Porcupine Tree Album: “Stars Die: The Delerium Years '91-97”

With the release of the brilliant "In Abstentia", there will be a desire to go back into the PTree catalog to become further acquainted with this outstanding band. "Stars Die" is the perfect place to begin as it contains sort of the best of the very early PTree music. As a collection, the songs work well. Like all Ptree albums, you don't just listen to a song or two but rather let them play through, each song/album growing in intensity and beauty upon each listen. For those new to the band and looking for instant rewards, look no further than "The Sky Moved Sideways" and "Dark Matter". They will knock you down with pleasure. "Dark Matter" in fact, has become a crowd favorite as those familiar with PTree's live shows will attest. This is a magnifient collection to get you started backward in the world of the very forward Porcupine Tree. If "In Abstentia" has blown you away, there's much more to be had. You will be delighted with the whole package of "Stars Die"

When I stumble across a CD by a band that leaves my ear thirsting more (in this case IN ABSENTIA), I like going back to explore the band's discography all the while knowing that usually the most recent release is the best. Although IN ABSENTIA is a hard CD to top for sheer enjoyment, STARS DIE comes close. This is the best 'box set' I've ever seen. A nice little package that represents eight years of a developing band that doesn't sound like an old shoddy recording of rehashed tunes stewn together for a 'best of' compilation. If you're just picking up on PORCUPINE TREE and you want to go back and witness their evolution, STARS DIE is simply perfect. Great band, great sound, great CD. Excellent.

For those who are just discovering this phenomenal band, you are in for quite a treat. Stars Die is the perfect place to start if you have heard Deadwing or In Absentia, and want to hear more of the band's earlier works. Not only that, but the set works quite well as an album itself. I own all of the early works, but still listen to my Stars Die set quite a bit, as I like the way the tracks flow from one to another.

Most importantly though, it was recently announced on the band's website that this version of the Stars Die box set is going out of print soon. Snapper UK will be replacing it with a new digipack version. The new digipack will include the same audio material. (with the exception of Up the Downstair and Fadeaway, which will be replaced with the new versions found on the 2004 remaster of Up the Downstair) However, the new version will not include the lengthy history of the band found in the booklet in this version. If you are in any way interested, I highly recommend that you purchase this version now.

This is a very nicely packaged 2-CD compilation of the band's early releases on the UK Delerium label. CD1 is mostly Steven Wilson as one-man-band, while CD2 finds the rest of the latter-era members joining up as the tracks progress.

Porcupine Tree's early discography is a daunting, hard-to-find and expensive mess, so even though some good songs might be missing here, it's still a great way to get a ton of the early stuff in one set.

The box and accompanying book are just beautifully done. PT's music pays homage to the Prog greats of the 70's and so does their album art. The hard-cover box is so nice it should be standard for this type of comp. The book is full of great pictures, a history of the band, track notes that are actually accurate, and it even sort-of makes sense of that jumbled discography.

"The Sky Moves Sideways (phase 1)" is just plain awe-inspiring, probably my all-time PT favorite. Required listening for Progheads. Other standouts include "Nostalgia Factory," "Up the Downstair," "Stars Die, "Waiting" and "Signify 2."

Starting with Radioactive Toy from On The Sunday Of Life on Disc A and ending with Dark Matter from the Signify CD on Disc B this excellent collection from Porcupine Tree's Delerium label works cohesively much like the Pink Floyd Echos collection did.

The difference is PT had quite a bit of EP tracks from this era of which many have been included. With a lot of bands non-album tracks are weak, not so on Stars Die. There are 11 tracks from previous album releases (out of 21) and 10 ranging from remixes/hard to find album tracks to unreleased to prior mentioned EP tracks.

The flow of Stars Die works well, much like it was designed to be a complete album which has a disparate yet similar sound. For die hard fans this may not be enough to aquire the album but it's worth mentioning that to purchase the source material for several of these songs would cost more than this album assuming you could find the EPs.

Highlights include Signify 2, a studio EP track that is similar to their live act in expanded form along with Synaesthesia. Hints of the future lie in songs like Colourflow in Mind, another EP track along with Every Home Is Wired from the Signify CD. There are classics as well including The Sky Move Sideways pt 1 and Voyage 32 pt 1.

For the uninitiated this is a good starting point although PT's albums are probably a better place to begin. For those who don't have Porcupine Tree CDs prior to Stupid Dream this is a great place to start.

Unlike many compilations the tracks here do a good job of representing the band. The booklet inside has interesting interviews, biography and comments mostly from the band about each song. There is a lot of music on these two CDs, well over 140 minutes. The only album not represented is Coma Divine, their live album. The performances on Coma Divine were excellent and showed the development of PT from a one man project to band but this is a minor quibble. This set is highly recommended.