Recordings is a collection of b-sides from the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun album’s recording sessions. Recordings was originally a limited release, limited to only 20,000 copies worldwide. It was later reissued as double vinyl (2000 copies only) in January, 2011.

Frontman Steven Wilson described the album:
“Six of the songs are taken from singles that were released in 1999 and 2000. Sometimes tracks don’t make it on to an album first time around not for reasons of quality (or lack of), but perhaps because they just didn’t fit onto the album, or one member of the band wasn’t happy with the track. Also perceptions can change and I think we all felt in hindsight that these six tracks deserved to be heard by a wider audience…The remaining 3 tracks we recorded specifically for the album. “Oceans Have No Memory” is a new band recording of a demo that was originally issued on the B-side of the “Piano Lessons” 7 -inch single. “Access Denied” was written and demoed for Lightbulb Sun but no one liked it except me! So I took the opportunity to re-present it to the band for inclusion on Recordings and this time they let me do it. Finally “Buying New Soul” was a song recorded during writing sessions just after Lightbulb Sun was finished. I think if it had been written a couple of months earlier it would have been included on the album. We thought about holding it back for the next album, but in the end we felt that because the next album is probably going to be moving into different musical waters it should be released now.”