The following is a listing of officially released works by the English band
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became ...
. The band has released eleven major studio albums and 7 EPs, as well as many limited editions and revamped material.
At the time
Steven Wilson
Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corro ...
was going to sign to the
Delerium
Delerium is a Canadian new-age ambient electronic musical duo that formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act Front Line Assembly. Throughout the band’s history, their musical style has encompassed ...
label, he owned a lot of material recorded during the mid- and later '80s that he had recorded subsequently on three demo tapes - ''
Tarquin's Seaweed Farm
''Tarquin's Seaweed Farm'', subtitled "Words from a Hessian Sack", is the first album to be released by Steven Wilson under the pseudonym Porcupine Tree. It was originally a compiled cassette of experimental music made by Steven Wilson for his j ...
'', ''
Love, Death & Mussolini'' and ''
The Nostalgia Factory
''The Nostalgia Factory'', subtitled "...and other tips for amateur golfers", is the second album to be released by Steven Wilson under the pseudonym Porcupine Tree. It was the second full-length cassette produced for his 'joke' project with fr ...
''. He sent copies of those tapes to people he felt would be interested in the recordings, asking them to spread the word. Delerium originally intended to release all of that material in a double debut album, but Wilson decided to just pick the songs he considered the best ones. These songs were mastered to make Porcupine Tree's first studio album, ''
On the Sunday of Life...'' (1992); all of the leftover tracks would be later released on a compilation album called ''
Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape'' (1994).
Richard Barbieri
Richard Barbieri (born 30 November 1957) is an English musician, composer and sound designer. Originally a member of new wave band Japan (and their brief 1989–1991 reincarnation as Rain Tree Crow), more recently he is known as the keyboar ...
and
Colin Edwin met Steven Wilson to play on a few songs he was working on. Again, there was a number of songs written that would perfectly fit on a double album, but one of these songs saw the light prior to the release of their second studio album on the ''
Voyage 34
''Voyage 34: The Complete Trip'' is a compilation album by United Kingdom, British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. The individual tracks for the album were recorded in 1992 and 1993, while the album itself was compiled and released in 2000 ...
'' (1992)
single, thereafter followed by ''
Voyage 34: Remixes'' (1993), and the other material ended up on the ''
Staircase Infinities'' (1994)
EP. Finally, ten tracks were chosen for their next studio album, ''
Up the Downstair'' (1993), which ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' described as "a psychedelic masterpiece".
At the end of 1993,
Chris Maitland joined the band for live shows and would later record some drums and percussions for three songs of Porcupine Tree's third studio album, ''
The Sky Moves Sideways'' (1995), an album that made the press refer them as the "
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...
of the nineties". They did not record as a full band until ''
Signify'' (1996), the first Porcupine Tree album to be performed entirely by the four members. It contained shorter compositions and less improvisation than its predecessors.
The next album was delayed for almost three years as the band was looking for a new record label after finishing their deal with Delerium. In the meantime, they launched ''
Metanoia
Metanoia, an Ancient Greek word (μετάνοια) meaning "changing one's mind", may refer to:
* Metanoia (psychology), the process of experiencing a psychotic "breakdown" and subsequent, positive psychological re-building or "healing"
* Metanoia ...
'' (1998), a compilation of improvisations recorded during the ''Signify'' sessions, some of which were later shaped into songs. Finally, they signed to
Snapper/K-Scope and the album ''
Stupid Dream
''Stupid Dream'' is the fifth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. It was first released in March 1999, and then re-released on 15 May 2006 due to the band's rising popularity on major record label Lava Records with thei ...
'' (1999) was issued. The album was a departure in style from all their previous works, in favour of a more song-oriented direction, as a consequence this alienated some older fans but brought a lot of new ones. Its follow-up, ''
Lightbulb Sun'' (2000), assured the fan base and solidified the ground of its predecessor. For this one, they worked with
Dave Gregory of
XTC, who provided string arrangements. A collection of EP tracks and out-takes from the previous two albums was launched a year after under the title of ''
Recordings'' (2001).
''
In Absentia
is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent".
may also refer to:
* Award in absentia
* Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body
* Election in abse ...
'' (2002) became one of their most successful works, remaining a favourite to many fans, charting in many European countries and selling over 100,000 copies in its first year of release. The album was the first release to feature
Gavin Harrison
Gavin Richard Harrison (born 28 May 1963) is an English musician. He is best known for playing with the progressive rock bands Porcupine Tree (2002–2010; 2021–present), King Crimson (2008, and 2014–present) and The Pineapple Thief (2 ...
, replacing Maitland on drums. ''
Deadwing
''Deadwing'' is the eighth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in Japan on 24 March 2005, in Europe on 28 March, and in the US on 26 April. It quickly became the band's best selling album, although it was ...
'' (2005) appeared the
Billboard chart
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the '' ...
at number 132 of the
''Billboard'' 200 (which was the first entry the band achieved on the ''Billboard'' chart) and was voted the second-best album of 2005 in ''
Sound & Vision'', the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment.
Porcupine Tree's next studio album, ''
Fear of a Blank Planet'' (2007), debuted at number 59 on the ''Billboard'' 200,
won the Album of the Year award for the 2007 edition of the ''
Classic Rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...
'' magazine awards, and was nominated for a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
in the
Best Surround Sound Album category. The album features collaborations with
Rush's guitarist
Alex Lifeson
Aleksandar Živojinović, (born 27 August 1953), known professionally as Alex Lifeson (), is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Rush. In 1968, Lifeson co-founded the band that wo ...
and
King Crimson
King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...
's
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...
. The title is a play on words relating to
Public Enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...
's ''
Fear of a Black Planet
''Fear of a Black Planet'' is the third studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy. It was released on April 10, 1990, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records, and produced by the group's production team The Bomb Squad, who expan ...
'' album.
On 2007 they collaborated with
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
on the song "
Death of Samantha", in Ono's remix album ''
Yes, I'm a Witch''.
In September 2007, they released ''
Nil Recurring'', an EP of four leftover tracks from the recording sessions for ''Fear of a Blank Planet''. It was released on Transmission, the band's own record label as a limited edition of 5000 copies that did not take long to sell out through the band's online store,
Burning Shed, forcing the band to keep printing more copies. Nevertheless, the EP was reissued on 18 February 2008 on
Peaceville Records
Peaceville Records is a British independent heavy metal record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw (of the bands Instigators and Civilised Society) in Dewsbury, England in 1987, who was also a one-time drummer of Sore Thro ...
.
An in-store appearance at Park Avenue CDs in
Orlando, Florida from 4 October 2007, was recorded and released on CD under the name of ''
We Lost the Skyline''. The title is a reference to the lyrics on "
The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)". The album was released on
vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from viny ...
on 21 March 2008 and is the first official acoustic live record to be officially released by the band.
A live album from the ''Fear of a Blank Planet'' tour, ''
Ilosaarirock
The Ilosaarirock Festival is an annual rock festival held on the second weekend of July in Joensuu, Eastern Finland. Founded in 1971, Ilosaarirock is the second oldest rock festival in Finland still active, and one of the oldest in Europe. In 2 ...
'', was released in March 2009. It was recorded from their performance at the
Ilosaarirock Festival on 14 July 2007. However, this album was only released to members of the Residents of a Blank Planet ticketing club.
On 15 September 2009, the band's tenth studio album was released, titled ''
The Incident'', the title track being one solid 55-minute epic. It quickly became the best selling Porcupine Tree album in the world charts to date.
Another live album from the ''Fear of a Blank Planet'' tour, ''
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
'', was released in June 2010 in order to help raise funds for
Mick Karn
Andonis Michaelides (Greek: Αντώνης Μιχαηλίδης; 24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was an English-Cypriot musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the bassist for the art rock/ new wave band Japan. ...
's treatment for cancer.
The band went on indefinite hiatus in 2010, after which the members focused on their solo work and other projects. In November 2021, Wilson, Barbieri and Harrison announced the reunion of the band, now as a trio with Edwin not returning as a bassist. The eleventh studio album ''
Closure/Continuation'', which is the band's first studio album in 13 years, was released on 24 June 2022.
Albums
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilation albums
Box sets
Extended plays
Demo tapes
Singles
Notes:
Promotional singles
Videos
Video albums
Music videos
Notes
:a. "The Cross" which appeared on the original CD edition was replaced by the track "Out" (from 1987) on the vinyl edition. The version of "Radioactive Toy" here is the original cassette version as opposed to the re-recorded and extended version on On the Sunday of Life.... "Mute" is a newer mix to the one on the cassette. "An Empty Box" had not appeared on either cassette but is another recording from the same period. Note that the vinyl edition corrects some factual errors and therefore dates some of the material back to 1984.
:b. Most of these tracks appeared either on the album ''On the Sunday of Life...'' or the limited edition CD ''Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape''. However, for the CD issue tracks 3 and 4/5 were retitled "Third Eye Surfer" and "On the Sunday of Life..." respectively. Also the version of "Mute" here is an earlier mix.
:c. 40-minute tape private pressing of only 10 copies. Contains 7 tracks later to appear on ''The Nostalgia Factory'', plus "Out" (later included on the vinyl edition of ''Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape'') and the elsewhere unavailable "It Will Rain for a Million Years" (a completely different track to the one with the same title included on ''On the Sunday of Life...'')
:d. Most of these tracks appeared either on the album ''On the Sunday of Life...'' or the limited edition CD ''Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape''. "Colours Dance Angels Kiss" and "Hokey Cokey" were later retitled "Track 11" and "Execution of the Will of the Marquis de Sade" respectively. "The Nostalgia Factory" is an earlier version to that on ''On the Sunday of Life...'' and "Queen Quotes Crowley" and "This Long Silence" are both about a minute longer than the versions later released on CD. An edit of the track "Sinatra Rape Scene" appears on ''Up the Downstair'' as "Monuments Burn into Moments".
:e. Full show from the Deadwing tour filmed at Park West, Chicago in October 2005, edited by Lasse Hoile, with the soundtrack mixed in stereo and 5.1 surround sound, live performances of "Futile" and "Radioactive Toy" from German TV show Rockpalast, the "Lazarus" promo clip, the live films used during the show for "Start of Something Beautiful", "Halo", and "Mother and Child Divided", Gavin Harrison's "Cymbal Song", and a photo gallery.
:f. A special edition has been made available in April, with a regular version following in May. Anesthetize was filmed live over 2 nights in Tilburg, The Netherlands in October 2008, at the end of the Fear of a Blank Planet tour. The 130-minute live film includes a complete performance of the Blank Planet album and 11 other tracks, and was directed and edited by Lasse Hoile on high definition cameras, with the soundtrack mixed into stereo and 5.1 sound. The special edition was released in the form of a cloth bound hard back 120-page book (as per The Incident and Insurgentes deluxe versions) featuring live photography of the band taken over the last 5 years. The book includes both a DVD and a much higher quality Blu-ray disc version of the film, as well as 2 audio CDs of the soundtrack including one bonus track not featured in the film. The book and audio CDs are not included with the standard retail versions of the Blu-ray/DVD.
References
External links
Porcupine Tree Official Website
{{Porcupine Tree
Discography
Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...
Heavy metal group discographies
Discographies of British artists