New Steven Wilson album in the making: "Hand. Cannot. Erase." 3/2/15

I don't think the U.S. vinyl is delayed. Amazon says mine is shipping today for delivery in Thursday.

 

Mine is still saying it has no shipping estimate yet and the listing online says temporarily out of stock.

 

Holy cow - giving this album a good listen right now. Some crazy stuff on it. The 96/24 is one of, if not the cleanest I've ever heard. Wow.

 

I went to Amoeba Records in Hollywood this evening to buy the blu-ray and they had several copies of the LP in stock.

 

Mine's the same. I guess either Amazons shipment was delayed or they didn't get enough copies. No big deal. It'll ship when they get it.

 

Well I'm frustrated. I ordered the deluxe edition and I received an email on last Thursday that it shipped and I still haven't received it yet. It was being shipped from only 150 miles away from me.

 

Wow . . . the emotional guitar work on "Ancestral" makes me listen again and again. There are some really interesting twists and turns in this music. Like the title track on the The Raven, it's more emotionally moving than some of his other music, too.

 

I've been listening to the entire thing every time: I'm six or seven times through now and there doesn't seem to be anything on the album that's a good candidate for skipping (unlike Raven, where I zeroed very quickly in on the songs that would be favourites and the ones I'd tend to skip).

Just listening to the demo version now: very odd to hear flute and sax soloes in "3 Years Older": in fact, that demo is a very valid alternative version of song since it features fully-fledged performances from Holzman, Travis and Minnemann.

Edited to say: I'm so glad that SW left "Key To Skeleton" off the album: the "Strawberry Fields Forever" borrowing is too jarring and that track could never have been polished up enough to pull its weight.

 

I'm in Oz and mine arrived today....I was shocked at how quick it came

On first listen it sounds great but too much to absorb yet!

 

I've got a 50% off CDs voucher from the local music emporium and waiting patiently for the blu-ray of Hand. Cannot. Erase to hit the stores in Oz ...

--Geoff

 

Yeah I contacted the company I bought it from and they gave me the tracking number (they didn't before) and it says I won't get it until Friday! So it is going to take 8 days to ship something that would only take about an hour and a half to two hours to drive!!! So frustrating. I send stuff across the U.S. and it takes less time to get there. I bought the iTunes version (deluxe edition) to hold me over for now.

 

Anyone want my digital code for free ? PM me.

CLAIMED. thanks and enjoy !

 

I found the vinyl at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ. Great store with a huge selection of new and used vinyl, and last night Vanilla Fudge was playing live in the store!

Sounds great from what I heard on my friend's modest vinyl playback system. I think it was pressed at Optimal since it came in the black poly-lined inner sleeves and had a deadwax signature of "MK."

I'll play the whole thing back on my system tonight and provide any additional comments.

 

My copy sounds quite poor when it comes to vinyl distortion. You obviously expect the odd pops and crackles every now and then but my copy is plagued with them throughout. I've cleaned it with a RCM and played it three times too but I have a zerostat gun on the way so maybe that will help. I've had this problem a lot with K-scope but not other labels.

 

I am sorry to hear that. My copy plays beautifully. Bought in Finland.

 

Grace For Drowning was like that. I had to run it through my RCM a few times and then wiped it down with anti-static cleaner to get it to play back at level of quality I've expected.

 

I think 'Perfect Life' is maybe the best thing he's ever done.

 

Hmmm, still waiting patiently for my vinyl from Kscope.

 

These instrumental tracks, plus the approaching Winter storm out my patio door, plus a little smoke, has me unbelievably sedated, and relaxed.
Thank you Steven.
.

 

I bought the blu-ray version thinking the flac download would be hi-res but its 44.1, is that right? A bit dissappointed because I'll need to find some way of cracking the blu-ray now to get the 24 bit stereo onto my hard disc for my streamer.

 

I have the 24-96 files from the Blu-ray;they sound great.

 

Just finishing my first listen--really enjoying this album. A more emotional experience for me than Raven, and more variety... Tremendous stuff.

 

I'm on my second run through now and I definitely like it a lot more then The Raven though there are some parts (especially Ancestral) that I can do without. This one for sure has more of a variety of styles than The Raven and that makes even the bits I don't like more tolerable. The 5.1 mix is awesome...he nailed it there. My issues are mostly with Adam Holzman, I just don't like his style. Now, if I could tell him "hey, no solos for you and leave that f'ing rhodes at home or I take the sledgehammer to it..." that'd eliminate a lot of the problems. Just my opinion of course.

 

I love the sound of a Fender Rhodes and I think Holzman is a phenomenal player.

I've listened to the album several times now and not only is it my favorite solo album he has done, but I think if you add in the Porcupine Tree stuff it would still be very near the top of the list. One of the most successful concept albums in recent memory. Everything works on this album, I wouldn't change a single thing.

 

I just made it through my 2nd listen of this album from start to finish (5.1 mix for the 2nd listen). Steven's streak of brilliant albums continues for me. I'm amazed that he just continues to make one fantastic album after another. In this album I hear shades of sounds and styles from throughout his immense career so far, but it still sounds fresh and new. I like that there are moments that sound happy, hopeful, and uplifting, and it is not dark and sad all the time (even though I love those moments too). While I am familiar with the real-life story from which this concept album drew inspiration, I do not get the sense the main character dies in this "story". I have not really analyzed the lyrics though.