Up the Downstair

by

Porcupine Tree

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I managed to get my hands on one and purchased it and must say that I'm quite pleased with everything. For me, this album takes me on an "Atmospheric" or "Euphoric Journey". I'm referring to 2 particular songs "BURNING SKY" and "FADEAWAY". Most of the songs are instrumental "jamming" tracks. Without relying heavily on loads of vocals, Steven Wilson knew exactly what he was thinking when he recorded the original in 1994. He was and will always remain a Beethoven reincarnate or "Musical Genius". From the first keyboard notes from "FADEAWAY", I'm swept away to another time & place. These 2 particular songs do it for me!

Having been Remastered & Re-recorded, the sound on "UTD" is much richer and fuller than on the original 1994 release. It was originally supposed to be available to Canada & USA as of 06/07/05, but they had printing problems & held back the release for 2 weeks. I didn't take a chance with ordering it online, so instead I ordered instore 2 weeks ago and here it is in my hands today.

With the new drummer (Gavin Harrison), he's replaced the old programmed drums with his own live drum tracks, contributing to the much more "put together" PT sound. I've grown accustomed to seeing & hearing live drums and drum solos at the PT concerts, so I was quite anxious to hear this recording. There have been subtle changes in every aspect in this project. I didn't notice them, but they are there after listening to the album more than once.

This is good, because when something has been changed drastically, the feel has been lost.

The packaging is beautiful, housing the CDs in a glossy 4-fold digipack. Each CD is glossy black with silver titling. Really simple & nice. Inside my copy, I found an advert for the "Blackfield" CD with release info. On the front side is the picture of the front cover of "Blackfield" CD. When you open the CD package, the first "fold" houses the booklet, printed on a semi-matte paper. Anyone who's not familiar with Blackfield.......they are Steven Wilson & Aviv Geffen (From Israel). Their music is amazing & very "PT" based. Without SW's influence, the album would certainly be lacking!

"Up The Downstair" is actually among the top 3 of my fave PT studio recordings. Stupid Dream still remains on top. ;-) I'm anxious to read the comments from other fans in near-future reviews, because there will be some who'll complain about the minor changes.

Between this album and "Stupid Dream", I feel the "Pink Floyd" influence. And because of this, PT's drawn me closer to their music since the past 5 years.

I do have the "Staircase Infinities" CD (Still sealed), as well as the cassette, so the music on the re-issued CD comes as no surprise. Steve Wilson recorded a couple new pieces, one of those being a re-working of a track from the cassette days. There are only 5 tracks total, about 30 minutes.

It's damned good stuff for the collector & will make any PT fan happy if they haven't purchased "Staircase Infinites" elsewhere online. A Highly recommended item for any PT fan old & new. Get them while they're hot! There's nothing like Re-Mastered music from PT! You won't be disappointed!

Tracklist of CD1:

(UPD)

01- What are you listening to - 0:57

02- Synesthesia - 5:16

03- Monuements Burn into Moments - 0:22

04- Always Never - 7:00

05- Up the Downstair - 10:14

06- Not Beautiful Anymore - 3:25

07- Siren - 0:57

08- Small Fish - 2:42

09- Burning Sky - 11:36

10- Fadeaway - 6:19

Disc2

(Staircase Infinities)

01- Cloud Zero - 4:40

02- The Joke's on You - 4:17

03- Navigator - 4:49

04- Rainy Taxi - 6:50

05- Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape - 9:36

I'm rating the reissue here and not the album itself. The album itself is one of Porcupine Tree's finest and is a psychedelic masterpiece in its own right.

With that said, save yourself the money and track down an original 1993 CD or the much easier to find 1997 remaster. Why? Because this reissue amounts to nothing more than an epic fail on Steven Wilson's part. When an artist goes back years later and revisits their art and changes something, 99.9% of the time it's not for the better. Such is the case with this reissue of Up the Downstair. This reissue is full of revisionist history that would make Frank Zappa twitch. The electronic drums that were on the album originally have been removed and replaced with real drum tracks that were recorded 11 years after-the-fact. I don't have a problem in this in principle, however I do have a problem with it when it means that the original album is now out of print and the revised art gets passed off as the same album.

The real drums just don't work on this record. They don't fill in the space like the drum machines did. Furthermore, on an album that's almost pure electronica such as this, the acoustic drums stick out like a sore thumb.

This reissue is an interesting listen for people who are already familar with the real Up the Downstair album. It provides a new take on the masterpiece, albeit nowhere near as satisfying a take. For people new to the album though, stay far, far away from this and listen to the album the way it was originally. After you're well immersed in it, only then would I recommend checking this out.