I am a bigger fan of his "Steve Wilson" material than Porcupine Tree. But I stll like most P Tree too. The Raven and Grace for Drowning are my favorite, and amazing, followed by Hand. Cannot. Erase. Maybe a shot in the arm with regards to getting press and a bit of fame in more mainstream, non-prog circles. But not with overall quality. There has been a steady streamb of world class prog, from all over the world, for quite a while. Some of it maybe a bit less approachable, and more avant-garde than Wilson, bit the quality is right up there with any of Wilson's tecordongs.
I can see why some on this site and particularly those that followed him in Porcupine Tree would lean towards the earlier of his solo work or The Raven That Refused To Sing and Hand Cannot Erase - the earlier stuff is even more rock based or even prog based. To The Bone and more recently The Future Bites veer more towards pop and even dance beats. But each of his albums share a strong melodic sensibility, tremendous playing and production / sound engineering of the highest order. I like that there is definite progression and variety to keep things interesting and display both power and beauty in equal measure. Some of the artists he has done remixing work for reveal where his tastes and personal style lean if that helps those less familiar…. Yes, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, but also Roxy Music and Tears For Fears. If anything I see him carrying the torch for Roxy and Tears
Neither is the Drive Home video, top notch all three of them - Raven, Drive Home and Routine. I so wish that Routine was available on Blu-ray in glorious 5.1 as the other two. By the way, something went wrong with the quote - I fixed the content but not the person quoted which was not walrus as stated - sorry for this!
There are a ton of good threads on this board that can help you. 'Definitive' Porcupine Tree album ranking (poll of polls) Porcupine Tree - Where to start Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson related: where to begin? Where to start with Porcupine Tree Porcupine Tree Porcupine Tree: where to start? Just Starting Out With Porcupine Tree.....Any Fans Out There? Porcupine Tree...How the heck did I miss them? Ranking Porcupine Tree/Steve Wilson Albums Porcupine Tree. Where did you come in? What is your Steven Wilson top 10 list? Where to start with Steven Wilson Steven Wilson (Solo) versus Porcupine Tree Poll: Favorite Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson album
I came late to his music too. Getting turned on to him was a game changer for me, and after hearing Raven I was an instant, all in fan. Raven and Bone are the 2 I listen to the most, and I have most of his Porcupine Tree and solo output. I haven’t delved in to his side projects yet outside of Storm Corrosion, being a major Akerfeldt fan too.
I got into him with Porcupine Tree's Signify and kept going from there. Admittedly he lost me with The Incident (although I love the track "Time Flies"). I took a chance on To The Bone and loved it... so now I need to spend some more time with all of his solo work. To this day, Stupid Dream is still my favorite of his albums (with or without PT). I remember seeing PT in 2004 or so, and he played "A Smart Kid". I felt like the only person in the place who knew the song, since the album was out of print at that time!
Mine too. I actually think it's one of Steven's worst solo albums, but still a very good record. If he had chosen to select my favourite tracks from the recording sessions I would rate it significantly higher, as it happens some of my favourites can only be found as b-sides and outtakes. I genuinely don't know what kind of music his next album will be (he's suggested 'more electronic') but I'm as excited as ever to hear what form it will take.
Yep I like both those. although is The Album Years still running. I’ve used up the content on Spotify. P.S. struggling to locate SW albums. Local record shops don’t have any - asked them to order but been about three months already
I think those first two are the best Porcupine Tree albums. However, Fear of a Blank Planet I find mundane and boring. After that, I would suggest getting his two solo albums Grace for Drowning and The Raven That Refused To Sing. Great stuff.
I find it fascinating how tastes can vary so much. For me Fear Of A Blank Planet is one of rocks most engaging albums and stands as one of the best albums of 'recent' times. I totally agree with checking out Grace For Drowning (although it's not one of the easiest to 'get'). I urge anyone new to Steven Wilson's music to not make the mistake of overlooking some of his other collaborations or projects; No-Mans Returning Jesus and Storm Corrosion's self titled albums are both absolute masterpieces in my opinion.
I've purchased most if not all his releases over the years. Some things are better than others but I pretty much enjoy it all. He's become quite an expense since discovery.
What do you mean self titled. Do you mean just his solo SW stuff…. There’s more than two. I have Future Bites. Looking for Grace, Raven, Bone, Hand
What about trying IEM his excursion into Krautrock Or Bass Communion his Ambient project a little more hit and miss. Then there is Porcupine Tree lite the first couple of Blackfield albums. The Psych that is the first couple of Porcupine Tree albums (the solo years) Don't forget No-man some interesting things their especially the early finding themselves albums For me the masterpiece is the Raven that refused to sing... Plenty of interesting things in a back catalog stretching back nearly 40 years
Now THAT is what I call a collector's item! Limited Edition of One? I thought he came in value packs of ten.
Except that's just the title, it was available in an "Artist's Edition" of 125 copies, long sold out. The Special Edition (including a cd) seems to be readily available, as is the standard edition. There actually was an "Ultra Deluxe" Edition of The Future Bites, that was only one copy, and sold (I believe to a SH board member) for £10,000. Steven Wilson - The Future Bites (Ultra Deluxe Music Product On Obsolete Media Limited Edition Of One)
Oh yes, I knew it was't really an edition of just one; my comment about collector's item was because of the remarkable contents.
Saw Steven Wilson at Rough Trade tonight promoting his book. He’s like a walking encyclopaedia - not usually a fan of autobiographies and to be honest, his music hasn’t really been in my radar - but been listening to his last 2 solo records over the past few days, which he’s signed for me. Nice. the book sounds genuinely interesting, and his interview was very good. Was a bit of a punt, but am very happy.
