I am low on music lately - well, new music at least and so I hear of this band quite a bit. So ... is it good or bad to you?
They're brilliant, definitely right up there as one of my favorite bands right now. Mellow, psychedelic prog-influenced weird stuff.
If you're happy with listening to weird psychedelic stuff, start with The Sky Moves Sideways or Signify. If you want their current, darker side, try Deadwing or In Absentia (IA is probably the best to go for), and they have this little poppy era in the centre of which I can recommend Lightbulb Sun. General advice is to work backwards: PT started off as an incredibly inaccessible, psychedelic project which grew into a more song-orientated band. So working backwards you descend more gradually into chaos.
Porcupine Tree: One of my favorite bands ever. There's no right or wrong album to start off with, but Sabre's suggestions of Deadwing or In Absentia are as good as any. But they never recorded a bad album, so check any of em out!
Some good stuff, some boring stuff. Not one of my favourite bands.
I'd go with Lightbulb Sun, Deadwing, In Absentia, or Stupid Dream to start out with. Deadwing for the heavy stuff In Absentia for a good mix of heavy and atmospheric, Stupid Dream for catchy and happy songs, and Lightbulb Sun for good acoustic stuff.
I listened to Deadwing the other day; to be honest, it didn't really stand out a whole lot. Are the other albums extremely different?
Lightbulb Sun worked like a portal for me. I'd had Deadwing lying around for ages; I'd bought it as an impulse buy. I thought it was pretty good, Halo and the title track both got a lot of plays, but in the end I didn't listen to it all that much. When I eventually bought Lightbulb Sun, everything clicked for me. It's a very beautiful, mellow album and is probably the ideal portal into the band, even if it doesn't age quite as well as, say, Signify.
Like I said, PT has evolved a lot over the years...
ERA 1 (On The Sunday Of Life, Up The Downstair, Voyage 34)
These are really psychedelic and challenging. OTSOL is barely an album, more a collection of weird songs. Up The Downstair is altogether more cohesive, and Voyage 34 is actually a single, I think it's the second longest single that's ever been released. What they all have in common is that they're all vulnerable to having lots of long, somewhat meandering psychedelic instrumental sections. I barely ever listen to Voyage 34 because it practically is one long, psychedelic meander. On OTSOL and UTD it's more balanced; On The Sunday Of Life has some incredibly weird songs mixed in with some more songy songs, and Up The Downstair is quite concise and geared towards songwriting for the first half of the album or so - Synesthesia and Always Never are both good examples of this.
ERA 2 (The Sky Moves Sideways, Signify)
This is where it becomes a team effort. The previous bunch were basically Steven Wilson and Richard Barbieri screwing around in a basement; now with a real drummer and a real bassist things come together. The Sky Moves Sideways is a masterpiece. It's worth getting the 2CD version for Stars Die alone, though the alternate version of the title track is actually more enjoyable than the actual thing in some places. Again, it's a very psychedelic album, but now it's more focused songwriting, as opposed to soundscapey (with the exception of Moonloop, which I don't like very much anyway).
Signify has been described as a transition, though as far as I'm concerned it's just a slightly more accessible psychedelic album. Possibly my favourite Porcupine Tree album, at least it would be if we excluded LS. A couple of the songs go on for a liiiittle too long (see also, Sever), but over all it's a brilliant piece of work.
ERA 3 (Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun)
This is the pop-prog era, and I've still yet to buy Stupid Dream. It's been released, but for some reason the shops aren't stocking it yet. Lightbulb Sun is a very mellow and pleasing listen, there's some really beautiful music here. The band practically reinvents itself.
ERA 4 (In Absentia, Deadwing)
You know what this is like, you've heard Deadwing. Incredibly dark in texture, compared to the others. In Absentia is probably the better of the two, but they both provide worthwhile listens.
Ahh, I prefer Deadwing because I like heavy songs. Plus, the title track, Lazarus, and Arriving Somewhere But Not Here are all masterpieces as far as I'm concerned.
In Absentia was the first I got and I loved it, though mostly for Blackest Eyes and The Sound of Muzak. The rest kinda had to grow on me, but it's great. Trains, Gravity Eyelids, and Wedding Nails are all standouts as well.
Lightbulb Sun is overall kinda hippy sounding. Good for fans of The Shins. That is not a bad thing.
Stupid Dream I'd say is my second favorite at this point. I think the only weak track is the title track, and only because it's just a 30 second long instrumental interlude. It's got a great feel to it. Even Less, Piano Lessons, Pure Narcotic, Slave Called Shiver, Don't Hate Me, This Is No Rehearsal, Baby Dream in Cellophane, A Smart Kid, and Stranger By The Minute all stand out. Stop Swimming is good but I haven't personally fell in love with it like I have the rest yet.
Up The Downstair and The Sky Moves Sideways are both decent, I suppose. I haven't gotten into them very much yet but they're good listens.
Waitwaitwait. I hope you don't mean you don't have Signify. :(
Godspeed You! Black Emperor are a pretty good ba-- Hang on, wrong thread :)
What's PT's heaviest effort?
The song "Shallow" is their heaviest, I think.
@Sabre: I have it downloaded but I don't believe I've listened enough (if at all) to have an opinion.
Is it 20 minutes long with a noise segment? :)
Well, it's seven minutes twenty so there's a twenty in there, and there's a weird feedbacky thing at the end.
So are Dislocated Day, Strip The Soul, Wedding Nails, Russia On Ice, Open Car, Deadwing, Hatesong, and CTLIE. :(
Yeah, but Shallow is crunchy.
Wedding Nails is good too, though.