CRYOGENICS: cry·o·gen·ics n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The branch of physics dealing with the production and effects of very low temperatures.
Well, everyone, here it is: the long-awaited (hummm...) petition to have the song 'Cryogenics', recorded during the few couple of concerts that made their way onto the "Coma Divine" live album, be made available as an Internet download!
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The song 'Cryogenics', written, rehearsed and subsequently played live in 1997 for the sole purpose of recording it for what would become the "Coma Divine" legendary live album of Porcupine Tree, failed to make it on the final product. The only reason we, the fans, got to explain its absence on "Coma Divine" was that Steven Wilson didn't like it enough to put it there with the other songs. Fair enough.
On the contrary, I believe that the fans should have the chance to hear that song. I am among the few lucky ones who had that chance, by having it on a LOW-quality (emphasis on low) bootleg. From what I can hear, the song is gorgeous and deserves to be made available as an Internet download, just like some other songs were. Here are the pros and the cons.
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THE PROS
- 'Cryogenics' has technically been recorded (unless the contrary is proven) for the "Coma Divine" album, even if it didn't make it. Therefore, there wouldn't be much work to do, I guess, to convert it as a mere, tiny and harmless MP3.
- 'Cryogenics' is good enough to be made as an MP3 download via the official site. I said it and the ones I know who had a chance to listen to it also said so.
- 'Cryogenics' is approximately 3 minutes long, making it a download-friendly MP3 file that, if encoded at 128, would not even be 4Mb.
- According to Paragraph 19, Section 2.3 of the Porcupine Tree Compendium For Harmed Musical Products, it is "(...) illegitimate and morally unacceptable to keep such a good song as 'Cryogenics' sleeping in the unbreakable vaults of No Man's Land, (...) especially since it's technically already recorded."
- Would Steven Wilson really play a song live several times if he truly didn't like it? Well, this is, of course, only an assumption. But I'm trying to be convincing here!
- Giving 'Cryogenics' as a free MP3 download is a good thing: since SW doesn't like it, it's not as if he wouldn't actually be selling something he doesn't like. He would just be satisfying the billions and billions of thousands eager fans around the galaxy (and perhaps even beyond these horizons, who knows).
- The last song made available as an Internet download was more than a year ago, if we don't count the instrumental and atmospheric "Intro" (used before the concerts in the In Absentia tour), made available a few months ago. It's time to get a new one...
- Making 'Cryogenics' available as an easily-downloadable MP3 file would be a nice gift to compensate for the lack of updates on the official site...
- Making 'Cryogenics' available as a *very* easily-downloadable MP3 file would be a great Christmas gift, even if it is give to us, the fans, a couple of months after December 25. Indeed, Steven Wilson is an incredibly busy man, but I'm an incredibly patient man. Besides, I didn't put a specific year after "December 25"...
THE CONS
- Well, Steven Wilson doesn't like the song. And that's about it.
So as you can see, the balance is on the beggars' side. The purpose of this Manifesto may be humble, but its goal is genuine! The fans have mentionned the elusive 'Cryogenics' many times since 1997 and I sincerely think it has to be shared with the entire fanbase. I'm just a simple fan who has nothing to lose and who is willing to work hard to get what I and the fanbase wants!
Dany Babin, December 13, 2004.
To have your name added below, just send me an e-mail at this address stating your name, and perhaps your country, as well as a brief comment, if you wish, explaining why you think 'Cryogenics' should be given to the fans (to give even more strength to our names!!!). Those who left a comment will have their names turn into a hyperlink leading to a separate page with their comments on it.
danook at gmail dot com
Here are all the fans that have signed the Petition so far:
- Dany Babin (Canada), signed on December 13, 2004
- Tom Winn (U.S.A.), signed on December 13, 2004
- Niek Hendrix (The Netherlands), signed on December 13, 2004
- Ian Boyle (U.K.), signed on December 14, 2004
- Nat Slautich, signed on December 14, 2004
- Andy Elvidge, signed on December 14, 2004
- Kostis Filippopoulos, signed on December 14, 2004
- Egbert Brouwer (Holland), signed on December 14, 2004
- Eric Pétrie (Canada), signed on December 14, 2004
- Sean Sullivan, signed on December 14, 2004
- Serge Alexandrov (U.S.A.), signed on December 14, 2004
- Dennis Barakos (U.S.A.), signed on December 15, 2004
- Joost van Ginkel, signed on December 15, 2004
- Albert Toby (The Netherlands), signed on December 15, 2004
- Doodi Keslasy (Israel), signed on December 15, 2004
- Steve Dumbrell (U.K.), signed on December 15, 2004
- Lars Schneider (Germany), signed on December 16, 2004
- Larry Thomas (U.S.A.), signed on December 16, 2004
- Tomás Soares (Brazil), signed on December 18, 2004
- Rujira Saithong (Canada), signed on December 19, 2004
- Stephen Garrity (England), signed on December 21, 2004
- Slawomir Jedrzejczak (Poland), signed on December 21, 2004
- Dominic Hemy (England), signed on December 21, 2004
- Alexej Ulbricht (Germany), signed on December 21, 2004
- Norman Morrow (Northern Ireland), signed on December 22, 2004
- Marcel Halbeisen (Switzerland), signed on December 23, 2004
- Colin Jaccino (U.S.A.), signed on December 24, 2004
- Erik Sanborn (U.S.A.), signed on January 4, 2005
- Denis Gasiero (France), signed on January 6, 2005
- Gwyn Hughes (U.K.), signed on January 7, 2005
- Vincent Sauvage (France), signed on January 8, 2005
- Maximilien Basquin (France), signed on January 9, 2005
- Philippe Marjollet (France), signed on January 9, 2005
- Alexandre Moure (France), signed on January 9, 2005
- Sébastien Robert (France), signed on January 9, 2005
- Christophe Demagny (France), signed on January 9, 2005
- Olivier Mirand (France), signed on January 12, 2005
- Rémy Turpault (France), signed on January 12, 2005
- Jean Balczesak (France), signed on January 14, 2005
- Michel Verreckt (Belgium), signed on January 26, 2005
- Mark Bennett (U.S.A.), signed on February 7, 2005
- Dan Horton (U.S.A.), signed on February 7, 2005
- Charles Joseph (Canada), signed on February 7, 2005
- Michael Ferenczy (Canada), signed on February 7, 2005
- Eliot Rogers (U.S.A.), signed on February 7, 2005
- Michel Drolet (Canada), signed on February 7, 2005
- Andy Ashton (U.K.), signed on February 8, 2005
- Peter-Michael Sieker (Germany), signed on February 8, 2005
- Ravit Shtossel (Israel), signed on February 8, 2005
- Christian Gladu (Canada), signed on February 8, 2005
- David Fresno (Spain), signed on February 8, 2005
- Richard Kryder (U.S.A.), signed on February 8, 2005
- Marko Zwijnenburg (The Netherlands), signed on February 8, 2005
- Brian Bernardini (U.S.A), signed on February 8, 2005
- Barry van Baalen (Holland), signed on February 9, 2005
- Wojciech Pieluzek (Poland), signed on February 9, 2005
- Pablo Buján (Argentina), signed on February 9, 2005
- Freddy Rodriguez (Venezuela), signed on February 10, 2005
- Brandon Anderson (U.S.A.), signed on March 13, 2005
- Everett Delacroix (U.S.A.), signed on March 13, 2005
- Daniele (Italy), signed on March 17, 2005
- Arnaud Trencart (France), signed on March 27, 2005
- Marc Leblanc (France), signed on March 31, 2005
- Josh Caputo (U.S.A.), signed on April 6, 2005
- Richard Neal (U.K.), signed on April 7, 2005
- Alan Verdecia (U.S.A), signed on April 7, 2005
- Luis Quintero (Mexico), signed on April 7, 2005
- John Gerz (U.S.A.), signed on April 18, 2005
- Marco Popp (Germany), signed on April 21, 2005
- Kyle Bemis (U.S.A.), signed on April 21, 2005
- Brian Theobald (U.S.A.), signed on April 21, 2005
- Ray Badowski (U.S.A.), signed on April 21, 2005
- Robert Golladay (U.S.A.), signed on April 22, 2005
- Karl Hansal (Australia), signed on April 22, 2005
- Iwar Visser (U.K.), signed on April 22, 2005
- Tim Wright (Sweden), signed on April 22, 2005
- Agnieszka Swiatnicka (Poland), signed on April 22, 2005
- Bruce Norris (New Zealand), signed on April 22, 2005
- Daniel Vincent (U.K.), signed on April 22, 2005
- Vincenzo Natale (Italy), signed on April 22, 2005
- Karl O'Neill (U.S.A.), signed on April 22, 2005
- Thanasis Liapis (Greece), signed on April 22, 2005
- Ganit Yahud (Israel), signed on April 22, 2005
- Sean Fredrick (U.S.A.), signed on April 22, 2005
- Chris Quartly (U.K.), signed on April 22, 2005
- Pete Millar (U.K.), signed on April 22, 2005
- Patrick Keller (U.S.A.), signed on April 22, 2005
- Craig Smith, signed on April 22, 2005
- Dennis Ramler (The Netherlands), signed on April 22, 2005
- Lody Herst (The Netherlands), signed on April 22, 2005
- Carsten Leenders (The Netherlands), signed on April 22, 2005
- Peter Berkers (The Netherlands), signed on April 22, 2005
- Daniel Roberts (U.S.A.), signed on April 23, 2005
- Urban Andersson (Sweden), signed on April 23, 2005
- Krzysztof Sokalla (Poland), signed on April 23, 2005
- Daniel Roberts (U.S.A.), signed on April 23, 2005
- Eric Guilbot (France), signed on April 24, 2005
- Warren Chapman (U.K.), signed on April 24, 2005
- Graham Robinson, signed on April 25, 2005
- Mel Hoffman (U.S.A.), signed on April 29, 2005
- Matt Putzel, (U.S.A.) signed on April 29, 2005
- Jeffrey N. Jones, (U.S.A.) signed on May 1, 2005
- Philip Jason, signed on June 29, 2005
- Ben Simpson, (U.K.) signed on September 25, 2005
Post-Scriptum: This is a page under construction. The layout and a couple of things may change over the weeks.
Second Post-Scriptum: As proud and satisfied as I am of my written English knowledge (after all, I don't have any English degree), I don't have the pretention and don't expect this page to have perfect English, French being my mother language. Please feel free to correct any mistakes you may find here. And I thank you in advance for doing so.
Mea culpa: I've always used Tripod to host my pages. I know the pop-ups are annoying, but hey... the service is free. Sorry about that! But interesting thing: Windows XP Service Pack 2 apparently has an integrated pop-up blocker...