Signify
Encyclopedia
Signify is the fourth studio album
by British
progressive rock
band Porcupine Tree
, first released in September 1996. It was the first album that frontman Steven Wilson
recorded with a full group of musicians on board from the beginning. Previously he had been recording albums primarily as a one-man band with help gradually from other musicians. A number of the songs, albeit in early forms, were debuted live on The Sky Moves Sideways
tour before being recorded. The song "Every Home is Wired" has been covered by Polish
electronic group Cabaret and included in their single Electric Chair Song. The full quote from the background words of "Idiot Prayer" can be heard on the song "Trippin'" by SRM.
Kscope
is set to release the third vinyl edition of the album on May 9, 2011.
features no drums. The title track of the album started its life as a cover version of a song called Hallogallo by the band Neu!
but was later developed into a new composition (a demo of "Hallogallo / Signify" can be found of the Signify era outtakes compilation "Insignificance"). According to bassist Colin Edwin
, producer Wilson allowed him a lot of freedom with his parts, however sometimes he would simply "replace original demo parts with (his) own take" (as was the case with the tracks "Sever" and "Dark Matter"). Keyboardist Richard Barbieri pointed out that during the Signify sessions he would often try "to use what in isolation would be a weird and abstract sound or texture and to make it work in the context of a pop song".
contains a second disc of demos from the Signify sessions, originally released in cassette format titled Insignificance, available only to subscribers of the former Porcupine Tree information mail service called "Transmission". This disc is also included with the 2004 reissue on Snapper Music
. The tracklist has been slightly altered from the cassette:
Some of the tracks are working titles of songs that were later included on the album (i.e. "Dark Origins" and "Sever Tomorrow") whilst others were not included (i.e. "Wake as Gun I" and "Wake as Gun II"). Two tracks from the original cassette release, "Insignificance" and "Door To The River" were removed from this bonus CD reissue, but later appeared as bonus tracks on the reissue of Metanoia. The track "Dark Origins", in turn, was not on the original cassette release.
"Wake As Gun I" also appears on the CD single "Piano Lessons
" where it's simply titles "Wake As Gun". A remixed version of "Hallogallo" appears on the B-side of the 7" single "Stranger By The Minute
".
The tracks "Signify II", "Colourflow In Mind", "Fuse The Sky" and "The Sound Of No-one Listening" all appear on the compilation album "Stars Die", while the three latter tracks also appear on various versions of the "Waiting
" single.
Moreover, an album of studio improvisations from that period, called "Metanoia", was released in 1998. The album features (among others) a track called "Metanoia I/Intermediate Jesus", edited version of which served as the main backing track for the song "Intermediate Jesus".
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the 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 September 1996. It was the first album that frontman 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...
recorded with a full group of musicians on board from the beginning. Previously he had been recording albums primarily as a one-man band with help gradually from other musicians. A number of the songs, albeit in early forms, were debuted live on The Sky Moves Sideways
The Sky Moves Sideways
The Sky Moves Sideways is the third studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in February, 1995. It has been compared to Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here because of their similar structure; both albums have extended pieces at the beginning and end, which are the...
tour before being recorded. The song "Every Home is Wired" has been covered by Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
electronic group Cabaret and included in their single Electric Chair Song. The full quote from the background words of "Idiot Prayer" can be heard on the song "Trippin'" by SRM.
Kscope
Kscope
Kscope is a division or sub-label of independent record label Snapper Music dedicated to artists in the Post-Progressive genre.Artists that the label has issued albums for to date include Anathema, Anekdoten, Engineers, Lunatic Soul, No-Man, North Atlantic Oscillation, Nosound, Porcupine Tree,...
is set to release the third vinyl edition of the album on May 9, 2011.
Recording
"Signify" was the first album recorded by Porcupine Tree as a full band unit, rather than by Steven Wilson occasionally joined by other musicians. Before the recording process started, the band had been touring for a period of around 18 months. Steven Wilson: "The album was recorded in quite a piecemeal way with tracks written and recorded in batches of 2 or 3, followed by gaps of up to 3 months." While this was also the first Porcupine Tree album to feature live drums throughout, the track "Light Mass Prayers" written by drummer Chris MaitlandChris 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...
features no drums. The title track of the album started its life as a cover version of a song called Hallogallo by the band Neu!
Neu!
Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s...
but was later developed into a new composition (a demo of "Hallogallo / Signify" can be found of the Signify era outtakes compilation "Insignificance"). According to bassist 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...
, producer Wilson allowed him a lot of freedom with his parts, however sometimes he would simply "replace original demo parts with (his) own take" (as was the case with the tracks "Sever" and "Dark Matter"). Keyboardist Richard Barbieri pointed out that during the Signify sessions he would often try "to use what in isolation would be a weird and abstract sound or texture and to make it work in the context of a pop song".
Original
- "Bornlivedie" (Wilson/Barbieri) – 1:41
- "Signify" (Wilson) – 3:26
- "The Sleep of No Dreaming" (Wilson) – 5:24
- "Pagan" (Wilson) – 1:34
- "Waiting Phase OneWaiting (Porcupine Tree song)"Waiting" is the first single of British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in May 1996. It came in two formats: a regular CD and a 12" vinyl. At the time, the single was intended to promote the forthcoming album Signify...
" (Wilson) – 4:24 - "Waiting Phase Two" (Wilson) – 6:15
- "Sever" (Wilson) – 5:30
- "Idiot Prayer" (Wilson/Edwin) – 7:37
- "Every Home Is Wired" (Wilson) – 5:08
- "Intermediate Jesus" (Wilson/Barbieri/Edwin/Maitland) – 7:29
- "Light Mass Prayers" (Maitland) – 4:28
- "Dark Matter" (Wilson) – 8:57
Remaster
The 2003 reissue on Delerium RecordsDelerium Records
Delerium Records was a UK record label, that specialised in psychedelic music which ran from 1991 to 2003, and was notable in promoting the careers of bands including Porcupine Tree, Ozric Tentacles, Kava Kava, Mandragora, Sons of Selina and Moom and for starting the Freak Emporium and Molten...
contains a second disc of demos from the Signify sessions, originally released in cassette format titled Insignificance, available only to subscribers of the former Porcupine Tree information mail service called "Transmission". This disc is also included with the 2004 reissue on 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...
. The tracklist has been slightly altered from the cassette:
- "Wake As Gun I" – 3:29
- "Hallogallo" (Neu!Neu!Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s...
Cover) – 3:37 - "Signify" – 3:27
- "Waiting" – 6:56
- "Smiling Not Smiling" – 3:49
- "Wake As Gun II" – 2:06
- "Neural Rust" – 5:53
- "Dark Origins" – 6:54
- "Sever Tomorrow" – 6:04
- "Nine Cats" (Acoustic Version) – 4:08
Some of the tracks are working titles of songs that were later included on the album (i.e. "Dark Origins" and "Sever Tomorrow") whilst others were not included (i.e. "Wake as Gun I" and "Wake as Gun II"). Two tracks from the original cassette release, "Insignificance" and "Door To The River" were removed from this bonus CD reissue, but later appeared as bonus tracks on the reissue of Metanoia. The track "Dark Origins", in turn, was not on the original cassette release.
"Wake As Gun I" also appears on the CD single "Piano Lessons
Piano Lessons (single)
"Piano Lessons" is a single by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, from their album Stupid Dream, released in April 1999. It came in two formats: a regular CD and a 7" vinyl...
" where it's simply titles "Wake As Gun". A remixed version of "Hallogallo" appears on the B-side of the 7" single "Stranger By The Minute
Stranger by the Minute
"Stranger by the Minute" is a single by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in October 1999, from the Stupid Dream album. It came in two formats: a regular CD and a 7" vinyl which features "Hallogallo", a Neu! cover...
".
Other tracks
Several other tracks were recorded during the Signify sessions, which made it to other releases.The tracks "Signify II", "Colourflow In Mind", "Fuse The Sky" and "The Sound Of No-one Listening" all appear on the compilation album "Stars Die", while the three latter tracks also appear on various versions of the "Waiting
Waiting (Porcupine Tree song)
"Waiting" is the first single of British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in May 1996. It came in two formats: a regular CD and a 12" vinyl. At the time, the single was intended to promote the forthcoming album Signify...
" single.
Moreover, an album of studio improvisations from that period, called "Metanoia", was released in 1998. The album features (among others) a track called "Metanoia I/Intermediate Jesus", edited version of which served as the main backing track for the song "Intermediate Jesus".
Musicians
- Steven WilsonSteven WilsonSteven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
- guitars, piano, organ, mellotron, samples, tapes, banshee guitar, drum programming, chimes, musical boxes, vocals - Richard BarbieriRichard BarbieriRichard Barbieri, is an English synthesiser player, keyboardist and composer. He was educated at Catford Boys' School, Catford, South East London...
- synthesisers, Hammond organ, Prophet V/System 700 electronics, piano, tapes, texture, sequencers - Colin EdwinColin EdwinColin 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...
- electric bass, double bass - Chris MaitlandChris MaitlandChris 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, cymbals, percussion, vocal harmonies on "Waiting Phase 1" and "Sever", drum loops, keyboards and voices on "Light Mass Prayers"
Credits
- Produced and mixed by Steven Wilson.
- Recorded at No Man's Land, Hemel Hempstead. Additional recording at The Doghouse, Henley with the assistance of Markus Butler and at Katrina & the Waves' Studio, Cambridge with the assistance of Steve Stewart.
- Mastered by Chris Thorpe at Serendipity
- Porcupine Tree Management by Richard Allen at Delerium.
- All titles published by Hit and Run Music (Publishing) Ltd.
- Art & Design by John Blackford.
External links
- Porcupine Tree Official Website
- Signify at Snapper MusicSnapper MusicSnapper 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...