Porcupine Tree

First of all, where do you start with Porcupine Tree? They’ve been around for over twenty years now and it’s amazing they still have a sound that is as fresh as it was back in 1987. Considering their length in the business they’ve never really broke out of the underground. However, their lack of popular success is contrasted with some of the most passionate fans on the planet. These dedicated fans have been watching them live for decades and needless to say they will continue to do so.

This short EP has arisen from songs recorded while Porcupine Tree were recording their last album (Fear of a Blank Planet, released in 2007). There is no doubt in my mind that any of these 4 songs would have slotted right onto the album as they are simply fantastic. Songwriter Steven Wilson has clearly shown here that he has plenty of material up his sleeves as the quality of these extras rarely decreases to the material on the albums.

Track one is a superb instrumental which is typical of their progressive rock sound going from quiet to loud in mind blowing ways. Track two is “Normal” and it’s certainly a lot better than its title suggests. Again it’s typical of the quiet-loud sound that Porcupine Tree produce and the way the acoustic bridge section merges into the loud ending is brilliant. Track 3 is another good song. The style is pretty consistent to the previous two tracks. Track 4 follows and it has a nice slow start which builds and builds until around 6 minutes the track really picks up and provides a thrilling end to the EP.

I was surprised of the quality of songs produced considering they were deemed as “not good enough” for the album. A must buy for progressive rock fans out there.  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. Nil Recurring
02. Normal
03. Cheating The Polygraph
04. What Happens Now?

Run Time: 28:44