Cheap Up the Downstair (Music) (Porcupine Tree) Price

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Customer Reviews of Up the Downstair

I'm hooked on Porcupine Tree.
4.5 stars. I recently purchased "In Absentia" and was immediately hooked; subsequent reeling and I purchased both "Signify" and this album. Overall, I think "In Absentia" is the best I've heard from them so far. But "Signify" is nearly excellent, and this CD is nearly so as well, but for different reasons. While "Signify" has a definite early-Genesis prog-rock feel to it, this album is certainly and obviously influenced more so by Pink Floyd. It is incredibly spacey with heady ambience and colorful, masterful production. I'm beginning to believe that Steve Wilson is a genius in the studio. What at first listen should seem simplistic and unremarkable is arranged into something surreal and whole, noteworthy and vital. This CD is easy to recommend.

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The Track Listing is Misleading
Maybe Amazon might have corrected their error by the time you read this, but just in case they haven't, please note that "Up The Downstair" does not consist of the 17 tracks above. The tunestack is as follows: 1.What You Are Listening To 2. Synesthesia 3. Monuments Burn Into Moments 4. Always Never 5. Up The Downstair 6. Not Beautiful Anymore 7. Siren 8. Small Fish 9. Burning Sky 10. Fadeaway. Tracks 1, 3 and 7 are short "transitional" passages, while the title track and "Burning Sky" are ten minute epics. The remainder of the album consists of tracks between 3 and 5 minutes in length.

With "Up The Downstair," Porcupine Tree (actually still Steven Wilson at this point. The "band" Porcupine Tree would not evolve until "The Sky Moves Sideways") consolidated their position as one of England's leading post-progressive (not "neo" progressive) rock groups. Their debut album "On The Sunday of Life" had pointed to their influences, notably Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd, but with "Up The Downstair," Porcupine Tree began combining rock's old avant garde with the contemporary sounds of 90's music.

Pink Floyd looms large over this album - but only as a launching pad. Wilson deftly combines techo and dance beats, trance and acid house textures as well as ethnic percussion into his Floydian dreamscapes. Had they received the backing of a major record label, both "Synesthesia" and the title track would have become the ambient/dance classics they deserve to be. "Always Never" is a brilliantly realised song that moves through an array of moods and tempos without a single mis-step. "Not Beautiful Anymore" is an energetic guitar piece with a great vocal sample. The immaculate ballad "Fadeaway" serves as a satisfying closure to the album.

So why only 4 stars? Simply because "Up The Downstair" hardly does justice to the inspiring recording sessions that produced this album. Wilson himself must have realised this, for not long after this album's release, he put out a 30 minute EP titled "Staircase Infinities" which contained music from the same sessions. That EP follows through and completes the ideas pursued on "Up The Downstair." "Staircase Infinities" is now out of print, but those who do manage to track it down will be well rewarded.

"Up The Downstair," released in 1993, certainly established Porcupine Tree as a force to be reckoned with. Since then, Porcupine Tree have investigated a number of new musical avenues, and along with Djam Karet and Ozric Tentacles, the band are one of the brightest hopes for progressive rock as it heads into the 21st century.

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terrific album that you'll listen to over and over again
After being first exposed to Porcupine Tree music with Stupid Dream and Signify, I decided to go back and listen to some of Steven Wilson's earlier works, and Up The Downstair was the first. Still at a time in his career where he was basically a one-man band (although future bandmates Colin Edwin and Richard Barbieri contributed a little), Steven Wilson created a terrific album that's spacey, dreamy, and surrealistic. To me, this album sounds like it was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey and the psychedelic scenes where you're traveling in the monolith.

Up The Downstair is a very good example of Porcupine Tree's pre-band works, and I would definitely recommend it.