Steven Wilson v. To. The. Bone.

[KevShmev]

Leave out comparisons to Gilmour (who has almost no peers when it comes to soloing).  Just his solos on their merit alone, not on him vs. anybody, especially since your comment was that he was a terrible guitarist, which is the point we were addressing, not how he compares to anyone else.

Dark Matter
Waiting
Prodigal
Time Flies
Lips of Ashes
Always Never
The Sound of Muzak
Shesmovedon
Lightbulb Sun
The Moon Touches Your Shoulder
Stranger by the Minute
Russia on Ice

Shall I go on?

[Onno]

Agreed. Especially Dark Matter has such an incredible solo, I love it.

[KevShmev]

TWO great solos, actually!  The one between the first chorus and second verse is also stellar.

[SystematicThought]

You forgot the Half Light solo. Such a beautiful solo. It could go on for a long time and I would never tire of it

[Serah Farron]

I'd personally skip the bass communion, continuum, and IEM albums unless you're into ambient/drone/experimental stuff. I'd recommend just one project at a time - they're all varied and you won't get bored. Finish with his solo stuff and dive into Porcupine Tree. Then I'd suggest Blackfield -> No-Man -> Storm Corrosion -> Bass Communion/Continuum -> IEM. Have fun

Ah, thanks Sacul! Yeah, it's still going to take a long while to get used to the drone stuff so yeah, I'll follow your advice. I did start with Insurgentes, so it would make sense to finish his solo album. Just downloaded Grace for Drowning and am ready to be blown away. Thanks for your suggestion!

<3

That is a great list Serah. I'm a fan of ambient stuff so I'll have to check out some of his other work.

Thanks Reap!
You should check it out. Just listened partly to Drugged and it was awesome!

[PixelDream]

I love me some SW guitar solos. It's a combination of a good lead guitar tone with a knack for interesting or emotionally moving melody. As much as I liked Guthrie on his new albums - and he did play some solos occasionly - I missed the signature SW lead guitar style. Good to hear he's letting those return on his upcoming record.

[Schurftkut]

but what if he got David Gilmour to do the solo's? The guy attended his concert, which was mentioned, so why not get the real deal for his next album?

[seasonsinthesky]

Just listened partly to Drugged and it was awesome!

The Drugged suite is the best non-PT/SW thing SW ever made. It was also used as the skeleton for the No-Man title track on Together We're Stranger. Just beautiful stuff.

Other notable Bass Communion stuff that's easy/cool to get into is Atmospherics (all short pieces, includes that 'barking' synth from the intro of ".3" on In Absentia) and "43553E99.01" from BCIII (the hammered dulcimer piece that solos on the "Lips of Ashes" intro). I think having context from other SW work lets BC shine a little brighter than it does on its own if you're unfamiliar.

[?]

I love me some SW guitar solos. It's a combination of a good lead guitar tone with a knack for interesting or emotionally moving melody. As much as I liked Guthrie on his new albums - and he did play some solos occasionly - I missed the signature SW lead guitar style. Good to hear he's letting those return on his upcoming record.

This.

Besides all the aforementioned SW guitar solos (Dark Matter, Lips of Ashes and The Sound of Muzak are my favorites), I Drive the Hearse, I Find That I'm Not There and Way Out of Here are great too.

[RoeDent]

Radioactive Toy has a great solo c. 7 minutes in.

And it might be cool to have someone like Gilmour guest solo on a track, but Steven Wilson wants Steven Wilson on guitar for this album.

[SoundscapeMN]

there's actually a new 7" single for Radioactive Toy coming out soon on KScope.

[rumborak]

I like SW's guitar playing, but I can't deny that Marco's and Guthrie's additions to the last two albums gave them a sparkle that I would like to see continued.

[seasonsinthesky]

there's actually a new 7" single for Radioactive Toy coming out soon on KScope.

There's a what? Must be the short version/s.

[SoundscapeMN]

there's actually a new 7" single for Radioactive Toy coming out soon on KScope.

There's a what? Must be the short version/s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6FwpT1XHHw

[seasonsinthesky]

there's actually a new 7" single for Radioactive Toy coming out soon on KScope.

There's a what? Must be the short version/s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6FwpT1XHHw

I think you confused the Pineapple Thief and Porcupine Tree entries in this podcast.

The Pineapple Thief song with Anchoress is coming out on a 7".

"Radioactive Toy" is the Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape version, played in promotion of the Delerium Years vinyl box.

Once he moves on to the Porcupine Tree section, Billy Reeves does not say the words "seven inch" anywhere.

(Not that I blame you, when TPT and PT are so bloody close to the eye!)

[Kwyjibo]

Guthrie had some great playing on the SW solo discs but I couldn't really connect with them. Guthrie does everything right, the Drive Home solo is almost out of a book that teaches the perfect solo, BUT it doesn't reach me on an emotional level.

SW solos can do that, and in addition he has some really out there solos, like the one in Strip The Soul, the atonal thing, which I find really great.

[pcs90]

I like SW's guitar playing, but I can't deny that Marco's and Guthrie's additions to the last two albums gave them a sparkle that I would like to see continued.

I agree 100% with this. GG's solos were outstanding.

[pfillion]

New interview with Steven

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbi1PpfiH4Q

[ReaperKK]

Interesting interview.

I wonder why he hates the whole playlist culture or seems to think negatively about people listening to music while doing other things.

[The Letter M]

Interesting interview.

I wonder why he hates the whole playlist culture or seems to think negatively about people listening to music while doing other things.

His whole anti-MP3/anti-streaming mentality goes against the idea of DIY-playlists of music. He holds the sanctity of the "album" very high, and believes music that is crafted as an art form, meant for active listening, can only be appreciated in the order the songs were originally presented in by the artist.

In some ways, I do agree with him, and in others, he comes off as very elitist in his views, but this is nothing new at all.

-Marc.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Yeah, Steven is an album guy, and playlists are the most anti-album thing that has ever happened to music. I understand playlists because 95% of music out there is song-oriented and not album-oriented, but I agree that it kinda takes a bit away from the album art form that most of us (at least members of the forum) know and love.

[TioJorge]

See, that's intriguing to me especially since just a few days ago I gained him a new devout fan who has literally never listened to an entire album of his, she only listens to her favorites and has her own little SW/PT playlist. But she's still super into him and wants to go to a concert and buy more albums, memorabilia, the whole 9 yards.

It's completely out of her usual favorite genre and is a breath of fresh air for her but I wonder if SW, knowing this, would really just kind of shrug her off and think poorly of her just because of that?

Hm.

[Kwyjibo]

This whole playlist vs. album discussion makes it always sound like you can't have both.

There are times when I prefer the whole album and there are times when I want to listen to some of my custom playlists. And guess what, it's cool do to what I want. 

[Zantera]

Steven is just an oldschool guy in that way. For some bands/artists, the singles is a way to sell/promote the album, and for others the album is a way to sell/promote their singles. Steven is one of those guys banking on the album experience as a whole, but I agree that you can have both. Personally I listen to albums 95% of the time I listen to music, but there's nothing wrong with a mixed list either. People were making mix tapes back in the day as well to get mixed flavor.

[twosuitsluke]

This whole playlist vs. album discussion makes it always sound like you can't have both.

There are times when I prefer the whole album and there are times when I want to listen to some of my custom playlists. And guess what, it's cool do to what I want. 

Exactly, it's not like you have to exclusively do either. I mainly listen to albums as a whole but I also just love listening to my favourite songs on random. I find that side of SW to be quite off putting.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

This whole playlist vs. album discussion makes it always sound like you can't have both.

There are times when I prefer the whole album and there are times when I want to listen to some of my custom playlists. And guess what, it's cool do to what I want. 

Of course you can have both (I have my Spotify playlists as well), but they have changed the way people listen to music.

I mean, playlists as a concept have been around ever since custom tapes were made by peeps out there, but there are more people nowadays that exclusively listen to playlists without ever putting attention to the albums from which the songs are from.

[Kotowboy]

I put music on my phone when I'm showering.

I buy vinyl and cd but I guess I'm not a proper fan of music

Unless I listen to an album from start to finish every time ...

[ReaperKK]

SW would be disgusted with you Kotow

[twosuitsluke]

I put music on my phone when I'm showering.

SW would be disgusted with you Kotow

He would be, wasting time showering!! What sort of music fan are you? Anyone who is serious is certainly not clean! 

[Mosh]

I think it is fairly obvious that he is talking about the general trend of music consumption. Not necessarily that the mere act of playlisting is a bad thing.

[KevShmev]

I think it is fairly obvious that he is talking about the general trend of music consumption. Not necessarily that the mere act of playlisting is a bad thing.

Agreed.  And while I get his frustration, the way things are now make it easier for fans to get more good music and far less likely to have to buy bad music.  Think of albums back in the 70s that had a classic or two and then a lot of crap on it, and fans had to buy the whole album to get that good song or two.  Not anymore. 

[Mosh]

Yea there are pros and cons of the current state of music. Overall I think it is a positive thing because people can listen to music pretty much any way they want now. Those of us who still appreciate the full album experience are able to have that. I doubt anyone who doesn't consume music that way is going to be listening to SW's music anyway (generally speaking, I know there was an exception to this mentioned here already).

[Kotowboy]

Obviously when i buy a new album I listen to it from start to finish several times over.

If i'm just going out for a quick walk then i'll shuffle my music.

[Phoenix87x]

I listen must WAY more music now that I ever did back in the day and that is all that matters as far as I'm concerned.

Cut back to 92 where here I am taking a cassette out and putting it in the stereo. Fast forwarding, then rewinding trying to find a song I like. Having to flip the thing over and then worst of all, having to just sit there. Because of that whole process, I might listen to a song here or there from time to time. And on top of that, starting out with cassettes, there was no beautiful album art and liner notes to fawn and gush over. It was all printed and typed out on that tiny ass paper and it was a pain the ass getting it folded back up and in the casette case, so most the time I never even looked at it.

now cut to today, where my iphone is playing music all day long. Whether its during the commute, getting stuff done at work, cleaning up around the house, making dinner, you name it.

So the former vinyl age he's talking about, I never experienced it. If it was that sweet, then more power to him. But for me I love the new technology. It has made listening to music a million times easier.

[SystematicThought]

We've got a new clip. This time featuring harmonica.

Kinda remind me of Time Flies for some reason

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