Porcupine Tree Album: “Stupid Dream”

It seems in this day of age we are bombarded with music from bands that simply have no talent. Groups like Limp Biskit or Godsmack are on the top of the charts. Why is this when there is quality rock and roll being made?

You can hear this quality from Porcupine Tree. Steven Wilson gives you more than most bands--he takes you places with his songs and lyrics. While other bands are pumping out standard rock--PT utilizes elements of folk, classical, and the progressive sounds of the 70's. Using guitar, piano, synthesizer, bass, banjo, dulcimer and whatever else they can find, PT produces an album that is pure narcotic genius.

It's not often I find an album where I can listen to every track. With "Stupid Dream," each song is a stand-out cut. From the melow hard rocker "Even Less," to the spacey and brilliant "Baby Dream in Cellophane," PT simply delivers real music and real rock to the masses. With lyrics dealing with alien contact, the end of the world, and the acceptance of oneself, it's hard to believe this band is not on a major label.

Buy this record--you must. It's one you must have in your collection.

Why is a band like PT being overlooked by mainstream music? Maybe it's too much to handle for those people who want the same pre-fabricated garbage that is out there. If you want sophisticated music with an edge--this is the band for you!

THE BAND: Steven Wilson (vocals, guitar, piano, bass, samples), Richard Barbieri (keyboards, mellotron, Hammond organ), Colin Edwards (bass), Chris Maitland (drums & percussion).

THE DISCS: (1999) 12 tracks clocking in at just over 60 minutes. This is a 2-disc package: Disc-1 is the original 12 track album (remastered). Disc-2 is a DVD-Audio disc containing the same 12 tracks - to be played on your DVD player at home through your 5.1 surround sound system or on your home PC (must have a DVD player installed). Disc-2 has bonus material including a video ("Piano Lessons"), photo gallery, bonus track "Ambulance Chasing" (previously only available on "Recordings"), and the full length 14+ minute version of "Even Less". Included with the discs is a 14-page booklet containing song titles/credits, song lyrics, odd pictures relating to the album cover, and one band photo. Recorded at Foel Studios(Wales) and No Man's Land (England). The album cover artwork has changed... the original guy standing in the white suit in the wafer lab is gone. Initially on Madfish Records (UK) label, this digitally remastered version released in 2006 is on Transmission Recordings' label.

COMMENTS: In my opinion, Porcupine Tree is quite simply the best band working in the progressive rock field these days. "Stupid Dream" is a masterwork and I put it right up there with "Lightbulb Sun" (2000), "In Absentia" (2002) and "Deadwing" (2005) as being my favorite studio recordings from PT. A great album, song for song, with no filler to be found. If I had to list my 2 or 3 all-time favorite songs from PT, the opening track here "Even Less" is absolutely one of them. The song itself is one of their concert staples. Hard to say if the story (about childhood dreams and a friend who commits suicide) or the fantastic guitar that begins the song is the best part (the intro reminds me of something Jimmy Page or David Gilmore might have done decades ago). The original pressing of "Stupid Dream" is now out of print and expensive if you can find it. This new packaging is equally brilliant. The songs are wonderful... "Even Less" a favorite; "Piano Lessons" a happy upbeat song about "tiny hands destroying timeless tunes" as a youngster; some great space jams with "Slave Called Shiver", "This Is No Rehearsal" and "Tinto Brass"; as well as some beautiful acoustic drumless ballads in "Pure Narcotic" and "Baby Dream In Cellophane". Another favorite on "Stupid Dream" is the song "Smart Kid"... starting off as a acoustic guitar and piano ballad with the rest of the band joining in to jam half way through the tune. This is a great album and if you enjoy rock-and-roll music as well as progressive rock - you must have "Stupid Dream". *Note - if you find the song "Even Less" being one of your favorites from PT, look for the full length 14-minute version of the same song on the "Recordings" (2001) release. The digitally remastered sound is brilliantly crisp to a fault. Also look for The Tree's wonderful DVD "Arriving Somewhere" (2006) featuring 2 songs from this album ("Even Less" and "Don't Hate Me"). "Stupid Dream" is a classic disc from The Tree (5 stars).

First of all, the #1 rule of PT collecting is that if something's available, buy it, because it may not be around forever...so this applies in general to all things Porcupine Tree/Steve Wilson. However, this album isn't just a great PT album, or a great PT album, but a desert-island-top-ten album.

I first saw Porcupine Tree on the first leg of the Deadwing Tour, in June '05. I had heard In Absentia and the excellent Stars Die compilation of their early work and had extremely high expectations. But nothing prepared me for my reaction to the show. By the end of it I was ripping my PT t-shirt off to check and see if I could catch another date...alas, it was not to be. I remember asking the lovely blonde lady next to me what was that AMAZING song that they did right before they broke for their encore and she said "Even Less. Wow, you were so into the show and you've never heard anything off of Stupid Dream?"

I called a friend the next day that had been a longtime "Tree Hugger," and the first thing he asked me was "How did you like that song right before the encore? That's from Stupid Dream, the album that blew my doors off a few years back." The song was, of course, Even Less.

In the month or so thereafter, I went from owning 3 Porcupine Tree albums to nearly 50 Porcupine Tree and Steve Wilson-related discs (and seeing 4 shows on the second Deadwing leg), and while it's all a pretty amazing body of work, Stupid Dream is at the apex. It's that good. It shares the "poppy, song oriented era" of Porcupine Tree with Lightbulb Sun, but is far more consistent, and perfectly bridges the psychedelic earlier PT music with the heavier, metal-tinged era of In Absentia, Deadwing, and from the sound of the new material at their LA and San Francisco shows last week, continuing through the next effort. It's more structured than the early material, yet still mostly melodic rather than metallic, with powerful, spare lyrics coupled with complex, yet catchy arrangements and song structure. It gives up more and more with each listen, and while it holds together as a body of work, it also contains a huge variety of sounds and approaches.

The 5.1 mixes are fantastic, and the bonus material is great, but any Tree Hugger should buy this disk solely because it contains the 14 minute "full length" version of Even Less, which appeared on Recordings, a limited edition (read...$300+ on E-bay) of singles, outtakes and b-sides from Stupid Dream/Lightbulb Sun. Whereas the original version has two verses about a suicide, a murder, and horrible childhood memories, and ends with an eerie countown of radio numbers, the "full length" version continues through a long, percussive instrumental build leading to a screaming guitar solo and a DEVASTATING third verse that is a scream of anger at the hopelessness of faith in the face of loss and alienation, a searing indictment of Christianity in particular, and a final coda of giving in and submission to forces beyond our control. It's by far the best "progressive epic" song in years, and will indeed blow your doors off.

If you like any sort of "progressive" music, get this disc immediately, as it's one of the best in the past ten years.

This album's reissue in early 2006 (for real this time!) can't come soon enough. Even though I'm one of those lucky folks who managed to snag a copy of this small masterpiece despite its being out of print for years, I look forward to its being back anyway, just so the rest of the world can discover (or rediscover) the awesomeness of Stupid Dream and help give it some of the praise it deserves.

The weirdest thing is that I can't really put my finger on why it's so great. This is possibly the most accessible PT album yet - or at least on a level with the three that have come since - and the tunes are (mostly) more straightforward than anything they'd done previously. Yet the catchiness never seems to wear off, the brilliance in writing isn't lessened in the least, the musicianship is tight/tasteful as ever and reams of texture and atmosphere make the sound so tasty it's almost too much to handle. This disc includes a helping of Peter Gabriel, some earlier Radiohead, a little Ozric Tentacles, a dash of Brian Eno and a smidge of King Crimson's ProjeKcts to give it a little extra space-jazz flavor.. all amid the indefinable element that makes it distinctly a Porcupine Tree work.

Some fans of the band's psychedelic/prog roots didn't care for the more simplified stuff here, but 'poppy' or not, these are some of the greatest PT songs ever. "A Smart Kid" is a bleak post-Dr. Strangelove landscape by way of Pink Floyd... "Pure Narcotic" is surprisingly pretty and almost whimsical, while you'll find yourself gladly singing/humming "Piano Lessons," "Stranger by the Minute" and "This Is No Rehearsal" for days since their hooks won't let you go. Just to top it off, the fiery kinetic "Tinto Brass" could rank with the most intriguing instrumentals you've ever heard. I could nitpick about "Even Less" being cut in half, but the shorter take fits better with the conciseness of the rest of the album, and the yummy perfection of the whole thing really isn't lessened because of it.

Psychedelic music-heads, texture lovers and Radiohead fans take note: you've got a real treat coming once this is available again, and experiencing Stupid Dream for the first time is a marvel. I'm almost jealous.

The change in identity between Porcupine Tree's previous studio album, Signify, to Stupid Dream may have thrown PT listeners for a loop (good or bad). The seeds for Stupid Dream were in Signify's tighter sound, shorter songs and more direct lyrics.

All this said Stupid Dream is a major change. It is more glossy, more "major label" sounding and more accessable to a larger audience.

Starting with the huge sounding Even Less going from epic rock with a slight progressive feel to an electronica style end this song encapsulates PT's approach on Stupid Dream.

Songs like Piano Lessons, Pure Narcotic and Slave Called Shiver are some of the most commercial sounds produced by Porcupine Tree. There are still moments of great ambience similar to the more expansive style songs PT were known for on previous albums. Tinto Brass is a great example of this side of PT.

Each song carries itself well, Don't Hate Me starts as a sad lament and branches off into yet another smart instrumental segment. In the past it was sometimes hard to call Porcupine Tree tracks songs. They were expanded and expansive but on Stupid Dream everything is compressed and refined. 4 of the 12 songs are over five minutes in length so we aren't talking traditional/current pop songs.

Stupid Dream is really a brilliant album. It's song programming is excellent, taking one on a voyage. Whereas PT used to do the same thing with their longer songs here it is the album that takes that approach making for one hour of ear candy that has real substance.

If you are already a fan and haven't gotten Stupid Dream because of the cries of "sell out" take the leap. Like any good work of art repeated attention brings rewards. To the unintiated this is somewhat like the kind of bands that try to be hip by embracing electronic sounds. Porcupine Tree however has always had great chops in both the electronic and rock arena so this is a pretty safe bet. If you are looking for long jams to space out over it's here but you'd have to work harder to get that vibe, try The Sky Moves Sideways or Signify.

Buy this CD if you can find it, availability is spotty.