Steven Wilson n00bvivor Results: The hiss of the train at the railway head

Satisfied?

  • Total voters
    4
I'm downloading albums as we go and I'll go with the reissue with this one, it's probably better. One of the reasons I bailed on hosting this are the numerous versions of early albums, ain't nobody got time fo keeping up with dat :p
 
This album is definitely stronger, but it retains some of my least favorite things from the previous one - endless sound effects landscapes, droning melancholy without any drive, annoying as hell keyboard patches. Seriously, the effects on Fadeaway literally made my ears ring. I will never listen to that song again. Synesthesia is legitimately a solid and catchy song, Burning Sky is a cool instrumental.

I do not need another listen to know that I'm currently voting for all three transition tracks.
 
Figuring out the right version of each album has been a project in itself.
 
Synesthesia - This is awesome. Real drums! Already better than anything from the previous album. Production has also improved drastically.

Always Never - This one has some really great guitar work. A much more riff driven tune with some nice fills in the verses. Great buildup in the second half. Nice showcase for SW's guitar playing.

Up the Downstair - This one is very Floydian with the large buildup based on one pattern. This is more of a showcase for atmosphere and mood. I like how each of these songs are showing different sides of SW as a songwriter.

Not Beautiful Anymore - Another riff driven tune that reminds me of early Rush. Probably my least favorite of the bunch so far, but I won't vote for it until all the instrumental interludes are gone.

Small Fish - Never mind, this one is worse. I guess it qualifies as a real song but it's pretty boring.

Burning Sky - Ok now it's back to the good stuff. This one starts off really cool. Love that groove. Great buildups and guitar work. Most of these "epics" seem to be more psychedelic jams.

Fadeaway - Nice eerie "end credits" tune.

The studio noise/sound effects interludes are still there but it fits the music better this time. It helps to tie everything together. Solid album, huge improvement over the debut.
 
After a couple listens, Always Never, Small Fish, Burning Sky, and Fadeaway are all pretty enjoyable. I'm not blown away by Synesthesia or the title track, but they're still better than almost everything from the first album. Not Beautiful Anymore will definitely be getting a vote from me in the next round.
 
Going to update since it's unanimous.

Eliminated
What You Are Listening To
Monuments Burn Into Moments
Siren
 
BTW, for those who don't have the albums, SW recently changed his opinion on music streaming and put all his solo albums on spotify. The PT stuff isn't up yet, but the albums show up when you search for them, which is usually a sign that they are working on a streaming deal.
 
I gave Up the Downstair another listen. I'm not getting the love for Synesthesia. It really doesn't do anything for me at all. I have it below Always Never and Fadeaway.

The title track sounds like something that might someday click and sound awesome, but it's just not happening now. Burning Sky, on the other hand, is great.

Small Fish is really growing on me.

Not Beautiful Anymore is the worst actual song on the album.
 
Always Never and the title track have a lot of interesting things going on but drag a bit too.

Keeping to my promise and voting for Not Beautiful anymore.

Small Fish still isn't one of my favorites, but it wasn't as bad as I remembered so I'll hold off on it for now.
 
Eliminated
Up the Downstair - 3 votes
Not Beautiful Anymore - 4 votes
 
Eliminated
Small Fish - 5 votes

Final round before the next album!
 
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