Neal Morse VS. Roine Stolt VS. Steven Wilson - Which two do YOU like?

[kirksnosehair]

Wilson by a nose hair.  I love all three though.

I am now a unit of measure 

[King Postwhore]

Wilson by a nose hair.  I love all three though.

I am now a unit of measure 

Wilson by a Kirk   Even more confusing.

[YtseJamittaja]

Neal and Steven, I don't listen to Flower Kings or Transatlantic.

[wasteland]

I really love Neal, and am very appreciative of Roine's work in Transatlantic, while I never truly got into his other works (TFK mostly, I never listened to Kaipa).

As for Steven Wilson... it's complicated. I really really love much of his early production (I go through Staircase Infinities or The Sky Moves Sideways almost daily), and some of his work in PT in the 00s (Blank Planet, parts of Deadwing and In Absentia). I recently bought GFD and was not really satisfied with it. It just felt too pretentious, too much trying to be like "Look at me, I'm being minimalistic, I'm sooo experimental, I'm breaking new grounds here! By the way, did you notice that reference to the classic 70s prog age 1 minute ago? Or was it 3? Maybe both." (don't take this as an educated critique, it's just the feeling I get over and over again listening to GFD, and that happened more than once). That being said, there some parts of the album I thoroughly enjoy (mostly the first 15 minutes), but I can't really say that at the present state of things, I like SW more than Neal Morse or Roine. But due to his past works, he earns the second position.

[skydivingninja]

Just Steven Wilson.  Don't care for Neal Morse outside some Spock's Beard, Flying Colors, and some Transatlantic, don't care for Roine Stolt outside of some Transatlantic, do care for Steven Wilson and want to caress his face and sing him lullabies.

So yeah, just voted for Steven.  Why are these three artists together in the first place?  I'd say Mike Portnoy or JP would be a better choice than Stolt. 

[KevShmev]

Just Steven Wilson.  Don't care for Neal Morse outside some Spock's Beard, Flying Colors, and some Transatlantic, don't care for Roine Stolt outside of some Transatlantic, do care for Steven Wilson and want to caress his face and sing him lullabies.

So yeah, just voted for Steven. Why are these three artists together in the first place? I'd say Mike Portnoy or JP would be a better choice than Stolt.

Because they are all dominant songwriters.  Portnoy is not, and while JP is DT's most prolific songwriter over the years, he has never dominated the writing in a band the way Wilson, Stolt and Morse all have.  Plus, there's the "most would vote for the DT guys, because this is a DT site" factor.

[Lucidity]

Roine and Neal. Interesting thread, by the way.

[The Letter M]

Just as a comparison of their near constant and consistent amount of releases, here's what each of them released by year, over the last twenty years, starting with this year and going backwards-

2012:
NM - Flying Colors (debut album), Cover2Cover, Momentum, A Proggy Christmas
RS - Banks Of Eden (The Flower Kings)
SW - Love And Endings (No-Man), Storm Corrosion (debut album), Catalog/Preserve/Amass, Get All You Deserve

2011:
NM - Testimony 2, One More Night In NYC (YMC), Testimony 2 Live In LA, More Never Is Enough (Transatlantic)
RS - The Black Forest (Agents Of Mercy), Tour Kaputt (The Flower Kings)
SW - Welcome To My DNA (Blackfield), Cenotaph (Bass Communion), Grace For Drowning

2010:
NM - Whirld Tour 2010: Live In London (Transatlantic)
RS - Dramarama (Agents Of Mercy), Whirld Tour 2010: Live In London (Transatlantic)
SW - Anesthetize (Porcupine Tree), Atlanta (Porcupine Tree)

2009:
NM - The Whirlwind (Transatlantic), So Many Roads: Live In Europe
RS - The Whirlwind (Transatlantic), The Fading Ghosts Of Twilight (Agents Of Mercy), Kilimanjaro Secret Brew (3rd World Electric),
SW - The Incident (Porcupine Tree), Ilosaarirock (Porcupine Tree), Mixtaped (No-Man), Chiaroscuro (Bass Communion)

2008:
NM - Lifeline, Sola Scriptura & Beyond
RS - Carpe Diem - Live In USA 2006 (The Flower Kings)
SW - Insurgentes, Schoolyard Ghosts (No-Man), We Lost The Skyline (Porcupine Tree), Pacific Codex (Bass Communion), Molotov and Haze (Bass Communion)

2007:
NM - Sola Scriptura, ? Live, Sing It High: A Collection Of Singles
RS - The Sum Of No Evil (The Flower Kings), The Road Back Home (The Flower Kings)
SW - Blackfield II (Blackfield), Fear Of A Blank Planet (Porcupine Tree), Nil Recurring (Porcupine Tree)

2006:
NM - Cover To Cover
RS - Paradox Hotel, Instant Delivery (The Flower Kings)
SW - Rockpalast (Porcupine Tree), Futile EP (Porcupine Tree), Arriving Somewhere... (Porcupine Tree), Loss (Bass Communion)

2005:
NM - ?
RS - Wallstreet Voodoo, Pyramids And Stars (The Tangent), Mindrevolutions (Kaipa), Brimstoned In Europe (Circus Brimstone)
SW - Deadwing, Indicates Void (Bass Communion)

2004:
NM - One, Testimony Live
RS - Adam & Eve (The Flower Kings), BetchaWannaDanceStoopid!!! (The Flower Kings), The World That We Drive Through (The Tangent)
SW - Warszawa (Porcupine Tree), Ghosts on Magnetic Tape (Bass Communion), Blackfield (debut album)

2003:
NM - Testimony, Live In Europe (Transatlantic), , One Night In NYC (YMC)
RS - Keyholder (Kaipa), Meet The Flower Kings (The Flower Kings), The Music That Died Alone (The Tangent), Live In Europe (Transatlantic)
SW - Together We're Stranger (No-Man)

2002:
NM - Snow (Spock's Beard), It's Not Too Late
RS - Notes From The Past (Kaipa), Unfold The Future (The Flower Kings), Live In New York - Official Bootleg (The Flower Kings)
SW - In Absentia (Porcupine Tree)

2001:
NM - Live In America (Transatlantic), Bridge Across Forever (Transatlantic),
RS - Live In America (Transatlantic), Bridge Across Forever (Transatlantic), The Rainmaker (The Flower Kings)
SW - Recordings (Porcupine Tree), Returning Jesus (No-Man), III (Bass Communion)

2000:
NM - SMPT:e (Transatlantic), V (Spock's Beard), Don't Try This At Home (Spock's Beard), There And Here (Spock's Beard), Nick And Neal: Two Separate Gorillas
RS - SMPT:e (Transatlantic), Alive On Planet Earth (The Flower Kings), Space Revolver (The Flower Kings)
SW - Lightbulb Sun (Porcupine Tree), Voyage 34: The Complete Trip (Porcupine Tree)

1999:
NM - Neal Morse (solo debut), Live at the Whisky and NEARfest (Spock's Beard), Day For Night (Spock's Beard)
RS - Flower Power (The Flower Kings)
SW - Stupid Dream (Porcupine Tree), Speak (No-Man), II (Bass Communion), Atmospherics (Bass Communion)

1998:
NM - The Kindness Of Strangers (Spock's Beard)
RS - Hydrophonia, Édition Limitée Québec (The Flower Kings), Scanning The Greenhouse (The Flower Kings)
SW - I (Bass Communion), Metanoia (Porcupine Tree)

1997:
NM - From The Vault (Spock's Beard)
RS - Stardust We Are (The Flower Kings)
SW - Dry Cleaning Ray (No-Man), Coma Divine - Recorded Live in Rome (Porcupine Tree), Insignificance (Porcupine Tree)

1996:
NM - Beware Of Darkness (Spock's Beard), Official Live Bootleg/The Beard is Out There (Spock's Beard)
RS - Retropolis (The Flower Kings)
SW - Signify (Porcupine Tree), Wild Opera (No-Man)

1995:
NM - The Light (Spock's Beard)
RS - Back In The World Of Adventures (The Flower Kings)
SW - The Sky Moves Sideways (Porcupine Tree), Heaven Taste (No-Man), Flowermix (No-Man)

1994:
NM -
RS - The Flower King
SW - Flowermouth (No-Man), Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape (Porcupine Tree), Spiral Circus Live (Porcupine Tree), Staircase Infinities (Porcupine Tree), Moonloop (Porcupine Tree)

1993:
NM -
RS -
SW - Up The Downstair (Porcupine Tree), Loveblows & Lovecries - A Confession (No-Man)

As you can see, since 1995, each of them have released at least ONE album a year, whether it's a studio recording, a live recording, or even a compilation. Either way, these men are pretty busy and prolific! Looking at these, it's amazing how much stuff they've released, and this isn't including stuff they've just appeared on for some tracks or as a guest!

So my question for THIS post is - which of these years includes your favorites?! Looking above, I'd say my 3 favorite years would be 1996, 2000 and 2002 - each man's release in those years is pretty consistent and great!

-Marc

[The Letter M]

So it has been nearly 11 months since I last posted in this thread. I was wondering if anyone had any more thoughts regarding these three prolific writers!

Since then, Neal has released (or will release) a couple of live albums, from his main band with Mike and Randy, and also with Flying Colors. Roine is set to release the next TFK album next month. And Steven has been working on the Drive Home EP, helped with Blackfield IV and of course, released TRTRTS earlier this year.

Coming down the pipeline for Roine and Neal is the next TA album, due sometime early next year, and as for Steven...I'm not entirely sure what he is up to this coming year.

-Marc.

[Outcrier]

Morse and Wilson

[CharlesPL]

Neal Morse
Roine Stolt

[Lowdz]

Voted Morse.
I can't forgive Stolt for singing on Transatlantic albums (shudder).
I know Wilson is a talent but I just don't really do proper prog too often.

[Scorpion]

Still don't really care for any of these, though I might vote Wilson by the smallest bit. Still, these three are probably the most overrated guys here, along with Rush.

/controversialopinion

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Dude, Steven Wilson.

Fear Of A Blank Planet and Grace For Drowning are two of the finest albums I own.

[Rhayader]

Roine Stolt by far. I don't like Steven Wilson as a person.

[The Letter M]

It's been seven years since I last posted in this thread, but in that time, these three have been fairly busy (to varying degrees), and they're all still three of my favorite prolific musicians. For (more) fun, here's a breakdown of their major releases since 2013.


2020:
NM - The Great AdvenTour: Live In  BRNO (NMB), Cov3r To Cov3r (MPG), Live In London (FC), Transatlantic 5, Solo Album
RS - Transatlantic 5
SW - (Nothing?...)

2019:
NM - Jesus Christ: The Exorcist, The Great Adventure (NMB), Third Degree (FC)
RS - Waiting For Miracles (TFK)
SW - Love You To Bits (No-Man)

2018:
NM - TSOAD: Live In Tilburg & Morsefest 2017: Testimony Of A Dream (NMB), Life & Times, Life & Times Live
RS - Manifesto Of An Alchemist (Roine Stolt's The Flower King), The Sea Within
SW - Home Invasion

2017:
NM - Morsefest 2015, Snow Live (SB),
RS - Kaipa Da Capo Live
SW - To The Bone, Last Day Of June (Original Soundtrack), Blackfield V

2016:
NM - Alive Again & The Similitude Of A Dream (NMB)
RS - Darkapens monotoni (Kaipa Da Capo), Invention Of Knowledge (Anderson/Stolt)
SW - 4 1/2

2015:
NM - The Grand Experiment & Morsefest 2014 (NMB), Second Flight: Live At The Z7 (FC), The First Twenty Years (SB)
RS - (Nothing?...)
SW - Hand. Cannot. Erase., Transcience

2014:
NM - Songs From November, Kaleidoscope & KaLIVEoscope (TA), Second Nature (FC)
RS - Kaleidoscope & KaLIVEoscope (TA)
SW - Cover Version

2013:
NM - Live Momentum, Live In Europe (FC)
RS - Desolation Rose (TFK)
SW - The Raven That Refused To Sing, Drive Home, Blackfield IV


Did I miss anything?

Looking at this set of years, it definitely looks like Neal stepped up his output game, while Roine kind of settled down a bit with only one or two releases a year, same with Steven.

For anyone who hasn't voted in this year, who are your favorites? And for those who voted before, do you feel like your votes are still the same, seven years later? Or have you come to appreciate one of the others more since then?

-Marc.

[DTA]

This is extremely tough. Neal's output is legendary and it's all high quality stuff but he pretty much releases the same type of album over and over again. This is why I love stuff like Life & Times because it's out of the norm.

Roine's recent output has been spotty and while there's been some good moments, a lot of it just came and went for me. But historically, nothing SW or NM has written hits me like Stardust We Are, Garden of Dreams, or I Am The Sun (and countless other FK songs). In their golden-age from 1994-2000, no prog band in history could touch them imo.

Steven Wilson's obsession with branching out and doing new things is everything I want in a musician and even though I'm not overly fond of each direction, I really respect his willingness to not keep releasing the same album over and over. At 53, The Future Bites looks to be his most ambitious release yet.

[Train of Naught]

Only voted for Steven Wilson, the other two haven't released anything I liked from what I heard

[goo-goo]

Steven Wilson's obsession with branching out and doing new things is everything I want in a musician and even though I'm not overly fond of each direction, I really respect his willingness to not keep releasing the same album over and over. At 53, The Future Bites looks to be his most ambitious release yet.

This.

Roine Stolt's material sounds fresher but TFK and his solo stuff are relatively new (about 5 yrs since I discovered them).

Neal Morse doesn't do it for me anymore. There's a lot of formulaic writing for him right now which has become very predictable. In fact, I have a a couple of NMB releases for sale in my Discogs page (see link below in my signature if anyone is interested) and I'll be adding more in the next few weeks.

[HOF]

I’d rank them this way:

Morse for the SB and first two Transatlantic albums alone, though I haven’t really cared for anything he’s done since (I do like FC though).

Stolt for the early Flower Kings, Transatlantic, and his 70s band Kaipa (plus a hat tip to his time in The Tangent). His work has become repetitive, but he’s come to be one of my favorite guitarists, and he’s an underrated singer too.

Wilson, I only like a couple PT albums really. His style kind of bores me, and the more he’s tried to branch out the more boring it seems to get. He is an amazing producer/mixer though. I appreciate him more for that than as a writer or performer.

[KevShmev]

Reading back through this, I see that Neal and Roine were neck and neck for me in 2nd place back in 2012.  Fast forward and Neal is probably now neck and neck with Steven Wilson for 1st place.  I am still a big Roine fan, but SW and Neal have both lapped him several times in the last eight years.

[ProfessorPeart]

Hah, I was reading through the thread and saw a post from kirksnosehair, he who has been banned from every forum I have been a member of. Then I checked the date. 

As for the thread, yeesh. Neal and I'm not sure. I'm leaning Roine because of the consistency of his work. I have found most of it rather enjoyable. The Flower Kings, The Tangent, Kaipa, TA, his solo work. Steven has PT and 2 solo albums going for him. The thing is, I probably like PT more than most of Roine's stuff. Steven has many more misses than the other 2 for me.

I'm going Neal and Roine.

[The Letter M]

Hah, I was reading through the thread and saw a post from kirksnosehair, he who has been banned from every forum I have been a member of. Then I checked the date. 

As for the thread, yeesh. Neal and I'm not sure. I'm leaning Roine because of the consistency of his work. I have found most of it rather enjoyable. The Flower Kings, The Tangent, Kaipa, TA, his solo work. Steven has PT and 2 solo albums going for him. The thing is, I probably like PT more than most of Roine's stuff. Steven has many more misses than the other 2 for me.

I'm going Neal and Roine.

Regarding SW, you've not checked out No-Man or Blackfield? SW definitely has quite a more diverse collection of side-projects and bands to his name, more diverse than Roine and Neal. I've never even dived into Bass Communion or IEM, though both of those projects, along with Porcupine Tree, seem to be done with as he moves forward with his solo stuff.

Reading back through this, I see that Neal and Roine were neck and neck for me in 2nd place back in 2012.  Fast forward and Neal is probably now neck and neck with Steven Wilson for 1st place.  I am still a big Roine fan, but SW and Neal have both lapped him several times in the last eight years.

Roine has definitely eased up in terms of original works in the last few years, though he hasn't been completely inactive, as he's been touring with the Steve Hackett band for many years now. I wish he would put out more studio work, though, especially since, about a decade ago, he said he had so much material saved up for various things, like a symphonic project that he has spoken about several times but has never released. I'm hoping he contributed a lot to TA5, I would love to hear more of his influence in Transatlantic.

-Marc.

[HOF]

To me, almost everything SW touches comes out sounding about the same. People were up in arms about To The Bone, and I’m like “this sounds like PT or Blackfield.”

[ProfessorPeart]

I have checked out most of SW's other projects. I do have the first 2 Blackfield albums. None of that other stuff grabbed me. I simply forgot about Blackfield.

[RoeDent]

To me, almost everything SW touches comes out sounding about the same. People were up in arms about To The Bone, and I’m like “this sounds like PT or Blackfield.”

Oh no no no no no no no. You're not listening hard enough. Every solo album is vastly different. Insurgentes is noise rock. GFD is Crimsonian jazz-rock, dark as hell itself, Raven is classic prog, HCE is an ode to the great concept albums of our time, TTB is 80s sophistipop.

I have checked out most of SW's other projects. I do have the first 2 Blackfield albums. None of that other stuff grabbed me. I simply forgot about Blackfield.

I urge, nay, implore you to give Blackfield V a go. A return to the absolute classic form of what made the first two so good.

[goo-goo]

HCE is an ode to the great concept albums of our time

Which one?

[ProfessorPeart]

I urge, nay, implore you to give Blackfield V a go. A return to the absolute classic form of what made the first two so good.

I'll take a look. Big thing for me is that I cannot stand Geffen's vocals. Totally lose interest once he starts 'singing'.

[RoeDent]

HCE is an ode to the great concept albums of our time

Which one?

All of them. The very concept of concept albums itself.

[HOF]

To me, almost everything SW touches comes out sounding about the same. People were up in arms about To The Bone, and I’m like “this sounds like PT or Blackfield.”

Oh no no no no no no no. You're not listening hard enough. Every solo album is vastly different. Insurgentes is noise rock. GFD is Crimsonian jazz-rock, dark as hell itself, Raven is classic prog, HCE is an ode to the great concept albums of our time, TTB is 80s sophistipop.

I bought To The Bone on the strength of Permanating, but also because Wilson was saying how it was inspired by Talk Talk and Tears for Fears and stuff, but it just sounded like a SW album to me. I actually liked a lot of it, but I find a lot of his stuff sounds good on first listen but doesn’t have a lot of replay value for me. May have to give the other solo albums a try some time though.

[Stadler]

I do not get the attraction to Steve Wilson.  I really liked his work with Fish, and his remasters of the Crimson material are spot on, but as for his music...   no thanks.  Bo-ring.

I only know Roine from Translatlantic and the Anderson Stolt disk, and he's good, but IN MY CIRCLE he doesn't belong here (Devin does, however).   

This answer is "Neal Morse", that's it. 

[HOF]

I do not get the attraction to Steve Wilson.  I really liked his work with Fish, and his remasters of the Crimson material are spot on, but as for his music...   no thanks.  Bo-ring.

I only know Roine from Translatlantic and the Anderson Stolt disk, and he's good, but IN MY CIRCLE he doesn't belong here (Devin does, however).   

This answer is "Neal Morse", that's it.

I think all 3 of these guys are guilty of pumping out a ton of similar music, so it’s really a matter of whether you like any of that music.

But I will say the more I’ve explored the Flower Kings the more I’ve become fond of Stolt as a guitarist and writer. I think he probably contributed more to the first two TA albums than I previously realized.   At any rate, he’s someone who I think of as one of the great prog guitarists, and there are a ton of really great solos and parts throughout his body of work to be found if you don’t mind wading through a billion releases to find them.

[goo-goo]

HCE is an ode to the great concept albums of our time

Which one?

All of them. The very concept of concept albums itself.

Ah, thought you were referring to a specific album. Yes, this one along with Insurgentes would be my favorite SW solo albums. HCE could have been a Porcupine Tree album. But I agree, a great concept album. 

The PT run of albums (In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of the Blank Planet and Nil Recurring) might be one of the best in history.

[HOF]

I like King Crimson, but I listened to most of Grace For Drowning just now, and I don’t know if I can get into the right headspace to enjoy that one. Now listening to Roine’s The Flower King to counteract it!

[KevShmev]

 
I bought To The Bone on the strength of Permanating, but also because Wilson was saying how it was inspired by Talk Talk and Tears for Fears and stuff, but it just sounded like a SW album to me. I actually liked a lot of it, but I find a lot of his stuff sounds good on first listen but doesn’t have a lot of replay value for me. May have to give the other solo albums a try some time though.

Well yeah, the alleged 80's influence on To the Bone is exaggerated big time. Most of the album is not dissimilar to stuff we've heard SW do before.  Permanating and Song of I are really the only 80's-sounding tunes, and even that is a stretch as Permanating is more 70's disco/ABBA influenced.