Porcupine Tree broke onto the scene in the early 90s with On the Sunday of Life, a compilation of two earlier cassettes. In the music world I was running with at the time, this new album was all the rage with my compadres. I wasn't overly impressed, as it sounded to me exactly what it was - a one man psychedelic bedroom project. In retrospect it would seem my peer group were better plugged in than I on spotting the new talent. Up the Downstair sees the band going more noticeably pro. Again though, I was somewhat nonplussed (revisits are long overdue admittedly). By the time of The Sky Moves Sideways, Porcupine Tree's trajectory was through the roof, and they no longer could be ignored so easily. They seemed to capture all of the early 90s UK psychedelic scene into one full album set. There's moments of Ozric Tentacles like fiery space rock, EDM, trippy shoegaze, and most noticeably a Pink Floyd fetish circa Wish You Were Here. The music is stretched out but never boring. They had tapped into a goldmine. Maybe not literally, but within a few short years Porcupine Tree became progressive rock royalty. And while no modern band will ever share the success of their brethren from the 70s, Porcupine Tree did about as good as could be hoped for through 2009 or so. Personally I never did catch up with them, going one more album before stopping. Not really sure why - I've certainly enjoyed The Sky Moves Sideways since first hearing it. Though what I have heard from their future does dabble in Alt Rock and that's definitely not my thing. But I'm not judging until I hear them throughout. In any case, The Sky Moves Sideways seems to be a consensus winner no matter your nuanced progressive rock preference.
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