Steven Wilson v. To. The. Bone.

[Zantera]

I know he had a girlfriend around Stupid Dream/LBS, but the only thing I've heard him talk about in the last 10 years is that the music is his focus and that he wouldn't have time for a family as well.

[JayOctavarium]

All I ever saw / heard was an interview where he stated he had a "partner" and a dog.

That's the only thing about his personal life I know. And the whole UK / Israel thing. Living in both places.

[erwinrafael]

Yeah, but maybe too deep. A lot of the stuff you have referenced could have a much more simple explanation. Like "Me, the disappearer," meaning the person who isolates. Why does that have to be a reference also to the sister and the cat?
Also, if the sister doesn't exist how are there other pictures of her?
(And again, my original question still stands- if that photo "that can't exist" is in her imagination, how is she posting it on a blog?)

Because the blog is not to be taken literally. It's an artistic presentation, like Brad Pitt being in the same frame as Ed Norton even though they are the same person in Fight Club. If the photos are real, then J will not have a reason to say that she can not remember the face of her sister. The pictures on the blog are not actual pictures on a blog. They are like comic book panels contributing to the story.

The songs in the album actually have a pattern. The created persons alternate with the real persons.

The "visitors" - 3 years older
The boyfriiend - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
The  "sister" - Perfect Life
The brother - Routine
The "online persona" - Home Invasion
The parents - Transience
The "visitors" - Ancestral
The protagonist - Happy Returns

Eh. Also, how is Routine about the brother? It's about a woman whose family is dead basically trying to keep herself sane.

Yeah, I only placed the Brother there because he's the only character that could be associated with kids if we follow the story in the blog. Routine is the only song I have a hard time placing whether in Joyce Vincent's life, or if I go by the alien abduction interpretation, or my own interpretation. I also think it does not necessarily mean that the family of the woman in Routine is dead. It could be that the family just left her alone, maybe a divorce?

I'm more inclined now to just think of the album as a story about the different dimensions of being alone and having a transient life in the modern city. It's more enjoyable than the story of the blog.

[?]

SW's gf in the late 90s was the lady who speaks in Japanese on Tinto Brass. I've also heard he had a girlfriend in Israel when he lived there, but he doesn't talk a lot about his personal life in interviews, so it's unclear if he's together with someone nowadays.

[bout to crash]

Yeah, I know there were girlfriends in the past but he's very vague about that stuff. It would seem hard to keep a relationship going when you keep as busy as him, but maybe it's not a very serious one.

Yeah, I only placed the Brother there because he's the only character that could be associated with kids if we follow the story in the blog. Routine is the only song I have a hard time placing whether in Joyce Vincent's life, or if I go by the alien abduction interpretation, or my own interpretation. I also think it does not necessarily mean that the family of the woman in Routine is dead. It could be that the family just left her alone, maybe a divorce?

In the deluxe book there are articles about this particular woman, whose kids and husband were all killed in a school shooting, then she goes missing. And really if you look at the lyrics it's pretty obvious. There has clearly been a very sudden change and all of this stuff, like their clothes/shoes (still smelling of them) is still there. Not to mention she's obviously been traumatized and is hanging by a thread. Why else would she be cleaning and cooking all day for people who aren't even there?

In the Insurgentes doc, Steven talks about a fear of having kids. He basically says he's so afraid of losing them in some tragic way that he'd rather just not have them at all. So I think that is where Routine comes from.

[erwinrafael]

Yeah, I only placed the Brother there because he's the only character that could be associated with kids if we follow the story in the blog. Routine is the only song I have a hard time placing whether in Joyce Vincent's life, or if I go by the alien abduction interpretation, or my own interpretation. I also think it does not necessarily mean that the family of the woman in Routine is dead. It could be that the family just left her alone, maybe a divorce?

In the deluxe book there are articles about this particular woman, whose kids and husband were all killed in a school shooting, then she goes missing. And really if you look at the lyrics it's pretty obvious. There has clearly been a very sudden change and all of this stuff, like their clothes/shoes (still smelling of them) is still there. Not to mention she's obviously been traumatized and is hanging by a thread. Why else would she be cleaning and cooking all day for people who aren't even there?

In the Insurgentes doc, Steven talks about a fear of having kids. He basically says he's so afraid of losing them in some tragic way that he'd rather just not have them at all. So I think that is where Routine comes from.

So it is a song that is not connected to the story of the protagonist? The concept behind the concept album is not a narrative, I guess. Maybe the concept is more thematic than narrative (and it actually works better for me that way). I wish I was not exposed to anything more than the album.  the blog and the info I get from the materials from the deluxe edition just muddles the concept.

I also don't think the lyrics is *that* obvious in that the departure of the kids could very well be of a very angry husband who took the kids with him against the will of the wife who is now using a routine to stay sane. It seems obvious if you have the deluxe book, which unfortunately I do not have. But it is still not obvious that the woman you are referring to is the reference  because if the woman is doing the same routine over and over at the home where she and her family stayed, how could she have gone missing? Did she go missing after she "let go"?

[bout to crash]

Well, not everything has to happen simultaneously. She could be the woman in the song who's doing the routine, and then go missing after that. The book and the blog talk a lot about people who go missing, so I think she ties to the theme that way.

[rumborak]

It's crazy to suddenly see a casual article in German news such as "why do people have to sit in SW concerts?". Shows how much more popular he has become.

[Rob801]

Heading out to the SW show now... Can't wait!

[OsMosis2259]

Ticket purchased for the NYC show 
Looking forward to it!

[Zantera]

Seeing him in 3 days, will be my 4th time (third solo, 4th including PT). Not a huge fan of HCE, but the man always delivers live, and for the most part his songs come to life better in a live setting, so it should be nice.

[hefdaddy42]

So jelly

[SystematicThought]

I've been spinning this CD a lot recently. Especially, Routine. I relate to it because it reminds me of when my mom was in the hospital last November after having heart failure. As her stay progressed, we found out it was much worse then it appeared and she needed emergency bypass surgery or else she wouldn't have lived much longer.

So in my way of grieving, I went about my daily routine and would only go to the hospital every so often for the two weeks she was there. I went to work, I went to school, I did my homework. It was how I grieved and the chorus really relates to how I felt during that time.

[Nick]

No, that's the CD/DVD version.

[SystematicThought]

No, that's the CD/DVD version.

I edited my post after realizing that.  So now this looks weird. But thanks, I found THE deluxe version  and have swiftly ordered that.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I probably had the worst couple of days with bad luck. So this last friday I was suppose to see Evergrey but couldn't because I had to do some extra work, luckily I could refund the tickets but that was hard. Next thing was this last tuesday when I was soooooo locking forward to see Steven Wilson for the first time. So I had my ticket but again couldn't go because I had to substitute for a colleague that got sick so extra work AGAIN. The tipping on the cake was that the Steven Wilson tickets couldn't be refunded.  #FUCK LIFE

[bout to crash]

That sucks! What kind of job do you have that you HAD to substitute for somebody? There's no way I'd do that if I had a concert ticket.

[rumborak]

Err, if I had to sub for someone at my company and I would lose the concert ticket, you bet I would at least get the money back for the ticket from the company.

[Evermind]

Yeah man, your job sucks. I needed to fly to a business trip to another town this spring, they were going to send me there from Tuesday to Saturday morning, and I had tickets for the Sabaton gig for Friday evening; so well, I said I'll either be back in Moscow at Friday morning, or I'm not flying anywhere at all. Surprisingly, it worked.

And since SW never plays anywhere near me at all, if I had a choice to go to his concert and therefore, say, lose my monthly payment, I would've gladly picked this option.

[Nick]

Err, if I had to sub for someone at my company and I would lose the concert ticket, you bet I would at least get the money back for the ticket from the company.

I mean, I'd fight hard to not even get to that point, but yes, had I gone to work when I already had put out money for something, the only way they would get me near my desk was to have that cash waiting there for me.

[hefdaddy42]

Err, if I had to sub for someone at my company and I would lose the concert ticket, you bet I would at least get the money back for the ticket from the company.

I would have the money, or I would have someone's ass.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I couldn't see Evergrey on friday because I got asked a gig and they rehearsed that night so it was pay or no pay basically. The reason I couldn't go to Wilson on tuesday was because I also work part time as a drum teacher. My colleague called me and asked to fill in and help because she was sick. Usually I would say no but because we have a big concert with students in a month time I just couldn't say no. It sucks but sometimes certain things come in the way and you gotta suck it up. 

[YtseJamittaja]

If somebody is still thinking to go or not to go to watch this band live, you definitely should! We were there in Helsinki yesterday with the "?" (What a friendly guy!) and it really was an amazing experience! The visualization was perfect, the band did sound spectacular and the setlist was so freaking good! Damn, I think I am now more SW fan than PT fan!

[?]

Wow, last night's show was probably the best I've ever seen by anyone! The band was in top form and the visuals were stunning. As someone who never got to see PT live I was happy to hear Lazarus and Sleep Together.

Marco is such an entertaining guy, and you can't watch him play without having a smile on your face. Steven talked a lot more than I'd expected based on the GAYD DVD. It was cool that he said Routine is his favorite song on the new album, 'cause it's mine as well and was the highlight of the show for me. He seemed a little embarrassed of the fact that there were backing tracks running on an Apple computer, possibly due to his relationship with iPods. I had no idea the choir boy was Tony Blair's son!

The T-shirts were too expensive for me so I bought Nick Beggs' comic instead:



Speaking of Nick, when he walked through the crowd after the show to sign someone's HCE box set, he touched my shoulder (Nick Beggs Touches Your Shoulder )! I didn't want to bother him though, as that guy seemed to be a friend of his.

Thanks to YtseJamittaja for hanging out with me; it was cool to finally meet a fellow DTFer in person!

[Nick]

My deluxe box came today. Won't be able to open it for 10 hours or so, as I have something planned right after work, but I'm very excite.

[Zantera]

Quality of his recent albums aside, I think it is really great to finally see SW getting some great recognition. I have seen him three times as a solo artist, and it is really nice how he has grown as an artist from time to time. The first time I saw him, it was on the GFD tour and he was playing a smaller rock bar, with maybe 200-300 people there. The second time was during the Raven tour, and he played a slightly bigger bar/venue with maybe 500 people there. This time he played a ~800 capacity seated theatre, the place with the best sound here in my city. And it's not just cool that each time he plays a bigger venue, but you notice how the whole "spectacle" around the gig becomes bigger and bigger, the crowd gets bigger and people seem more excited, and in terms of merchandise people are flocking around the merchandise table. He even has his own plastic bag that says Steven Wilson on it! 

I may not have been the biggest fan of Raven or Hand Cannot Erase (even though I think both are good), but I do feel happy for SW, and it's nice to see him get some recognition. I don't think Prog will ever be considered cool or a mainstream thing again, but someone like SW filling out big theatres, making very artistic music with a lot of time, effort and passion put into it at his age, it's great to see.

[YtseJamittaja]

As someone who never got to see PT live I was happy to hear Lazarus and Sleep Together.

Sleep Together was absolute amazing performance, one of the highlights for me because of that outro. Second highlight for me was Index. That live version was far more superior than the album version. And that song was my least favourite of the set before the concert!! 

But Lazarus seemed a bit out of place there, they just played it but it sort of seemed that it was just for the fans and SW himself didn't quite enjoy of it. That was my interpretation, I might be wrong.

That was my only complaint but overall it was so great evening with SW. And I really liked to hear SW speak so much between the songs

[Sacul]

Quality of his recent albums aside, I think it is really great to finally see SW getting some great recognition. I have seen him three times as a solo artist, and it is really nice how he has grown as an artist from time to time. The first time I saw him, it was on the GFD tour and he was playing a smaller rock bar, with maybe 200-300 people there. The second time was during the Raven tour, and he played a slightly bigger bar/venue with maybe 500 people there. This time he played a ~800 capacity seated theatre, the place with the best sound here in my city. And it's not just cool that each time he plays a bigger venue, but you notice how the whole "spectacle" around the gig becomes bigger and bigger, the crowd gets bigger and people seem more excited, and in terms of merchandise people are flocking around the merchandise table. He even has his own plastic bag that says Steven Wilson on it! 

I may not have been the biggest fan of Raven or Hand Cannot Erase (even though I think both are good), but I do feel happy for SW, and it's nice to see him get some recognition. I don't think Prog will ever be considered cool or a mainstream thing again, but someone like SW filling out big theatres, making very artistic music with a lot of time, effort and passion put into it at his age, it's great to see.

Looking back at his colossal discography and all his projects, and considering how much passion he has put on every album just to bring the best and never repeat himself, I can only say: He f*cking deserves it. He's even selling out entire venues everywhere he goes on this tour.

[bout to crash]

Amen! I can't wait to get my very own SW plastic bag

[?]

As someone who never got to see PT live I was happy to hear Lazarus and Sleep Together.

Sleep Together was absolute amazing performance, one of the highlights for me because of that outro. Second highlight for me was Index. That live version was far more superior than the album version. And that song was my least favourite of the set before the concert!! 

But Lazarus seemed a bit out of place there, they just played it but it sort of seemed that it was just for the fans and SW himself didn't quite enjoy of it. That was my interpretation, I might be wrong.

Yeah, I loved the new version of Index (that video in the background was creepy as hell! ), and Sleep Together was awesome. I thought Lazarus was really beautiful combined with the nostalgic projections on the screen, and I didn't get the impression SW was going through the motions, because he said it's a song he's still proud of and it fits thematically into the set with the new album.

BTW, I checked Wikipedia and it turned out that Nick was right for once: Kajagoogoo topped the Finnish single charts in March 1983 Also, when I took the bus back to Tampere I heard a couple talking about the show - nice coincidence!

Quality of his recent albums aside, I think it is really great to finally see SW getting some great recognition. I have seen him three times as a solo artist, and it is really nice how he has grown as an artist from time to time. The first time I saw him, it was on the GFD tour and he was playing a smaller rock bar, with maybe 200-300 people there. The second time was during the Raven tour, and he played a slightly bigger bar/venue with maybe 500 people there. This time he played a ~800 capacity seated theatre, the place with the best sound here in my city. And it's not just cool that each time he plays a bigger venue, but you notice how the whole "spectacle" around the gig becomes bigger and bigger, the crowd gets bigger and people seem more excited, and in terms of merchandise people are flocking around the merchandise table. He even has his own plastic bag that says Steven Wilson on it! 

I saw someone with that plastic bag at the show!

I didn't see SW the last time he played in Helsinki, but the venue's capacity is 1,500 people and I've read the show was sold out, which is impressive. I don't know whether the show on Sunday was sold out, but the venue was pretty packed so I'm pretty sure it was - the high attendance numbers probably have a lot to do with the fact that he didn't play in any other Finnish cities, which means that plenty of people (including yours truly and YtseJamittaja) travelled to see him.

But yes, Steven truly deserves all the success and recognition because of the hard work he has done over the years, and I find it really cool that his music still reaches new fans.

[faizoff]

Now all he needs to do is release another live video album after the tour ends with stuff mostly from the last two albums.

[YtseJamittaja]

BTW, I checked Wikipedia and it turned out that Nick was right for once: Kajagoogoo topped the Finnish single charts in March 1983 Also, when I took the bus back to Tampere I heard a couple talking about the show - nice coincidence!

Haha, that really is hardcore as Steven said 

Great that SW fans are everywhere!

[King Postwhore]

Kajagoogoo's Too shy was #5 in America on the charts and you could miss that song on MTV.  It played every 2 hours.

[Anguyen92]

So, I was just browsing my usual news sites and found an article that stated that Taylor Swift's 1989 album was louder than AC/DC's Back in Black and the article was discussing stuff like the loudness wars of the modern age of music and there was a chart about the dynamic range and, uhhh, here's the reason why I posted here.



Naturally, Metallica's Death Magnetic album was the worst in this category, but they friken listed Steven Wilson's Hand. Cannot. Erase. and judging from the looks of it, it's probably amongst the most dynamic albums there is in these modern times.  I got to listen to that album again.  I had good impressions on it on the 1st listen.

https://411mania.com/music/new-study-shows-taylor-swifts-1989-is-louder-than-acdc/

[PolarizeMe]

Now all he needs to do is release another live video album after the tour ends with stuff mostly from the last two albums.

Seconded. A Live EP in the style of the track list of the Drive Home CD/BluRay (or DVD) EP wouldn't be to shabby either.