Rush vs. Steven Wilson (PT, solo, Blackfield, Storm Corrosion)

[KevShmev]

Just for fun, I thought this would be an interesting poll.  I am using 19 of SW's albums, and while I am sure some will quibble over not including No-Man or something from his other projects, these four are his most popular on this forum, so it made sense.  I am using PT's 10 studio albums plus the Staircase Infinities EP and Recordings. 

Rush's 19
Rush
Fly by Night
Caress of Steel
2112
A Farewell to Kings
Hemispheres
Permanent Waves
Moving Pictures
Signals
Grace Under Pressure
Power Windows
Hold Your Fire
Presto
Roll the Bones
Counterparts
Test for Echo
Vapor Trails
Snakes & Arrows
Clockwork Angels

Steven Wilson's 19 (listed in chronological order)
On the Sunday of Life...
Up the Downstair
Staircase Infinities
The Sky Moves Sideways
Signify
Stupid Dream
Lightbulb Sun
Recordings
In Absentia
Blackfield
Deadwing
Blackfield II
Fear of a Blank Planet
Insurgentes
The Incident
Welcome to My DNA
Grace for Downing
Storm Corrosion
The Raven That Refused to Sing (and other stories)

[KevShmev]

My album vs album breakdown:

Rush vs. On the Sunday of Life...: Neither is overly impressive to me, but I will go with Rush since that album has less songs I do not care for and just as many, if not more, keepers.
Fly by Night vs. Up the Downstair: Both albums are sizable upgrades over the debuts, but I think I like Fly by Night just a little bit more.
Caress of Steel vs. Staircase Infinities: The latter is more consistent, but the former has higher highs.  Nothing on SI is awesome as The Necromancer or Bastille Day, so Caress of Steel wins.
2112 vs. The Sky Moves Sideways: As much as I love TSMS, it cannot beat 2112; it just can't.
A Farewell to Kings vs. Signify: AFTK is all kinds of awesome, but my least favorite of Rush's Big 5, and I love the atmosphere and consistency of Signify just a little more, I think.
Hemispheres vs. Stupid Dream: I can't believe I am having to pick between these two, but while Hemispheres is awesome in every way possible, Stupid Dream was a life-changing album for me.
Permanent Waves vs. Lightbulb Sun: Brutal match-up; these are two of my all-time five favorite albums.  I refuse to pick one over the other.
Moving Pictures vs. Recordings: This ain't even fair.  Recordings has some great stuff on there, but c'mon, it's Moving freaking Pictures.
Signals vs. In Absentia: Interesting match-up, in that I like both a ton, but would hesitate to call either among the best by either band.  In Absentia is just a hair better.
Grace Under Pressure vs. Blackfield: I adore the atmosphere that both of these albums feature.  Grace Under Pressure is better.
Power Windows vs. Deadwing: Another absolutely brutal match-up. Again, two of my all-time favorites.  Most days I would probably pick Deadwing, but today I am going with Power Windows.
Hold Your Fire vs. Blackfield II: It seems odd to compare these two albums, as neither was ever a favorite, but I still listened to both a ton. Hold Your Fire wins by a nose.
Presto vs. Fear of a Blank Planet: This one ain't even fair.  Fear of a Blank Planet in a rout.
Roll the Bones vs. Insurgentes: Roll the Bones is more of a nostalgic favorite, and I like it more than most, but I think Insurgentes is just better.
Counterparts vs. The Incident: I hate having to pick against either of these, but while I adore The Incident, Counterparts is like that blanket you can never go to sleep without when you are a kid.  You just feel better having it around.
Test for Echo vs. Welcome to My DNA: By and large, two disappointing albums, but Welcome to My DNA has more memorable tunes.
Vapor Trails vs. Grace for Downing: Rush's comeback album was solid, but Grace for Downing is one of those albums that should be put in a time capsule for people to listen to centuries from now.
Snakes & Arrows vs. Storm Corrosion: S&A is really good, but I still cannot get enough of the Storm Corrosion debut.  I pray that more music from Wilson/Akerfeldt is forthcoming.
Clockwork Angels vs. The Raven That Refused to Sing: Still to early to make the call here, but I am as nutty over The Raven at first as I was over CA at first, so we'll see.

Overall score: 9-8 in favor of Rush, with one too close to call, and another too new to determine. Talk about close!

[PuffyPat]

I've tried to get in to PT a few times, but I just can't do it. I understand that Steven is a pretty cool dude musically, but his stuff just doesn't really appeal to me.

[Zantera]

Rush has a couple of great albums from the classic era, and a few in the 80's, but this was easy for me: Steven Wilson all the way.

[wolfking]

Rush.

[MirzekDT]

SW all the way I love Rush but a lot of their albums are not very much interesting to me like Rush, Caress Of Steel, Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts, Test For Echo, Vapor Trails SW doesn't have one much less interesting album. Yes On The Sunday Of Life is interesting album I enjoy it from time to time it's not amazing or anything like that it's my least favorite album by PT but it has it's own different kind of appeal.

[Bolsters]

This is a tough one. On one hand Rush has some amazing stuff, but a hell of a lot more that I don't really much like. On the other hand, Porcupine Tree doesn't reach the highs that Rush does, for me, but over their discography they are significantly more consistent. So I'm not sure if I should vote for the high notes and the lows that come with them, or vote for consistency.

I haven't listened to any of the other Steven Wilson projects or his solo stuff so I can't take those albums into consideration.

[Nekov]

Rush.

I didn't even think about it

[Bolsters]

I did think about it, but came to the same conclusion. I ended up voting for Rush aswell.

[Perpetual Change]

Steven Wilson. Everything he does is varying degrees of good, much of it being great.

Rush are kinda a mixed bag. Even the best Rush albums have a few bad songs, and, frankly, much of their material is just plain bad.

[Scorpion]

Steven Wilson has three albums that are pretty good and two that I somewhat like listening to.

So SW it is.

[ReaperKK]

While Rush has a huge collection of songs that are good and enjoyable, very few are great.

Meanwhile SW has some really great songs that resonate with me a lot more.

[Pols Voice]

Easy choice, since I can't stand Steven Wilson.

[adace]

This is an extremely tough choice since I love both artists, but I have to go with SW by a hair.

Rush have plenty of amazing, memorable songs but they tend to stick to one style whereas SW has had really diverse styles throughout his career.

Plus Rush put out some pretty mediocre albums in the 80's and 90's whereas most of SW's material, especially of late, is excellent.

[Perpetual Change]

This is an extremely tough choice since I love both artists, but I have to go with SW by a hair.

Rush have plenty of amazing, memorable songs but they tend to stick to one style whereas SW has had really diverse styles throughout his career.

Plus Rush put out some pretty mediocre albums in the 80's and 90's

...and 00's, and 10's

/trollpost

But seriously, Rush's 30ish years of mediocrity is one of the reasons I've got to go with SW.

[King Postwhore]

While I am a huge fan of both, I've always been a Rush nut. SW is right up there though.  This is like asking what child you like more.

[Big Hath]

This isn't really fair since I'm so familiar with Rush. And only somewhat familiar with the pt albums prior to Stupid Dream.

[Unlegit]

Rush easily.

[theseoafs]

Rush, obviously.

[Paris is Burning]

Steven Wilson, obviously.

[?]

I've heard all the PT albums except OTSOL, Steven's first 2 solos and the Storm Corrosion record, but I've only heard 3 Rush albums (PeW, MP and CA) so it's hard for me to compare them. However, no Rush song has completely blown me away like Anesthetize or The Sky Moves Sideways have, for example, and I don't really care about the synth-era songs I've heard, so I'm pretty sure I'd vote for SW even if I had heard the whole Rush discography.

[The Letter M]

Rush - they're my first and still most favorite band in the world. Their discography is most consistent, as well, especially compared to the 19 listed by SW. Sure, *most* of the PT stuff is great, some of the rest is good, and there's a bit that's OK enough to listen every now and then, but it's just not as consistent as Rush's output. Also, the varying line-ups among SW's discography really differentiate his albums and sounds/styles/genres, which for many, can be a GOOD thing - variety IS the spice of life - but Rush, as a power trio, have enough variety among themselves that they haven't needed any line-up changes to demonstrate that. They have evolved and changed with the times, truly progressing, and while SW has done something similar, in terms of changing with new influences/inspirations, I just prefer Rush more.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

True, Rush's variety is more impressive looking at these 38 albums in a vacuum because 18 of their 19 are with the same three guys, while Wilson's variety can somewhat be attributed to the different lineups used in each project, although I would argue that the variety has more to do with him finding musicians to play his vision at the time, instead of it being other way around.  Hell, that is why PT is currently in limbo, as he doesn't want his writing to be confined, in a manner of speaking. 

Either way, these two sets of 19 albums are both nothing short of .

[TioJorge]

Wilson all day errday. Love Rush, respect what they've done, but they don't hold a candle to Wilson's collective works in my world. Not a chance.

Tidbit: If this were 'just Wilson' with his solo only, I'd choose Rush.

[KevShmev]

Tidbit: If this were 'just Wilson' with his solo only, I'd choose Rush.

In all fairness, that would be, well, unfair, considering Rush has 19 albums and Wilson a solo artist has only three.

[YtseJamittaja]

Rush.

I didn't even think about it

[TioJorge]

Tidbit: If this were 'just Wilson' with his solo only, I'd choose Rush.

In all fairness, that would be, well, unfair, considering Rush has 19 albums and Wilson a solo artist has only three.

Oh right...didn't think about that one too long. I suppose it says how much I love Wilson that it was even an argument in my mind still, though Rush won. 

I'm just not that into Rush aside from a couple albums and a few select amazing songs here and there. Wilson on the other hand, I have a very, very hard time finding anything I don't like (which right now is pretty much just The Incident, and even then Disc 2 is great).

[ColdFireYYZ]

I love both of them.  I've been much more into SW's stuff lately, but I'm going with Rush. Not only are they my favorite band, but they were one of the first prog bands I listened to, so my musical tastes would be much different without them. I like the majority of their music, and they are one of the most consistent "classic" bands, imo.

[The King in Crimson]

Rush

Both have about the same amount of weak material to their names, but Rush typically soar higher.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Rush is the very definition of the word average. SW.

[robwebster]

They've both produced some bloody lovely stuff, and they've both produced some works that I don't like at all, but when I'm listening to my favourite Steven Wilson stuff I'm talking about whole albums full of my favourite songs ever, whereas Rush's best albums I just enjoy as cool, clever rock. I do, however, feel that Steven Wilson's least convincing stuff is significantly worse than Rush's - iffy Rush is, at worst, a bit boring, whereas Steven Wilson does quite a lot of self-indulgent anal-gazing.

It's a tricky question! Two artists I love, two artists I'm relatively sick of hearing about. SW's more erratic, but when I love his stuff, I love it a lot more, and it doesn't matter how much I don't like the stuff I don't like, because I'm going to spin an album I find bland exactly as much as I'm going to spin one I think's execrable which is not at all, so I think SW probably wins by a light-year... but it's a close light-year. On paper, not much between them - but in practice, has to be Steven.

[DebraKadabra]

SW.  I love Rush, but as someone else already posted... they've been inconsistent over much of their career.  That's not to say that SW/PT/Blackfield/SC have been inconsistent, it's just that those inconsistencies don't stick out like a sore thumb.

[Ultimetalhead]

Both had a pretty strong run of albums that were huge impacts on the entire genre. Really, it just came down to comparing Signify-The Incident to 2112-Moving Pictures, because I really couldn't give much of a fuck about either option's other output (excepting Clockwork Angels). Based on said comparison, Steven Wilson wins merely because I like those albums better.

[Gadough]

I can listen to Rush whenever. I love Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree also, but I have to be in the mood.

[lonestar]

Rush, they have been an integral part of my life for thirty years. I've been listening to SW for about two. The only battle that would even make me pause(of the SW albums I've heard) would be Deadwing vs Power Windows, but PW would win that too.