A Young Person's Guide to Porcupine Tree

So my friend tells me that he wants to get into Porcupine Tree. The question is: where to start?

Porcupine Tree: Gavin Harrison, Steven Wilson, Colin Edwin, Richard Barbieri

This band has a huge catalogue: ten-plus studio albums, EPs, limited singles and a couple of great live albums. Almost everything has been reissued and is back in print. It's interesting to trace Tree's growth: from psychedelic project to hard-rocking concept album band--and at the center of it all, the peculiar genius that is Steven Wilson.

Here's a by-the-numbers guide to growing your very own Porcupine Tree catalogue. (And yes, I know Blender magazine used to do articles like this but they folded, so there.)

Essential Listening
In Absentia: The album that started to break the band in the United States. Gavin Harrison adds a much needed percussive kick.

Deadwing: The first of a trio of concept albums, this is the soundtrack for a film that has not been made yet.


Stupid Dream: A watershed. Steven Wilson learns how to write psychedelic pop songs with thick, grabby hooks.

The Incident: The band's current effort, another ambitious concept based on the news and how people react to news stories when they are at the center of them. Limited edition comes with a second disc with five more excellent songs.

Interesting Listening
Lightbulb Sun: The bridge album between Stupid Dream and In Absentia, this is the band about to take the plunge into heavy rock.

Fear of a Blank Planet: Practically metal, this is a concept about how media overkill and heavy medication combine to burn out the next generation.

The Sky Moves Sideways: Third album: the budding Tree explore Floydian landscapes on this, SW's first collaboration with Richard Barbieri.

On the Sunday of Life: Features "Radioactive Toy." Compiled from the cassette EPs where this band started, in SW's bedroom.

For the Fans
Up the Downstair: Their second official album received a face-lift when it was re-recorded by the current lineup.

Signify: The first album by the "band" Porcupine Tree. (Technically, it's their fourth). Good songs and hints of the future here.


Nil Recurring: An EP of extra songs from the Blank Planet sessions. Features collaborations with Robert Fripp.

Voyage 34--The Complete Trip: Four takes on an acid trip gone very, very wrong. A psychedelic, electronic version of Rashomon.

Where it all began: the Tarquin's Seaweed Farm tape.

For the Completist: The Outtakes
Metanoia: Ambient outtakes from Signify. Good music to relax to.

Recordings: Outtakes from Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun. Features the classic "Buying New Soul" and the full (15 minute version of "Even Less.")

Staircase Infinities: Remixes and extras from Up the Downstair.

Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape: Good luck finding a copy. These are the leftover tracks from On the Sunday of Life.