[citation needed] Barbieri's goals for his contributions during the Signify sessions were "...to use what in isolation would be a weird and abstract sound or texture and to make it work in the context of a pop song".

[6] Wilson said of the recording process: "Signify was slightly odd in the way it was recorded in the sense that although it is a band album, because we were never able to actually all be in the same room at the same time, because of physical limitations, with the exception of one track, "Intermediate Jesus", which was done outside, I tended to demo the tracks to a fairly high level and they would just replace the parts that I'd played on synthesizers with the real thing.

[2] The title track of the album, "Signify", actually originated as a demo cover version of a song by the krautrock band Neu!

Sputnikmusic gave Signify five out of five stars, applauding the album as "a masterpiece in modern psychedelia", writing that it "exudes a raw feeling of musical passion and pure trippy atmosphere: the soaring, expertly written vocal harmonies, engulfing instrumental pieces, unsettling samples, and puzzling abstract lyrics.

"[13] AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, praising the album as "... the next great step forward for Porcupine Tree, a distinct advancement in how well the foursome could completely rock out as well as find its own narcotic style of ambient exploration...For all that Wilson may once again be singing obliquely on the pressures and nature of end-of-century life, he still does so in an engagingly left-of-center way.

B-sides from the era, including "The Sound of No-One Listening" (from the "Waiting" single and the original vinyl pressing of Signify) and "Fuse the Sky" (a remix of the title track from The Sky Moves Sideways released on an ambient compilation) appear in addition to the aforementioned "Signify II" and "Colourflow in Mind" (an album outtake) on the compilation album Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991–1997.

It was recorded in Rome (with other material used to compile Coma Divine live album) but never mixed or released properly as the band weren't happy with the performance.

[15] The live recording of "Cryogenics" was later restored and released on 2020's EP Coma: Coda (Rome 1997) which made available through the official Porcupine Tree Bandcamp page.