I think SW probably feels a lot of salt towards the whole situation. The Future Bites was meant to be the big album propelling him into mainstream fame and he has been working on the last few albums to leave the prog behind and become something else, yet here we are and The Future Bites got fairly lukewarm reception among fans but people haven't stopped asking about his prog band that went defunct a decade ago. Every interview since Grace For Drowning you've heard "What about the future for PT?".
Not really surprised about his comments in that Guardian article about this being the last album and last tour. I'm not gonna say it's a paycheck for him, because I do think he sees some merit in closing the PT chapter with a definitive 'final' album, but on the flip side I don't get anywhere near the same level of passion/enthusiasm from him about this album that we got for The Future Bites or To the Bone. Almost feels a bit like when a director will do a superhero movie so the studio will let them make their passion project next.
Colin Farrell was on Live with Kelly Clarkson and he was talking about certain acting roles of his. He mentioned Batman was to make money, while his passion project was some indie film titled 'After Yang'. He was saying that movie is the one needs the promotion, not the Batman movie.
I see this same mindset regarding Steven and how he perceives Porcupine Tree and his solo albums. And even the other members of the band.
Barbieri even said....
You can’t help but feel bitter and hurt. You get to a point of critical and commercial success and, at that very point, it’s just dragged away. And, of course, it’s not easy for the members to just carry on. It requires a lot of time before you step back into a career. But for the person at the front, they carry on with the same manager, the same record label, the same fanbase, the same publisher, the same promoter, the same agent. So it’s very painless for them. But it leaves people behind who spent as much time working as they did, so it’s tough.”
In all honesty. I feel this "Reunion" is only to please the fans, and the media who are constantly bugging Steven and the others about Porcupine Tree. Barbieri and Gavin accepted the offer. Colin on the other hand chose not to accept the offer. And I for one don't blame him knowing these circumstances. It's closure for everyone, including Barbieri and Gavin.
Steven also said...
“I didn’t feel particularly liked or respected in the band – or at least if they did have respect, it was never vocalised.”
So. It's not about Steven wanting all the control. His mindset has always been that Porcupine Tree is not his main focus. Yet, he was the one receiving praise from both the media and the fans. And everything followed along when he went solo, as the other guys were left in the dust to what as happening with Porcupine Tree. It's why I feel Closure is a great title for the album, and the Continuation is there because it's uncertain what may happen in the future.
It plays out into the reasons why I do not care one bit what kind of music a musician wants to make. I do not hold music to some high standard. Music is music and so subjective that people can make any noise musical. When one goes out into the world, everything around them can become music, people can get pleasure just from listening to the sounds and noises of the traffic, wind, and life in general. The problem arises when society dictates what constitutes a certain thing, in this case music.
If Steven wants to make pop sounding songs like Permanation, if he wants to utilize Elton John for a purpose, why not. I am sure Elton John did more than just contribute his shopping list to The Future Bites.
For the mental health of the musician, we fans should not be upset and should understand that we the fans are only along for the journey, we are along for the ride with the musician. We are riding the musical wave of the emotions, feeling, messages the artist wants to present. The same way we look at a painting and can see the emotion, feelings, and messages the artist is presenting in the painting.