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

Satisfied?

  • Total voters
    4
Sky Moves Sideways Phase 1 - Off to a really great start, the ambient vamp here sets up a welcoming atmosphere. Already more inviting than anything from the previous two albums. The Pink Floyd vibe is immediately noticeable, but it doesn't feel like PT is ripping them off. The guitar playing is very tasty, very Gilmour-esque. Stevie's vocals have also gotten better. The electronic breakdown in the middle is totally unexpected. Awesome groove there. Also some cool middle eastern flavored synth playing, you're already hearing the benefits of having more creative forces involved than just SW. Overall, a cool hypnotic song that you can easily get lost in.

Dislocated Day - This one also has a cool exotic groove to start out with. Love how this alternates between soft verses and an intense response melody. Very Frank Zappa-esque guitar playing on this. Taking a break from the Floyd overall on this track. I agree with Knick that this song would benefit from a stronger vocalist. Awesome song otherwise though.

The Moon Touches Your Shoulder - Back to a more dreamy sound here. This one took too long to get going for me. I was starting to lose interest toward what I thought was the end of the song, only to find that it had 2 minutes left to go. Once the full band joins in it's a bit better and Stevie plays another tasty solo. This one is getting a vote though.

Prepare Yourself - Also gets a vote. Just an interlude.

Stars Die - I can see how this would be a popular song among fans. It has that psychedelic quality with a really good vibe and melody. Should've been on the main album originally instead of The Moon Touches Your Shoulder.

Moonloop - This is pretty space-y. I imagine they would do a lot of cool things with it live. It's a neat jam, but not something I'm ever going back to. It gets a vote.

Phase 2 - The start of this part is very reminiscent of Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Similar synth sounds and atmosphere. There's even a thumping bass groove to bring us out of the ambience and into the actual music. We're greeted with more Middle Easter flavored melodies and a fuzzy guitar. This section is pretty exciting. An ethereal female vocal follows with some tasty hammond organ. I'm a sucker for good organ. Stevie's guitar solo in this section is more Zappa than Gilmour, although I think his own voice comes out more than it has on any previous solos on this album. One of his best solos so far. However everything after isn't quite as strong. It survives this round since I ran out of votes and I really dig some of the stuff in the first 8 minutes, but I will probably be voting for it next round.

Overall, really strong album if you can get into the more atmospheric side of psychedelic rock. I feel the debut was trying really hard to capture this vibe but failed miserably. Even the more traditional songs on this album are stronger than what we heard on Up the Downstair. Easy to see why this album is favored among fans. Finally getting to some good stuff.
 
Is this the last psychedelic album from PT? Granted, this stuff is better than the demo surf rock/dialogue sample stuff on the debut, but tell me I don't have 3 more albums of Floyd worship to go, please...?
 
I think this is the last full out psych album. It lingers on the next album but with its more prog afaik. And then Stupid Dream is totally different.
 
Yeah I would say from Stupid Dream onward it gets a bit more straightforward, rockish, but still pretty atmospheric. Just less synth and soundscape oriented.

This while thing flows from piece to piece for me, so I may have to listen a few times before I can vote. The first good PT release. imo.
 
This album is difficult to digest, and I'm sure will require many listens in order to fully appreciate. That said, I'm digging it based on my first impressions. I'm not sure if I like it more than Up the Downstair or not, but it's infinitely better than the debut.

The Moon Touches Your Shoulder and Stars Die are the initial highlights. I feel like I'll need to listen to both phases of Sky a couple more times before I can truly form an opinion on it. One listen of Moonloop is enough to know that it's a major chore to get through with nothing at all going for it that makes me want to ever listen to it again.

Voting for:
Dislocated Day
Prepare Yourself
Moonloop
 
I'll vote tonight, have to give this another spin to decide (it's not a favourite and it's been a while since I last heard it).
 
Right, so I played The Sky Moves Sideways again to find that I still don't like it very much. Take the title track. I don't mind this kind of free-flowing psychedelic rock as such, but there's not enough musical or (crucially) emotional substance to it. Mostly it's just pretty psychedelic sounds. Compare it to Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", an obvious influence, which has several melodic hooks and an affecting lyric. "The Moon Touches Your Shoulder" and "Stars Die" have similar issues. "Dislocated Day", with its more energetic rhythms, is the only thing here that really excites me.

Consequently, I disagree with the popular and critical consensus that this is a step up from the previous album. The spaced-out dance grooves on Up the Downstair feel far more vibrant and colourful to me.

Votes: "Prepare Yourself", "The Sky Moves Sideways Phase 2", "Moonloop"
 
I still refrain from voting. Out of the first three albums, I see absolutely no reason whatsoever to return to any of those. I agree that SMS is probably the best of the bunch and there are actually some nice parts for a change. But that's still too little, too late. There's this difference between Pink Floyd and these wankers (that Shadow hints at, too) - Floyd were actually doing something new decades prior and they mostly always broke their back to make the music interesting, whether by genuine singer-songwriter shtick (If, Mother), the tasty sounds of everyday life (most of The Wall, Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast), creepily suggestive atmospherics (Welcome to the Machine, One of These Days, Another Brick pt. 1) or, well, by having actual awesome songs (too much to name). The reason I accept the psychedelic seagulls in the middle of Echoes is 1.) because it was at least somewhat innovative at the time, 2.) because it's surrounded by a beautiful, melodic, catchy and genuinely moving song. Pink Floyd were never musical geniuses as I understand the term, but Waters was definitely a psychological genius and the band overall had many both overt and subtle qualities.

I talk about Pink Floyd since it's the band PT is mainly trying to ape/channel, it seems to me, and they fail. Mikael Akerfeldt can channel Camel and Caravan and succeed, but this here is not the case. After the first album alone I was almost convinced to give up on the band for good, only the thought of Stupid Dream and later kept me in. Sky is probably the best so far, but is still kind of coma-inducing to me. Maybe more repeated listens will help, but I don't really think so. Steve Wilson may pretend to be a music Nazi as much as he wants - a single Genesis track blows these three albums out of the water.

Mosh said:
Dislocated Day - This one also has a cool exotic groove to start out with. Love how this alternates between soft verses and an intense response melody. Very Frank Zappa-esque guitar playing on this.
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Spot on. So is

Mosh said:
Stars Die - I can see how this would be a popular song among fans. It has that psychedelic quality with a really good vibe and melody.
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Indeed, one of the few memorable melodies overall.

There's nothing as colossally stupid as Message from a Self-Destructing Turnip here, so that's a plus.
 
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Well, that one has Mike flipping a fag in his mouth like a pro and Phil who moustache you a question whether you like Ron Jeremy. And it makes fun of Trump and Le Pen with a thirty-year head start. I rest my case. :D
 
Sky 2 definitely has less going on, but I find it more cohesive whereas Sky 1 seems to jump around without much sense between the 3-4 segments. Don't get me wrong: I don't like either. Sky 2 was only saved from a vote this round because Moon is very slightly less enjoyable.
 
Dislocated Day and Sky Phase 2.

I'm finding that I actually enjoy the alternate version of Sky the most. It flows pretty well, and some of the more "out there" parts are scaled back a bit. I can see why it wasn't included on the original album though. 34+ minutes for a single song can be a little overwhelming, especially when the last 8 minutes doesn't have anything good going on. The song would benefit immensely by cutting some of the ambient stuff and editing it down to be a good 10 minutes shorter.
 
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