Song:Way Out Of Here
Album:Fear Of A Blank Planet
Porcupine Tree will remind you of a 70s progressive rock group. But they are more recent than that. They have had success in their native England and Europe and made inroads into the US before going on hiatus. The 2007 album Fear Of A Blank Planet is probably their best seller to date. The band leader is guitarist Steven Wilson. He was born Nov. 3, 1967 in Kingston upon Thames, England but he grew up in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. As a teen, he was in several bands and he also messed around at home with multi track recording techniques. In 1986, he launched two projects. The first was called No-Man and the second was Porcupine Tree. Both were supposed to be home studio projects and Porcupine Tree was supposed to be a fictional tribute to Pink Floyd. As No-Man had some success as a band, Wilson also thought Porcupine Tree could turn into a band. After a trial run, Wilson signed with Delerium Records in 1991. After releasing a couple of Porcupine Tree albums, Wilson turned it into a band in 1993 so the songs could be performed live. Wilson was lead singer and guitarist. Other members were Colin Edwin on bass, Chris Maitland on drums and Richard Barbieri on keyboards. Maitland and Barbieri were also in No-Man. Wilson is still recording albums solo but eventually he turns Porcupine Tree into a real band with the 1996 album Signify. This album was released in the US on Ark 21. Wilson decides to leave Delerium for Kscope. The band had outgrown Delerium. The 1999 album Stupid Dream was more of a pop album. It was their best seller to date. Maitland left in 2002 and he was replaced by Gavin Harrison. Then they signed with Lava/Atlantic for the next few albums. In England, they moved to Roadrunner in 2006 but remained on Atlantic in the US. The 2007 album Fear Of A Blank Planet marked a return to a progressive rock sound. King Crimson leader Robert Fripp appears on Way Out Of Here and Alex Lifeson of Rush also makes a guest appearance. The album was very successful and they followed it up with the 2009 album The Incident. After touring, Wilson released a solo album and he put Porcupine Tree on hiatus. He continues to record solo and though there have been rumours of a Porcupine Tree reformation, it seems unlikely at this point. Wilson says that even if he was to reform Porcupine Tree, it would only be as a side project. He wants to focus on his solo work. Here's the video for Way Out Of Here by Porcupine Tree.
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