Porcupine Tree is a British progressive rock band, influenced heavily by psychedelic rock while also drawing on trance and krautrock, with metal becoming a more prominent influence on their recent albums.

Porcupine Tree's first creation was an 80-minute cassette entitled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm. The cassette came complete with an 8-page inlay detailing the band's history: They met in the early '70s at a rock festival. The members had all been "in and out of prison and busted on several occasions." These band members included the likes of Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones.

Of course, none of that history is true. Actual founder, Steve Wilson, wanted to "give the tape a bit more weight so as to make people take it a bit more seriously...but of course like anything that starts as a joke, people started to take it all seriously." He didn't want people to think of the music as "just another guy in his bedroom messing about." Porcupine Tree's fanbase began to grow over the next few years with the release of several albums and EPs. Wilson brought in contributing musicians and eventually built a steady line-up, including Richard Barbieri, Colin Edwin, and Chris Maitland, who was replaced on drums by Gavin Harrison in 2002. While the band has remained largely on the periphery of mainstream rock, singles such as "Shallow" and "Lazarus" off of Deadwing have both charted, and their 2007 album, Fear of a Black Planet, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Surround Sound Album.

Upcoming Album: The Incident (September 15th, 2009)
Songs to check out: Shallow, Lazarus, Piano Lessons, Blackest Eyes

Band Website

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