The Sky Moves Sideways
by Porcupine Tree
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Porcupine Tree bestography
The Sky Moves Sideways is ranked 7th best out of 47 albums by Porcupine Tree on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Porcupine Tree is Fear Of A Blank Planet which is ranked number 454 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 3,695.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to The Sky Moves Sideways on YouTube
The Sky Moves Sideways track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
The Sky Moves Sideways rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Steppenwolf666 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1995 | 85/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 1995 Pt 2 | 76/90 | - |
| 2026 |  Arthurknight | Top 99 Music Albums of 1995 | 82/99 | 1 |
| 2026 | wizardalien | Steven Wilson Studio Albums Ranked | 16/18 | - |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | Steven Wilson | 17/29 | - |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of 1995 | 54/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | MasterOfPuppets | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 75/100 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Graeme2 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1995 | 96/100 | 0 |
| 2026 |  DommeDamian | Scaruffi Best Albums of 1994 | 79/100 | - |
| 2026 | MasterOfPuppets | Top 500 Albums: 301-400 | 15/100 | - |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 91 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 433 | |||
The Sky Moves Sideways collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 55 members
The Sky Moves Sideways ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 160 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/19/2026 08:31 |  ssteve | 2,637 | 76/100 |
| ! | 04/20/2026 13:19 | Exist-en-ciel | 16,717 | 70/100 |
| ! | 09/24/2025 08:31 | cicadelic | 14,318 | 73/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.6/100, a mean average of 77.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.8.
The Sky Moves Sideways favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 13 members
The Sky Moves Sideways forum mentions
Romanelli 01/17/2025 22:52 in Albums You Added To Your Collection Today
LedZep 11/25/2020 22:09 in My discoveries per year
Lowkey 01/05/2016 21:33 in The Lowkey LogThe Sky Moves Sideways comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Steven Wilson regrets making this album. Why Mr Wilson? Yes it is obviously a tip to Pink Floyd in its layout. But at least it sounds original (compare this with Voyage 34 which is too close to Another Brick in the Wall IMO). And the songs are brilliant. And it got me interested in Pink Floyd. No regrets from me! (Edited)
dihansse 03/09/2021 20:33 | #267129 | TOP COMMENT
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It's always difficult to get into a PT album and normally it takes a few listens to really appreciate it. But this third album (which is often described as the first real PT album) is fairly immediate. It is too many times repeated that it sounds a lot like Wish You Were Here and partly this is also the case but it's certainly more spacey and it hovers a lot between muzak and real heartfelt music which often excels in great guitar solos and melodies. I listened to the very long two CD version which sounds a bit repetitive after a while but I did like it. (Edited)
sageamagoo TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/27/2017 15:42 | #191515 | TOP COMMENT
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The US release is my favourite version of this album. TSMS (Phase One) -> Stars Die -> Moonloop is just such a perfect way to open the record that I don't think I could listen to it any other way.
This album has so many great moments (especially in the title tracks) and I urge any Porcupine Tree fan who hasn't quite gotten into it yet to give it a few more tries. The bit in the middle of Phase Two with the female vocals followed by the guitar solo gets to me every time. (Edited)
The Sky Moves Sideways is one of the most essential pieces of experimental and progressive rock ever written. By far the highlight of the album is the epic title track, divided into two phases of nearly twenty minutes. Phase one is lyrically and vocally perfect, and the ambient textures and emotion portray by the piece is second to none. The Moon Touches Your Shoulder continues the unique atmosphere, and Moonloop is a fantastic, liquid spacey trip. (Edited)
Couldn't get in to this one after a few tries, although I love the band. The best was yet to come for them. I like Dislocated Day and The Moon Touches Your Shoulder, but didn't really enjoy the rest of the songs. (Edited)
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