Where does Steven Wilson rank?

Radiohead is now in the pantheon of greats?

 

In my book they sure are!

 

Agreed, wholeheartedly.

 

Not to sidetrack,but I've tried to get into Radiohead a few times. I bought Pablo when it came out then lost track of them for awhile. I now own most of their albums and I like them, but they don't do it for me like PT or Steven Wilson does,especially live

 

Lol I had to check which one was up I change avatars so often! Ty. I like early Hackett the most his later stuff seems redundant. Seen him this past February, he opened with Every Day. Great Show. Spectral Mornings is a great album. Hope to see Crimson this summer. With the exception of artists like Wilson and others mentioned in this thread, music today is vapid, formulated industry barf. IMHO! Well maybe not too humble! Peace, Iam

 

This thread is going off-topic, but I can't help but say that Radiohead is the most overrated band of all time.

 

Steven Wilson has been God in my house since I discovered him via Porcupine Tree's In Absentia early on in my surround sound days. I really liked what I heard but I was not floored by any means. Then I bought the following Deadwing and really liked that one as well (except for the title track that still to this day does not impress me).

Next thing up was the live DVD "Arriving Somewhere" and I could not belive my ears and eyes - unbelievably good song after song (half of the new to me at the time) and a terrific performance. Does not hurt either that it is still, up to this date, the best concert film audio and mix I have heard. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will be released on Bluray as the rumour say.

The following Fear of a Blank Planet and the Incident are good records but not as good as the ones before in the same decade. My favorite Porcupine Tree records are:
1. Stupid Dream
2. Lightbulb Sun
3. In Absentia
4. Deadwing

His solo records are all top notch in my book, with Grace for Drowning as the least good one and Hand.Cannot.Erase as the ultimate masterpiece - for me it is the best record released since the 70s. When I write this there has been two songs released from his fourthcoming album To the Bone, Pariaha and The Same Asylum as before, and I think we are in for another splendid release. The Deluxe version is ordered since day 1.

I have seen him live 7 times - two times with Porcupine Tree in Sweden and five times solo in Sweden and England (Royal Albert Hall London) and he impresses me big time every time. I have tickets for his concert in Sweden in February 2018.

So, YES, he really is up there among the greats - inferiour to none in my book.

 

It is not a rumor - a blu-ray release has been confirmed by SW and are to be released soon.

 

HCE is a good album but quite derivative IMHO and it doesn't appear to have "broken out" in the market in any kind of significant way. I actually really like the album but do I think it is great? No. Most people (not here) probably haven't even heard of him either, so is he in the pantheon of greats? No, definitely not. His work just doesn't resonate with the public on a large enough scale and his work just doesn't impact on music critics or other arts journalists either. With that said I'd definitely exclude Rush and possibly Frank Zappa from your list as well. I'm no Pink Floyd fan and I can take or leave Led Zeppelin who I personally think were massively over-rated, but there's no denying their impact and the lasting respect there is for their music from other musicians. I think that is also key to understanding the "greats" - the music affects and influences other artists' work. Steven Wilson doesn't do this. He isn't a prominent enough voice and his music just isn't distinctive or original enough. Prog rock has also been tainted by the excesses of the 70's.

 

Yes, they most definitely are. You only have to look at the multiple polls of "Best Albums Of All Time" conducted over the past 25 years to see a number of Radiohead albums consistently in the top 50, with "OK Computer", "Kid A" and "In Rainbows" often in the top 20! I recall several polls where "OK Computer" was at No. 1, not so long ago! Even if I think that's ridiculous, I can't ignore the impact and influence the band has had on other artists over that time. Its best albums rank alongside the best of the other "greats", irrespective of genre or age. The music is timeless too whilst being highly critically acclaimed AND revered by the wider public at large. That's a mark of a great artist and not something either Rush or Zappa can claim.

 

As an engineer he's really the only "new " guy out there fighting the good fight to get the consumer classic recordings straight off the reel to digital format. His work is outstanding.

 

The "only" guy? Do me a favour...

 

You do me a favor and list a few others and I'll tell you if you if I think they are in the same league............

 

This pretty much encapsulates my own experience. I heard of SW on this forum. It was Raven that got me hooked and then I went into PT's catalog and now I consider myself a huge fan of PT and SW. IMO his solo work and work with PT is on par. Just love all of it, really. I love the dark lyrics, the dramatic compositions, impeccable production and long instrumental sections that fill in much of the music.

I think it's not fair to compare someone who's halfway through his career to bands whose careers essentially ended in the 80s, and who we all grew up with. I dig 'em and follow what he's up to both musically and with his remixing projects.

And for those who don't know he has (or had) an account on this board and has chimed in here and there. He seems like a stand-up guy.

In summary, he ranks #1 in the "Proggy artists who are making music today" category in my book.

 

No argument here of course. I’d say the album of Porcupine Tree that sealed the deal for me was Fear of a Blank Planet, but I also loved their earlier Floydian music like The Sky Moves Sideways and Signify. Steven Wilson does seem like a down-to-earth guy and someone with a genuine passion for music. It certainly comes across in all of the interviews I’ve seen with him. I’m chomping at the bit to hear his latest album, To The Bone, which I tried to pre-order the Deluxe Edition and it’s sold out already.

 

'Where does Steven Wilson rank?'

Is this another of those musicians-as-football teams league-football type questions?

Why this need to rank artists? I ask, because:

'Your top is my bottom. My bottom your top.'

 

Curiously, the listing for the DVD at Steven's Headphone Dust online store recently had a caption saying something like "Out of stock - reissue coming on blu-ray" or something like that, but that info has now been removed.

 

HCE is great but Ill listen to my PT standbys and Raven before that one.

Raven is his masterpiece but its not like his clear and above best album.

 

Obviously I am super biased based on my avatar, and I probably should stay away from this thread, but I can't help myself.

If I go back in time 20 years to 1997, I really thought at that time I would never discover another truly great artist that rivaled those of the past IMO. There was a period were I was sort of bored with all the new rock music I was hearing (which admitedly was based on what got played on the radio). A few years later in the fall of 2002 on a whim I bought Porcupine Tree's "In Absentia" album. As I sat down and listened to it for the first time it was like the heavens parted and a glorious light shone down in my listening room. It was a complete album, with strong song after strong song, lots of variety, and a musical sophistication I had not heard in rock in quite some time. I bought everything else I could get at the time by Porcupine Tree and moved on to SW's other projects as well (No-Man, IEM, Bass Communion).

I feel he has kept a high level of quality to his music for well over 20 years now, and he is showing no signs of slowing down. The music culture, and rock music in particular, is so different now than it was from the 60s through the 80s, that it is very unlikely that any artist since then will ever be considered by a large percentage of people to rival the known greats from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. From my perspective though, he is one of the all time best, and I feel he has consistently released great albums over a longer period of time than any of those well-regarded legends that are ingrained in pop culture lore.

 

I agree with your thoughts in regard to finding any new artist(s) in recent years. Steven Wilson's music both solo and in various groups is about the only new music that I've bought in recent years. At first I bought Porcupine Tree's music for the multichannel mixes but soon found I really enjoy the music as well. His recent solo albums are excellent as far a music content and the multichannel mixes are outstanding IMO. So count me in as a Steven Wilson fanboy !

 

Wilson ranks right at about the top for me, merely on the strength of his work with Porcupine Tree from the mid 90s through Fear of a Blank Planet, Grace for Drowning and The Raven. And there is so much more, too! I pretty much love just about everything he has done, to varying degrees.

 

I think he is a very talented guy and I'm glad he's (perhaps only temporarily) moved away from his progressive influences and now embraces ELO, ABB, Talk Talk and Peter Gabriel.

From what I've heard, I think his new album is going to be my favourite ever from him.

 

Some where between Brian Wilson, and Stan Wilson (my high school chemistry teacher). Well above Pres. Woodrow and Mr. Wilson, Dennis' neighbor.

 

His music doesn't do anything for me; on the other hand, his 'mixes' of Jethro Tull, Yes, et al., are brilliant.

 

Steven Wilson has the complete grasp of what a 5.1 mix should be. He is an absolute genius in this area. Yes' TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS is proof positive . (Too bad Giles Martin couldn't have learned a tip or two or two thousand from him !)