Customer Reviews

Signify

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Perhaps saying Porcupine Tree is the 'best band in the world' is a little strong; they have some pretty strong competition out there. And I didn't say the best band of all time, because someday, perhaps somebody better will emerge. But if you are a fan of progressive, thoughtful, briliantly executed and flawlessly produced music, you will do no better than PT.

The early albums, ON THE SUNDAY OF LIFE, and VOYAGE 34, THE COMPLETE TRIP are very psychodelic in nature, evoking LSD trips and magic mushroom imagery, (I'm guessing, as I've never actually done that myself). Inevitable comparisons with Sid Barret and early Pink FLoyd will be made. In fact, the specter of Pink Floyd will follow PT's work through much of their catalog, including UP THE DOWNSTAIR, never more evident than in THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS, and up to SIGNIFY. It should be stressed that PT is not a clone band, trying to be like.... Steven Wilson has a unique and distinctive style that blends many influences, from techno dance, space ambient, progressive blues, and alternative rock; into absolutely brilliant compositions. The later albums, STUPID DREAM and LIGHTBULB SUN move the band further away from their influences and into their own catagory, by which other bands eventually will be compared.

I have been searching for a great contemporary progressive band for years; many of the offerings out there are good, but leave me unsatisfied and wanting more. Marillion, Spocks' Beard, Dream Theater, Flower Kings, etc... all good bands who, for me seem to fall just short of the mark. The old standard bearers like Yes, Roger Waters, King Crimson and Jethro Tull are still making some very good music (or releasing the same old music, like Floyd), but they don't seem to be able to capture the sparks that made them great way back when.

However, Porcupine Tree has fully pleased and satisfied my expectations with each new release. I find that I can't get enough and cannot wait for the next album. It baffles me that they are not better known in America - given their consistent level of excellent music, I would expect that Porcupine Tree would be a household name. Yea, as far as I'm concerned, they are the best band in the world today.

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).

I think I misunderstood what art rock meant, or could mean, until I listened to Porcupine Tree. While art rock may call to mind groups like Yes, King Crimson, the Moody Blues and other early progressive rock groups, there was a certain pretension and bombast to their work that often made you wonder whether the heavy music was overdone just to show you how awesome rock music could be (I love these groups, by the way). Porcupine Tree has some music that approaches bombast, and yet their focus is on the art of music. Through more than a decade of sculpting music they have yet to succumb to the dark side of rock (commercialism), keeping true to their musical vision in spite of mediocre sales.

"Signify" is somewhat different from the two previous Porcupine Tree CDs I have reviewed, the incredible "In Absentia" and the excellent "The Sky Moves Sideways." The latter album is focused on psychedelic instrumentals; vocals, though infrequently used, are well done. The former album I consider to be one of the best rock albums I have ever heard, and the best progressive rock album I have ever heard. "Signify" seems to be a combination of genres, with more standard rock elements than either of these two albums, yet combining highly surreal poetry with the music. There are still sufficient musically interesting elements for most progressive rock fans, but only four of the twelve tracks are beyond six minutes. One should not be misled by the length, however, as some tracks feed the next track.

This CD opens with "Bornlivedie," an instrumental track with a voiceover that invites you to sit back and enjoy the music. This artistic track ends with the word, `signify,' before launching into a rock instrumental with synthesizers and mellotron helping expand the musical scope of the guitars and drums.

"Sleep of no Dreaming" is the first song, and the music has a hard bite to it to match the heavily poetic and psychedelic lyrics. I would provide a sample of the lyrics, but a portion here would be to short-change the true effect of all the lyrics. The closest I can come to giving a reference are some of the more bizarre lyrics of Tool, and even that is a woefully inadequate description. "Pagan" is another instrumental that feels somewhat dreamlike with samples, synthesizers and drums.

The next two tracks are linked. "Waiting Phase One" is a gloomy song about some of the worst things that life has to offer, depression, drugs, and pain. The music has an almost pop-like flavor, and could be pop but for the topic. "Waiting Phase Two" is the fourth instrumental and the longest yet on this CD, with two even longer instrumentals to come. True to form, Richard Barbieri's phenomenal synthesizer skill unites the samples, pianos, guitars and percussion to form a track that is interesting and challenging, and yet not so esoteric that it becomes inaccessible to a casual listener, which might also be said of the other instrumentals on this CD.

The following track starts off with interesting vocal effects before launching into incomprehensible lyrics that may push beyond avant garde. The lyrics of "Sever" transcend poetry as they are a juxtaposition of images that hint at a unifying theme without immediately revelation. This song contains elements that would be exploited more fully in "In Absentia," particularly the lush harmonies alternating with a more dramatic vocal style. This track is one of the best on this CD.

"Idiot Prayer" begins as a two-layered instrumental. In the background are a variety of electronica that provides the backdrop for programmed drums. There is a spoken part that I can hear only partially, with only the "please help" standing out. The instrumental finishes enthusiastically with a more traditional rock beat standing out from the electronic effects. This instrumental is nothing special, just very good music for listening.

Another of the better tracks on this CD is "Every Home Is Wired." My preference for the style of music that would be on "In Absentia" is obvious, as this song has that style, though with far more surreal lyrics. This song is relatively unique on this CD as it is the only one that is similar to the style of Yes. The vocals multi-layered harmonies, with numerous overdubs, and the result is excellent. The last two minutes of this song features an eerie assortment of electronic effects that may invite comparison to science fiction movie sound effects of the 50s and 60s.

Two instrumentals follow that are related at least by title, "Intermediate Jesus" and "`Light Mass Prayers.'" The first instrumental features a heavy and somber sound with occasional vocals by an evangelical type person. This instrumental may have been a musical commentary on the heavy-handed way in which some religions deal with people and problems. The second instrumental is in sharp contrast to the first in that it is very meditative. The effects are mellow and harmonious, and somewhat in contrast with much of the rest of this CD. However, given the breadth of the music included on any Porcupine Tree CD, the scope this instrumental adds is consistent.

The last instrumental flows smoothly into "Dark Matter." This song could be interpreted in so many ways. The ephemeral nature of life and fame are subtly, and poetically, suggested. The song may also be a partial condemnation of the coverage and momentary fame our society, exemplified by the media, gives violent criminals. This song is well crafted and yet another excellent track.

Porcupine Tree has impressed me with each of the three CDs I have heard. I plan to get them all. Porcupine Tree may not be the best rock band, or the best progressive rock band, which is always a matter of opinion anyway, but, in my opinion they are close.

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.

In a time when great music is hard to find, I feel lucky at 50yo to have stumbled onto PT. Sort of a meld of YES and Pink Floyd but with a 21st century fresh breeze throughout. Complex and driving one moment then serene and peaceful the next. If you wish Pink Floyd had done more good music just go right ahead and buy this album, you will not be sorry. I never heard the original edition of this but this special edition is very special. Turn down the lights have a sip and climb up the Porcupine tree, the quills are sharp indeed but instead of pain they will awaken your brains inner need for great smooth complex magical music. The girl on the cover art is my aunt Hagatha, she was not harmed in any way during the making of this amazing album. Although she did have some mild ringing in her ears for about 15 hours. . . . OH ! The bonus disk you ask ? Unlike many artists who toss you the leftovers and refuse, PT gives you another entire CD of great music, making this wonderful album nearly twice as good. This is my 6th PT album and I will be looking for more soon. Enjoy ! Say Hi to Hagatha for me as well.

I loved everything about the original release of "Signify"... the cover art; the lush, dense sound; the songwriting and musical performance. Songs like "Waiting" and "Sever" are classics in my book. Steven Wilson is a virtuoso guitarist with a great voice and incredible writing and arranging skills, Richard Barbieri holds things together with his keyboard textures, Colin Edwin is as steady a bassist as one will find anywhere, and the band's original drummer Chris Maitland is technically gifted on the drums but definitely not to the point of not allowing emotions to come through in his playing.

So why would a reissue be so much better than the original release? I'm not an audiophile, but this remaster actually does sound a bit cleaner, maybe less "dark" in places, maybe due to the remastering, and that's fine... but for me, this was the drawing card: included here is a second CD of 10 demos by Wilson, recorded during the time of "Signify"! And while these demos don't sound quite like a fully fleshed-out band, they do sound very, very good. He does a nice version of "Nine Cats", which appeared on "On The Sunday Of Life", an early PT effort performed by Wilson. Other songs include demos of "Sever" and "Waiting", and if you listen carefully to the other seven demos, you might notice sections of these songs that were eventually used on "Signify".

All in all, the package offers the original album as well as some very listenable insights into its making. For fans of Porcupine Tree, this is not to be missed. For newcomers, there is a lot here to enjoy if you like good musicians playing and singing good, inventive music. Check it out!

"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.

I bought the Signify album a couple years ago and loved it. Just recently I was in the store and noticed that the reissue was packaged with an entire second album of demo and unreleased material! That was enough incentive for me to buy this double album, and I was glad I did!

If you have never heard Signify in the first place, I can only say that it is a fantastic album and you won't regret buying it. If you need more convincing, just look at the reviews for the original Signify album, I don't want to get into that here.

This album is a remastered version of the original. To be honest the album didn't especially need a remaster. This version does sound a bit cleaner and has a stronger bass sound, but I haven't compared the two side by side and I don't notice any major differences.

The real prize here is the second disc, an album called "Insignificance" that was only available through the PT information service back in 97. Although it's comprised of b-sides and demos, "Insignificance" is a better album than most bands would record at all, and a real treat for die hard PT fans who didn't get to hear it the first time around.

"Wake as Gun I" is just a solid PT song in the vein of the other non-instrumental tracks on Signify, perhaps not as unique as the ones that made the album but still a great track.

"Hallogallo" features the same tune as the opening of the track "Signify," but it is played without the distortion and the feel of the song is much softer.

"Signify" is close to the album version, but isn't quite as aggressive and actually has some vocals towards the end!

"Waiting" is the same as the album version, except not as developed as far as the background and electronics of the track, and the lead and other guitar fills are arranged differently. Hearing this formative version really makes you appreciate the beautiful phrasing of the guitar leads in the final version.

"Smiling not Smiling" is another song like "Wake as Gun" that didn't make the album, but is definitely a good inclusion on this one.

"Wake as Gun II" begins basically the same as "Wake as Gun I" but disintegrates into ambience and guitar noise. Interesting track.

"Neural Rust" is a very cool instrumental track, but much more upbeat sounding than "Signify". Keen PT fans will expect this to be an early version of "Every Home is Wired," but in fact the songs have no relation. I nterestingly enough the opening drumbeat is the same one used to open "Dark Matter".

"Dark Origins" is exactly what it sounds like it would be. The song starts with the beginning of "Dark Matter" and then continues with that basic pattern and expands it into a great instrumental track, I guess in the same manner that "Waiting phase two" took the bassline from "Waiting" and expanded on it.

"Sever Tomorrow" is basically the same as "Sever," but I think the revised title was a good choice.

"Nine Cats- acoustic version" is exactly that, an acoustic version of the "On the Sunday of Life" classic.

If you never had Signify, this is a great time to pick it up. IF you already know how great the album is...what are you waiting for? This is more than worth the purchase.