Search - Porcupine Tree :: Up the Downstair

Fantastic!

Anthony Morelli | Montreal, Canada | 06/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I managed to get my hands on one and purchased it and must say that I'm quite pleased with everything. For me, this album takes me on an "Atmospheric" or "Euphoric Journey". I'm referring to 2 particular songs "BURNING SKY" and "FADEAWAY". Most of the songs are instrumental "jamming" tracks. Without relying heavily on loads of vocals, Steven Wilson knew exactly what he was thinking when he recorded the original in 1994. He was and will always remain a Beethoven reincarnate or "Musical Genius". From the first keyboard notes from "FADEAWAY", I'm swept away to another time & place. These 2 particular songs do it for me!



Having been Remastered & Re-recorded, the sound on "UTD" is much richer and fuller than on the original 1994 release. It was originally supposed to be available to Canada & USA as of 06/07/05, but they had printing problems & held back the release for 2 weeks. I didn't take a chance with ordering it online, so instead I ordered instore 2 weeks ago and here it is in my hands today.



With the new drummer (Gavin Harrison), he's replaced the old programmed drums with his own live drum tracks, contributing to the much more "put together" PT sound. I've grown accustomed to seeing & hearing live drums and drum solos at the PT concerts, so I was quite anxious to hear this recording. There have been subtle changes in every aspect in this project. I didn't notice them, but they are there after listening to the album more than once.

This is good, because when something has been changed drastically, the feel has been lost.



The packaging is beautiful, housing the CDs in a glossy 4-fold digipack. Each CD is glossy black with silver titling. Really simple & nice. Inside my copy, I found an advert for the "Blackfield" CD with release info. On the front side is the picture of the front cover of "Blackfield" CD. When you open the CD package, the first "fold" houses the booklet, printed on a semi-matte paper. Anyone who's not familiar with Blackfield.......they are Steven Wilson & Aviv Geffen (From Israel). Their music is amazing & very "PT" based. Without SW's influence, the album would certainly be lacking!



"Up The Downstair" is actually among the top 3 of my fave PT studio recordings. Stupid Dream still remains on top. ;-) I'm anxious to read the comments from other fans in near-future reviews, because there will be some who'll complain about the minor changes.



Between this album and "Stupid Dream", I feel the "Pink Floyd" influence. And because of this, PT's drawn me closer to their music since the past 5 years.



I do have the "Staircase Infinities" CD (Still sealed), as well as the cassette, so the music on the re-issued CD comes as no surprise. Steve Wilson recorded a couple new pieces, one of those being a re-working of a track from the cassette days. There are only 5 tracks total, about 30 minutes.



It's damned good stuff for the collector & will make any PT fan happy if they haven't purchased "Staircase Infinites" elsewhere online. A Highly recommended item for any PT fan old & new. Get them while they're hot! There's nothing like Re-Mastered music from PT! You won't be disappointed!



Tracklist of CD1:

(UPD)

01- What are you listening to - 0:57

02- Synesthesia - 5:16

03- Monuements Burn into Moments - 0:22

04- Always Never - 7:00

05- Up the Downstair - 10:14

06- Not Beautiful Anymore - 3:25

07- Siren - 0:57

08- Small Fish - 2:42

09- Burning Sky - 11:36

10- Fadeaway - 6:19



Disc2

(Staircase Infinities)

01- Cloud Zero - 4:40

02- The Joke's on You - 4:17

03- Navigator - 4:49

04- Rainy Taxi - 6:50

05- Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape - 9:36"

Progressive Rock Lives On

Richard Thompson | El Paso, Texas | 06/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered Porcupine Tree via their "Deadwing" album (2005). It got a little bit of air-play on my local radio station with the heavy rocker "Shallow". At my first listen I was mesmerized! I could not believe a modern rock band was playing this type of music.



I read some of the reviews on Amazon.com and then bought "In Absentia". Again, fantastic, incredable, prog-rock. Since then I have begun to dig back into their earlier works. "The Sky Moves Sideways" was next. It just kept getting better. The Snapper Records Remasters were not only great sounding, but a real bargain.



This week I received "Up the Downstair" in the mail. It too is a fantastic collection of songs. Not as "heavy" as Absentia or Deadwing, but very cool. I can tell you right now, Burning Sky is destined for my Best of Porcupine Tree mix, along with the title track and Always Never.



After even more research to figure out when these different albums were actually recorded/released, I realized that the bonus disc entitled "Staircase Infinities" was previously released as an EP with very limited quantities available. It is essentially leftovers from the recording sessions for Up the Downstair. But, by no means are these "throw-aways" or filler. They are mostly instrumentals though, but thats cool. I like the Staicase Infinities tracks even more than the over-all Up the Downstair songs! All this for only $14. And you can dub both discs onto one cd for the car. Up the Downstair is a little over 48 minutes, and Staircase Infinities is another 30 minutes.



Now I'm thinking about ordering some of their "Live" material such as the Warszawa cd recorded Live in Poland 2001, or "Coma Divine" which has also been remastered and expanded by Snapper Records of the UK.



I'm very suprised that there are over 140 reviews for Deadwing, showing how popular it is, and only a dozen or so for most of the back catalog? When I found out Porcupine Tree had been making music for the past 15 years, I was floored! Steven Wilson and company are easily THE Best band that no one has heard of!



Keep spreading the news..."

The first great Porcupine Tree album

R. Gorham | 07/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"THE BAND: Steve Wilson (vocals, guitars, drum samples, bass), with assistance from Richard Barbieri (keyboards), Colin Edwin (bass), Gavin Harrison (drums & percussion on 2005 remastered version only).



THE DISC: (1993) Originally released in '93, this elegant digitally remastered foldout digi-pak was re-released in 2005 by Snapper Music. Disc 1 contains 10 tracks clocking in at just under 49 minutes. The 2nd (bonus) disc labeled "Staircase Infinities" contains 5 tracks at just over 30 minutes (this disc was originally released as an EP on Lazy Eye label in '94). Included with the discs is a 10-page booklet containing a 2-page intro by PT mastermind Steve Wilson, song titles/times, song lyrics, several trippy psychedelic pictures, and thank you's.



COMMENTS: For me, this was Porcupine Tree's first great album. While it's predecessor "On The Sunday Of Life" (1991) had some brief shining moments, it was simply too much off-beat jamming, odd songs and experimentation... quite simply "weird". "Up The Downstair" was almost solely created and produced by Steve Wilson. For this remastered edition, Wilson went back to the original recordings years later... he decided to remove some of the drum programs/samples and have current drummer (1999 - present) Gavin Harrison play them live. Still not happy, Wilson redid some of the guitar work... and he himself says it's a better album for it. Much warmer in depth, richer in texture, better playing in general and more listenable... not to mention substantial improvements with the recording equipment. Comparisons to Pink Floyd are frequent (and I'm okay with that because I loved Pink Floyd back in the 70's), but only slightly in my opinion. The Tree gives you many a long space jam, but I think their craft is much more modern. "Synesthesia" starts the album off as a mid tempo rock/pop song. "Always Never" features some beautiful acoustic moments laced with some brilliant electric guitars and shredding solos. "Fadeaway" is a beautiful mellow rocker - a fantastic album closer - as noted in the booklet the song is one of Wilson's favorites. Steve Wilson is a genius at his craft. As good as "Up The Downstair" may be, I'd recommend starting with PT's more accessible albums... "In Absentia" (2002), or "Deadwing" (2005). Then, expand to one of their live albums "Coma Divine" (1997) or "Warszawa" (2001)... and then collect everything else they've done including this one. With all their releases (except Deadwing), look for the remastered digi-pak versions. Great disc (4.5 stars).

"