Porcupine Tree
 

Are they too mainstream for you hipsters or does anyone here like them?

Well, I'm a big progressive rock fan, so I checked them out a while back, and I think Up the Downstair is a very interesting record, but otherwise I'm not too familiar with them. They didn't make enough of an impression on me to want to check out more, though.

I like some of their earlier stuff, like Up The Downstair or Staircase Infinities. Metanoia is probably my favorite. After "Signify," they got waaay too slick and "euphoric" sounding for my taste (they were always right on the edge for me anyway), but I'm happy they have such a huge fanbase now. My bandmate opened for them a couple of years ago and the crowd was pretty huge.

Also, if you ever see anything of theirs on vinyl for cheap, BUY IT.
I have sold a lot of their LPs for my work, and they almost always go for three figures. Even 12inches and 7inches get 75 bucks on a regular basis, and I have sold a couple of their LPs for upwards of 300 bucks.

The first IEM (Incredible Expanding Mindfuck, a Steven Wilson side project) LP is totally essential psychedlia, and in my opinion better than all the Porcupine Tree stuff.
Their keyboardist was once in one of my favorite 70s/80s art-glam-new romantic bands, Japan, once upon a time. A great talent there.

they are so mainstream i've never even heard of them.

Kinda boring and "cold" sounding for me to get into, but I can see why someone would like them. They've really sucked from In Absentia onwards, though.

What he said^

yes!

I got into them with In Absentia...good band.

I wouldn't call them mainstream, though. It's not like you're gonna hear them on the radio every day.

i'd never heard of them until a dude i was working with burned me their CD, i didn't expect to like them but i did, i have no idea which album he burned though