Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome or just Coma Divine, is a live album

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 band Porcupine Tree

Porcupine Tree

Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...

, first released in October, 1997. It was expanded to a double album in 2003, adding the two tracks from the promotional single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 Coma Divine II

Coma Divine II

"Coma Divine II" is a single released by British psychedelic rock/progressive rock Porcupine Tree, consisting of further music from the March 1997 concerts in Rome. Given away free to information service subscribers only from 1999 onwards...

(1999), and two more previously unreleased outtakes. The expanded edition was also released on vinyl containing 3 LPs

LP album

The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

, plus a bonus 7 inch single with two demo

Demo (music)

A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 versions of the song "Disappear" (included on the Four Chords That Made a Million

Four Chords That Made a Million

"Four Chords That Made a Million" is a single by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in April 2000, a month before the release of the album Lightbulb Sun, in order to promote it...

single in 2000, and on the compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 titled Recordings

Recordings (album)

Recordings is a compilation album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in May 2001. It is a collection of b-sides from the albums Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun along with one new song, "Access Denied". Recordings was originally a limited pressing release, limited to only...

, from 2001).
The album was finally revamped in digipack through Snapper

Snapper Music

Snapper Music is an independent record label founded in 1996 by former head of Castle Communications Jon Beecher, Dougie Dudgeon and funded by the late Mark Levinson from Palan Music Publishing. In 1999 Snapper broke away from its parent company in an MBO in association with ACT and CAI venture...

 label in 2004.

Recording

The band recorded three shows at the Frontiera in Rome (on the 25th, 26th and 27 March 1997) for the purpose of this release, however, only recordings from the 2nd and 3rd night were used, as the recordings from the first concert were flawed with technical problems. A vast amount of material has been performed during the shows, but the band eventually decided to release only the best performances on a single CD. While later the album has been reissued as a double CD featuring an extra 25 minutes of music, there are still other unreleased performances from the show. The unused material features, among others, both parts of "Voyage 34

Voyage 34

"Voyage 34" is a single by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Although it was originally thought to be a song for the album Up the Downstair, making it a double album, this idea was later rejected so it was released separately....

" and an instrumental called "Cryogenics", which was written especially to feature on the album but ultimately dropped as the band felt it wasn't good enough. Although essentially a live record, "Coma Divine" features studio overdubs of the vocals, as the original takes were too poor both in terms of performance and the quality of recording.

Original release

1. "Bornlivedieintro" – 1:23
2. "Signify" – 5:22
3. "Waiting Phase One" – 4:32
4. "Waiting Phase Two" – 5:28
5. "The Sky Moves Sideways" – 12:38
6. "Dislocated Day" – 6:37
7. "The Sleep of No Dreaming" – 5:18
8. "Moonloop" – 11:40
9. "Radioactive Toy" – 15:26
10. "Not Beautiful Anymore" – 9:43

There were various technical problems with the original CD edition due to its extreme length, and later pressings had about two minutes of audience noise removed between tracks to try to solve the problem.

Expanded edition

Disc 1

1. "Bornlivedieintro" – 1:23
2. "Signify" – 5:22
3. "Waiting Phase One" – 4:32
4. "Waiting Phase Two" – 5:28
5. "The Sky Moves Sideways" – 12:38
6. "Dislocated Day" – 6:37
7. "The Sleep of No Dreaming" – 5:18
8. "Moonloop" – 11:40

Disc 2

1. "Up the Downstair" – 7:40
2. "The Moon Touches Your Shoulder" – 5:05
3. "Always Never" – 5:41
4. "IS...NOT" – 6:09
5. "Radioactive Toy" – 13:32
6. "Not Beautiful Anymore" – 9:43

Vinyl edition (3LP + Bonus 7 Inch Single)

SIDE 1

1. Bornlivedieintro (1:25)
2. Signify (5:29)
3. Waiting Phase One (4:26)
4. Waiting Phase Two (5:23)

SIDE 2

1. The Sky Moves Sideways (12:40)
2. Dislocated Day (6:35)

SIDE 3

1. The Sleep of No Dreaming (5:19)
2. Moonloop (11:50)

SIDE 4

1. Up the Downstair (7:40)
2. Moon Touches Your Shoulder (5:05)
3. Always Never (5:41)

SIDE 5

1. IS...NOT (6:09)
2. Radioactive Toy (13:30)

SIDE 6

1. Not Beautiful Anymore (9:39)

BONUS 7 INCH SINGLE

1. Disappear Demo 1 (Feb 1997)
2. Disappear Demo 2 (April 1997)

Musicians

• Steven Wilson
  Steven Wilson
  Steven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
  
   - guitars, vocals
• Richard Barbieri
  Richard Barbieri
  Richard Barbieri, is an English synthesiser player, keyboardist and composer. He was educated at Catford Boys' School, Catford, South East London...
  
   - synthesisers
• Colin Edwin
  Colin Edwin
  Colin Edwin is a member of the British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, where he plays both fretted and fretless bass guitar as well as double bass and guimbri. He joined the band in December 1993...
  
   - bass guitar
• Chris Maitland
  Chris Maitland
  Chris Maitland is an English drummer.After being the drummer for No-Man on their Autumn 1993 tour , Maitland was asked by the band's Steven Wilson to join his other main project, the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
  
   - drums, percussion, harmony vocals

Reviews

Professional reviews:

• Metal Hammer
  Metal Hammer
  Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
  
  - Captured live in Rome, they reinforce both their ability and their charm through the likes of 'Moonloop' and 'The Sky Moves Sideways', lengthy but not overdone pieces, led as ever by Steve Wilson's intriguing vision. Admittedly, it'll make them few friends (live albums never do), but it's essential listening for the faithful.

External links

• Porcupine Tree Official Website
• Coma Divine - Recorded Live in Rome at Snapper Music
  Snapper Music
  Snapper Music is an independent record label founded in 1996 by former head of Castle Communications Jon Beecher, Dougie Dudgeon and funded by the late Mark Levinson from Palan Music Publishing. In 1999 Snapper broke away from its parent company in an MBO in association with ACT and CAI venture...