Disco de Porcupine Tree: “Signify [Bonus Disc]”

THE BAND: Steve Wilson (lead vocals, guitars, mellotron, keyboards, samplers & tapes), Richard Barbieri (keyboards, synthesizers & sequencers), Colin Edwin (bass), Chris Maitland (drums & percussion).

THE DISC(S): Originally released in 1997, this revised and remastered foldout digi-pak 2-disc set released in 2004. 22 songs clocking in at approximately 108 minutes (the original 12-track album is disc-1 at approximately 62 minutes, and the 2nd (bonus) disc titled "Insignificance" at approximately 46 minutes). Included with the discs is a 6-page booklet containing songs titles/credits, song lyrics, musicians, and odd pictures. The "Insignificance" disc is a selection of Wilson demos that includes several tracks that were not recorded for the final "Signify" album, as well as formative versions of some that were. Label - Snapper Music.

COMMENTS: This was my first disc from Porcupine Tree. I like it a ton, but it's definitely not my favorite (favorites include "In Absentia", "Stupid Dream", Lightbulb Sun" and "Deadwing"), but absolutely essential in their catalog of must-have albums. Some great songs here... the best in my opinion are the "Sleep Of No Dreaming" (dark, moody, wonderful), the opening jam "Signify", "Waiting Phase 1" followed by the instrumental "Waiting Phase 2", and the 8 minute album closer "Dark Matter". More than other recent Tree albums, "Signify" features many (6) instrumentals. Some being minute-and-a-half synthesizer experiments, while others being full blown 6-7 minute jams... the best being "Intermediate Jesus", "Idiot Prayer" and the title track. The soft acoustic "Every Home Is Wired" is a gem of a song too (with futuristic words from Wilson about the home PC). The bonus disc is a nice addition. It contains a few different takes (demos) of songs included on disc-1, as well as new material not previously released. Two excellent instrumentals with "Neural Rust" and Dark Origins". And, the two best songs with vocals being "Wake As Gun I" and "Sever Tomorrow". This disc made me go out and buy the rest of their material... several years ago, this turned out to be a great discovery for me - since 2002 Porcupine Tree has been my favorite band. I rate "Signify" as PT's first essential disc. Look for the digi-pak (4.5 stars).

1996's Signify was Porcupine Tree's final studio album for Delerium, they recorded a live album in '97 for the label called Coma Divine Live, before moving on to Snapper. I have not heard Stupid Dream or anything they did afterwards, that means that so far, I have to say Signify is by far the finest album Porcupine Tree had ever done, certainly for the Delerium label. I first heard of Porcupine Tree back in 1996 when a mail order catalog described them as a "laid back Ozric Tentacles". In 1997, I bought The Sky Moves Sideways and was amazed. The Ozric Tentacles comparison was basically only valid during the more techno moments of the group, the Pink Floyd comparison was much more valid. The tone of their music was much darker and more sinister than anything the Ozrics could come up with. Steven Wilson admitted the Pink Floyd influence in his music with Porcupine Tree, but later found it an albatross around his neck, since he wanted their music to move on beyond that, like their more recent releases.

Signify was certainly PT at the top of their game. While only half the cuts on The Sky Moves Sideways featured a complete band (as the band was assembled halfway through making that album), Signify had much greater band interaction. This album is stuffed with lots of great songs like "The Sleep of No Dreaming", "Waiting Phase One", "Sever", "Every Home is Wired" and "Dark Matter". I really love the vocal arrangements on "Every Home is Wired". In between many of these cuts are some great ambient experiments like "Pagan" and "Intermediate Jesus". I really appreciate how some of the cuts tended to be acoustic, others electic, others electronic, and some of all in some of the cuts. I also liked how the production was modern, but not giving it a sterile feel, too many albums I've heard from the '80s and '90s with a modern production had that very plastic, sterile and synthetic sound to it, Porcupine Tree avoided that. Same for Steven Wilson and Richard Barbieri's use of keyboards, most of them digital, but done in the most tasteful way, I usually criticize the use of digital synths because too many of them use the most synthetic sounds, but not Porcupine Tree. These keyboards created a wonderful atmospheric backdrop to go with the music. The entire Signify CD never fails to amaze me every time I listen to it, it's not only my favorite Porcupine Tree CD, it's by far the finest album I've ever heard from the 1990s.

And I own the digipak reissue that includes a second CD, a 1997 disc called Insignificance, which was originally only available through a Porcupine Tree newsletter called Transmission. These were 1995-1996 outtakes from the Signify sessions. About 80% material is stuff found nowhere else, with alternate versions of "Signify", "Waiting" and "Sever". Plus you get a totally acoustic version of "Nine Cats", which originally appeared on the 1991 cassette The Nostalgia Factory (and of course On the Sunday of Life). Honestly I prefer the version off On the Sunday of Life, because the combination of acoustic and electric. Many of these other cuts are excellent, although a couple pieces, like "Dark Origins" sounds like half-finished demos. This is truly nice stuff to have.

If you came through Porcupine Tree through albums like Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, and Deadwing, and want to dig deeper in their catalog, Signify is a great place to start!

Porcupine Tree is not an easy band to pigeonhole. They are often casually tagged with the "progressive rock" label, but Steven Wilson & Co. evade that label by embracing experimental forms of music that may or may not hit standard traits of prog rock. Signify captures the band's narcotic quality perfectly, although the edgy guitar rock of the title track does, well, rock! Often concerned with spacious sonic texture, Signify's many instrumental tracks are minimalistic, heavy on atmosphere. "Idiot Prayer" injects dance-beats into aggressive keyboard work. "Light Mass Prayer" is gripping despite its invariability, with simple synth chords sliding through the mix with a hypnotic effect. "Intermediate Jesus" sports some samples from some loony evangelist while the drifting arrangements at once invite curiosity and admiration for the composition's ingenuity. Steven Wilson's beautiful vocal harmonies on "Sever" and "Waiting Phase One" send shivers through me, while the more robust and dense arrangements under the choruses for "Every Home is Wired" and "Sleep with No Dreaming" make for welcome diversity. Closing the album is Wilson's condemnation of the media, "Darkmatter," punctuated by an entrancing guitar solo that's both beautiful and insistent. If you're looking for something different, try Signify.

"Signify" is my first experience with older Porcupine Tree. Compared to the newest "Deadwing", it feels much less dense, much less complex and much more lonely and solitary. It's almost hard to believe that it was really a 'band' effort and not just Steven Wilson. Drums have a tendency to do the same thing through entire songs, basslines are simple alternations of a couple notes. Guitars are either very emotional soloing or simple chord progressions. Trademark ethereal melodies and sounds are still intact. This sort of minimalism creates of feeling of space and like much (if not all) of Steven's work, sadness and melancholie. At its best, "Signify" is like a misty, foggy day in the fall.

"Bornlivedie" (10/10) is a fitting introduction, with a sweeping synth sound and a 'telephone voice' repeating each word in the title separately followed by "Signify".

"Signify" (8/10) is an instrumental with a very simple and frankly unimagininative riff (2 notes alternating) that's none-the-less developed quite well. Moody atmospherics are placed over the rhythms and a great solo finishes it out.

"Sleep Of No Dreaming" (9/10) introduces us to Wilson's voice and lyrics, which on this album were very literal, honest and occasionally ironic. With lines like "married the first girl who wasn't a man" there's a lot to infer- the irony of it sets the tone of bitterly laughing at past mistakes and lack of experience, etc. This album seems to be the product of an honestly lonely soul, much more so than "Deadwing". The music of this song is really 2 simple riffs, one for verses and one for the chorus. Both are fantastic, but like most of the songs on the album there's no DIRECTION... it doesn't progress to anywhere or anything as it goes on. For "Signify" though it's possible this style was a stylistic choice and a good one.

"Pagan" (10/10) is a fantastic short ambient interlude. Wilson is great at ambient music.

"Waiting Phase One" (10/10) is probably the best song on the album. A very memorable and sad chord progression with perfectly chosen pointillist keyboard notes overlayed, fantastic vocal melodies. "Waiting - the saddest kind of pain".

"Waiting Phase Two" (8/10) is a pleasant but not really standout instrumental. Hand drums and a rhythmic but simple bass line with all sorts of little piano riffs and distant guitar playing over it. Seems more like a collage than a focused effort. It sets a tone but may bore some.

"Sever" (9/10) is a strange rock song that suffers from too much repetition. The mysterious verse and sad, desperate chorus nicely contrast each other as far as tone, but again they're the only things really present. The drums do not change at all and after a while kind of detract from the effect of the rest. It feels looped rather than organic. Samples of a man hysterically laughing and yelling ("The only way to survive is on your knees!") fit in, in an odd sort of way.

"Idiot Prayer" (10/10) is one of the best instrumentals. Simple beat and bassline again, but very focused and structured. Keyboards and guitars that mirror the bassline rise to a loud climax and communicate the feeling of something epic. Eventually it drifts into some dreamy and beautiful chords on the guitar. Most of these instrumentals are long-form, lasting about 5 to 7 minutes.

"Every Home Is Wired" (10/10) begins with some acoustic guitar and an instantly memorable tune. Wilson's lyrics are more external to himself this time around, talking about the invasion of technology into our everyday lives. "Surfing on the network, part of me is dead". A beautiful chorus with overdubbed vocals works very well. There's some jamming after the song has seemingly ended. The song in general is pretty spaced out and psychedelic.

"Intermediate Jesus" (10/10) is an ominous instrumental with a lot of creative and interesting fretless bass work that steals the show. It follows the formula of 'drum beat, bass and atmospherics' once again. These instrumentals usually get their names from the samples in them.

"Light Mass Prayers" (10/10) is the most minimalist song here, also one of the most effective. For 4 minutes it's simply 2 synth chords on a setting that sounds like a voice alternated with pauses and space in between. Somehow it manages to be amazingly sad, beautiful and strange.

"Dark Matter" (10/10) is an excellent, developed and well-written rock song. It begins much in the manner of "Sleep of No Dreaming" or "Every Home Is Wired" and progresses to sound more and more grandiose, heavy and epic. Great, more complex guitar work. 9 minutes of melodic bliss. One of Porcupine Tree's best ever songs.

In summary, with "Signify", you'll get the same sort of sense of melody infused into the other PT albums, but a different style of songwriting than he uses today. This is a mostly instrumental release, leaning in an ambient direction. I wouldn't recommend starting here with this band, but it's great for fans.

This, PT's 1996 album "Signify" is 1 of the 2 PT CD's I own, the second one being 2005's "Deadwing". This album, I can hardly add much to what all of the other reviewers have said about this album. The sounds, the atmospheric feel to the album, everything just comes together to make this a brilliant mix of ethereal soundscapes, electronica, sound effects, and progressive rock. I will definitely be picking up more PT albums, namely 1995's "The Sky Moves Sideways", and 2002's "In Absentia". My favorite on this disc is Idiot Prayer, followed by Intermediate Jesus and Waiting Phase Two. If electronic sound effects, atmospheric synthesizers, and progressive music is your thing, then this is a must-have! 5 stars.