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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: KevShmev on August 28, 2017, 05:32:44 PM
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This will be quite the undertaking, but it is time for a Song of the Day thread on Steven Wilson, featuring songs from his solo career, Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, No-Man, Storm Corrosion, etc. Assuming interest in this thread is enough to keep it going, this could go for a while considering how many songs he has.
As with my past Song of the Day threads, I will feature a song every day (although I am sure I will miss a day here and a day there) that we can discuss.
And like in the past, I ask that you let me feature the songs instead of someone jumping in with their own. If you are wanting to talk about a song, feel free to PM me and I will likely work it in shortly thereafter.
Away we go...
Radioactive Toy (Porcupine Tree)
It only makes sense to kick this off with a song from the first Porcupine Tree album, and to feature the one that is easily the most popular one. This song has endured pretty well over the years, and showed that even at the very start, Wilson knew how to write a great song and play some killer guitar. It very much has that kind of psychedelic, Floyd thing going on, while still having enough originality to sound unique. A great song from an interesting first album.
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The one thing I always think of listening to this album and this song is, I like the music and Wilson certainly became a better singer over time.
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Oh, I'm sorry, I was looking for The 80's Song Of The Day Thread.. ;D
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Nice idea.
I'm very familiar with Wilson's solo releases, not so familiar with Porcupine Tree (or his other works), despite owning a few of them, so I am sure this thread will be gold dust for me.
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Radioactive Toy is a great song, I like it very much.
But it is also the most "conventional" and "ordinary" prog song on that first record. Steven is very experimental and out there on some of the songs and it's a little bit like this song is there to please those oldschool prog-heads, that can't get into his other songs.
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It probably is one of the more "normal" songs on the debut record, especially when you consider how unusual some of the other songs are.
nobloodyname, feel free to follow along and listen to the songs new as I feature them! :tup :tup
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Great thread idea! Will follow with interest.
Love Radioactive Toy! Easily the song on the debut that best showcases the direction that PT went in on later albums, albeit in a somewhat primitive form.
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Nice idea, and a great way to start (though I kind of think you should have gone with Jupiter Island, because that's the first 'proper' song on the debut). Radioactive Toy is a great track for sure, but I'm not sure whether it's my favourite from the debut. I thought it was really cool that Steven Wilson played this song on his 2013 solo tour. Nice way of looking back at his own career.
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Harmony Korine (Steven Wilson)
Ah, the first song from the first official solo album by Steven Wilson. I have always liked this song, but it always seems like most people like it more than I do. It has never been a favorite of mine, even from the Insurgentes record, but it was pretty kick ass when I saw Wilson on The Raven... tour. Wilson obviously likes it a ton, since he has played it on every solo tour he has done this decade. The way it builds up is pretty great, and I like the part near the end where it gets all mellow with that buzzy guitar sound for about 10 seconds, before blasting back into that rocking riff that takes us to the end. :metal
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His intro to this song was hilarious on the Raven tour.
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Harmony Korine is definitely one of the best tracks from his solo career. I understand why he's played it (almost?) every tour. I think the visuals he uses for this particular song are amazing as well. You can probably find them on Youtube, but I guess they won't have the same sort of impact as in a live-situation where they're projected on a huge screen. Love the song and I have no problem with having seen it every time I saw Wilson's solo band :)
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Great song. When I first heard it on Insurgentes I thought that this could also be a Porcupine Tree song.
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Great song. My favorite on his first solo album, but overall not one of my favorites compared to his other solo works. Still, it's a concise song with a memorable chorus and it always makes a awesome addition to the live set.
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Will follow this!
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Harmony Korine, and Insurgentes as a whole, feels like a natural progression from what he had been doing with Porcupine Tree with Deadwing and FOABP.
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Summer (Blackfield)
The collaboration with Aviv Geffen has been mostly pretty great, and Summer is one of the standout tracks from the first Blackfield record. Written by Geffen, the music is lovely, with strong emphasis on acoustic guitar, strings and melody, kind of a Blackfield trademark. Love this song.
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Summer is easily my favourite song off the first Blackfield album.
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It's good to see that one person likes this song. :lol :lol
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I really love Summer too, one of my favs from BF1.
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I really love Summer too, one of my favs from BF1.
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Summer is a good song, but when it comes to Blackfield I much much much prefer the second album.
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Anesthetize (Porcupine Tree)
I remember reading reviews from fans who saw this song performed live before it was recorded in the studio for Fear of a Blank Plane - I believe it had a working title at the time, but I cannot recall what it was - and fans were pretty much gushing over it like crazy, so I was a) anxious to hear it, and b) curious to see if it lived up to the hype. It did. This song kicked my ass from the start. Gavin Harrison's drumming is insane in this song, the middle section, commonly referred to as "The Pills I'm Taking" is one of the greatest sections of music by anybody ever, and the guest spot by Alex Lifeson is pretty freaking sweet. I often find it difficult to put Steven Wilson's best/favorite songs in any kind of specific order anymore, but I know that Anesthetize is in the conversation for being number 1. It's just a remarkable achievement.
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Anesthetize is one of my favourite Steven Wilson songs as well, if not my favourite. It's a prime example of how a drums can really drive a song, and add so much to the whole feeling of the song, even though I usually don't really pay attention to the drums in music that much.
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Have the Blu Ray and Gavin's performance on this song is freakin' amazing. At one point Richard is smiling in disbelief at one of his fills. Awesome song.
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This is quite possibly my favorite Porcupine Tree song. It's perfect in every single way.
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Okay, let's pick this back up, in the hopes that the influx of new posters will get a little more chatter going. :biggrin:
Blackest Eyes (Porcupine Tree)
In Absentia was the first PT album I ever heard, making Blackest Eyes the first Steven Wilson song of any kind that these ears heard. I was sucked in right away. That riff was a monster, yet the melodies and those vocal harmonies were just magic. This song is a great blend of everything that made PT in the Harrison era so great: they could crush you with a riff and melt you with a melody, in the same song.
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pretty sure that was the first PT song I ever heard. I remember randomly picking up a PT bootleg off DIME after hearing about the band and this being the opening song.
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I owned Stupid Dream for some time and really liked it, but I never felt the urge to dive deeper into the PT discography. Then someday I heard Blackest Eyes and thought "holy f* this shit is good". That song and the record In Absentia turned me from a casual listener into a serious fan.
And this song is a great example of his heavier side. The riffs are relatively simple but sound so big and heavy. And the verses are a nice contrast. Yeah, I really like this song. :metal
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This is probably Steven's heaviest riff up to this point, I think. It's interesting how the riff itself is heavy, but the verses and chorus are just gorgeous. Nice lyrics, too.
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I have played DT songs forever for my teen daughter and she just never got into them. I played "Blackest Eyes" for her and she was immediately a SW fan. Love the song and the lyrics... "Its so erotic when your makeup runs".
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Probably the first PT song (or SW song for that matter) I heard, though now that I'm writing this, it might've been Trains just as well. Anyway, it's one of the first PT songs I liked a lot and it got me into the album and the band. I have to agree on the lyrics as well, they're really good.
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Index (Steven Wilson)
For some reason, this song has always struck me as though Wilson has Stanley Kubrick in mind when he wrote it; it sounds like a song that would have been used in one of his movies, like A Clockwork Orange. That aside, it a really good tune! I love the dark, creepy vibe, and the way the songs climaxes with those strings is just aural bliss.
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definite highlight form the HCE show I saw last year
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Index (Steven Wilson)
For some reason, this song has always struck me as though Wilson has Stanley Kubrick in mind when he wrote it; it sounds like a song that would have been used in one of his movies, like A Clockwork Orange. That aside, it a really good tune! I love the dark, creepy vibe, and the way the songs climaxes with those strings is just aural bliss.
Kev, that's a great description. I also love the different live versions of this song.
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definite highlight form the HCE show I saw last year
Indeed, that fucking wall of sound :2metal:
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Storm Corrosion (Storm Corrosion)
Some songs are so surreal that you can't even describe them; you just sit back and let the aura of it wash over you. Storm Corrosion is one of those songs. I have owned my iMac since the beginning of 2011 and this is the most listened-to song in my iTunes since then (338 listens). I just love it. :hat
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I've never really gotten into Storm Corrosion (the band). I didn't expect them to go full out metal because of Mike's main interest at the time, but I was expecting something more appealing to me. I don't know what it is, but I just can't really conncet with the record. That said, the song isn't bad.
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Good one. Not as impressive as some other songs from the same album, and the noisy section in the middle goes on for a bit too long, but I appreciate Steven's vocals on it.
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Is Storm Corrosion really five years old?! Woah......
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I still vividly remember the first time I listened to that album. Poured a glass of fine red wine, got myself comfy and listened to the record with full attention. Great experience, I had no trouble getting into it at all.
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Is Storm Corrosion really five years old?! Woah......
No kidding :o
The title-track is my favorite on the album: so beautiful, yet that noise section is a real hair-raiser.
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I've never thought of that as a "noise" section, like the ones on Insurgentes, which all seemed kinda jarring. This one seemed natural and when it comes out of it and the acoustic guitar and SW's voice comes back, that is some real, real good shit. :coolio
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Just getting into this thread. I love Storm Corrosion, I wonder if they could do something similar again.
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Oi! Curator! Where ya gone? Six months I've been waiting for you to update this thread. SIX MONTHS! :lol
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I hope PT gets back together........
JOKE ;D