Lightbulb Sun

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Lightbulb Sun
Lightbulb Sun cover
Cover art by John Foxx
Studio album by Porcupine Tree
Released May 2000
Recorded Foel Studio/No Man's Land
Nov. 1999 – January 2000
Genre Progressive Rock
Length 56:17
Label Snapper
Producer Steven Wilson
Professional reviews
Porcupine Tree chronology
Four Chords That Made a Million
(1999)		 Lightbulb Sun
(2000)		 Voyage 34: The Complete Trip
(2000)
Special Limited Edition
German Tour Edition
German Tour Edition
Remastered Edition
CD/DVD-A Edition
CD/DVD-A Edition

Lightbulb Sun is the sixth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in May 2000. There are four editions: the original release on Snapper records, a German 2-disc tour release on Snapper (with a blue cover), an Israeli 2-disc edition on Helicon records, and the 2- or 3-disc CD/DVD-A reissue on Kscope. Classic Rock magazine described it as "an album of stunning songs and startling musicianship… breathtaking" [1]

The album is divided into two parts by a half-minute gap between "Rest Will Flow" and "Hatesong". The first part concentrates more on melodic, poppy elements of Porcupine Tree's style, while the second has a more experimental character.

A CD/DVD-A remaster with 5.1 Surround Sound and a new stereo mix was released on April 7, 2008 from the Porcupine Tree store. Pre-orders of the Porcupine Tree store edition came with an exclusive 2 track bonus CD containing the tracks; "Novak" and "Buying New Soul (Instrumental Backing Track)". The CD/DVD-A album reissue is planned for a mass market release on April 21, 2008 through the Kscope label[1].

String arrangements in Lightbulb Sun were arranged and produced by Dave Gregory from alternative rock band XTC[2] at Christchurch Studios, Clifton, Bristol in January 2000, recorded by John Waterhouse.[3]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All tracks by Wilson except as noted. Arrangements by Porcupine Tree.

  1. "Lightbulb Sun" – 5:33
  2. "How Is Your Life Today?" – 2:48
  3. "Four Chords That Made a Million" – 3:38
  4. "Shesmovedon" – 5:15
  5. "Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled" – 4:50
  6. "The Rest Will Flow" – 3:36
  7. "Hatesong" (Edwin, Wilson) – 8:28
  8. "Where We Would Be" – 4:14
  9. "Russia On Ice" (Barbieri, Edwin, Maitland, Wilson) – 13:05
  10. "Feel So Low" – 5:16

The German Tour Edition[a] of the album contains a bonus enhanced CD with the following tracks:

  1. "Buying New Soul" (Edit) (Barbieri, Edwin, Maitland, Wilson) – 6:09
  2. "Pure Narcotic" – 5:20
  3. "Tinto Brass" (Live) (Barbieri, Edwin, Maitland, Wilson) – 6:48

^ [a] - Track 1 is taken from Recordings, track 2 comes from Stupid Dream and track 3 is a b-side of the "Pure Narcotic" single. The enhanced part of the disc also contains the video for the single "Piano Lessons" from the album Stupid Dream, directed by Mike Bennion, an image gallery and a full discography. It was released with a slightly different cover (blue instead of orange flame) within a slipcase.

[edit] Remastered Edition

A brand new reissued version of Lighbulb Sun was released on April 21, 2008, as a definitive 2 disc set; or a 3 disc set for the first 5,000 pre-ordered copies. Disc one is a CD containing a remix/remaster of the album, while disc two is a DVD-A (playable on most DVD players) containing the album remixed into 5.1 surround sound (in DVD-A and DTS versions), as well as a 24 bit high resolution version of the stereo mix, and the original 2000 mix/master. Also included are 5.1 mixes of bonus tracks "Disappear", "Buying New Soul", and "Cure for Optimism", which were recorded during the same sessions[1]. The bonus third disc contains two instrumental tracks: "Novak", the b-side to the original 7" "Shesmovedon" single; and "Buying New Soul (Instrumental Backing Track)", the original version of "Buying New Soul", with 4 minutes more music that were cut at the same time as the vocals were overdubbed.

[edit] DISC ONE (CD)

(2007 stereo mix)

  1. "Lightbulb Sun" – 5:31
  2. "How Is Your Life Today?" – 2:46
  3. "Four Chords That Made a Million" – 3:36
  4. "Shesmovedon" – 5:14
  5. "Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before it Is Recycled" – 4:49
  6. "The Rest Will Flow" – 3:18
  7. "Hatesong" – 8:30
  8. "Where We Would Be" – 4:13
  9. "Russia on Ice" – 13:05
  10. "Feel So Low" – 5:22

[edit] DISC TWO (DVDA)

(5.1 surround sound and high resolution 24-bit stereo)

Track listing same as disc one.

BONUS MATERIAL ON DVDA
  • "Disappear" 5.1 mix – 3:40
  • "Buying New Soul" 5.1 mix – 10:26
  • "Cure for Optimism" 5.1 mix – 6:36
  • Original 2000 stereo album mix / master

"Disappear" was recorded during the Lightbulb Sun sessions, "Cure for Optimism" was performed by Steven Wilson at No Man's Land in July 1999.

[edit] DISC THREE (CD)

(Pre-order bonus disc)

  1. "Novak" – 3:51
  2. "Buying New Soul (Instrumental Backing Track)" – 14:27

The bonus CD bears the catalogue number TRANS8.1. Both tracks on this disc were recorded at Foel Studio, March 15, 2000. Vocals were overdubbed onto "Buying New Soul" later at No Man's Land studios.

[edit] Song details

  • The tracks "Four Chords That Made A Million", "Where We Would Be" and "Russia On Ice" have been premiered towards the Stupid Dream Tour in 1999, several months before the album's release.
  • The track "Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled" features a speech by the leader of the Heaven's Gate religious cult. This U.S. cult believed that they were from another planet and only visiting earth. In order to return to their own "dimension" before the earth was "recycled" they all committed mass suicide. The words are taken from the video they made before killing themselves to explain to the rest of the world why they had done it.[4]
  • The track "The Rest Will Flow" is slower on the remaster, due to having been sped up from its originally recorded speed in the original master in order to make it more "radio-friendly". The song was initially intended as the third single for Lightbulb Sun, scheduled for October 2000, but its release was somehow cancelled.[5]
  • The song "Feel So Low" has been re-recorded in 2001 by Blackfield, which is a project that constitutes of Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson and Israeli singer/songwriter Aviv Geffen. The first verse of that version was sung in Hebrew by Geffen. This version only made it to the vinyl edition of the first Blackfield album (2004). Later live renditions of this track by Blackfield were sung entirely in English but differed significantly from the Porcupine Tree original as they had a long, heavy instrumental section added at the end.

[edit] Personnel

  • Steven Wilson – Vocals, Guitars, Piano, Mellotron, Hammered Dulcimer, Samples, Banjo, Harp, Production
  • Richard Barbieri – Synthesizers, Hammond Organ, Fairground, Synthesized Percussion, Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, Mellotron, Insects
  • Colin Edwin – Fretless Bass, Saz, Drum Machine, Guimbri
  • Chris Maitland – Drums, Backing & Harmony Vocals, Floor Tom
  • Stuart Gordon – Violin, Viola
  • Nick Parry – Cello
The Minerva String Quartet
  • Katy Latham – Violin
  • Lisa Betteridge – Violin
  • Sarah Heines – Viola
  • Emmeline Brewer – Cello
Other personnel
  • Chris Blair – Mastering
  • John Foxx – Cover Photograph, Other Photography
  • Luigi Colasanti Antonelli – Group Portraits, Other Photography


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Kscope - Blog Archive - Classic Porcupine Tree on Kscope (2008-04-04).
  2. ^ Porcupine Tree - Background. porcupinetree.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
  3. ^ Steven Wilson - The Complete Discography (7th Edition), p. 49. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
  4. ^ "Specials - Steven Wilson Interview". The Dutch Progressive Rock Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  5. ^ PORCUPINE TREE. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.

[edit] External links

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