Its like comparing a really good apple with an amazing apple. Its like saying which is funnier, Life of Brian or the Holy Grail.
In his autobiography, Wilson states that he's prouder of HCE than The Raven. Mostly due to he feels HCE is more modern, while The Raven is saturated in 70s progressive rock tropes.
Yeah, The Raven is Too Proggy for me, although it does contain possibly his Best Ballad, Drive Home, as I think SW Underrated Talent as a Songwriter is his Ballads(when you include Blank Tapes, Song of Unborn, Waiting, Lazarus, Routine, Deform to Form a Star, Postcard to name a few other ones). Hand Cannot Erase is probably his Best Album under his Name, as much as I love To The Bone and The Future Bites, and think Grace for Drowning is really good. HCE might be a Prog-Rock Album, but it is much more than that to my ears, whereas with the Raven, it sounds like SW was too caught up listening to the Early 1970s King Crimson & Yes Albums, he was remixing. I am still exploring King Crimson, but had a hard time enjoying Yes(especially that Ocean Album, where it just sounds like the Band Members are showing off their Skills playing their Instruments). As much, as I love Hand Cannot Erase, I am just glad SW has moved on from Prog-Rock, and I look forward to what he will deliver next musically with The Harmony Codex.
We need another Raven or HCE, he's veered towards blandness and uninteresting music since then. He needs to stop following trends and do what he does best!
I'd certainly agree with this. I never thought much of To The Bone and the newer album The Future Bites was...how can I say something negative about it without upsetting the fanboys?
Well, at least we can’t complain about hearing the same old thing every time he releases something. I think he expects that some loyal fans won’t like whatever the new thing is. I’m not enthralled with everything he does, but I do appreciate the attempt. I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed with the production of any of his work. I may not care for the song, but it always sounds good. He does have an ear.
There is indeed some great song on TTB, only played it again this morning. TFB's never grabbed me though despite repeated listens!
Nail On The Head time, IMO natch. To The Bone is a great album, The Future Bites just doesn’t work for me either.
While that is certainly true, that HCE is more modern sounding, I still feel the Raven has better melodies, greater complexity, more emotional impact; all my opinion of course. I love modern sounding prog. I am in the constant search for modern prog. But, being more modern sounding, does not supersede all other musical musical aspects.
