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

Satisfied?


  • Total voters
    4
We're just going to do Steven Wilson solo albums. No Storm Corrosion or side projects. Definitely check it out/discuss it here if you want though.
 
I like this album, but I never listen to it.

For various reasons, I didn't pay much attention to Wilson's first two solo albums when they came out. When I went to see him in 2o13, I'd only heard them once or twice, and I hadn't heard Raven at all. It was an interesting experience, going to see an artist I knew well playing material that was all new to me. It was one of the best concerts I've been to, so I went back to the albums with a lot of enthusiasm. The studio versions of the Grace for Drowning songs turned out to be largely disappointing, though, sounding tired and anemic compared to what I'd seen live. It wasn't until I picked up the Get All You Deserve live album that I started to get back into the songs. Since it replicates almost the entire studio album, my copy of Grace for Drowning has been gathering dust since then.
 
Grace, Prelude, Track One

Can't say I love this album. I definitely see the connection to Heritage as this feels like one of the most meandering, experimental albums since the early days. Not to mention the random flute solos...
 
Il try to listen this evening and take part hereafter but theres the uber mega death match of Republic of Ireland vs Wales tonight so it may not happen
 
Il try to listen this evening and take part hereafter but theres the uber mega death match of Republic of Ireland vs Wales tonight so it may not happen
Going to update now to move this along, but feel free to jump in for round 2.


Eliminated

Grace for Drowning
Raider Prelude
Bella De Jour
 
Eliminated:
Remainder the Black Dog
Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye

Promoted:
Deform to Form a Star
No Part of Me
Postcard

The Raven That Refused To Sing

The album that solidified Steven Wilson’s status as a solo artist. THe original plan was for Porcupine Tree to reconvene in 2012, but there was so much momentum with Wilson’s outside endeavors as well as more creative freedom similar to what he enjoyed early in PT’s history, that Wilson decided to focus on his solo work instead. Unlike his previous two albums, where a rotating cast of musicians were used, Steven Wilson decided to use an established band. The band was mostly made up of members from the touring band. This band included Nick Beggs on bass, Adam Holzman on keyboards, Theo Travis on flute, and Marco Minnemann on drums. The final piece of the puzzle for this album was legendary guitarist Guthrie Govan. As usual, Stevie produced the album himself, but this time he brought on Alan Parsons to engineer.

The music continued Wilson’s transition into a traditional “retro” Prog sound. The album is much more unified both musically and thematically than Insurgentes and Grace For Drowning. The more experimental aspects of the previous album are mostly abandoned in favor of prog epics. By using musicians with Jazz/Classical backgrounds, Wilson was also able to write more complicated music than with Porcupine Tree. There are some really intricate musical moments and some incredible solos. Each song is also meant to represent a “short story” that deals with the supernatural.

The Raven That Refused To Sing marked a huge turning point in SW’s career. It was a pretty big commercial success compared to previous albums and brought him a lot of attention in prog circles. Steven Wilson was now considered one of the faces of modern prog music and his band included some of the finest musicians the genre had to offer. It received many accolades, high praise, and is already considered one of the best prog albums of the 21st century so far.
 
Because its amazing. Focused and powerful SW really aligned himself with some real talent and along with Beggs a band that could pretty much cover every bit of ground previous enembles could not even dream to touch.
 
I'm a huge SW fan, and if you like Raven, you should try his other solo albums. I haven't listened to his new one enough to weigh in, but his previous works are all great in my opinion.
 
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