Steven Wilson

[The Letter M]

It's weird that, even though DT occupied my #1 spot far longer than any other band or artist will ever be able to do, I know that when all is said and done, Steven Wilson's output will stand in much higher regard than DT's to me.

Solo? Or in general, including PT, No-Man, IEM, BC, Blackfield, etc. etc.?

-Marc.

[King Postwhore]

It's weird that, even though DT occupied my #1 spot far longer than any other band or artist will ever be able to do, I know that when all is said and done, Steven Wilson's output will stand in much higher regard than DT's to me.

That concert we bumped into each other was magical.   My eyes were glued to every musician up there.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

I've come to like SW's material more than DT, I just find it much more consistent (including the projects)

[TioJorge]

SW is by far and away my most beloved musician to date. Even the shit that just goes right over my head, musically, what he does and how he does it...I may not ever be able to truly appreciate it considering I can barely play fuckin' Chopsticks, but over the years music has become somewhat a crutch for me, and more-so these days, an outlet. In that regard, Sir Steven Wilson has reached into my soul and flicked my soul clitoris SO GOOD ERRY TIME. ERRY TIME. There is very, very few music that he's created that I don't connect with in a very profound way; that being The Incident, and it almost feels like...I knew that this wasn't all that an inspired effort, so that kind of genuine openness I felt from his music...didn't come through as much, to me anyway. All that said, for as much as I love DT for what they did for me in terms of my musical open-mind and exploration, where it all started...SW is just on another level, quite frankly. He isn't technical at all, he's openly stated so numerous times and all the while creates the most permeating, sometimes haunting, sometimes lovely music I've ever heard. DT has done that, and better (with ACoS), but recently has all the depth of Brittany Spears when it comes to the way their songs 'speak to me' and how I connect with them.

Now that I've sufficiently masturbated Wilson enough, I have a question. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SONG ABOUT!? CAUSE I'M PRETTY SURE IT'S ABOUT A PEDOPHILE BUT I DUNNO WTF:
The Guitar Lesson (originally by Momus; good luck looking up information on it)

Either way...I've heard the original by now and it's nice, but if the subject matter I assume is correct...is in fact correct....then I can totally understand the fact that there's nearly no info about this on the net, the most I've gotten is from SongMeanings and the only comment says that it's a good song and is overlooked due to the content, so I'm assuming I am right on the mark, but I don't assume I know nearly as much knowledge about music and most people here so again, I ask; IS THIS ABOUT A FUCKING PEDOPHILE!? CAUSE THAT SUCKS CAUSE I LOVE THIS SONG.  Truly, a beautiful piece, especially Wilson's version, which is all the more beautiful and appropriate for the content if it's truly about a pedophile (WHO MOLESTS IN FRONT OF HER MOTHER!?DAFU). Either way, great song and I LOVE what Wilson has done with it. Overall, I really love Cover Version altogether, and I've heard all the originals by now and can safely say that I like Wilson's versions more. But The Cure's A Forest came close to beating SW's version; but SW's version is just so macabre and beautifully dark. In that regard, I can't help but enjoy it more.

I think my favorite song is tied between A Forst and The Guitar Lesson. I'll probably just internally love TGL more but socially will say AF cause I don't wanna be the guy loving a song about pedobears who go after young guitar players. 

ED: Finally found some info on him and yeah...definitely about pedophilia... Apparently Momus wrote about a lot of controversial topics, which only intrigues me more into his work...might end up having a new artist to like after this. Either way, it's a really beautiful song and now that I now for sure...what an absolutely gut-wrenchingly beautiful song...that brings nothing but horrible outcomes and degenerate hypotheticals. Makes it even more genius. Another reason I love SW so much...he himself opens my mind to new music I'd more than likely never discover otherwise. Awesome.

[KevShmev]

It's weird that, even though DT occupied my #1 spot far longer than any other band or artist will ever be able to do, I know that when all is said and done, Steven Wilson's output will stand in much higher regard than DT's to me.

Same here.  Hell, I put Porcupine Tree alone ahead of Dream Theater, and factoring in his solo stuff, Blackfield, No-Man, etc. makes it not even close.  What's really scary is, Rush has been my favorite band for 22 years now, but if I collectively lumped all of Wilson's projects into one, he'd probably surpass Rush for me.

[The Letter M]

So as some of you may already know, I have a penchant for rearranging album track lists to include bonus tracks and studio leftovers, and in the case of The Raven That Refused To Sing, Steven has released 2 songs that stemmed from those writing and recording sessions that weren't used on the album: "The Birthday Party" and "Clock Song". I've made my own CD-r version of TRTRTS that includes these two, and also tacks on "Drive Home (Lounge Version)", which is FANTASTIC, and the orchestral version of the title track at the end.

The Raven That Refused To Sing
Compiled Track List - 76:33

LP 1 - 38:51
Side 1 - 19:47
1. Luminol            12:10
2. Drive Home             7:37

Side 2 - 19:04
3. The Holy Drinker         10:13
4. The Pin Drop          5:03
5. The Birthday Party          3:48

LP 2 - 37:42
Side 3 - 16:13
6. Clock Song             4:31
7. The Watchermaker         11:42

Side 4 - 21:29
8. The Raven That Refused To Sing    7:57
9. Drive Home (Loungue Version)    6:01
10. The Raven (Orchestral Version)    7:31

As usual, I arranged the tracks so that they could theoretically fit on a 2LP vinyl album, and in doing so, I also kept the first four tracks in the same order, as well as the last two of "The Watchmaker" and "The Raven That Refused To Sing". It only made sense to place "Clock Song" before "The Watchmaker", given how it sounds related, and so the only place to put "The Birthday Party" was after "The Pin Drop", since I liked the flow of the tracks before it.

At any rate, it's an even more enjoyable album now with over 76 minutes of Raven-y goodness! I'm glad I was able to fit all of these tracks onto ONE CD-R, much like with Insurgentes and it's bonus tracks.

-Marc.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzqVjXrvetw

So um, most unexpected place to ever find SW? He's at about 2:40 for those who don't want to listen to the rest.

[fibreoptix]

How bizarre. Loved it though. Whole thing.

[Onno]

Wow 

[rumborak]

Holy shit, that whole song was one giant turd, from beginning to end.

[senecadawg2]

Jesus Christ 

[bout to crash]

What in the fuck?!

[TioJorge]

I actually really liked bits of that. Some reminded me of MF Doom, and Wilson's tiny part was cool enough. Still a clusterfuck, but an oddly cool one. Neat to see hear him in it, that's about all though.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Yeah, there were a few bits I liked, but overall it was pretty meh. And the video itself was super cheesy, but I seem to think that about all lyric videos so take that as you will.

[Nel]

Had no idea Cover Version was even a thing, but I saw it at the record store and said to myself "Oh, a new Steven Wilson album! That's a thing!" and bought it. I know the background for it now, but I've never heard any of this stuff, so it's all new to me. 

[Zantera]

Had no idea Cover Version was even a thing, but I saw it at the record store and said to myself "Oh, a new Steven Wilson album! That's a thing!" and bought it. I know the background for it now, but I've never heard any of this stuff, so it's all new to me. 

I really love Cover Version. Most of them are really good, most of his original songs on it are really good, and overall I would say it's probably his most underrated/under-appreciated release.

[ariich]

Yeah, there were a few bits I liked, but overall it was pretty meh. And the video itself was super cheesy, but I seem to think that about all lyric videos so take that as you will.

Well, the whole project exists to raise money for charity, so I don't think cheesy videos are a problem at all.

I think the song is pretty cool.

[Ben_Jamin]

Hello is a great track.  I enjoyed all their contributions,  Stevens is nice.

[?]

In the latest FB post Steven says he'll remix five classic albums this year, two of which are from the 80s. I'm curious to find out what the 80s albums are, because he said they were both chart-topping albums, which makes me think they might not be prog.

[KevShmev]

The exact tweet/FB post was:

Five more Steven Wilson classic album remixes are to be released this year, including two iconic 80’s albums that reached number 1 in the UK and USA respectively. All should be officially announced over the next few weeks.

I am trying to figure out what those 80s albums would be, too.  It'd be awesome if The Police's Synchronicity was one of them (it did go to number 1 both here and the UK), but does Wilson have the pull and name recognition to do a remix for a band as popular and mainstream as them? 

[King Postwhore]

Michael Jackson's Thriller?

[bout to crash]

 , that'd be awesome.

[King Postwhore]

It'll be cool to find out!

[FlyingBIZKIT]

That song was ..

[seasonsinthesky]

his re-mixes of Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair are overdue, but they didn't exactly chart that high 

[ColdFireYYZ]

Maybe Hounds of Love or Never for Ever by Kate Bush, both of which hit number one in the UK? This would be the perfect time to release a deluxe edition of either, considering the hype surrounding Bush's upcoming live comeback. Plus, according to his online playlist archive, he played a song from Never for Ever recently on Team Rock radio.

[King Postwhore]

Kate never was big in the US.

[ColdFireYYZ]

Kate never was big in the US.

I think I misread the statement, as I thought it mean that one of the albums 80s albums hit the number 1 in the US and the other hit number 1 in the UK. But yeah, if they are chart-toppers in both countries, then it's definitely not Kate Bush. I guess we'll find out soon enough!

[King Postwhore]

I love her voice and she did get some airplay (Thank you MTV when you mattered) and of course Peter Gabriel's So album.

I'm still interested what albums they are and to find out what popular albums he liked to remix.

[bout to crash]

I thought "respectively" meant one in the US and one in the UK...

[King Postwhore]

I thought "respectively" meant one in the US and one in the UK...

Again Jackie is correct.  leave it to dude, not to read the instructions.

So maybe it is Kate Bush!

[Nel]

(Though I would really like Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair already. Those little boxes look so nice together on a shelf.) 

[KevShmev]

Steven Wilson ‏@StevenWilsonHQ  1m
Recording of the follow up album to 'The Raven that Refused To Sing' starts this month (with the same band line-up).

[King Postwhore]

 

[RoeDent]

I love the lyrics Steven Wilson sings in that charity song posted above. By Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), apparently. One of my favourite composers, who collected birdsong and used it in his music. He also saw colours when he heard certain keys. Hence the lyrics.

Also, massively excited by the fact that the SW4 cycle has begun!