Porcupine Tree was born in 1987 as a psychedelic, experimental, and progressive music outlet for the home studio explorations of Steven Wilson. In fact, Wilson had already been making music for several years, as a musically precocious teenager who taught himself to play guitar and keyboards, and whose early tape releases with bands such as Altamont and Karma had already become known in the London musical underground (these tapes, which included early versions of later PT tracks like “Nine Cats”, “Small Fish,” and “This Long Silence,” would eventually become highly-valued collectables, a circumstance Wilson describes as “a bit like a painter having his nursery school blots exhibited”.
In 1987, Wilson started two projects that would take him into the professional music world. The first was the art-rock trio NO-MAN (www.no-man.co.uk), formed with singer Tim Bowness and violinist Ben Coleman (NO-MAN still exists today with a string of albums to their name). But the second began life almost as a joke between two friends: Steven and his friend Malcolm Stocks developed an almost entirely fictional history of a legendary seventies group, complete with non-existent band members and an absurd discography - this was The Porcupine Tree. To back up the story, Steven recorded several hours worth of music supposedly by this imaginary band. This was all done as pure self-indulgence, but by early 1989, Steven rated some of the music highly enough to compile a cassette, entitled “Tarquin’s Seaweed Farm,” and sent out copies to people that he felt might be interested. One of them went to the underground UK magazine Freakbeat, run by Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman. Unknown to Steven at the time, they were in the process of setting up their own record company. Despite the fact that they gave the tape a rather lukewarm review in the magazine, they invited Porcupine Tree to contribute a track to their first release, a compilation album of the best underground psychedelic groups.

This was ultimately to take another 18 months or so to come to fruition, and in the meantime Steven began to distribute Porcupine Tree’s music in the form of “Tarquin’s Seaweed Farm” and it’s follow up, “The Nostalgia Factory,” both complete with booklets containing the imaginary history and other misleading information. These tapes built up an underground interest in the name which was added to by the eventual release of the newly named Delerium record label’s first compilation album, “A Psychedelic Psauna,” which featured the Porcupine Tree track “Linton Samuel Dawson.” Delerium also reissued the first two Porcupine Tree tapes. Shortly afterwards, Steven was invited by the new label to be one of the first artists to sign to the Delerium label. The original invitation was to reissue both the tapes as double albums, but Steven decided instead to compile the best material onto one double album which became “On the Sunday of Life…”, the third release on the new label (most of the remainder of the music from the original eventually emerged on another limited edition album entitled “Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape”). “On the Sunday of Life…” was issued in early 1992 in a small run of 1000 copies in a deluxe gatefold sleeve. Such was the interest from the press and public that this small run sold out almost immediately and was repressed along with a CD version. Among other tracks the album contained a future Porcupine Tree classic and frequent concert encore in “Radioactive Toy.” By 2000, “On the Sunday of Life…” had racked up sales of over 20,000 copies.

While this was happening, Steven’s other group NO-MAN had signed a record deal with One Little Indian (home of Bjork among others) and were beginning to release records to an ecstatic press response. NO-MAN allowed Steven to become a full-time professional musician, and enabled him to dedicate even more time to his “side project.” The first Porcupine Tree album had been a self-indulgent and in some ways nostalgic look back at Steven’s favourite music from the 60’s and 70’s, but he felt that in order to take the project forward it was important to develop the sound into new and more contemporary areas. The first fruits of these new sessions was a 30 minute single that fused the ambient trance of acts like The Orb and Future Sound of London, with liquid rock guitar soloing, strung together with a narrative taken from sixties LSD propaganda LPs. It was a major underground hit, reaching the UK independent Top 20 and a perfect representation of how the dissolution of boundaries between genres characterised the best music of the nineties.

In fact “Voyage 34″ was a track recorded for another prospective Porcupine Tree double album “Up the Downstair.” However, when the album eventually emerged in mid-1993 the decision not to include the single had slimmed down the album to a single record. “Up the Downstair” was greeted with rapture, Melody Maker describing it as “a psychedelic masterpiece…. one of the albums of the year.” The album continued the fusion of dance and rock and also featured guest appearances from two future full-time Porcupine Tree members, Richard Barbieri (ex-80¹s art roclk band Japan) and Colin Edwin.

In November 1993, “Voyage 34″ was reissued alongside an additional 12 inch remix by Astralasia. With non-existent radio play it still managed to enter the NME indie chart for six weeks and became an underground chill-out classic.

The profile of Porcupine Tree had now grown to the extent that the question of live performances could no longer be ignored. Thus, in December 1993, Porcupine Tree became a live unit featuring Steven, Colin Edwin (bass), Chris Maitland (drums), and Richard Barbieri (keyboards). All three new members of the group had worked with Steven on various projects over the preceding years and all were excellent musicians sympathetic to the sound and direction of Porcupine Tree. The new line up had an immediate chemistry as illustrated by the “Spiral Circus” album (issued on vinyl in 1996) which contained recordings from their first ever 3 performances, including a BBC Radio One session for Mark Radcliffe, an early champion of the group.

New music was already underway. The next album would not emerge until early 1995, but was preceded by the classic single “Stars Die / Moonloop,” the last 2 tracks to be recorded during the album sessions and the first to feature the new band. The subsequent album, “The Sky Moves Sideways,” was as expansive soundscape of melody and ambient rock experimentation, but would prove to be a transitional work with half recorded before the formation of the band and half recorded after. Most of the album was taken up with the 35 minute title track, which at one point Steven intended to be long enough to occupy the whole album (an alternate version of the track, containing some of the excised music, was included on the 2004 remastered version of the album). It also entered the NME, Melody Maker, and Music Week charts. Together with the “Moonloop” EP, this album became the first Porcupine Tree music to be issued in America in the autumn of 1995, and attracted favourable press on both sides of the Atlantic. The band supported the album with numerous gigs throughout the year at major venues in the UK, The Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.

Partly unsatisfied with the half band/half solo nature of “The Sky Moves Sideways,” Porcupine Tree promptly got down to the task of recording the first proper band record and worked sporadically over the next year on developing a tighter and more ambitious rock sound.

May 1996 saw the release of the first fruits of these sessions, the single “Waiting,” which entered all UK indie charts and the UK National chart attracting airplay all over Europe. It was followed by “Signify,” the first album to fully reflect the powerful live sound of the band, blending together numerous rock and avant-garde styles, while absorbing many diverse influences but relying on none. A large amount of major European media interest accompanied the album’s release, as Porcupine Tree has now become a highly respected force in the musical underground. “Signify” is regarded by the band (and many fans) as one of their finest works. The band went on to complete a highly successful European tour.

Porcupine Tree continued to increase in popularity abroad during 1997 and in March played to an audience of over 5,000 in Rome over three nights - all of which were recorded for the 1997 live album “Coma Divine.² This album was released as a goodbye to Delerium Records, which felt it could no longer offer the kind of resources the band needed in order to continue to build its profile worldwide. In late 1997, the band’s first three albums were remastered and reissued. “Signify” also saw a release in the US on Miles Copeland’s ARK 21 label.

Steven, Richard, Colin, and Chris spent all of 1998 recording their fifth studio album, a release that reflected the band’s move towards a more song orientated sound. At the time of recording, the band had no record deal, but later that year they signed to the Snapper/K-Scope label and in March of 1999, the album “Stupid Dream” was issued, supported by a lengthy tour of the UK, Italy, Greece, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, and the USA. The three singles taken from the album - “Piano Lessons,” “Stranger By the Minute,” and “Pure Narcotic” - all achieved mainstream exposure in the US and in Europe and appeared well placed in the UK independent charts and on radio station playlists. Although initially the album was such a departure that some older fans were unsure, it brought the band many new fans and went on to become the band’s best selling and most acclaimed release to date.

The time spent looking for a record deal had not been wasted and only a few months after the release of “Stupid Dream,” the band were ready to begin work on a follow up, recorded during the transition into the new millennium and completed in February 2000. With string arrangements provided by Dave Gregory of XTC, “Lightbulb Sun” built on the mix of songwriting, soundscaping, and rock dynamics of “Stupid Dream,” but developed it into something altogether more intense and organic, a band confidently in control of their sound. The album was released in May, 2000, preceded by the single “Four Chords That Made a Million.” A sold out show at the Scala in London began a short run of UK shows, to be followed later in the year by European festival dates and a major tour supporting Dream Theater.

The band continued to tour through the end of 2000 and the start of 2001, including their first major tour of Germany. A special double CD edition of the Lightbulb Sun album was issued in Israel and Germany, and in May, “Recordings,” a limited edition collection of EP tracks and out-takes from the previous two albums, was released as the band’s final release under their Snapper/KScope contract. In June 2001 the band played a short US tour, culminating in a sold out show at the Bottom Line in New York City. Shortly afterwards Porcupine Tree announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Lava/Atlantic Records.

In February 2002 Porcupine Tree’s first ever line-up change occurred when drummer Chris Maitland departed after eight years with the band. The band welcomed extraordinary drummer and long term acquaintance Gavin Harrison to the line-up.

In March, as a major retrospective box set of the band’s early work, “Stars Die - the Delerium Years 1991-97″ was released, the band commenced recording their first major label album, drawing from a pool of 30 new songs written by Steven in the previous two years. Sessions took place in New York and London, with veteran engineer Paul Northfield (Rush, Ozzy Osbourne, Hole) and string arranger Dave Gregory also playing major roles in the making of the record. Mixing of the new album was completed in LA in May with Tim Palmer.

The eagerly awaited new album, “In Absentia,” was released by Lava Records in September 2002 (European release Jan 2003). It was the band’s most accomplished and complete work to date, featuring a much heavier sound on some tracks, but also some of the band’s most beautiful and fragile works. The album received great praise worldwide and went on to become the band’s best selling album shifting over 100,000 copies in it’s first year of release, and charting in several European countries. The band also released a 5.1 surround sound version of the album, mixed by legendary Grammy award winning producer Elliot Scheiner, which went on to win the award for best 5.1 mix at the 2004 Surround Sound Music awards in LA. To promote the album the band undertook four tours of Europe and North America, including one with acclaimed Swedish metal band Opeth. On tour the new line up of the band was further augmented by additional touring vocalist/guitarist John Wesley.

During these tours the visual element of the band’s performance was taken to new heights with the involvement of filmmaker and photographer Lasse Hoile, who created a dark and surreal visual counterpoint to the PT’s music. The long promotional campaign for In Absentia ended on November 30th as the band played a homecoming show to a sold out London Astoria.

During 2003, Porcupine Tree also set up their own label and on-line store. The first release on the Transmission label was a studio session recorded for XM Radio, Washington, followed in 2004 by a recording from Polish radio in 2001. The band plan to use the label to issue a series of well recorded and packaged live and exclusive studio recordings.

2003 also saw the start of a lengthy reissue / remaster campaign, with many of the early albums expanded to double CDs. These reissues included a rerecorded / remixed version of the “Up the Downstair” album, and the reissue of “Stupid Dream” and “Lightbulb Sun” on Lava/Atlantic.

In early 2004 the band embarked on the recording sessions for an ambitious new Porcupine Tree album, “Deadwing”, their second for Lava/Atlantic. The album takes it’s inspiration from a film script (and hopefully later a film) written by Steven with his filmmaker friend Mike Bennion. With the album sessions completed in November 2004, and the band’s total worldwide sales now approaching half a million units, demand for new music from the band was at an all time high, and increasing media coverage, word of mouth and fan-power continued to create interest in Porcupine Tree on a massive scale throughout the world.

“Deadwing” was released in Europe and the US during the spring of 2005 as both a stereo and 5.1 surround sound album, preceded by the release of 2 singles, “Shallow” in the US, and “Lazarus” in Europe. The tour to promote the album commenced in the UK at the end of March, and continued throughout the year.

Even exist  special microsite decicated to Deadwing here (www.deadwing.com).

Since then, two major label album releases, ‘In Absentia’ and ‘Deadwing,’ have augmented the band’s renown. Heavier than previous releases, the albums have found favor with older fans and introduced Porcupine Tree to a whole new audience. The band also firmly established itself as being on the cutting edge in the audiophile/surround world: in 2004 and 2005, In Absentia and Deadwing were respectively released as 5.1 DVD-Audio editions by DTS Entertainment, and each won the Surround Music Award for Best Surround Mix in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

In late 2005, Porcupine Tree re-signed to Atlantic Records for the US, but moved to the highly successful independent rock label Roadrunner for Europe.

In September, 2006, Porcupine Tree released its first DVD, the live “Arriving Somewhere…,” filmed in Chicago during the Deadwing world tour. The DVD was critically acclaimed for both its visual quality, as well as the 5.1 mix: reviewing the DVD, Sound and Vision magazine concluded, “When it comes to surround sound, Porcupine Tree is in a league by itself.”

In December 2006, recording commenced on the band’s ninth studio album. The album, Fear of a Blank Planet, is the band’s most ambitious and cohesive work to date. Much of it was debuted last November to enthusiastic fan response on Porcupine Tree’s sold-out U.S. and European tours in support of the release of “Arriving Somewhere….” The album title is a reference to the lyrical content of the song-cycle on the album: a 21st century cocktail of MTV, sex, prescription drugs, video games, the internet, terminal boredom, and subsequent escape.

In April, 2007, the band will embark on a six-month world tour in support of “Fear of a Blank Planet,” one that will include Europe, the US, Japan, and Australia. The new album will be featured, and the show will feature the films and projections by the band’s long-time visualist Lasse Hoile.

Fear of a Blank Planet is released in Europe and the rest of the world on Roadrunner Records on April 18, and on April 24 in the US on Atlantic Records.

Picking up the pieces from At the Drive-In, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez formed the Mars Volta and wasted little time branching out into elements of hardcore, psychedelic rock, and free jazz that expanded on the boundaries of their previous work. Although their previous band’s demise ultimately arrived before they were able to truly capitalize on their mounting commercial triumphs, the Mars Volta immediately impressed with their willingness to eschew conventional logic and push themselves into new artistic directions instead of opting for the more marketable sounds. (Interestingly, their progressive yet streamlined approach gave them the early lead among critics against their former bandmates in Sparta, the more emo-leaning of the bands resulting from the split.) Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez enlisted friends Ikie Owens (also of the Long Beach Dub Allstars) and Jeremy Michael Ward, and the Mars Volta debuted with the EP Tremulant in 2002. Still, as much of their reputation was built on the strength of their live show, their highly energetic performances resulted in a wave of word-of-mouth hype that elevated the band to near-mythic proportions because so little of their recorded material was available to the public. Sadly, Ward passed away May 25, 2003, from an apparent drug overdose at the age of 27. The Mars Volta had recently returned from an European tour supporting the Red Hot Chili Peppers, where they introduced brand-new tracks from the full-length De-Loused in the Comatorium, which was released via Universal the following June.

The band returned in early 2005 with their second full-length, the ambitious song cycle Frances the Mute. (They also issued the live set Scab Dates later that year.) Leading up to the release of third album Amputechture in September 2006, drummer Jon Theodore quit and was replaced by Blake Fleming (who had played on early Mars Volta demos). The album also featured an expanded role for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante. Less than a year later, in late 2007, the new single “Wax Simulacra” paved the way for the fourth Mars Volta album, The Bedlam in Goliath. Rodriguez-Lopez has also recorded multiple times, producing almost a half-dozen albums within the span of four years. Matt Fink, All Music Guide

-Kurt’s Bio:

Kurt (Donald) Cobain born in February 20, 1967. His hometown (Aberdeen, Wa) was always kind of ‘problem’ for him  “Aberdeen was nothing but rednecks and guns and booze.”
In his childhood his parents divorced, and he ended up being shuffled from one relative’s house to the next. Kurt drooped out from high school and in his late teen he left home, abandoning the orderlines of his mother’s house for the danger and occasional excitement of bumming with friends
and doing nothing.

Though his condition had not yet been diagnosed, he had begun to show signs of narcolepsy, an incomprehensible illness which strikes its victims asleep in unoccupied rooms than he did in the menial sweeping and cleaning which was supposed to be his vocation.

That wasn’t his only job in his late teens, in 1985, he worked briefly as a lifeguard at the local YMCA.

But nothing lasted for long, except music.
That year, Kurt made the fateful connection, when he met the 19 years old Chris Novoselic born in Los Angeles into into a family of Yugoslavian extraction, Chris was brought to Aberdeen before he reached his teens as his father entered the logging industry.

When Kurt played with Chris for the first time in 1987, they decided to keep the band together, and by the beginning of the next year, they had a ten-song demo fully in place with Crover on drums.

Many of these tunes wound up on their Sub Pop debut album, Bleach (1989) and on their rarities compilation, Incesticide (1992). In the beginning (’ the early Nirvana’ ) of  the band they didn’t really find their ‘perfect’ drummer(Channing, Crover, Peters). However they found their perfect drummer that was Dave Grohl, who born in Warren, Ohio.

-Nirvana’s History:
After their 1991 breakthrough album Nevermind the album that shook the world by storm and bring their music to the world, Nirvana were everywhere. They were the cover boys of every major music mag in the world, song after song concert after concert as Nirvana gets better and better.
Nirvana:

• Kurt Cobain - songwriter, guitarist, vocal
• Chris Novoselic - bassist
• Dave Grohl - drummer

Kurt always had a problem with the ‘macho man’ style “I definitely have a problem with the average macho man, because they have always been a threat to me. I’ve had to deal with them most of my life -being taunted and beaten up by them  in school. I definitely feel closer to the feminine side of the human being  than I do the male.”

Meantime Kurt start spending time with his girlfriend, Courtney Love. He felt that spending a lot of time with Courtney was essential for his sanity. “I just wanted to do something that was really exciting” “I figured Courtney was the best option . I knew that there wouldn’t be a single person in the Nirvana camp that would approve of it. Because they’re so fucking boring.
Their lives are so normal.” In the spring of ‘92, Kurt checked into a rehab to rid himself of his heroin habit. “I just decided I want to have a life”.

However on February 24, 1992, Kurt married his girlfriend Courtney in Hawaii with a female minister, Kurt wore his pajamas on the ‘wedding’. And in August 18, 1992, Frances Bean Cobain was born in Los Angeles. Just 10 days after Kurt become a father, Nirvana played the U.K. Reading Festival. And in September the band performed at the MTV Video Music Awards, and received two awards

1. Best Alternative Video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
2. Best New Artists Awards

- Kurt’s Death:

In the morning of April 8, 1994, an electrician arrived at  Kurt house in Seattle and spotted what he thought was a mannequin lying on the floor of a small cottage/greenhouse above the garage.
Upon closer examination, he realized that what he saw was the body of a young male with a shotgun on his chest. The police arrived and body, dressed in jeans, a shirt and Converse trainers, was removed for identification. Fingerprints confirmed that it was Kurt Cobain, he left a suicide note, a wife and a daughter, and millions of fans that will not let go and will never forget him.

Radiohead was one of the few alternative bands of the early ’90s to draw heavily from the grandiose arena rock that characterized U2’s early albums. But the band internalized that epic sweep, turning it inside out to tell tortured, twisted tales of angst and alienation. Vocalist Thom Yorke’s pained lyrics were brought to life by the group’s three-guitar attack, which relied on texture — borrowing as much from My Bloody Valentine and Pink Floyd as R.E.M. and Pixies — instead of virtuosity. It took Radiohead awhile to formulate their signature sound. Their 1993 debut, Pablo Honey, only suggested their potential, and one of its songs, “Creep,” became an unexpected international hit, its angst-ridden lyrics making it an alternative rock anthem. Many observers pigeonholed Radiohead as a one-hit wonder, but the group’s second album, The Bends, was released to terrific reviews in the band’s native Britain in early 1995, helping build a more stable fan base. Having demonstrated unexpected staying power, as well as increasing ambition, Radiohead next released OK Computer, a progressive, electronic-tinged masterpiece that became one of the most acclaimed albums of the ’90s.

Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar), Ed O’Brien (guitar, vocals), Jonny Greenwood (guitar), Colin Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums) formed Radiohead as students at Oxford University in 1988. Initially called On a Friday, the band began pursuing a musical career in earnest in the early ’90s, releasing the Drill EP in 1992. Shortly afterward, the group signed to EMI/Capitol and released the single “Creep,” a fusion of R.E.M. and Nirvana highlighted by a noisy burst of feedback prior to the chorus. “Creep” was a moderate hit, and their next two singles, “Anyone Can Play Guitar” and “Pop Is Dead,” built a small following, even as the British music press ignored the group.