Progressive Palaver

After taking August off, Topographic Topics returns with plenty to talk about. We start with Steven Wilson and our first taste of Requiem for a Village. The new “Village Hall Session” immediately grabbed our attention, with Steven, Randy McStine, and Russell Holzman creating something that feels raw, energetic, and distinctly different from the meticulously polished world of The Overview. We dig i...

Episode 186 – Dada Part 6, Dada Expanded Universe Progressive Palaver is back with a fascinating exploration of Dada's extended musical landscape. The group unpack the solo and side ventures of band members—from Butterfly Jones to 7Horse to Michael Gurley's solo albums. The episode reveals compelling discoveries: 7Horse’s breakthrough moment when their track landed in *The Wolf of Wall Street*, Ph...

SCS45 – King’s X in Houston TX, May 2026 It had been almost three years since Joe had seen King’s X, so when the opportunity came to catch them at Scout Bar in Houston, there really wasn’t much question about whether he was going. In this Special Concert Series episode, Joe and Paul talk through the experience of seeing a band that has become something of a known quantity live—and why that really...

Episode 185 – Dada Part 5, Dada Let’s cut to the chase, Dada’s fourth, self-titled album is a masterpiece. It’s that plain. Working with the absolute legend, Danny Kortchmar, the members of Dada were able to craft the perfect album. Excellent production, incomprehensibly great songwriting, and near perfect performances all combine to create a true sonic gem. So why has this record gone virtually i...

Special Episode – Interview with Pat and Dan of The Tea Club, July 2026 When Technology Meets the Body: T-Club's Most Personal Album Yet Rarely does a band wrestle so openly with what it means to be human. T-Club's sixth album *Chasm* was born from grief, health struggles, and one genuinely unsettling piece of performance art involving a prosthetic ear surgically implanted into an artist's arm. Re...

Episode 184 – Dada Part 3, El Subliminoso A sad day in Palaver history. My podcast mates don’t seem to perceive the unmitigated genius in El Subliminoso in the same way I do. Dada’s third record shows the brilliant trio continuing to develop both their sound and their songwriting. Not everyone is buying what they are selling, but the trouble seems to stem more from the length of the album and the...

Topographic Topics – July 2026 The big news driving the episode is Asia's upcoming album *Indigo*, releasing November 6th via Frontiers Music. It will be their first studio album since 2014, which makes the announcement genuinely surprising and worth paying attention to. Joe shares his deep enthusiasm for Asia across all its iterations, and the group digs into what makes this release feel signific...

Episode 183 – Dada Part 2, American Highway Flower Is American Highway Flower a genius follow-up to Dada’s spectacular debut of Puzzle? Is a good album but suffering a bit from the sophomore slump? The truth likely lies somewhere in between. Join us as we explore this simultaneously engaging and exasperating record. There is a wide range of reactions to this record and we think there is something...

SCS44 – The Eagles in Arlington TX, May 2026 Rarely does a legacy act manage to silence a skeptic, but the Eagles did exactly that at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Joe went in with reservations and came out genuinely impressed, and that shift in perspective makes this conversation worth your time. What won him over? The sheer professionalism of it all. (The band's attention to sound engine...

Episode 182 – Dada Part 1, Puzzle With this episode we start a new short segment on an unexpected band, Dada. A serendipitous find from 1992, Puzzle is Dada’s debut album and is a true gem. Dada were a genre-bending delight that manifested in strong songwriting backed up with top-flight production. This segment is a true joy for us. Prog? Maybe less so than many would hope, but we can’t recommend...

Bonus Episode – Ranking Porcupine Tree Albums After eleven episodes exploring the complete Porcupine Tree studio catalog, it's finally time to rank the albums. Joe, Paul, and Ken compare their personal Top 11 lists, debate the strengths of every era of the band's evolution, discuss overlooked gems, surprising favorites, and even introduce a new Progressive Palaver metric: "bangers." Will In Absent...

Bonus Episode – Ranking Porcupine Tree Album Covers From the dreamlike mystery of On the Sunday of Life... to the haunting gaze of Fear of a Blank Planet, the surreal imagery of Deadwing, the minimalist design of Closure/Continuation, and everything in between, we debate which covers best capture the spirit of the music. Some choices were easy. Others sparked serious debate. BlueSky: @progpala.bsk...

Episode 181 – Porcupine Tree Part 12, The Incident For a long time, The Incident was the finale of Porcupine Tree. It’s an album that may or may not be reviled by the band themselves. As with many records in the genre, there are outstanding moments and there are confounding moments, a situation that is exacerbated by the presentation on streaming services. Such is life in the modern prog world. We...

Topographic Topics – June 2026 Rarely does a single episode pack in Rush's triumphant return, the latest release from Prog cornerstone Yes, a sprawling Devin Townsend epic, and a children's book about stage fright, but here we are. Joe and Paul dive deep into Rush's recent Los Angeles concerts featuring new drummer Annika Niles, whose Neil Peart-honoring performances have sent social media into a...

Episode 180 – Porcupine Tree Part 11, Fear of a Blank Planet Rarely does an album get called a band's *true apex* when the world has already crowned a different record their masterpiece. That tension sits at the heart of this conversation about Porcupine Tree's "Fear of a Blank Planet," and it makes for a genuinely compelling listen. From the moment we dig into Steven Wilson's guitar work and Rich...

Episode 179 – Porcupine Tree Part 10, Deadwing The Palaver returns with an exhaustive exploration of Porcupine Tree's eighth studio album, Deadwing (2005). The group dissects this often-overlooked masterpiece, often unfairly shadowed between In Absentia and Fear of the Blank Planet. The episode opens with fascinating context: Stephen Wilson's recent remix projects on Frankie Goes to Hollywood and...

Episode 178 – Porcupine Tree Part 9, In Absentia At long last, the beginning of the “main sequence” for Porcupine Tree, In Absentia! Enter Gavin Harrison and larger-than-life riffs. In Absentia is an album that heralds a new phase of the band’s development. From the last-minute drummer change to the macabre sources we explore what makes this record such a game-changer. BlueSky: @progpala.bsky.soci...

SCS43 – Nine Inch Nails in Austin TX, March 2026 Joe recounts attending a Nine Inch Nails concert at Austin's Moody Center on March 1st, 2025 with Paul and Ken. He delivers a detailed breakdown of the production: Trent Reznor's vocal performance remains *remarkably fresh*, the rotating band (featuring Robin Finck, Stu Brooks, and Josh Freeze) delivered exceptional musicianship, and the innovative...

Episode 177 – Porcupine Tree Part 8, Lightbulb Sun Progressive Palaver returns with a deep dive into Porcupine Tree's Lightbulb Sun —the 2000 landmark that shifted the band toward melodic, pop-influenced progressive rock. The group explores an album that initially sparked skepticism but revealed surprising depths on repeated listens. The Palaver dissects each track, celebrating Chris Maitland's ph...

Topographic Topics – May 2026 Rarely does a single episode pack in studio obsessions, art world acquisitions, and a 19-minute prog epic all at once. The group sits down for a genuinely exciting conversation that covers a lot of ground in just 65 minutes. At the heart of the episode is Marillion's May visit to Real World Studios, where they were spotted recording new material. Joe's deep fascinatio...

Episode 176 – Porcupine Tree Part 7, Stupid Dream Things are heating up here on the Palaver. Stupid Dream shows us Porcupine Tree as a band that is on the very verge of realizing their potential. Song-driven. Direct. Unmistakably different. This is the moment the band steps into a new identity—and opens the door to a much wider audience. BlueSky: @progpala.bsky.social X: @progpala Instagram: www.i...

Episode 175 – Porcupine Tree Part 6, Signify Signify presents Porcupine Tree taking another step toward their ultimate identity. Songwriting and recording begin to materialize and point the way forward. From Signify we all see the future and we like what we see. Enjoy this palaver as we enjoy this record. BlueSky: @progpala.bsky.social X: @progpala Instagram: www.instagram.com/progressivepalaver/...

SCS42 – The Hooters in Glenside PA, Oct 2025 Rarely does a concert fulfill decades of anticipation, but Ken's long-awaited bucket list experience seeing the Hooters at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, Pennsylvania did exactly that, and it delivered in every possible way. Ken joins Joe and Paul to break down a performance that closed out the Hooters' European tour with a genuine homecoming celebrat...

Episode 174 – Porcupine Tree Part 5, The Sky Moves Sideways This episode dissects an album that divides opinion. Joe warmed to it despite feeling it stepped back from *Up the Downstair*. Paul and Ken acknowledge early sketches of the band's future sound—Steven Wilson's compositions show promise—yet the record often fades into background music rather than commanding attention. The group examines th...

SCS41 – Asia ft John Payne and Stratospheerius, Sellersville PA, Oct 2025 What happens when you walk into a concert expecting one thing and leave with a completely different perspective? That's exactly what happened to me recently at Sellersville Theater. I attended an Asia show featuring John Payne, and I'll be honest—I initially felt like I'd crashed someone else's party. But what unfolded was g...