Porcupine Tree - indefinite hiatus

[DrGoon]

From:

http://somethingelsereviews.com/2013...orcupine-tree/

Wilson's latest comment on the future of Porcupine Tree:

"So, I guess I have made the decision, right now, to concentrate on the solo career. But that’s not to say that the band has broken up or anything like that. It’s always conceivable that we could get back together in a year or five years, or 10 years. I really can’t say. There are no plans at the moment.”

There were rumours around the time of the special RCMH and RAH shows back in 2010 that manager Andy Leff had been heard commenting that this represented the end of Porcupine Tree. Perhaps the rumours were correct and Leff was prescient. I still suspect that Wilson is trying to create pent-up demand in the existing fan base to open the next chapter of PT with a lot of hype. My guess is that the next PT sessions will take place in secret and that late 2014 or early 2015 will see a sudden wave of heavily marketed activity.

[JKL2000]

Did Wilson write all, or almost all of the PT albums? Just wondering if maybe this was just a cleaner, easier way to say "Hey, I want to be in control of everything, but I don't want to do it by telling everyone I'm in control of everything involving P Tree."

Or is that just really obvious? Personally, I don't care, as all P Tree and all Steven Wilson albums just sound like P Tree to me. I don't care what it's called.

[Rufus]

Did Wilson write all, or almost all of the PT albums? Just wondering if maybe this was just a cleaner, easier way to say "Hey, I want to be in control of everything, but I don't want to do it by telling everyone I'm in control of everything involving P Tree."

Or is that just really obvious? Personally, I don't care, as all P Tree and all Steven Wilson albums just sound like P Tree to me. I don't care what it's called.

That was going to be my question! What is the difference sonically between PT & SW ? If I played a PT & SW album would I tell if they were two different entities ?

[boilk]

Trying to create pent-up demand in the existing fan base? That doesn't sound like him at all, at least not from the public personna that he has projected. I'm happy that his new band and solo work are so good. No regrets for me, and I'm a PT fan, but I think that without a big makeover their style had about peaked.

neil

[JKL2000]

That was going to be my question! What is the difference sonically between PT & SW ? If I played a PT & SW album would I tell if they were two different entities ?

I know I wouldn't, but that's probably because I didn't really get into the couple of P Tree albums leading up to The Incident. The "metallic" P Tree wasn't for me, even though I like prog metal. I like my P Tree/S. Wilson on the mostly-mellow side, with occasional flurries of wildness.

[Spiral]

If I played a PT & SW album would I tell if they were two different entities ?

Yes.

A couple bits of Insurgentes (and maybe The Raven to a lesser extent) bear a resemblance to the overall sound of the last couple PT albums, so someone might confuse samples or snippets, but there's no way a whole album by either one could be mistaken for the other.

[DrGoon]

Wilson was the primary songwriter for PT and is credited as the sole author of 80-90% of the music. The music tends to be written by Wilson as a framework for the band and brought to sessions in which the other three members add to it. The credited authorship may therefore be a little simplistic. While there are notable similarities between PT and Wilson solo compositions, there are also notable differences. I think that especially with a dominant songwriter, having other musicians providing creative inputs helps provide greater breadth to the compositions.

[Scott Bails]

Hasn't he been saying this in just about every interview for the last year or so?

[Spiral]

Just wondering if maybe this was just a cleaner, easier way to say "Hey, I want to be in control of everything, but I don't want to do it by telling everyone I'm in control of everything involving P Tree."

Not quite. After all, PT have managed pretty well for a long while in the form they found (basically a semi-democratic entity where Steven generally has the final say while respecting the others' tastes & abilities and giving them room to contribute). It's not really an issue about needing control, more a wish to explore musical avenues & ideas that simply wouldn't work in that setup with those musicians.

[Dean Watson]

"Drive Home" sounds like it could be right off of Absentia to me.

[Paulrus]

Hasn't he been saying this in just about every interview for the last year or so?

Yeah, please file this in the "Not News" section.

[VickiLynn]

"Drive Home" sounds like it could be right off of Absentia to me.

While we were listening to TRTRTS driving home a few days ago, I mentioned to my husband that "Drive Home" has a (watered-down) "Lazarus" vibe to it for me -- and I really don't care for "Lazarus" too much, but I love "Drive Home." I agree that this track seems a bit Porcupine Tree-ish