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Lightbulb Sun There were those who failed to comprehend Porcupine Tree’s musical transformation from the elegantly crafted pop rock of 2000’s into a fiery, fearsome progressive metal act in the space of two years. Consequently, those detractors dismissed 2002’s as a cynical shift of musical genre to hop onto the then-burgeoning prog metal scene, led by the likes of and . Of course, such blinkered, keyboard punditry failed to appreciate the one aspect of Porcupine Tree that was at the core of their existence – their deliberate desire to avoid repetition, predictability and having their creativity curtailed by the confines of a debilitating genre box.

It’s an attitude that has continued to infuse Steven Wilson’s solo works. Porcupine Tree began in Wilson’s bedroom in Hemel Hempstead, where he recorded two psychedelic-influenced cassettes which would eventually be released as ..



.. Following the launch of the trancey in 1993, he began to realise that there was a live market for his music.

With , Colin Edwin and Chris Maitland recruited, Porcupine Tree made their live debut on December 4, 1993 at the Nag’s Head in High Wycombe. “The first time I heard the music, I thought, ‘What the fuck is this?’” admitted original drummer Maitland when referencing Wilson’s early material. “I thought some of it was pretty awful, but then you can apply yourself and begin to love it by being part of it.

So suddenly you’re like, ‘Bloody hell, I really like that actual.

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