Been listening to Porcupine Tree since my Jr year in college, at Drake. Aaron Jaco got me in on that band. I don’t really remember if he just sent me one song, a few, or an album or what. But I remember certain songs like I heard them for the first time, yesterday: “Arriving Somewhere but Not Here”, “Blackest Eyes”, “Synesthesia”, “Open Car”, and “Halo” all stuck out for me like they were the most important things on the planet.
I’d already had my “musical awakening” at this point. It happened somewhere between my first Crystal Method album and that Hooverphonic CD I brought back from London, back in high school. But Porcupine Tree was my first real deep dive into understanding my taste in music and progressive rock in general. But one of the things that really got to me about this band was the head member, one Mr. Steven Wilson. See, I’d recognized the importance of a front man, a lead guitarist, a primary songwriter, etc. in many bands before. This was not a new concept for me. But for some reason, with this band and this particular gentleman, something new happened: I began to see the band for its parts for the first time, on my own. Not talking like “Oh, I like Zeppelin with Page and Plant and blah blah blah” or “The Beatles! John! Paul! Ringo! George!” I’m talking, discovering these parts for myself, outside the standard cultural understanding of a mega pop act or legendary-status band. My band, my appreciation, my understand. My deconstruction and rebuilding of the parts from and into the whole. And through this growth I came to know and love the musicianship of Steven Wilson.
That I got to see Porcupine Tree in Kansas City before they broke up is one of the highlights of my concert-going life (honestly, shouting the lyrics to “Open Car” and “Halo” are things I’ll never forget), but not long after this the band was over and done with and Wilson went solo and, while I liked his first album, I feared that I was pretty much only listening to him in the hopes of hearing that little bit of Tree in his style that I loved and that had connected with me. “Grace for Drowning” was a day one purchase, but his second album meant nothing to me because it was “too different” from anything I’d heard and devoured before.
Years passed and I continued to grow. I expanded my musical adventures and explored deeper into genres and sounds. And then something happened… I heard “Drive Home” and that Govan guitar solo. And then a few years later I ignored work entirely to listen to “Hand. Cannot. Erase.” in its entirety. And something clicked: Porcupine Tree, for better or worse, was a great band, formative in my understanding of music both in general and in regards to my experience with it. But it, like Blackfield and No-Man and Bass Communion and anything else Wilson had done before, was just his pupal stage. His cocoon. His solo stuff was where he finally – not be get overly cheesy, but… – spread his wings and started to soar.
I’ve since seen him twice live, once for the HCE tour and now, again, earlier this week in Nashville on “To the Bone” and, well. Not only did I finally get to meet him, but I also finally have a new level of appreciation for this dude that has meant the world to me. I screamed lyrics, cried during that beautiful musical explosion during “Pariah”, laughed at his stupid jokes, and got giddy the second I saw him come off the bus. And I am sitting here at work, today, listening to so much of his stuff and re-living these experiences the best I can, as close as I can get to hearing his stuff for the first time.
I’ll always miss Porcupine Tree. I’ll always be wary of him trying a new style (though “Permenateing” has absolutely grown on me). And I’ll always be sad when I can’t convince other people of his worth and value (as though this were my responsibility). But I will always be there to support a man living his dream and doing it well.
At least until he goes full Alex Callier and undoes everything and makes me slightly resent ever giving his band a chance.
Come on, Alex. Let the new Hooverphonic stuff sound good. PLEASE.
skylerbartels 