Porcupine Tree's Stars Die: Recalling the early, weirder years
Written: Jan 15 '03
Product Rating:
Pros: Nice overview of the UK Psychedelic Pop band's early days
Cons: Misses the continuity of the original releases
The Bottom Line: A fine collection of early Porcupine Tree songs, this two cd boxed set hits the high points, but is no substitute for the originals. The ones you can find, anyway.
adjensen's Full Review: Stars Die: The Delerium Years '91-97 by Porcupine ...
Of all the bands that I know, the UK's Porcupine Tree has one of the most ridiculous catalogues. Fans who are completists would be hard pressed to find it all...vinyl only albums and EPs, B-Sides, limited editions of 10 copies, cassettes only released in Poland, etc.
And the sad (or happy, depending on your luck in tracking some of this stuff down) fact is that not much of it is filler. Steven Wilson, the band's guitarist, vocalist, writer and leader, doesn't turn out a lot of drek, and even his throw away ideas far exceed the output of many of his contemporaries.
So, amid the re-releases we've seen of late from the band (pushed into the limelight recently with a big record deal from Atlantic and the publicity that goes with that,) Delerium Records has put together a nice box set of some of the oddities, called Stars Die -- The Delerium Years 1991-1997.
While it's not the end all, be all of Porcupine Tree collections, it's a nice addition to the general fan's assortment.
Stars Die
The band for this release was Wilson (guitars, vocals, keyboards,) Richard Barbieri (keyboards,) Colin Edwin (bass) and Chris Maitland (drums.) Although, in actuality, Wilson did pretty much everything on the first cd -- Barbieri is credited with only assisting on one track, everything else is Wilson. The second cd represents the "band proper" as it existed from The Sky Moves Sideways until 2002.
The box contains two cds and a 40 page book that outlines the history of the Progressive Rock band during these years. In addition, each song is annotated with comments about its creation and current usage.
Porcupine Tree is a UK based band that tends towards psychedelic music, fused with straight Progressive Rock and a bit of techno/trance thrown in. The overall sound is largely one in which synthesizers provide a strong base, the main accent is piercing or streaming guitars, filtered vocals and powerful and creative drum and bass. This album demonstrates those characteristics well.
Track Listing
Radioactive Toy
There are two early early tracks that the band continues to play live, and this is one of them. A powerful mixture of psychedelic guitar and moody organ music gives the filtered Wilson vocal an ethereal quality that's early Porcupine Tree at its finest. This ten minute track putters around a bit with an extended instrumental section that's nice, but not really relevant to the main tune.
Nine Cats
Acoustic track that followed "Radioactive Toy" on the 1991 album On the Sunday of Life, this picks up a couple of minutes in, and the overall effect is a dreamy psychedelic tune like the Strawberry Alarm Clock was known for. Nice tune, but a little on the poppy side.
And the Swallows Dance Above the Sun
Heavy on the drums, this is a not particularly interesting track, although the guitar bits that Wilson buzzes around the spoken lyric give it some value.
The Nostalgia Factory
I'm not a big fan of this moody track, which musically works well enough, but features really bad vocals. The keyboards are pretty sharp, but the electronically altered vocals just don't work.
Voyage 34 - Phase One
Eventually fleshed out to four parts, this track is the instrumental soundtrack of an LSD trip, narrated by a guy who sounds like Dick Clark. Bizarre concept, brilliant song, and one which continues to be played live today. There's a bit of repetition here and there, and some of it kind of drags, but overall this 13 minute song is a real treat.
Synesthesia - extended version
The full version of the track which was abridged on Up the Downstair, this is the first of the "rarities," having never been released before. The extra couple of minutes aren't particularly noteworthy, but this remains a pretty good song, foreshadowing a bit of the feel of The Sky Moves Sideways, although with a pretty big techno feel to it.
Phantoms
The notes make comparisons to Syd Barrett in this track, and I'd have to agree that there's a bit of the crazy diamond in here, although it's a lot more draggy than most of his solo work. Acoustic in nature, it features a multi tracked vocal that comes across pretty well.
Up the Downstair
Something of an extension of "Voyage 34," this ten minute track is another musical exploration of psychedelics in the 1990s. Trance in nature, this is broken into movements (of a sort) and while it is repetitive, the guitar interplay with Barbieri's electronics is inviting.
Fadeaway
A pretty little song that is mostly synthesizer and vocal, both "Fadeaway" and "Up the Downstair" were taken from the Up the Downstair album, but are here in a new mix, refreshing up the older tracks.
Rainy Taxi
Wilson's homage to the Krautrock Progressive Rock movement of the 1970s, this is mostly an organ piece, with moody overtones supplemented by subtle guitar. Very nice instrumental, and captures a lot of the Krautrock essence.
Stars Die
One of my favourite songs from the band, "Stars Die" is largely included here because the UK version of Sky Moves Sideways didn't have it on there, although the US version of the album did. Almost a standard rock song in structure, this has a beautiful melodic bass flowing through it. In the liner notes, Wilson notes the similarity of this album to Pink Floyd (and expresses some surprise at the way it came out that way) and this song truly does compare. That's a good thing, if you ask me.
The Sky Moves Sideways -- Phase One
This abbreviated (and even then, it weighs in at over 18 minutes) version of the album of the same name is a classic Pink Floyd influenced Progressive Rock cut. Split into sub tracks, this goes from ethereal to vocal rock to ambient world beat bass and drum weirdness. Clearly a high point in the band's early days, it easily merits the space needed to include it.
Men of Wood
Fuzzy distorted guitar opens up this unreleased track from the Sky Moves Sideways era. More psychedelic pop, this isn't a particularly endearing track, largely because of a rather boring chorus. The guitar is the saving grace here, remaining raunchy and raw throughout.
Waiting
Released as the band's third single, this made it to the Signify album as "Waiting -- Phase One" and is a clean track with sharp guitar and a really nice vocal harmony provided by Maitland. Absolutely killer guitar solo about three minutes in that carries the song to its conclusion.
The Sound of No-one Listening
An instrumental track that was pulled from Signify because it evoked too many memories of Sky Moves Sideways, this was remixed later by Wilson for this version. There's definitely a feeling of the earlier album here, so if you were a fan, this will be a great find.
Colourflow in Mind
Lethargic and moody until the close, this feels emotional, holds some degree of power, but is ultimately kind of slow and dragged out. Not bad, but not a key song.
Fuse the Sky
Redoes sections of the "Colour of Air" part of Sky Moves Sideways in a remix that doesn't really improve on the original as much as it extends it out a bit.
Signify II
Cut from the Signify album, this song is played live a lot anyway. The driving feel of "Signify" is here, but there are some nice guitar bits tossed in that I'd not heard before. The band again stretches out the genre, mixing techno with prog. Very nice tune.
Every Home is Wired
Also from Signify, this is my favourite song from that album. Layers and layers of vocals push the typical PT sound significantly, while the slide guitar accents foreshadow some of the work on the album which would follow this, Stupid Dream.
Sever
One of the heaviest songs that the band did, this uses a minor key to convey a gloomy feel, while the nonsense lyrics are tendered by a gorgeous harmony on the chorus. Elements of world music add to the overall feeling of mystery here. Great song.
Dark Matter
Wilson's treatise on the music industry (everyone's entitled to one of these in their career, right?) this is a pretty good song that mixes a bit of the feel of the earlier albums with the more polished feel of what the band would turn out in Stupid Dream.
Conclusion
Stars Die is a great addition to the collection of the Porcupine Tree fan who has already amassed the majority of the band's work. As an introduction, it also covers the bases nicely, although you lose the continuity of the album releases. The Delerium years were great ones for Porcupine Tree, and this collection, while not exactly a "Greatest Hits," definitely picks most of the high points.
To be honest, this would have probably been better as a single cd that just included the oddball tracks, and skipped the direct from album songs, but the cost isn't much higher than a single cd, so it's not a big deal.
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