Recorded from mid-93 to mid-94, The Sky Moves Sideways captures Porcupine Tree in something of a transitional period, the outfit expanding from the solo project of founder Steven Wilson into a full band during the album’s creation. A dreamy, tranquil and heavily atmospheric effort for the most part, the opus sees the group at their most heavily immersed in Pink Floyd territories; the frequent Wish You Were Here comparisons certainly hold true, not least due to the structuring, which sees the album dominated by one massive multi-part number – in this case the title track.
In fact, the music initially feels a little too indebted to the Floyd, so the use of some contemporary electronics – which had been more extensively employed on previous album Up The Downstair – prove very welcome, not only because they add massively to the dynamics, but because they also mark this as a genuinely progressive work, rather than simply prog nostalgia. Strangely, the actual content of the album has been continuously tinkered with by the band over the years; this double-LP is, by our count, the fourth version to be released – though whether it’s the final remains to be seen.
