Porcupine Tree

Porcupine Tree's first album for K-Scope/Snapper starts out with a definite bang - "Even Less," with some of the quartet's biggest, blasting rock epic music yet, yet also shot through with the gentler, acoustic side that makes Porcupine Tree so intimate and lovely. The net result easily calls Yes to mind, but Steven Wilson's not so high-pitched as Jon Anderson and Richard Barbieri completely avoids Rick Wakeman's extreme idiocies - prog that knows when less is more. With that as a fine signal for the album as a whole, Stupid Dream takes it from there - Wilson as a songwriter and singer both sounds recharged and more ambitious, while the group collectively pours it on. The loud passages feel truly sky-smashing, the calmer ones perfectly close, and the overall sense of build and drama - "A Smart Kid" is a fine example - spot-on…

In Absentia is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the first to move into a more heavy metal and progressive metal direction, contrary to past albums' psychedelic and pop rock sounds…

Some older fans looked askance at Lightbulb Sun, feeling it was verging on overt commercialism (and admittedly, the near power ballad solo on "Where We Would Be" is a bit odd!). Then again, given Wilson's own explorations of avant-garde pop with No-Man, who's to say why a slightly more radio-friendly stance can't work? "Shesmovedon" may have been a single, but there's no question who wrote and performed it – the elegant cascade of backing vocals on the chorus shows that much. Certainly Wilson hasn't turned into Max Martin or anything – it's still very much Porcupine Tree, in its lyrical turns of phrase and general sense of exploration…

"Starts Die" is probably one of the best Porcupine Tree songs from the "Sky Moves Sideways" era. Soft vocals and a dreamy soundscape make this track very easy to listen to…

"Stranger by the Minute" is a single by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in October 1999, from the Stupid Dream album…

"Four Chords That Made a Million" is a single by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in April 2000, a month before the release of the album Lightbulb Sun, in order to promote it. It came in three formats: a regular CD, a limited-version CD (2000 copies) and a 7" vinyl (1000 copies)…

Nil Recurring (also Transmission 5.1) is an EP by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released on 17 September 2007 through the band's online store…