Steven Wilson v. To. The. Bone.

[Zantera]

I think that's just how SW has always been in his "bands", the other members are disposable and it's 90% about him. Whether or not you like it, that's pretty much how it was for him in PT and how it is in the solo project.

[RoeDent]

And I'm sure that SW wants to freshen things up from time to time, to stop things from getting too stale creatively. And the music is so brilliant that I am perfectly fine with this.

[Nick]

Whining or not, it's still childish and unprofessional. Take up with Wilson, don't tell him to "shove it" on social media to thousands of people.

Bingo.

And then there is this:

Steven's response: https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/We-are-all-in-it-together/article16729642.ece

Both Hand. Cannot. Erase. and The Raven That Refused To Sing were certified Gold in Europe. There was, however, some initial discontent by drummer Marco Minnemann and guitarist Guthrie Govan about not being notified or given gold discs that were given out to the band?

I didn’t know about that. I haven’t spoken to Marco in over a year now. The gold discs were awarded by the record company to the artists. I mean I don’t award the gold discs. They gave them to other members of the band, I don’t know which but it’s first I’ve heard of any issues, to be honest.

For me, the gold disc is nice, but it is not that important to me (laughs). The most important thing is the work and the idea that it is reaching people is nice. Certainly this album seems to have reached more people than any of my previous records. It is great to be sitting here, 20 years into my career and saying, I’ve just had my most successful record.

Btw, in that same interview SW also says he's only in touch with the rest of PT on business matters. I hope it's not because of any bad blood.

Meaning Marco didn't actually call Steven to ask him about it. If he did I'm sure Steven would have said something to the effect of, "I wasn't asked who the awards went to or who is notified, and didn't think much of it". Or at least said something to diffuse the situation. I love Marco, but sometimes he can be an ass.

[rumborak]

Marco needs a sticker on his computer screen saying "first call mom, then write tweet".

[RoeDent]

In better news, Craig Blundell tweeted earlier:

Delight to finally say I'm Tracking drums for @StevenWilsonHQ fifth full studio album

This is happening, people! SW5 is go go go! Perhaps a summer 2017 release, maybe even as soon as May?

[Nick]

In better news, Craig Blundell tweeted earlier:

Delight to finally say I'm Tracking drums for @StevenWilsonHQ fifth full studio album

This is happening, people! SW5 is go go go! Perhaps a summer 2017 release, maybe even as soon as May?

No, better new would have been Marco coming to his senses, apologizing, and getting on this album. That said, while I obviously prefer Marco, I am excited to see what Craig brings to the album.

[Zantera]

It's still mindboggling to me how Marco is the bad guy for calling out Steven Wilson's awful treatment of his band members. Sure, posting about it on the internet may not be the best solution, but it's not THAT uncommon for people to react like that in an emotional state. So impulsive and a bit rash? Definitely. Him being the bad guy in the scenario? Nah that feels almost like calling out the victim of a bully for complaining about being bullied.

Just my five cents, I know Steven Wilson is considered a deity around here and we should tread lightly of ever saying something remotely negative, but his actions towards both the PT members and the newer members have really made me sour on him. I know most musicians are assholes, so SW is far from being one of the worst. In fact maybe it's even refreshing to see SW show "human" signs.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Just my five cents, I know Steven Wilson is considered a deity around here and we should tread lightly of ever saying something remotely negative,

But literally nobody acts like this. People have no problem expressing disagreements with stuff Steven does, it's just in this case he came off better.

I mean, I don't care about the gold disc thing one way or another, and it kinda sounds like Steven didn't either, so he didn't make a big deal out of a thing that wasn't a big deal, but maybe Marco's grievance was legitimate. What people are taking issue with was the way he dealt with the grievance, where he came across quite poorly and kind of soured some people's opinion of him.

You can disagree, obviously, but building this 'everyone thinks SW is god' strawman just so you can tear it down comes across as rather condescending.

[seasonsinthesky]

calling out Steven Wilson's awful treatment of his band members

C'mon dude, really? It has nothing to do with SW. He doesn't pick who receives the gold discs. It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with him. If you even read what he said, it's pretty clear he doesn't give a shit whatsoever about receiving it.

And I'm very far from the "SW is god" club – trust me, I very much understand what you mean about people like that, and they're very vocal – so this is a very sober view of the debacle. Minneman is a baby.

[Zantera]

Maybe SW is just bad at communicating? This "problem" may not be that big of a deal but it strikes me as weird when you go a year without speaking to someone who has been in your band and don't recognize there's bad blood there. Either SW and Marco did speak behind the scenes and had a falling out, or SW just comes off as very socially awkward if he is completely oblivious to the situation. Not to defend Marco entirely, I think his reaction was a bit strong (but I understand the reasons why), but it still strikes me as weird that SW is either lying, not caring or not able to pick up on someone who he has been working with being frustrated with him.

Outside of this specific thing, you also have his treatment of the PT members post-PT disbanded which also comes off as very strange comments. Maybe he doesn't mean for it to be that way but I think Jammindude said it well with "self focused". I can see SW as someone who has very little (if any) concern for the musicians he surrounds himself with, because they're just tools for him to make the kind of music he wants to make. And there's nothing wrong with that approach if it works for him.

[KevShmev]

You can disagree, obviously, but building this 'everyone thinks SW is god' strawman just so you can tear it down comes across as rather condescending.

New to this thread? That is Zantera's shtick more often than not when it comes to SW.

  Minneman is a baby.

Yep.  Bitching about what happened on social media like he did is something a 15-year old would do.

[?]

I doubt it's bad blood, I just think the SW is a solo show now and he is interested in picking and choosing band members.

Also just because you're in a band doesn't mean you have to be best friends.

Hmm... yeah, now that I think about it, SW is definitely not the kind of guy I can imagine sending Christmas cards to his ex-bandmates, even if they didn't part on bad terms.

I mean, I don't care about the gold disc thing one way or another, and it kinda sounds like Steven didn't either, so he didn't make a big deal out of a thing that wasn't a big deal, but maybe Marco's grievance was legitimate. What people are taking issue with was the way he dealt with the grievance, where he came across quite poorly and kind of soured some people's opinion of him.

You have to remember that this isn't an isolated incident, if you think about Marco's comments around the time the DT drummer doc came out. IIRC he complained about the way he was portrayed in the audition videos or something like that, and at the end of his post he basically said "fu DT ". Again, he had a right to be angry, but the way he expressed it was pretty unprofessional. When you're doing session gigs for a living, you should be careful with how you portray yourself in the social media, because some artist may be looking for a drummer and even considering Marco for the job, but then they see all this stuff and think "nah, this guy is nothing but drama" and get someone else instead.

I'm just speculating, but I bet this gold disc incident (pun intended) was just the straw that broke the camel's back and that there's been some tension between SW and MM before. Remember when Marco posted that pic of the two of them from some award show and said he "used to" play with Steven? I think this article sums it up quite well - they've got totally different personalities, so they were bound to clash sooner or later: https://progressivemusicplanet.com/2016/12/03/steven-wilson-vs-marco-minnemann-a-study-in-personalities/

[devieira73]

l love Marco's drumming. I think recently, he, Ray Luzier (with KXM) and Bobby Jarzombek have done my favourite drum works of any albums, but also I think SW is looking for a drummer (and a band) who can make a fuller commitment with him, because I see SW is becoming a bigger band in terms of popularity. And, in this case, Craig Blundell is a great drummer, who still don't have a major band to work with, so I guess he's a perfect fit for SW band nowadays and vice-versa.

[Zantera]

I don't know if it's entirely down to commitment. Like others have said so well before me, SW likes to move on after a few albums and change things up, and it's only natural to change up the band members in the process. His issue with PT was working with the same people who had their preferences so that when he wanted to move on, those guys weren't necessarily on board. And many musicians (if not most) are somewhat genre-centric where they work within a certain space, and SW is someone who kinda goes between genres more. As much as I like the band he has been using on his last few albums, it would be refreshing with some new personalities, and if SW wants to make the next album truly different, then that's a good first step I think.

Do we know yet 100% who will play on the album?

[Nick]

 We know 100% that Craig is the drummer.

[devieira73]

For those who don't know, on the recording of My Book of Regrets is Craig that is playing and he's really great, I must say! Although I really don't know how much of this song (or if any of it) was already demoed by Marco.

[?]

Didn't SW already confirm (on the FB Q&A or in some interview) that his current live line-up will play on the record as well?

I think the bigger question is whether Kilminster will tour with him after the release of the album, considering that he'll be playing with Roger Waters next year, and I'd imagine that tour will get extended to other continents after the end of the North American run in October.

[RoeDent]

For those who don't know, on the recording of My Book of Regrets is Craig that is playing and he's really great, I must say! Although I really don't know how much of this song (or if any of it) was already demoed by Marco.

And Vermillioncore, and that is an amazing track. In fact, if I recall correctly, the only song on 4½ with Marco is Happiness III.

[KevShmev]

My Book of Regrets is great, but it's like a homage to SW's past works.  The part that comes in a little after the 2-minute mark sounds right out of Time Flies, and then the heavy riff around the 5-minute mark sounds eerily similar to one in Always Never from Up the Downstair.  There are a couple other little nods in there, too, but I can't place them offhand.

[faizoff]

Wilson posted a bunch of photos on his site today, some of them have been on his twitter feed the past few days

https://stevenwilsonhq.com/sw/recording-drums-and-bass-for-the-new-steven-wilson-album-in-london/

"Recording sessions for the new album started in London last week, with tracking of drums and bass. As you can see we’re working hard but having a lot of fun! Craig Blundell on drums, myself and Nick Beggs on bass guitar (and Nick on stick), and the amazing Paul Stacey engineering. Photographs by Lasse Hoile. More updates from the studio soon…"

[erwinrafael]

No Marco. Is Guthrie Govan still playing guitar?

[ReaperKK]

Cool pics, sad there probably won't be Guthrie.

[SoundscapeMN]

like he did for new album from The Monkees, Andy Partridge co-wrote 2 songs for the upcoming Steven Wilson album

https://twitter.com/xtcfans/status/808272517358043136

Steven Wilson starts recording his new album today,including two songs co-written with me. Do well Steven.

[faizoff]

like he did for new album from The Monkees, Andy Partridge co-wrote 2 songs for the upcoming Steven Wilson album

https://twitter.com/xtcfans/status/808272517358043136

Steven Wilson starts recording his new album today,including two songs co-written with me. Do well Steven.

Yea it was posted on the previous page a couple of weeks ago...can't wait to hear this new album.

[SoundscapeMN]

ah, well worth reminding again.

clip from "Pariah"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEFvI-Tmezo

[faizoff]

Awesome clip. Sounds great, even though I somewhat cringe at that lyrical line "I'm tired of facebook" everything else in that clip was great, Ninet sounded fantastic.

[mikeyd23]

Awesome clip. Sounds great, even though I somewhat cringe at that lyrical line "I'm tired of facebook" everything else in that clip was great, Ninet sounded fantastic.

Exactly that. It started off with the Facebook line, and I cringed...Then the rest was absolutely beautiful.

[ReaperKK]

ah, well worth reminding again.

clip from "Pariah"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEFvI-Tmezo

Yeesh not a fan of that facebook line, brings me back to his ipod line on Way Out Of here

I will say this, I've never liked Ninet in any of SW's work until that clip. She sounded great.

[Ben_Jamin]

I don't mind the Facebook line at all. It's a nice view into modern society.

[?]

I don't think the FB line is any worse than all the product references on Blank Planet, though it does sound weird in such a beautiful song.

[BlackInk]

Really nice clip. Yeah facebook sounded a bit weird, but I'm okay with it. Rest was great.

[Onno]

That is awesome.

[Zantera]

Lyrically SW has never been great IMO (lyrics are usually good with the occasional great and occasional terrible lines), the music sounds alright but it's just a 90 second teaser or w/e. It does nothing to make me more or less excited about the album, but it sounds less proggy so it makes me hopeful that he might go outside the prog-box a bit more on this album.

[aprilethereal]

Lyrically SW has never been great IMO (lyrics are usually good with the occasional great and occasional terrible lines), the music sounds alright but it's just a 90 second teaser or w/e. It does nothing to make me more or less excited about the album, but it sounds less proggy so it makes me hopeful that he might go outside the prog-box a bit more on this album.

This. Although he already stepped outside of it a little bit on  HKE imo.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Donald Trump needs a sticker on his computer screen saying "first call mom, then write tweet".

So true

On that subject matter, it was really a bummer that Marco reacted that way. I thought his reaction was somewhat uncalled for with the DT audition videos, but although I kinda understood his approach those videos probably gave him more exposure than everything he did previously in his musical career; so they probably weren't as bad as he made them look like.

With the Steven Wilson thing, that was totally wrong. As Nick said, he seems like a great guy all-around but he needs to think twice before posting on social media. I find it nice that Steven didn't hear about that previously, which kinda tells me he isn't all consumed in the social media world (like our very own and dear Mr. Portnoy, for example). That's healthy and better for the long run for him.