UMUR "The Sky Moves Sideways" is the 3rd full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Porcupine Tree. The album was released through Delirium Records in January 1995. It´s the successor to "Up The Downstair" from 1993 and while it essentially started out as another solo album by Steven Wilson under the Porcupine Tree monicker (like the first two albums), halfway through the recordings for the album Porcupine Tree became a band unit, as Richard Barbieri (keyboards), Colin Edwin (bass), and Chris Maitland (drums), joined Wilson to complete the first real Porcupine Tree band lineup. The former two had already guested on "Up The Downstair (1993)".

The original European version of "The Sky Moves Sideways" features 6 tracks. The "Phase 1" and "Phase 2" of the title track bookending the album. Both tracks exceeding 15 minutes in length. The remaining tracks are "Dislocated Day", "The Moon Touches Your Shoulder", "Prepare yourself", and the 17:04 minutes long "Moonloop". The latter is an edited and overdubbed version of a 40-minutes long improvisation recorded live at the Doghouse studio on 28 June 1994. The US version omits "Prepare yourself" but includes the track "Stars Die" instead. The two long title tracks are divided into shorter individual tracks on the US version and "Moonloop" is featured in an edited 8:11 minutes long version.

Because of the two pieces of the title track bookending the album comparisons to "Wish You Were Here (1975)" by Pink Floyd have often been made, and I agree to some extent as the most mellow, ambient, and spaced out sections of the tracks are clearly greatly influenced by mid-70s Pink Floyd. The more upbeat and busy middle section of "The Sky Moves Sideways Phase 1" is more similar to the sound of an act like Ozric Tentacles though. "Dislocated Day" is slightly harder edged and rocking, but still featuring relatively sedated vocals. But it´s the track on "The Sky Moves Sideways" mostly pointing towards future endeavors. "The Moon Touches Your Shoulder" is a mellow Pink Floyd influenced track ending on a louder slightly more heavy note. It seques directly into the short ambient instrumental "Prepare yourself", which again seques directly into the massive improvised jam track "Moonloop". It´s a very slow building ambient track and honestly it´s a bit uneventful and way too long for its own good. "The Sky Moves Sideways Phase 2", closes the original European version of the album. While it shares some of the themes from "Phase 1" it´s still quite a different sounding track. The Pink Floyd influence is there in abundance though. "Stars Die" which as mentioned above is only featured on the US version of the album, is a pleasant and mellow vocal/acoustic guitar driven vers/chorus structured psychadelic pop/rock track, featuring a melancholic and tranquil atmosphere, slowly building in intensity and volume to its climax. A guitar solo climax which could easily have been a little longer and added more depth to the track.

"The Sky Moves Sideways" is well produced, featuring an organic and detailed sound production, suiting the material perfectly, and upon conclusion it´s a quality release by Porcupine Tree. I personally find "Moonloop" unnecessarily long and a little tedious, but the remaining part of the album is great quality psychadelic/space rock loaded with slow building ambient sonic landscapes, organic rhythmic playing, mellow acoustic guitar chords, and soaring lead guitars, and when they occur the sedated and tranquil vocals of Wilson to provide a melancholic spice. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy Although it all began as a joke, by the time Steven Wilson and his now official band called PORCUPINE TREE made it into the 90s, the popularity of their Floydian inspired space rock was taking off like a rocket ship to the moon. After a number of demos and two fully fledged space rock albums to get their feet wet, the band was really more of a solo project but starting with this one, a real band was in play with a style that reached the culmination of the psychedelic space rock sound on the third album THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS. Your listening experience for this one may depend on which side of the Atlantic you reside because of the fact that two different versions exist. THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS was the debut album in North America and showed the band mastering their full potential as they also unveiled various aspects of the different styles they would take on future releases. The European version which came out first contained the seventeen minute track “Moonloop” as the second to last track whereas the US release nixed it in favor of a shorter running time. Since the US version is the one i’ve grown attached to, it is the one i prefer so all my gushing admiration for this album is based on it.

It was never any secret that 70s Pink Floyd was the biggest source of inspiration for Wilson and company and that was never more true than on THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS which has been compared to “Wish You Were Here” for having two sprawling tracks that begin and end the album with shorter tracks sandwiched in between, however a careful listen will yield all kinds of influences from the Floydian world up to “The Wall”. Likewise, all the tracks flow together relatively smoothly making it in reality a long series of movements that culminate into larger suites and extended musical motifs. Although Steven Wilson remained ringmaster and creator in chief even at this point, this was very much a real band effort on album number three which allowed a blossoming of musical expressions to make a much richer album than the previous two. Most importantly added to the lineup was ex-Japan keyboard wizard Richard Barbieri who deftly mixes his best Klaus Schulze styled progressive electronic backdrops over the hypnotic space rock grooves. Likewise, Wilson’s alter ego in the art pop outfit No-Man found him a steady drummer with Chris Maitland filling the spot. With all musical spots freshly manned with eager talent, PORCUPINE TREE was ready for prime time and THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS shows them honing their chops into highly addictive seductions of sound.

THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS starts off rather chaotically with sputtering electronic effects that belie Floydian space groove that soon steals the show. A false flag to throw the listener off? Not sure, but once the Floydian rhythmic flow begins, it grooves with a vengeance. While the “Phase 1” of the title track gently rolls on with a sensual rocking groove as “The Colour Of Air” movement strives to lull the listener into a hypnotic state, it does however evoke a call and response that makes me want to scream “Hello, Is There Anybody In There?” at times. Perhaps too comfortably close to “Comfortably Numb,” but even with such brazen Floydisms slapping the listener in the face, somehow the electronic wizardry derails any cached earworms from the past and keeps PORCUPINE TREE sounding like distant cousins of the Gilmour and Waters team rather than mere imitators. The near nineteen minute suite churns on into a gentle space rock groove with Wilson belting out his unique fairy tale narrations before the track goes into an upbeat psybient and psytrance mode that summons a high intensity percussive drive and multidimensional atmospheric turbulence in the “Wire The Drum” movement. Tribal drums meets staccato keyboard sequences while a bouncy bass illustrates spaced out blissful melodies. The suite finds resolution with the “Spiral Circus” finale which drifts off into the clouds and exits with a soft acoustic guitar riff with a fluttering flute run flapping around like a pretty butterfly in the breeze.

Sandwiched in the middle of the lengthy title track suite that begin and end the album are three shorter tracks (plus the “Moonloop” jam if you have the European version). “Dislocated Day” debuts a more familiar sound heard on future PORCUPINE TREE albums and the first of the band’s career to demonstrate heavier rock with hefty guitar riffs, biting percussive drive and much increased tempos. This also provides the gateway into their progressive rock leanings that would culminate on albums like “In Absentia.” “The Moon Touches Your Shoulder” on the other hand is a totally chilled out acoustic guitar on codeine type of track with a catchy melody and poetic lyrics from Wilson’s most chilled singing style. “Prepare Yourself” is nothing more than a short spaced out bluesy soloing sequence that serves as a fluffer for the the “Phase 2” of the title track, unless of course you have the European version with “Moonloop” inserted between. This track is my least favorite and i’m happy to have the edition without it (or at least thrown onto the second bonus disc). It is nothing more than a drawn out spacey sequence of synthesized loops and effects.

The final “Phase 2” is begins much like “Phase 1” with non-committing electronic atmospheric effects only finding stability after a drum roll coaxes them down to Earth. The opening “Is…Not” segment displays more love of classic Pink Floyd as it generates a heavy connection to tracks like “Have A Cigar” with restless electronica and eventually a banging bass. Once a melodic development is allowed to form, it bursts onto the scene with a dramatic guitar riff which calms the atmospheric presence into an obsequious counterpoint. Nice guitar work on this one for a while but eventually as “Off The Map” continues the suite, an estrogen filled siren seduces a rambunctious guitar to come out and play. As it arrives it begins to perform a rather spunky blues workout around the ostinato bass line. It performs all kinds of tricks yanking every emotional heartstring with a mere bending of a note or two. It gets wild and woolly before the track slowly wends down as it reprises the initial Floydian bass dominated riff that began it all, not after more bizarre excursions into ambient electronica however.

On THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS, Steven Wilson and PORCUPINE TREE not only joined the ranks of the progressive rock revival that was unfolding alongside bands like Anglagard, Opeth, Dream Theater and the neo-prog bands like IQ and Arena but were also fundamental in the revival of good old fashioned 70s psychedelic space rock alongside other space tripping bands like Ozric Tentacles. While Pink Floyd was still around in name only, it was really just a David Gilmour solo effort milking of the enterprise and tarnishing of the name with mediocrity in the form of albums like “The Division Bell”. PORCUPINE TREE on the other hand were uploading an entirely new operating system into the space rock paradigm by adding all the relevant 90s influences of neo-psychedelia and chilled out electronica such as trip hop and as well as bass heavy stoner rock in tandem with the tried and true chill pill elements of 70s psych and electronica.

While never really intentionally wanting to steal the baton away from the great Pinksters, somehow on THE SKY MOVES SIDEWAYS, they did just that and created one of my personal favorite albums by the group and the absolute best of the 90s output. The 2 CD re-release is well worth the time as it has a brilliant alternative mix of the title track suites as well as the “Moonloop” tracks that went missing on the US release. I’ve been holding off on reviewing this one since i couldn’t decide if the Floydisms are too derivative or not but when all is said and done, they are no more derivative of Pink Floyd than Floyd was of the blues artists who came before them and this is one of those rare albums that i literally never tire of because Wilson’s brilliant mixing and production skills weave such a massive sonic web around any similarities that it keeps them in their own unique musical territory while respectfully conjuring up warm fuzzy memories of the past. This is where PORCUPINE TREE came to fruition as a band and a trend that would only continue to develop into a more distinct musical entity.

Warthur On The Sky Moves Sideways Porcupine Tree is in the midst of its transformation from Steve Wilson solo project to fully-fledged band - and in doing so, the group produce an absolute classic of tranquil, relaxing space rock. Incorporating carefully-chosen influences from the dance music and indie rock of the era whilst keeping the Floydian space rock approach central, Wilson, Barbieri, Edwin and Matland produce vast soundscapes which prove that proggy space rock albums don't have to be about nostalgia or retro-prog revivalism; though this music is clearly descended from the likes of Pink Floyd, it is very much of its era and takes that musical style forward as opposed to wallowing in the past.

When you set this against Pink Floyd's The Division Bell from around the same time, the extent to which the predecessors had fallen behind the times and lost touch with what was happening outside their bubble becomes strikingly obvious; Porcupine Tree, conversely, demonstrate on this album an awareness of a range of popular music forms - rock, pop, dance, trance, etc. - beyond the genre niche they perform in, and yield music which does not spurn the occasional connection to the wider world beyond prog whilst being comfortable in its identity as prog. I heartily recommend the 2CD version of the album; it is extremely unusual for me to bother listening to "alternate versions" of songs at all, let alone be in the mood for listening to one immediately after listening to the second half of the standard version, but in this case the possibilities explored in the title track are so compelling that I'm glad to.