Steven Wilson v. To. The. Bone.

[KevShmev]

New single is up

https://youtu.be/G_yW8ornhK4

Heard that yesterday.  Didn't do much for me at first, but I liked it a lot on the second listen.  Love the atmosphere and vibe.

[pfillion]

New review: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/82746/Steven-Wilson-The-Future-Bites/

[faizoff]

Just looking at all the videos and audio that has been released so far, I didn't realize how much was already officially out. 5 tracks from the 9 track album of which the 1st is just an intro, so really only 3 tracks are not out.

Then SW has a B-Side collection of 4 tracks released as a digital EP and on top of that, there are the Future Bites sessions with the Taylor Swift cover and other SW/PT tracks. Missed out on so many of these. Will have to catch up on them all, was debating on the deluxe edition but seems way too steep for 2 extra CDs, don't care about the rest in the package.

[Fritzinger]

I might be bursting into this discussion but I had the please of writing a review for The Future Bites and I thought I'd share it with you guys 

http://www.loudhailermagazine.com/album-reviews/the-future-bites-by-steven-wilson/

That is very well-written and knowledgeable review. Good read, thank you.

Thank you very much 

[faizoff]

I might be bursting into this discussion but I had the please of writing a review for The Future Bites and I thought I'd share it with you guys 

http://www.loudhailermagazine.com/album-reviews/the-future-bites-by-steven-wilson/

That is very well-written and knowledgeable review. Good read, thank you.

Thank you very much 

That was indeed an excellent review and am really looking forward to the album even without having heard a second of it.

[twosuitsluke]

Count of Unease was probably the best track on the new album.

[Zydar]

I'm on my first listen now, and so far I really enjoy it. My instant favourites are 12 Things I Forgot and Man Of The People.

I haven't listened to a second of any of the singles before, so I'm going in blind.

[twosuitsluke]

I'm on my first listen now, and so far I really enjoy it. My instant favourites are 12 Things I Forgot and Man Of The People.

I haven't listened to a second of any of the singles before, so I'm going in blind.

I know I'd listened to all the singles but it seems like ages ago! I remember being underwhelmed by Personal Shopper but that's about it.

[IDontNotDoThings]

I can't say I'm extremely hyped over for the songs that weren't already released as singles, but I do like how they put the singles into context, & for the most part it flows quite nicely. I say "for the most part" because Follower feels really weird as track 8/9 when it seems more suited to be around the middle, but oh well.

The only other gripe I have with the album is that it feels too short. I don't mind short albums but I feel like this one has such an elaborate concept that the brevity doesn't really fit. I'll be watching out for the bonus tracks to surface online, so I hope they'll be fleshed out enough to give the album a bit more weight.

Overall though, this was much better than I was expecting. The album's flow wasn't the confused mishmash of styles that I feared it'd be after hearing the singles, & I don't think there's a single song I dislike here.

Edit: Oh, & my favourites are King Ghost & 12 Things I Forgot.

[Mladen]

I'm halfway through. It wasn't sure about King ghost, but I'm enjoying everything else up to and including Eminent sleaze.

[faizoff]

Amazon shipped the bluray already and should be getting tomorrow. Listening on Youtube Music. wow this is really different. Going to have to wrap my head around this one. Definitely going to need a few listens and really like what I'm hearing.

Still can't believe how many singles were released prior to album date.

[Fritzinger]

I can't say I'm extremely hyped over for the songs that weren't already released as singles, but I do like how they put the singles into context, & for the most part it flows quite nicely. I say "for the most part" because Follower feels really weird as track 8/9 when it seems more suited to be around the middle, but oh well.

The only other gripe I have with the album is that it feels too short. I don't mind short albums but I feel like this one has such an elaborate concept that the brevity doesn't really fit. I'll be watching out for the bonus tracks to surface online, so I hope they'll be fleshed out enough to give the album a bit more weight.

Overall though, this was much better than I was expecting. The album's flow wasn't the confused mishmash of styles that I feared it'd be after hearing the singles, & I don't think there's a single song I dislike here.

Edit: Oh, & my favourites are King Ghost & 12 Things I Forgot.

Interesting, the brevity is part of the concept if I understood Steven correctly, and I think it's actually one of the album's best features that it's only 1LP long!

[RoeDent]

Interesting, the brevity is part of the concept if I understood Steven correctly, and I think it's actually one of the album's best features that it's only 1LP long!

Yes, a commentary on short attention spans and our urge to move on to the next piece of media quickly. That said, the inclusion of Count of Unease pushed the album above the magic 40-minute mark, putting this at Misplaced Childhood and Dark Side of the Moon level, length-wise.

Intriguing to note that Anyone But Me, the track that Count of Unease replaced from the originally-announced tracklist, does not appear anywhere on any of the deluxe editions, as far as I can see.

[Skeever]

Upon first listen - it's alright. Some cool sounds and textures. Not sure the songs are something I really dig yet.

[Nekov]

First listen in and I like it. There is an interesting mix of new stuff and just classic Steven. I'm going on a car trip next week and I'll sure blast this several times while traversing shifting landscapes. It should be a nice ride.

[devieira73]

Just for a perspective, I must say that I'm a SW fan of his work from Porcupine Tree (from Lightbulb to Incident) and his solo career (from Drowning to To the Bone)..
Now about TFB... although SW is referring to this album to be situaded more in the "now", my perception is that it's really grounded in the 80's art pop sound, with a lot of 80's and 90's keyboard sounds. He can run, but he's essentaially a nostalgic artist.
It's a good album, specially from King Ghost to Follower (I love this one, it has a cool guitar solo and, in some places, a bit reminescent of Yes's Drama, like said in a previous review here). Count of Ease is in that more melancolic SW style, which it's not my favorite side of his, but I think a lot of people will really appreciate it.
My main "problem" with the album is that it has 100% of songs that I normally apreciate if they are one or two in a "regular" prog album by SW. I get that SW wanted to do an entire album in this style partially because "why he should repeat himself if he never did this kind of album before?". Well, my simple aswer is: because he makes better prog albums IMO. 
And Eyewitness and Floral Green should be in the album, I like them more than Unself/Self.

[Fritzinger]

Just for a perspective, I must say that I'm a SW fan of his work from Porcupine Tree (from Lightbulb to Incident) and his solo career (from Drowning to To the Bone)..
Now about TFB... although SW is referring to this album to be situaded more in the "now", my perception is that it's really grounded in the 80's art pop sound, with a lot of 80's and 90's keyboard sounds. He can run, but he's essentaially a nostalgic artist.
It's a good album, specially from King Ghost to Follower (I love this one, it has a cool guitar solo and, in some places, a bit reminescent of Yes's Drama, like said in a previous review here). Count of Ease is in that more melancolic SW style, which it's not my favorite side of his, but I think a lot of people will really appreciate it.
My main "problem" with the album is that it has 100% of songs that I normally apreciate if they are one or two in a "regular" prog album by SW. I get that SW wanted to do an entire album in this style partially because "why he should repeat himself if he never did this kind of album before?". Well, my simple aswer is: because he makes better prog albums IMO.
And Eyewitness and Floral Green should be in the album, I like them more than Unself/Self.

I'm glad I'm not the only hearing some Tempus Fugit in Follower!
I think In Floral Green is gorgeous, but it' "only" a cover and originally by John Mitchell's Lonely Robot. In my opinion, it would have fit perfectly on To The Bone, but it would be misplaced on The Future Bites.

[devieira73]

I didn't know that about Floral Green. I didn't hear the original to compare, but the SW's version is really nice! Yes, it has a more traditional arrangement, I see what you mean.
By the way, you did a great review of the album, congratulations!

[faizoff]

On first impression I like it. There are some great tunes buried in there. Obviously not very guitar heavy and I'm perfectly fine by that. It does remind me of 70s/80s pop, intentionally or not I think of ABBA and Boney M to an extent.

12 Things I forgot might be the most straightforward pop/rock track on it. Good album, will have to check out the B-sides next.

[Zydar]

12 Things I forgot might be the most straightforward pop/rock track on it.

I guess that's why I like it so much

I thought the entire album would sound like Eminent Sleaze (have that very modern production and instrumentation, lots of keyboards etc), but there are plenty of guitars here which I really like.

[faizoff]

Oh the guitars there for sure, but they are more layered in that Rush 80s kind of way. Not front and center as previous albums. I really like the Floydian-Voyage 34 electronic guitar texture used on Eminent Sleaze. Can't wait to hear that on Blu-ray, the atmosphere in surround will be a treat.

[Peter Mc]

I could easily change my mind in the hours and days to come but I’m not in love with it so far.  It’s not terrible or anything but nothing really grabbing me yet either.  I enjoy Eyewitness more than anything on here.  Not listened to the bonus disc yet and there’s also a hidden disc in the back of the book in the Deluxe set which says on it that it’s blank but don’t know if that is true.

I suspect that this SW album will not end up being my type of thing as it’s not what I throw on a SW album for but we’ll see.

[faizoff]

Hidden disc, now I'm intrigued!

[Fritzinger]

Hidden disc, now I'm intrigued!

Nah, I bet it's just a blank tape.

sorry

[Fritzinger]

I didn't know that about Floral Green. I didn't hear the original to compare, but the SW's version is really nice! Yes, it has a more traditional arrangement, I see what you mean.
By the way, you did a great review of the album, congratulations!

Thank you

I like Wilson's version of In Floral Green better than the original, I think the mix is better and I'm not such a big fan of Mitchell's voice (although it works fine in Frost*, in combination with other singers).

[Buddyhunter1]

I could easily change my mind in the hours and days to come but I’m not in love with it so far.  It’s not terrible or anything but nothing really grabbing me yet either.

Pretty much this. The quality's just not consistent enough IMO, King Ghost and 12 Things I Forgot are my favorites at the moment and even those aren't super standout. Personal Shopper also just hogs so much of the album and it's not very good. Also count me in as one of the people wondering why the hell Eyewitness isn't on the album proper.

[faizoff]

Hidden disc, now I'm intrigued!

Nah, I bet it's just a blank tape.

sorry

LOL!

[nobloodyname]

Interesting, the brevity is part of the concept if I understood Steven correctly, and I think it's actually one of the album's best features that it's only 1LP long!

Yes, a commentary on short attention spans and our urge to move on to the next piece of media quickly. That said, the inclusion of Count of Unease pushed the album above the magic 40-minute mark, putting this at Misplaced Childhood and Dark Side of the Moon level, length-wise.

Intriguing to note that Anyone But Me, the track that Count of Unease replaced from the originally-announced tracklist, does not appear anywhere on any of the deluxe editions, as far as I can see.

It's on the cassette tape included in the LIMITED EDITION DELUXE BOX SET.

[Peter Mc]

@faizoff

It’s literally a cd in a little paper pocket which says something like “this is a deliberately blank cd” on the disk.  That may be exactly what it is, I haven’t had a chance to try it yet as am working but would be a little bit weird if there is actually nothing on it.

[nobloodyname]

Hidden disc, now I'm intrigued!

From a quick whizz-through, there appears to be a bit of sound somewhere around the 40-minute mark of 58 minutes in total.

[Ben_Jamin]

@faizoff

It’s literally a cd in a little paper pocket which says something like “this is a deliberately blank cd” on the disk.  That may be exactly what it is, I haven’t had a chance to try it yet as am working but would be a little bit weird if there is actually nothing on it.

That would fit perfectly with the concept if it was actually a blank cd. Because then, you bought a blank cd 

[Fritzinger]

@faizoff

It’s literally a cd in a little paper pocket which says something like “this is a deliberately blank cd” on the disk.  That may be exactly what it is, I haven’t had a chance to try it yet as am working but would be a little bit weird if there is actually nothing on it.

That would fit perfectly with the concept if it was actually a blank cd. Because then, you bought a blank cd 

Or maybe he bought an extended mix of SW's cover version of John Cage's 4'33?

Seriously though, what a complete waste of resources if that's true 

[Ben_Jamin]

@faizoff

It’s literally a cd in a little paper pocket which says something like “this is a deliberately blank cd” on the disk.  That may be exactly what it is, I haven’t had a chance to try it yet as am working but would be a little bit weird if there is actually nothing on it.

That would fit perfectly with the concept if it was actually a blank cd. Because then, you bought a blank cd 

Or maybe he bought an extended mix of SW's cover version of John Cage's 4'33?

Seriously though, what a complete waste of resourcesif that's true 

Also, part of the concept. 

[Pettor]

Maybe a bit to 80s sounding for me and in the end nothing that triggers that "wow". It's good background music for me with some song that will be nice in a playlist.

Also get the feeling that this can be a misfit album. It's not what Wilson does best imo. Surely a lot of fans won't be convinced by the new style, and as far as mainstream goes this feels done already and isn't competing with the best of what's out there, something he did do in the prog sphere. Could be 100% wrong however 😁

Also will add that his singing never been a favorite for me but neither too much of a problem. Sometimes even impressive, mostly live actually. But here it's many times a problem for me. I am happy he mixes up the production with other singers however even if Elton John should have been singing, not talking.

But fun that he gets to do what he love!

[pfillion]

Ok I tried to listen to the new album, but I can't stand this type of music.  I'm very disappointed, but at the same time I know that Steven is not into guitars and prog-rock music anymore.