Wow, Porcupine Tree featured on the front page of Amazon! [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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Davey
03-29-2005, 11:04 AM
At least on the generic front page that came up for me when I clicked on my bookmarked link. Probably just a random rotation, but still surprising since it's still about a month away, right? Are all you old fans gonna be disappointed if they get really big? Big label sellouts? Commerce before art? Hehehe, too bad they're stuck with such a goofy name, huh? :)

Album Description (from amazon)
Porcupine Tree defies categorization. This unique London-based quartet make unconventional, uncompromising music that qualifies them as Europe's premiere art-rock cult band. Porcupine Tree's cogent musical personality is a force to be reckoned with. Porcupine Tree's intelligent and accessible sound will appeal not only to metal enthusiasts and twenty-something dark wave fans, but will also fit in with today's more adventurous alternative station playlists.

DarrenH
03-29-2005, 12:14 PM
I can't wait to hear this but I'm not gonna download any samples or anything like that. I want the goods in hand before I ever hear a note of it.

I thought about ordering from UK cyber shops but the demand was so high in the UK they couldn't fill existing orders and had to push the release date out by a week. Plus, the exchange rate is awful. So I'm gonna wait until the US release date.

Steven Wilson was once asked why he named his group Porcupine Tree and he wouldn't comment. One can only deduce that he's not entirely proud of the name either.

BarryL
03-29-2005, 01:23 PM
Steven Wilson was once asked why he named his group Porcupine Tree and he wouldn't comment. One can only deduce that he's not entirely proud of the name either.

I was visiting Cleveland last summer with the kids and we went to the Cleveland Zoo. They have a great rainforest exhibit. And in that exhibit they have porcupines. And the porcupines are all sleeping in trees. I suppose they were porcupine trees. I would have thought that porcupines slept in the ground.

I don't know what this has to do with Steve Wilson except that he might have also seen porcupines in a tree and made reference to, you know, that porcupine tree.

Troy
03-29-2005, 01:54 PM
I always just saw the PT name as another of those "Kitchen Floor Wax Museum", too clever for it's own good, kinda things. Kathleen Turner Overdrive. A somesortagram. It's better than "The Steve Wilson Band", but that's about it . . . Wilson is right about keeping the name enigmatic though. Solid marketing.

Great to see some advertising $ being pushed their way. I've felt all along they could be the right band at the right time, but the window is closing. How many chances can they get?

I hope they make it big without compromise. Ask me again in a few months if it worked.

Can't tell you the last time I've seen so much early buzz from prog fans in general about anything.

Looking forward to finally hearing it!

Slosh
03-29-2005, 02:01 PM
Hehehe, too bad they're stuck with such a goofy name, huh? :)

I think they should change it to Hippo Balls ;)

Davey
03-29-2005, 02:32 PM
I think they should change it to Hippo Balls ;)
Or Slosh, but I guess that's about the same thing, eh? Hahaha, whatcha got against PT? Are you just a troublemaker? Just don't like good music? YECH sympathizer? They were kind of boring to me back in the days when they were trying too hard to sound like Radiohead, but the last album was pretty good and much more original. I'll probably never love them, but they're way past sucking hairy hippo balls, if they ever did. Now Mastodon, that's another story. They definitely have some of those curly hippo hairs between their teeth :)

Slosh
03-29-2005, 02:37 PM
They're about as exciting as vanilla ice cream. They should have a plain white cover on their next album and call it Bland on the Run :rolleyes:

Davey
03-29-2005, 02:59 PM
They're about as exciting as vanilla ice cream.
Yummm, I can get pretty excited with a good bowl of vanilla ice cream! Something rich and creamy and Frenchy. Haagen-Dazs is really good even if it is a national grocery store item. But scoop up some homemade stuff from a little shop in your favorite hometown USA, and you'll feel like a monkey gone to heaven. More exciting to me than anything from the Porcupine Tree boys. But try listening to a bowl of vanilla ice cream ... now that's pretty bland :)

Kaboom
03-29-2005, 03:05 PM
HAHAHAHAHA u know the best part of this all? its HOLDING the wonderful booklet in my hands while the album plays FULL volume on my stereo and i watch u all suckers wait for the US release date!
(i know its mean and childish, but its the first satisfaction i have EVER gotten from being european...)
i think i'll play it again, Sam...

Kaboom
03-29-2005, 03:37 PM
13€ which is about 15$. and who here wouldnt pay double to get it a month in advance? damn it, i would, and this time, it IS worth it.
cheers!

Davey
03-29-2005, 04:20 PM
13€ which is about 15$. and who here wouldnt pay double to get it a month in advance? damn it, i would, and this time, it IS worth it.
cheers!
Heehee, yeah I was just kidding around so decided to delete it just in case you took it the wrong way. But that does sound like a decent price you got. 13€ is closer to $17, but I was thinking of the UK prices I normally see which often run around £11 for newish type stuff. And that is about $20 in our devalued currency right now. And the new PT will probably be available for around $10 at some stores here when released, ergo twice as much. Of course, it's only twice as much if you paid for it in US dollars, but like I said, I was just kidding around. And I think you'd be surprised by how cheap (and spoiled) we are over here. I bet not many of us would pay $20 to get it a few weeks early, especially knowing that the DVD-A package is imminent as well. And lots of new releases can even be had for well under $10 if you don't mind spending your money at the big box stores. But I probably won't buy it at all so I may be completely wrong :)

Dusty Chalk
03-29-2005, 10:56 PM
Translation: Front Page News -- Porcupine Tree Make Front Page News!
They're about as exciting as vanilla ice cream. They should have a plain white cover on their next album and call it Bland on the Run :rolleyes:So...you're not really comparing PTree to the Beatles, are you? Or was that completely unintentional?

Dave_G
03-30-2005, 07:13 AM
Like Darren I will wait till I can get it locally or maybe off of ebay, I won't listen to any smaples ar anything like that.

PT are cool, would like to see them someday.

Dave

Duds
03-30-2005, 10:01 AM
I finally listened to this last night. The album sounds great and defintiely rocks throughout!! I'd have to say Kaboom's review is quite accurate.

Davey
03-30-2005, 10:33 AM
BTW, if anyone here in the US does want to get it early, cd-wow.us has it available Apr 4 for $14.95 delivered if you use one of the many $2 discount coupons floating around. Or at the main cd-wow.com site it's 8.75 GBP with comparable discounts available if you search. Not sure which is the best deal - you'd have to check exchange rates.

Slosh
03-30-2005, 01:37 PM
Translation: Front Page News -- Porcupine Tree Make Front Page News!So...you're not really comparing PTree to the Beatles, are you? Or was that completely unintentional?

I knew someone would catch that :) Maybe BeAtles pre-Rubber Soul.

Maybe if Deadwing comes out on DVD-A I'll get (sh)it (but most definitely not if it's on Dual Disc format)

NP: Autolux - Future Perfect

Kaboom
03-31-2005, 04:46 AM
thanx man! i was quite worried that the hardened music listeners here would consider my review sucky or retarded or sth. thankfully i didnt get any "shut up and go home" comments on the original thread.
When i reviewed it i think i said that it would benefit gratefully from 16/44.1 as opposed to Mp3. Well indeed so. the track that sounded muddy before is much more clearly defined and staged.
cheers!

kexodusc
03-31-2005, 07:29 AM
Maybe if Deadwing comes out on DVD-A I'll get (sh)it (but most definitely not if it's on Dual Disc format)



This comment is baffling...care to elaborate?

Slosh
03-31-2005, 03:07 PM
This comment is baffling...care to elaborate?

Well, it all depends on what about it you find baffling. If you mean because I don't like Porcupine Tree, umm . . . I don't hate 'em or anything but I do find them generic and kinda dull. The last two Sunny Day Real Estate albums are pretty much in the same style as recent Pocupine Tree but with interesting and engaging song writing. The direction PT's heading reminds me of something like Jane's Addiction's "Three Days" and "Mountain Song", etc. SDRE measures up IMO. PT doesn't. I would consider buying this on DVD-A simply because after having a player for 2.5 yeras it sure would be nice to actually have some more software for it that isn't an album I already own on another format.

If you mean why I wouldn't get it on Dual Disc, there are lots of good reasons:
1. Dual Disc does not necessarily mean it has a DVD-A track. In fact, most of which I've seen only have a Dolby Digital track on the DVD side. Dolby Digital is fine for movies but can't do music well. Even MP3 at 320 kbps (or better) sounds better than 448 kbps DD to me. Now if the disc had DTS I might consider it. DTS, even at DVD's half bit rate of 768 kbps (compared to DTS CD/LD), sounds completely transparent when converted back to PCM stereo - at least to my ears.
2. The CD side of Dual Disc does not meet Redbook standards and many people have reported them sounding clearly inferior to the CD-only versions. Hybrid SACD's CD layer always sounds at least as good as the CD-only version in my experience. More often than not the CD layer sounds better with SACD hybrids than the CD-only discs (although this is really because of a better stereo master was created while encoding to DSD). Bottom line is I have no reservation recommending a hybrid SACD to someone with only a CD player but I would not do the same for Dual Disc.
3. All of the major transport manufacturers have published disclaimers against using their players (or players based on their transports) with Dual Discs because the disc itself is too thick. My guess is normal drawer-loaded home machines would play them back just fine but there is a chance the discs could get stuck in slot-loaded players (ie - car stereos). Kinda defeats the purpose if you can't listen to the CD side in the car, no?

If I want DVD video with my CD I'll take them on separate discs.

Probably more information than you wanted :)

Hawkeye
04-04-2005, 05:55 AM
I've been listening to Deadwing now for a few days. 'Shallow' was available for a while as a free download, so I've listened to that quite a bit over the last month or so. I think if you like 'Blackest Eyes' from the last cd, you'll like this song. Two standout tracks that hooked me right away are 'Lazarus' and 'Arriving Somewhere But Not Here' these sound a bit more like traditional PT, if there is such a thing. Overall, it will take me some more time with this cd to feel comfortable with it, but I think I eventually will. I hear a DVD-A is coming, not sure if it will be dual disc or not though. Also heard a North American tour is planned.