Porcupine Tree performing live at Kraków, Poland on July 7, 2007. |
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| Releases | ||
|---|---|---|
| ↙Studio albums | 10 | |
| ↙Live albums | 4 | |
| ↙Compilation albums | 3 | |
| ↙EPs | 4 | |
| ↙Singles | 9 | |
| ↙Video albums | 2 | |
| ↙Limited editions | 16 | |
| ↙Promotional | 13 | |
The following is a listing of officially released works by the English band Porcupine Tree. The band has released ten major studio albums, as well as many EP's, limited editions, and revamped material.
At the time Steven Wilson was going to sign to the Delerium label, he owned a lot of material recorded during the mid and later 80's that he had recorded subsequently on three demo tapes - Tarquin's Seaweed Farm, Love, Death & Mussolini and The Nostalgia Factory. 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... (1991); all of the leftover tracks would be later released on a compilation album called Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape (1994).
Richard Barbieri and Colin Edwin met Steven Wilson to play on a few songs he was working on. Again, there was an amount 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 (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 described as "a psychedelic masterpiece".[1] 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 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 improvisations 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 (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 (1999) was issued. The album was a departure in style from all their previous works, in favour 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 based 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 (2002) turned out to be one of their most successful works to date, remaining a favourite to many fans, charting in many European countries and selling over 100.000 copies in its first year of release.[2] Deadwing (2005) appeared the Billboard chart at #132 of the Billboard 200[3] (which was the first entry the band achieved on the Billboard chart) and was voted #2 album of 2005 in Sound & Vision, the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment[4]..
Porcupine Tree's next studio album, Fear of a Blank Planet (2007), debuted at #59 on the Billboard 200,[5] won the "Album of the Year" award for the 2007 edition of the Classic Rock magazine awards,[6] and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Best Surround Sound Album" category.[7] The album features collaborations with Rush's guitarist Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp.
On 2007 they collaborated with Yoko Ono 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 February 18, 2008 on Peaceville Records.[8]
An in-store appearance at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida from October 4, 2007, was recorded and released on CD under the name of We Lost The Skyline.[9] The title is a reference to the lyrics on "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)". The album was released on vinyl on March 21, 2008[10] 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, was released in March 2009. It was recorded from their performance at the Ilosaarirock Festival on July 14, 2007. However, this album was only released to members of the Residents of a Blank Planet ticketing club.
On September 15, 2009, the band's tenth studio album was released, titled The Incident, resulting in the best ranked Porcupine Tree album in the world charts to date.
Another live album from the Fear of a Blank Planet tour, Atlanta, was released in June 2010 in order to help raise funds for Mick Karn's treatment for cancer.[11]
Contents |
| Year | Release details | Chart | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [12] |
Finland [13] |
France [14] |
Germany | Italy | Netherlands [15] |
Norway [16] |
Sweden [17] |
Switzerland [18] |
United States [19] |
Australia [20] |
Poland [21] |
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| 1991 | On the Sunday of Life | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1993 | Up the Downstair
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1995 | The Sky Moves Sideways
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1996 | Signify
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999 | Stupid Dream
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2000 | Lightbulb Sun
|
161 [22] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2002 | In Absentia | — | — | 143 | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 47 |
| 2005 | Deadwing
|
113 | — | 100 | 52 | — | 56 | — | 26 | — | 132 | — | 9 |
| 2007 | Fear of a Blank Planet[23]
|
31 | 16 | 70 | 20 | 34 | 13 | 34 | 38 | 41 | 59 | — | 11 |
| 2009 | The Incident[24]
|
23 | 11 | 35 | 17 | 35 | 5 | 19 | 23 | 20 | 25 | 35 | 5 |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | |||||||||||||
| Title | Release date | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coma Divine - Recorded Live in Rome | October 1997 July 2003 September 2003 July 2004 |
Delerium Delerium Headspin Snapper Kscope |
CD 2CD 3LP+7" Single 2CD |
| Warszawa | February 2004 January 2005 2009 |
Transmission Snapper Kscope |
CD CD CD |
| Rockpalast | July 2006 | Burning Shed | Download |
| Atlanta | June 2010 | Burning Shed | Download |
| Title | Release date | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voyage 34: The Complete Trip | April 2000 October 2004 May 2005 |
Delerium Snapper Headspin Kscope |
CD CD Vinyl |
| Recordings | May 2001 | KScope/Snapper | CD |
| Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991–1997 | March 2002 September 2005 |
Delerium/KScope Snapper |
CD |
| Title | Release date | Label | Format | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moonloop | October, 1994 | Delerium | CD/Vinyl 12" | Also released on C+S Records (CS20242) in the U.S. as Stars Die including an extra track "Always Never" (from Up the Downstair). |
| Staircase Infinities | December, 1994 October 1995 |
Lazy Eye Blueprint |
Vinyl 10" CD |
Reissued in 2005 as a bonus disc to Up the Downstair. |
| Futile | July, 2003 July, 2006 |
Lava Burning Shed |
CD Download |
The opening track in the Burning Shed edition was originally intended to open the In Absentia album, and is previously unissued. |
| Nil Recurring | September, 2007 February 2008 |
Transmission Peaceville |
CD CD |
The EP is included along within the DVDA and vinyl editions of Fear of a Blank Planet. |
| Title | Release date | Label | Format | Charts [25][26] | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Voyage 34" | November, 1992 | Delerium | CD/Vinyl 12" | ||
| "Voyage 34: Remixes" | November, 1993 | Delerium | Vinyl 12" | ||
| "Waiting" | May, 1996 | Delerium | CD/Vinyl 12" | ||
| "Piano Lessons" | April, 1999 | KScope/Snapper | CD/Vinyl 7" | UK #164 | |
| "Stranger by the Minute" | October, 1999 | KScope/Snapper | CD/Vinyl 7" | UK #138 | The CD, besides the video for "Piano Lessons", contains a Macromedia presentation including band photos, lyrics, the discography, and more. |
| "Pure Narcotic" | November, 1999 | KScope/Snapper | CD/Vinyl 7" | UK #175 | |
| "Four Chords That Made a Million" | April, 2000 | KScope/Snapper | CD/Vinyl 7" | UK #95 | A "Special Limited Edition" CD of 2,000 copies was also released, containing the title track and a demo version of "Even Less". |
| "Shesmovedon" | July, 2000 | KScope/Snapper | CD/Vinyl 7" | UK #93 | A "Special Limited Edition" CD of 2,000 copies was also released, containing the album version of the title track and a demo version of "Russia On Ice". |
| "Lazarus" | March, 2005 | Lava/Atlantic | CD | GER #91 | Released only in Germany and Poland. |
| Title | Release date | Label | Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arriving Somewhere... | September 2006 | Snapper | 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. |
| Anesthetize | April 2010 | Kscope | 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 be included with the standard retail versions of the Blu-ray/DVD. |
| Title | Release date | Label | Format | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarquin's Seaweed Farm | 1989 1991 |
— Delerium |
Cassette | 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. |
| Love, Death & Mussolini | 1990 | — | Cassette | 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...) |
| The Nostalgia Factory | 1990 1991 |
— Delerium |
Cassette | 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". |
| Spiral Circus - Live | April, 1994 February, 1997 |
Delerium Chromatic |
Cassette LP |
These recordings are taken from the very first Porcupine Tree live performances. All tracks recorded directly from the mixing desk to cassette or DAT. |
| Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape | 1994 February, 2000 |
Magic Gnome Gates of Dawn |
CD 2LP |
"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. |
| Insignificance | March, 1997 | Delerium | Cassette | Remastered and reissued in 2003 as a bonus disc to Signify. |
| Metanoia | December, 1998 December, 2001 February, 2006 |
Chromatic Delerium Snapper Kscope |
2LP 10" CD CD |
The digipack reissue on Snapper contains the same music as the Delerium version, but was remastered. A later Kscope reissue was released in Super Jewel Box packaging. |
| Coma Divine II | January, 1999 | Delerium | CD | Recorded live during the Coma Divine recordings at the Frontiera, Rome during March 26 and 27, 1997. This release was distributed to subscribers of the Transmission service in 1997. |
| Stars Die - Rare and Unreleased | February, 1999 | Rock Serwis | Cassette | Released in Poland only. |
| Tonefloating : The Use of Ashes vs Steven Wilson | February, 2000 | Tonefloat | Vinyl 7" | Given away to people attending the Use of Ashes/Steven Wilson acoustic concert in Delft, Holland on Feb 27th 2000. About 200 copies in existence. |
| Transmission IV | December, 2001 March, 2006 October, 2006 |
Delerium Delerium Delerium |
CD Vinyl 12" CD |
The 2006 reissue is an exact reproduction of originally issued fan club edition, which was released 2001 and which was limited to 500 copies. The reissue has also been remastered by Steven Wilson. |
| XM | July, 2003 | Transmission | CD | First release on the band's own Transmission imprint. |
| Porcupine Tree Sampler 2005 | March, 2005 | Transmission | CD | |
| XMII | June, 2005 | Transmission | CD | |
| We Lost the Skyline | February 2008 March 2008 |
Transmission Tonefloat |
CD LP |
|
| Porcupine Tree Sampler 2008 | October 2008 | Transmission | CD | |
| Ilosaarirock | March 2009 | Transmission | CD | Recorded live at Ilosaarirock Festival, Finland on 14 July 2007, includes the band's complete performance remixed from the multitrack recording made by Finnish radio. Sent out only to members of the Residents of a Blank Planet ticketing club., not available elsewhere. |
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