Porcupine Tree started out as a fake band, the only real member being multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson. Wilson's first two releases, Tarquin's Seaweed Farm (1989) and The Nostalgia Factory (1990), were both released on cassette tapes. In addition to the band's trademark psychedelic sound, these two tapes also contained heavy ambient and pop influences. Wilson's favorite tracks were then compiled into the CD On the Sunday of Life... (1991), while the more ambient-leaning tracks were also collected in Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape (1994). The first of these two featured many new versions of songs.

Wilson then went on to release Voyage 34 (1992) and Up the Downstair (1993), which refined the sound of the previous albums and removed the pop influences. Both of these were later re-released, the first as Voyage 34: The Complete Trip (2000), which included an extra two remixes (a total of four), while Up the Downstair was remastered at 2005 with real drums added in place of the drum-machine beats.

The Sky Moves Sideways (1995), often considered the band's best album by long-time fans, largely uses the spacey nature of previous albums. By the time of Signify (1996) Wilson had a full band at his disposal: Chris Maitland (drums), Colin Edwin (bass), and Richard Barbieri, formerly of Japan, on keyboards.

The band's next two albums, Stupid Dream (1999) and Lightbulb Sun (2000), saw them take on a more alternative rock-oriented sound, while still drawing influence from as far back as Up the Downstair. During this period, the band garnered increasing recognition, both in their home country and abroad. Finally, they were signed to Lava Records (a major American record label) in time for the release of In Absentia, with Gavin Harrison replacing Chris Maitland on drums. This album shows high metal influences, due in part to Wilson's work with Opeth on their album Blackwater Park. The band continued this sound for their 2005 release, Deadwing, which has the heaviest and most noticable metal influences.

In April 2007, the band released their album Fear of a Blank Planet. an album clearly influenced by the post-rock genre, but also sees them expanding the metal side of their music, yet still remaining true to older facets of the band's sound.

In April, 2007, the band embarked on a six-month world tour in support of Fear of a Blank Planet, one that included Europe, the U.S., Japan, and Australia. The new album was featured, and the show featured the films and projections by the band?s long-time visualist Lasse Hoile.

Fear of a Blank Planet is already the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful album of the band's career, charting high in most countries (even giving the band their first top-forty album in their home country). Porcupine Tree spent most of 2007 on tour promoting the album, and a new EP Nil Recurring containing material left over from the album-writing sessions was released on the band's own label Transmission in September.

In September 2009, Porcupine Tree released their latest record The Incident.

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Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, UK. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven Wilson and Richard Barbieri's liking for the Kosmische Musik scene of the early '70s, led by bands such as Tangerine Dream, Neu! and Can. Since the early 2000s, their music has been leaning towards progressive metal.

The band are noted for their multimedia approach, with their live performances including screens displaying a different film projection to each song. This visual element was introduced during the tour for the In Absentia album, when the band started to work with Danish photographer and filmmaker Lasse Hoile, whose involvement has created a distinctive image for the band.

Despite being signed to both Roadrunner and Atlantic labels, the band has their own record label, Transmission, which they use to launch some independent releases and special editions of their albums. Their 2007 album Fear of a Blank Planet was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album.