Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson Top 15 Studio Albums Countdown (please no predictions/speculation)

Just a suggestion - couldn't you add the least worst 'dud' you ejected to your 14 and submit it ?. It would be cool to have you involved and the more lists input into the mix the better imo.

 

On the other side, if all of the other projects other than PT and solo albums WERE included, I would NOT participate as I have no interest in any of those projects.

 

Right, that's my list sent to @George Co-Stanza

It was pretty straightforward in the end. I'm glad No-Man wasn't included, although I think their releases are consistently better than PT, SW is the main writer of PT and (obviously) his solo work, with No-Man it's a collaborative effort with Tim B so it doesn't quite fit with the thread being a ranking of SWs work. Just my opinion anyway.

 

I don't know that Steven is all that interested in touring. He also sets such a high bar for his concerts - got to be the "full experience" with the full sound and light show and full touring band - that there are many places he simply can't afford to play in, not without losing a lot more money than he already does with tours. He seems more interested in playing a select few concerts in venues with full sound surround facilities to give attendees a special experiences, not just ordinary theatres. Too bad if you live in a place that does not have that kind of venue.

I'll continue to buy his music, but I'm done with flying thousands of km to see him perform.

 

Yes, that's what some of the serious fans forget. In the Dire Straits countdown there was talk of including Mark Knopfler solo stuff. I'm glad that was knocked on the head. Knopfler solo is very different from Dire Straits.
Some Yes people wanted the Yes poll to include anything released by someone who was in Yes. Keep the countdown focussed, I say.No-man and Blackfield are quite different from Porcupine Tree.

 

I haven't seen that personally - I did see some comments about ABWH, which would've made sense particularly since it was almost the Fragile/CTTE line-up, the second ABWH album morphed into Union, their tour/live album was called An Evening of Yes Music... and perhaps some comments about the solo material released in the hiatus between Relayer and GFTO.

Obviously the "wider Yes universe" is just about as convoluted as the "wider SW universe".

 

Wilson will be 57 this year, so if he wants to tone touring down to not very often or even none at all, I cannot begrudge him that. I've seen him three times (twice with PT on the Deadwing and Incident tours and once solo on The Raven tour), so I have zero complaints.

 

If and when we do a PT songs countdown, I expect a fair bit of angst over whether we include songs like "London" which served as the template for later more fully formed songs, in this case "Don't Hate Me".

 

Voyage 34 is my #6. 4 1/2 would be on there too.

 

List submitted. That was actually easier than expected.

 

There are actually only two duds on the list, and two albums I haven't heard. If I can have a "proper" listen to those two before deadline, then I will submit a list. It's much more fun to follow the thread when I have "skin in the game"

 

With only eighteen albums in contention, I would have been tempted to ask people to go the whole hog and submit a full ranked list of eighteen, just to encourage people to listen to albums they haven't heard. Porcupine Tree are a particularly good example illustrating the parable of the blind men and the elephant.

 

I'm on the list twice but I never seem to get notified - @ must be broken!

 

A question for @George Co-Stanza :

Are we to rank the albums based on their original studio release? Or do we also take into consideration songs that were included as part of a re-issue? For example, is the Staircase Infinities EP considered part of the Up the Downstair release? Likewise for Signify/Insignificance.
There is also the issue of songs that only appeared on certain releases of the album, as was the case with Closure/Continuation.

 

My problem is I need variety in my listening habits. I can't devote most (or all) of my listening time to a single artist, which is what I'd need to do for most of these polls. Especially if I needed to form an opinion on music that is new to me before a deadline.
I've also got Record Store Day purchases to contend with, and I'm still on a bit of Queen trip, following that countdown.

Mind you, I've got the Steven Wilson remix album on my RSD wishlist, and that might give The Harmony Codex a boost on my submitted list. Would that be fair?

 

The OP says albums - "No EPs, bonus discs, etc.". I take that to mean the original tracklist, so anything added to subsequent editions is not included, especially if it forms a separate release (eg Nil Recuring, Staircase Infinities, Insignificance). That's how I ranked when I did my rough draft with the ranking engine.

 

Probably 4 PT albums I would need to listen to if I wanted to enter this list. Not sure I want to do that

It's six actually.

 

It's your list. If someone wants to give a bump based on the 5.1 mix of an album, that is their right. Ideally, I would rank the albums based off the proper albums and not taking bonus songs into consideration, but it's not like anyone has to tell me why they are ranking each album a certain way, so it's more or less up to each person.

Yes.

 

I'll be adding my list to those already submitted but some of my very favourite Steven Wilson albums will have to be omitted (Storm Corrosion/No-Man/Bass Communion).

 

That was easy as I'd already made my list!
My Favourite Steven Wilson Albums/EPs (All Projects) - Albums ranked by Chalkers | Discogs Lists

 

Ah, OK, I missed that sentence. That makes sense.

Of course it may need to be highlighted that the four-song "Disc 2" of The Incident is part of the original release, not a "bonus disc".

 

That is true!

And I know that some of the vinyl releases for Fear had the songs from Nil Recurring in there in the sequence for which they were intended (had Fear and Nil been released as a single longer album), so that can be a bit dicey as well.

 

It's too late now, but Voyage 34: The Complete Trip absolutely is a darned good album. Sure the best part is the original EP, but I don't see why that should stop us.

 

I'm sure "Voyage" and its many parts will feature in the PT songs poll, if one ever eventuates.

As you may know, it was originally intended to be part of Up the Downstair as a double album. Steven had very grandiose ideas in those days. Not many artists put out double albums until they at least have a few hit singles and perhaps a couple of single albums under their belt.

 

The three I will not be including are easy to determine. And my first place album is so far out in front I do not have to even think about it. Among the other fourteen, there are going to be some hard decisions as some kind of run together. Time for a re-listen before submitting.