2009, 06:29 PM

I listened to Blackest Eyes before I put the song up actually. I recalled hearing a song that sounded like that ages ago, and searched through my itunes to find it. It was only coincidental actually that you happened to mention the same song.

Devin Townsend is extremely weird looking, but in a lovable kind of way. Steve Wilson looks like the kind of guy who might spend hours down the pub, regaling people with wisdom he'd gleaned from the editorial section of a newspaper he'd read the night before just in an attempt to impress them. I can tell all that just from the stupid, circular glasses he wears.

Case in point:
http://www.newburycomics.com/stores/newburycomics/user-images/preorder_stevenwilson2_image.jpg

Zulszaek

08-30-2009, 06:44 PM

Devin Townsend wears circular glasses too.

TheYellowSign

08-30-2009, 08:29 PM

Lies.

Master Cthulhu

08-30-2009, 11:02 PM

http://www.fourteeng.net/photos/sylcandid08.jpg

TheYellowSign

08-30-2009, 11:06 PM

That's not circular. This is circular: http://yurstunes.rantnrave.com/nearfest2001/010624Ed&SteveW.JPG

TheYellowSign

08-30-2009, 11:07 PM

And he's an Aphex Twin fan too. What a fuckwad.

TheYellowSign

08-30-2009, 11:09 PM

And he's wearing an earing on the wrong ear. I hate him more and more by the minute.

Zulszaek

08-31-2009, 08:26 AM

I like Aphex Twin. Fucko.

WhipperSnapper

08-31-2009, 10:15 AM

Steve Wilson looks like the kind of guy who might spend hours down the pub, regaling people with wisdom he'd gleaned from the editorial section of a newspaper he'd read the night before just in an attempt to impress them. I can tell all that just from the stupid, circular glasses he wears.

Oh no! Not condescending hipster! That type of peson is indeed annoying.

I'm still not saying anything 'til I've tried a "Porcupine Tree" album all the way through.

TheYellowSign

08-31-2009, 11:31 AM

Most Aphex Twin fans are 14 year olds looking for something evil.

Zulszaek

08-31-2009, 07:50 PM

I'm a 19 year old looking for something beautiful. And songs like Heliosphan and Mount Saint Michael Saint Michael's Mount attest to that.

Brozeth

04-22-2010, 12:22 AM

Awesome band. Lightbulb Sun, Up The Downstair and In Absentia are my favorites. Anybody here heard of a Steven Wilson, Mickael Akerfeldt and Mike Portnoy project I've been hearing alot of rumors around this.