Porcupine Tree – Signify (1996)

Latest Porcupine Tree exploration is their 1996 album, Signify, the fourth album released under this banner, but the first with a settled band, rather than just Steven Wilson and guest musicians.

I must admit this has been the most difficult of their albums so far, for me, but it's grown on me with each playing, and I now think I get it.

So, what's going on here? We open with a piece of ambience over American spoken word, before the first longer piece, Signify, a powerful guitar led instrumental kicks in. Sleep Of No Dreaming is the first song, pleasant without stunning, and is linked via an ambient link to the two 'phases' of Waiting, the centrepiece of the album, a really enjoyable song, with some great guitar sections. It's followed by the powerful Sever, an angry, wild song with a much calmer chorus. But my favourite here is Idiot Prayer, a long instrumental of more tele-evangelist spoken word, and guitar solo over a fantastic thumping bassline. In contrast, it's followed by Every Home Is Wired, a limp song, with a more interesting instrumental outro. Immediate Jesus is a long track of dreamy ambient jazz-like instrumental, easy to get lost in, and further overlain by the same spoken word preacher, while "Light Mass Prayers" is a much more monotone piece of ambience. Final track Dark Matter, is a gentle ending, a soothing vocal, an acoustic guitar picked, a long electric guitar outro. It's a worthwhile ending which leaves the listener satisfied, rather than screaming for more. Until the end message!

This is supposed to mark a turning point in the band's output, which, as I'm not listening chronologically, I don't really see. But it is a great listen, highly recommended.

Link to album tracks

4* - an interesting mix of ambient, rock, experimentation and fine musicianship