Suddenly, Porcupine Tree

Here's a few Porcupine Tree clones that you may also want to check out ...

Abigail's Ghost
Riverside
Blackfield (which is another Steve Wilson project)

And some others that are not clones, but a somewhat similar sound that you might enjoy, depending on what period of PC you like ...

Haken
Anathema
Pineapple Thief
Katatonia
OSI

There's tons more info for Porcupine Tree fans over at www.progressiveears.org

Enjoy,
Bob

I discovered Porcupine Tree from this blog last year when I asked 'Gon members to recommend modern prog bands in the Yes, Pink Floyd genre. I like "In Absentia" and "Fear of the Blank Planet." "Anesthetize" is a great song. I hear elements of PF, Yes, Rush (Alex Lifeson has a solo on Anesthetize), and even early Genesis. Sometimes, I don't care for some of the extreme heavy metal passages in PT songs, but for the most part, the songs represent a combination of some of my favorite bands through the years. I think that Steven Wilson and I enjoyed a lot of the same music growing up. I can also recommend some of the remasters that Wilson has worked on- particularly the 40th anniversary edition of Aqualung. My only complaint is that PT cd's are hard to find and generally very expensive.

I have a friend who is a big fan. I listened at his request several times, didn't get the music if not the musicianship of the band. I went with him to see them a few years back at the House of Blues in Orlando Fl surrounded by rabid fans. It was a bit loud for the venue with entirely too much bass that had me walking around the place to find a place to listen without being bombarded by the over the top bass. I must say I now know why I still don't get them, the music just doesn't connect or draw me in but again, a very good band. There was one cut, can't recall the name that I really liked. Other than that I found the concert a bit boring and couldn't wait for it to end, different strokes I suppose.

Sometimes it take a while to connect to music and often it takes a bit of effort. These things can't be forced. Maybe down the road my perspective of the music of this group will change? It does happen as it did with you.

I'm a huge progressive music fan, but being an audiophile, a lot of bands have put out recordings that just don't work for me. I have The Incident on CD and Voyage 34 on vinyl and neither are very impressive. Can anyone suggest an album or two that might be a bit more high fidelity?

i think of pt as prog for people like me who really don't like prog. what separates them from their ostensible peers is that they (like pink floyd and radiohead) have generally-accessible tunes with real melodies, not just exercises in virtuosity and bombast.