This was my point of entry into the world of Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson. I was aware of his existence before this point as I heard a quirky little single called Jupiter Island on Mark Radcliff’s radio show, but Sygnify was the point where I thought “wow, there’s something really cool happening here”. Up until this point Porcupine Tree had just been a side project of his day job with No-Man (a little art pop combo with Tim Bowness). In fact, everything about Porcupine Tree was almost a joke, as Steven had invented a fake history for the band as well as fake bios for the fake members. So what changed I hear you ask? Wel,l I guess Steven began to see that there was more life and freedom in this project than in No-Man.
The psychedelic weirdness is still present on this album, but it’s mixed with a lot more Prog influences and bursts of heaviness. There are some really beautiful pieces on this record such as Sleep Of No Dreaming , which is one of my favourite PT tracks ever – such a moving piece. Then there are really groovy moments like Waiting (Phase 1 and 2) which starts in an almost Floyd-esque moment of Prog joy, then the bass and bongos take over which guides the song to almost trance territory with its hypnotic groove. A superbly written song that I never tire of hearing.
What a great opening side, and then we flip to Side 2 with Sever – another one of my fav PT tunes. It’s just so epic, and I hope Steven will dig this out and play it with his solo band one day. Idiot Prayer has to be the most danceable Prog track ever, with that wicked bass line and hippy weirdness – the Ozrics do spring to mind when listening to this. Every Home Is Wired is the one song that has the hangover of psychedelia from the first album, but it’s still a cool track. Intermediate Jesus sees the band delve deep into experimental Prog and jam band territory with this very trippy track. Light Mass Prayers is a very ambient piece, and Tangerine Dream could be a reference point as I just find this a very relaxing track. Dark Matter closes out the album, and is the one track from the album that still gets an airing from Steven when playing live – it’s a fantastic track.
Seeing as the album only takes up three sides, Side 4 has three bonus tracks which were recorded at the same time, Sound Of No One Listening (an instrumental), Colourflow In Mind which seems to be a track awaiting lyrics, and an alternate version of Sygnify. So that’s the first great Porcupine Tree album, and I would recommend this to anyone with a wide varied taste.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
