Reply #3: I heard "Meddle" in 1971 when I was 15 [View All]

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

and I had to put the top of my head back on after it was over. I was literally :wow:

I'd never heard anything like it and Echoes is still the greatest extended piece of rock music ever, though Close To The Edge and Shine On (You Crazy Diamond) are right up there. 37 years later, Echoes still takes me places no other music can despite hundreds of hearings. Such depth, grace and beauty, all of it supplied by Rick and David. The long build out of the middle underwater section with Rick soloing so tastefully, that climaxes with what I've always though of as the "starburst" or "fireworks" guitar outburst before the last verse still sends chills up my spine.

Fare well on your eternal journey through the cosmos, Rick, and say hi to your fellow space pioneer Carl Sagan when you run in to him.

BTW, jaredh, the earliest Porcupine Tree stuff is the best - Voyage 34 and The Sky Moved Sideways are flat out killers. Agreed about Dave G. He always plays one or two perfect notes where most guitarists would play a dozen while looking for the right one. If you haven't heard his slide solo at the end of "High Hopes" from Division Bell, I can't describe it. There are no words, and it makes me tear up every time I hear it. Beauty like that can't be explained, which is why we have music.