Porcupine Tree
„Stupid Dream“
CD, Digipack, Remaster, Reissue. 2021 (1999)

When Porcupine Tree (PT) released the album "Stupid Dream" in 1999, a shift was underway. Away from psychedelia, towards Britpop, art rock, and progressive rock. Of course, PT wouldn't be PT if commercialism had taken a backseat to the music. But I let myself be put off by negative reviews and ignored this "in-between" phase between "Signify" and "In Absentia." The advantage? Twenty-five years later, I discovered new music from PT and explored it further. In short: Porcupine Tree evolved after "Signify," and anyone familiar with S. Wilson's ambitions knows he can't stand still. Perhaps Wilson wanted to finally shake off the constant comparisons to Pink Floyd, and "Signify" marked the transition from that phase to a new one. Of course, there's always the risk of losing old fans, and for some, simply knowing that songs from "Stupid Dream" were being played on the radio and that commercial awareness was steadily increasing was enough. So let's delve deeper into the album.

The album kicks off with "Even Less." Rocking, with plenty of guitar and solid drumming. The bass? I consider Edwin Collin one of the best in his field, and every song benefits from his playing. Finely crafted, rock-infused neo-prog. With interesting shifts between rock and folk, it's never boring.
“Piano Lessons” features a beautiful melody that seems more commercial, yet cannot disguise its PT genes. While not my kind of song, it's a well-crafted pop song with substance.
"Pure Narcotics" with acoustic guitar, piano, and chimesl. And even though I find the melody rather bland, but I like the lyrics.
Electric bass? "Slave Called Shiver" has it, and the rocking sound completes the picture. Sound, vocals and lyrics create a dark mood.
"Don't Hate Me," at 8:31 the "long track," takes up this mood in a less rock-oriented way, transitioning into desperate melancholy. We find brief psychedelic elements and jazz influences. For me, this is the heart of the album. "This Is No Rehearsal" comes across as cheerful, with interesting drumming and rocking Britpop of the better kind.
"Baby Dream In Cellophane" is surreal and psychedelic. The melody wavers between pop and surrealist art-rock. I'm still not quite sure what to make of this song.
 "Stranger By The Minute" is the first song I don't need. That's very rare for me, because I like almost every PT song. But this one feels underdeveloped to me.
For that, I'm immediately rewarded with "A Smart Kid". Melancholic, with psychedelic elements, beautiful.
With "Tinto Brass" comes the song that could easily have been on "Signify." Rocking, brilliant bass, a little spooky, a touch of jazzy flute, and not Floydian psychedelic. With harder rock interludes, and I realize: this album has two hearts! It ends with a nod to "Even Less" with the same child's laugh.
And even the closing track, "Stop Swimming," is fittingly melancholic and a good way to bring things down from Tinto Brass's set. Every musical element is finely crafted, with a delicate jazzy undertone, without actually being jazzy (if that even makes sense). It's like having a designer design my apartment, but without it actually looking like a designer piece.

PT knows how to evolve, yet we find echoes of "Signify" (1996) and the transition to "In Absentia" (2002). Britpop, jazz, prog-rock, hard rock, all finely crafted. There's never a dull moment. And yet, something's missing. Not enough "Even Less," "Don't Hate Me," and "Tinto Brass." A little less Britpop wouldn't have hurt either. As always, it's interesting for me to see how PT has developed. 

Synthesizer (Analogue), Organ (Hammond), Piano, Mellotron – Richard Barbieri
Drums, Percussion – Chris Maitland
Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Sampler – Steven Wilson
Bass Guitar, Double Bass – Colin Edwin

Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Theo Travis
Strings – East Of England Orchestra

On The Sunday Of Life 1992
Signify 1996
Coma Divine (Live) 1997
Stupid Dream 1999
Lightbulb Sun 2000
Recordings 2001
In Absentia 2002
Deadwing 2005
Fear Of A Blank Planet 2007
Nil Recurring 2007
Anesthetize – Live In Tilburg 2008
We Lost The Skyline Live 2008
The Incident 2009
Octane Twisted Live 2012
Closure/Continuation Live 2022

The photos are all from my CD. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.

No AI was used in the making of this Review.
©15.02.2026