YMMV / Porcupine Tree

• Anvilicious: Fear of a Blank Planet isn't subtle at all about its message of how modern society alienates and isolates people, particularly the young.
• Awesome Art: Lasse Hoile created some magnificently dark (and often very spooky) album art from In Absentia onwards.
• Awesome Music: Take your pick.
  • Some will admit besides "Blackest Eyes", "Anesthetize" is a pretty grand song, especially when it hits the middle section.
  • Quite a few examples, but the 14-minute version of "Even Less" stands out.
  • "Voyage 34" deserves a mention for being one of the longest singles ever released (about 30 minutes altogether).
• Broken Base: Wilson's solo career and his friendship with Mikael Akerfeldt seems to be this for fans, due to some feeling betrayed Wilson put Porcupine Tree on hold for his solo career and his influence on Opeth changed their music from death metal into a lighter, proggier sound. Ironically since Wilson helped produce Blackwater Park and the beloved Damnation.
• Creator Worship: Many people think that Steven Wilson is a musical god. It probably helps that he is a pretty nice guy
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Gavin Harrison, helps that he is considered one of the most well known drummers in current prog rock/metal bands, in particular joining The Pineapple Thief and King Crimson in his catalog of musical projects.
• Epic Riff: Several, especially "Occam's Razor".
  • The main riff in "Blackest Eyes" has become one of progressive metal's signature riffs.
• Fandom Rivalry: A small one. For some reason some Porcupine Tree fans really like ripping on Radiohead, considering them to be an inferior, whinier Porcupine Tree. Likewise, some Radiohead fans consider PT to be a less sophisticated, less arty version of Radiohead.
• Friendly Fandoms: With Muse. It helps that both bands are pop-sensible Prog-rock bands whose sound covers plenty of bases.
  • With Opeth as well, down to many fans jokingly shipping Mikael Akerfeldt and Steven Wilson.
• Funny Moments: "Linton Samuel Dawson".
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Wilson's remarks about not wanting to be known as "the new Pink Floyd" became this when, over a decade later, people started describing The Pineapple Thief as "the new Porcupine Tree".
  • During the time the band was on hiatus, Wilson was asked about whether or not Porcupine Tree would reunite. While Wilson ruled out the idea (since he had dedicated himself to his solo career), he did say it would probably happen when "least expected". They would then reunite in 2021 completely out of nowhere, proving him right.
• Misaimed Fandom: Contrary to popular belief, "The Sound of Muzak" isn't an anti pop music song, as a lot of people claim. It's a song about how music critics are often seen as tastemakers for music fans and how often their predominant focus on pop music results in a lot of unknown and up and comers being left by the wayside, as well as how production techniques are leading to a large amount of soul and dynamic to be cut out due to the Loudness War. A lot of fans use this to criticize Wilson's later pop oriented music, often claiming that "he became what he criticized in 'The Sound of Muzak'. In reality, Wilson has been not very subtle about his love for pop music, and a lot of fans are quick to point out how his music always had a pop edge, although Wilson did admit when he released "Permanating" that expected this to happen.
• Narm: It's pretty minor, but the line "Xbox is a god to me" on "Fear of a Blank Planet", which just comes across as Steven Wilson trying too hard to come up with something a teenager would say and ending up with a case of Totally Radical.
• Nightmare Fuel: Have their own page.
• So Okay, It's Average: The general consensus believes The Incident is this, feeling it's a weak album and doesn't really stand out from all the other releases (other than it being a fifty-five minute piece cut into fourteen parts). It's an opinion shared by Wilson himself, who has said that there's something about it that "doesn't quite work". It does have its fans though, with others considering it to have some of the band's best songs in spite of a large number of filler tracks ("Time Flies" is especially notable here).
• Sweet Dreams Fuel:
  • "Half Light". Possibly doubles as a Tear Jerker.
  • "Trains" and "Time Flies" capture the feeling of nostalgia absolutely perfectly.
• Tear Jerker: Have their own page.

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