OFF: Porcupine Tree

[Jonathan Jarrett]

On Fri, 16 Apr 1999, J Strobridge wrote:

> Cliff and Pam Wheaton writes:
>
> > I've got "Stupid Dream"-it's well worth getting. I really like it!! very well
> > done.
> > I didn't, however know about the EP!!  What's it's title??
> > Pam
>
> The EP is Piano Lessons (one of the tracks) and a couple of other tracks
> - can't remember which tho.    Kollectors stuff.

        The other tracks are 'Ambulance Chasing', which they were
performing last tour and should have been on the album but got dropped at
the last minute, and would, as Andreas says, have improved it enormously I
suspect; and 'Wake As Gun', which has come out before in two bits on the
'Insignificance' fan-club cassette, and is a nice song whose riff Steve
lifted intact on the last No Man album.

> This is, for me, rather disappointing.   Admittedly they were headed in
> a clone Pink Floyd direction which Steve Wilson is ADAMENT he does not
> want to go and instead has headed off in a kind-of Oasis - Radiohead
> way.   Much more commercial and ummmmm well, boring.     The excitement
> has gone, the variety, the tension - all gone.    What's left are some
> very interesting and well written lyrics and a lot of nice guitar
> background but not much else.     Good if you like that stuff but a long
> way now from Sky Moves Sideways and Stars Die.    The latter is the
> finest thing they did IMO but it's in a music style that Steve no longer
> wants to travel - so....

        I agree with you here, Jill: though I like the album it's not what
Porcupine Tree is supposedly about, i. e. psychedelic/progressive music.
Any of this stuff could have been put out as No Man material. Yours,
                                                                     Jon

P.S. Jill - that Pink Fairies thing you have, 'Pleasure Island' - could
you tell me who's in the band on it and when it came out? To fill a trivia
gap...