Steven Wilson solo career thread - v. The Harmony Codex in 2023!

[Kram]

Yeah I'd be surprised if there were NO drummers at all on the album - but we shall see..

[Kwyjibo]

What if there are no drums on the record? 

[Fritzinger]

What if there are no drums on the record? 

That on the other hand I would like. I mean, no drums and no drum machines.
Have you guys heard David Crosby’s albums Lighthouse and Here If You Listen? Amazing albums without any drums.

[The Letter M]

What if there are no drums on the record? 

What if there's no rigid meter and the album is entirely in un-quantized free-meter? 

-Marc.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Yeah I'd be surprised if there were NO drummers at all on the album - but we shall see..

if there's no drummers it'll probably be as boring as the new sigur ros was 

[PMSummer]

Yeah I'd be surprised if there were NO drummers at all on the album - but we shall see..

if there's no drummers it'll probably be as boring as the new sigur ros was 

My friend Jim Bob didn't notice there was no drummer on it LOL

[Schurftkut]

Tuesday the first track will drop :-)

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Tuesday the first track will drop :-)

sauce?

[ProgMasterMind92]

hey all,

so i gotta confess something - i never really got what's so amazing about steven wilson's music. i've heard people rave about him, but it just didn't click with me. but, hey, i'm open to change my mind.

thing is, i read that he's not into apple products (see here), and i'm an iphone user, so that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. but i don't want that to cloud my judgment.

i'm willing to give his music a real shot. can you folks recommend some tracks or albums that might help me see what you all see? i'm hoping i can put aside my biases and appreciate his work for what it is.

cheers!

[TAC]

thing is, i read that he's not into apple products (see here), and i'm an iphone user, so that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. but i don't want that to cloud my judgment.

I see what you did there.

[PMSummer]

hey all,

so i gotta confess something - i never really got what's so amazing about steven wilson's music. i've heard people rave about him, but it just didn't click with me. but, hey, i'm open to change my mind.

thing is, i read that he's not into apple products (see here), and i'm an iphone user, so that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. but i don't want that to cloud my judgment.

i'm willing to give his music a real shot. can you folks recommend some tracks or albums that might help me see what you all see? i'm hoping i can put aside my biases and appreciate his work for what it is.

cheers!

I think there might be a bit of confusion about Steven Wilson and the whole iPod situation. Back in the day, Steven Wilson expressed his dislike for digital music and the way it was affecting the quality of audio and how people experience music. He made a statement about destroying iPods, but it wasn't so much about being against Apple specifically.

However, times have changed, and it seems like even Wilson himself has evolved in his perspective given that he's available on all streaming platforms now.

[Sacul]

hey all,

so i gotta confess something - i never really got what's so amazing about steven wilson's music. i've heard people rave about him, but it just didn't click with me. but, hey, i'm open to change my mind.

thing is, i read that he's not into apple products (see here), and i'm an iphone user, so that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. but i don't want that to cloud my judgment.

i'm willing to give his music a real shot. can you folks recommend some tracks or albums that might help me see what you all see? i'm hoping i can put aside my biases and appreciate his work for what it is.

cheers!

If you're into 70s prog, check out The Raven that Refused to Sing. If you like shoegaze/post-punk, Insurgentes. King Crimson-ish prog with some light electronics and avant-jazz? Grace for Drowning. Old school pop? To the Bone. Modern "prog"? Hand. Cannot. Erase.

[ProgMasterMind92]

hey all,

so i gotta confess something - i never really got what's so amazing about steven wilson's music. i've heard people rave about him, but it just didn't click with me. but, hey, i'm open to change my mind.

thing is, i read that he's not into apple products (see here), and i'm an iphone user, so that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. but i don't want that to cloud my judgment.

i'm willing to give his music a real shot. can you folks recommend some tracks or albums that might help me see what you all see? i'm hoping i can put aside my biases and appreciate his work for what it is.

cheers!

I think there might be a bit of confusion about Steven Wilson and the whole iPod situation. Back in the day, Steven Wilson expressed his dislike for digital music and the way it was affecting the quality of audio and how people experience music. He made a statement about destroying iPods, but it wasn't so much about being against Apple specifically.

However, times have changed, and it seems like even Wilson himself has evolved in his perspective given that he's available on all streaming platforms now.

thanks for clearing that up, pmsummer. i appreciate the context, and it's good to know that things have evolved over time. it's a relief he's on spotify as i couldn't afford the physical cds lately. blame it on president biden's inflation, prices are going up.

so, with that out of the way, anyone have any recommendations for where I should start with steven wilson's music? i'm eager to give it a fair chance and see if i can find that spark that so many others seem to love. let me know your favorite tracks or albums!

[Schurftkut]

progmasterminds posts are all trolls..

[ProgMasterMind92]

progmasterminds posts are all trolls..

not really a productive accusation as i came here to learn. i admit to taking the piss a little with the apple comment and i apologize that it came across as trolling as my interest is sincere. let's all try to get along.

hey all,

so i gotta confess something - i never really got what's so amazing about steven wilson's music. i've heard people rave about him, but it just didn't click with me. but, hey, i'm open to change my mind.

thing is, i read that he's not into apple products (see here), and i'm an iphone user, so that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. but i don't want that to cloud my judgment.

i'm willing to give his music a real shot. can you folks recommend some tracks or albums that might help me see what you all see? i'm hoping i can put aside my biases and appreciate his work for what it is.

cheers!

If you're into 70s prog, check out The Raven that Refused to Sing. If you like shoegaze/post-punk, Insurgentes. King Crimson-ish prog with some light electronics and avant-jazz? Grace for Drowning. Old school pop? To the Bone. Modern "prog"? Hand. Cannot. Erase.

just dove into insurgentes for the first time. wow, there's something intriguing about the way the music flows. it's different from the complex metal i'm used to, but i'm finding myself drawn in. it sounds like i should avoid to the bone but i'll be certain to try the others!

[Metro]

progmasterminds posts are all trolls..

There’s no need for this, and ProgMasterMind, there’s no need to apologize. Welcome to the forum!

I see in the other thread you’re listening to The Raven That Refused to Sing. Great choice, and I would recommend Hand Cannot Erase after that, if you like the Raven.

[jammindude]

Insurgents has its bright moments, but I don’t go back to it much.

The 1-2-3 punch of Drowning, Raven, and Hand is flawless IMO.

[Buddyhunter1]

People really underrate To The Bone and oversell how pop-focused it is. It's a really varied album, with some more pop-focused songs yes, but the best songs on it like Refuge, Detonation, and Song Of Unborn are more atmospheric and slow-building, and I think those songs are some of the best material to ever show up on Steven's solo albums. There's also some great moody cuts like Pariah and Song Of I, and some more upbeat stuff like Nowhere Now and People Who Eat Darkness. Permanating is the only clunker for me and I feel like people hyper-fixate on it compared to the rest of the album.

[Metro]

Permanating is a certified banger.

[gazinwales]

Tuesday the first track will drop :-)

sauce?

Smokey BBQ is my favourite 

[Rob801]

Can't believe no one on this forum got an invite to a listening event.

Please don't shoot me, but I filled out the questions on SW website and I actually got a response... a quick one. Problem was I could not make it to the valley on the night it was being presented on such short notice. This is a portion of the response I got.

BTW, I did NOT confirm my attendance so did not take a space from someone else.

Congratulations!
(my name, email address)

Steven Wilson and L-Acoustics invite you to an exclusive playback of his new album The Harmony Codex, mixed in L-ISA spatial audio technology and presented on an immersive 18.1.12 ultra-high resolution sound system.
 
This invite entitles you to a one entry pass, for the 7.30pm playback.
 
The event will take place on 7 August 2023 at:
 
2645 Townsgate Road #600
Westlake Village, CA 91361
United States
 
To confirm your attendance: Please email xxxx at crystalspotlight dot com (using the email you signed up with) by Friday 4 August at 11pm PDT. As spaces are limited we cannot accept replies after this date/time.

[Kram]

People really underrate To The Bone and oversell how pop-focused it is. It's a really varied album, with some more pop-focused songs yes, but the best songs on it like Refuge, Detonation, and Song Of Unborn are more atmospheric and slow-building, and I think those songs are some of the best material to ever show up on Steven's solo albums. There's also some great moody cuts like Pariah and Song Of I, and some more upbeat stuff like Nowhere Now and People Who Eat Darkness. Permanating is the only clunker for me and I feel like people hyper-fixate on it compared to the rest of the album.

Agreed! To The Bone is strong and varied and even has some “prog” in some of the tracks.  IMO The Future Bites is his only solo album that falls a little flat (it’s still decent). The other 5 solo albums (Insugentes, Grace, Raven, H.C.E. and To The Bone) are all excellent and some of my favorite albums of this century! I am VERY excited to see what The Harmony Codex has in store for us!

[PixelDream]

People really underrate To The Bone and oversell how pop-focused it is. It's a really varied album, with some more pop-focused songs yes, but the best songs on it like Refuge, Detonation, and Song Of Unborn are more atmospheric and slow-building, and I think those songs are some of the best material to ever show up on Steven's solo albums. There's also some great moody cuts like Pariah and Song Of I, and some more upbeat stuff like Nowhere Now and People Who Eat Darkness. Permanating is the only clunker for me and I feel like people hyper-fixate on it compared to the rest of the album.

Thank you.

The only thing poppy about it is that it’s song-driven instead of an album length narrative flow. It’s also the Steven Wilson album that maybe comes closest to the sound of Porcupine Tree.

Hand Cannot Erase is a brilliant and magical concept album but I felt To The Bone was really fresh and it still is. Absolutely fantastic album with some of his best songs. Pariah, Refuge, Song of I and Detonation are absolutely amazing.

[Zantera]

I think HCE and TTB are both good (not great) I guess my biggest hurdle with both is that I like the first 3 solo albums more because they have more of a vibe/feel/aesthetic to them. HCE and TTB to me feel a bit more all over the place in that regard. I think HCE has a cool concept but aside from maybe Routine it doesn't have any S-tier songs on it. TTB is very solid overall but again, I don't think it really has any amazing songs on it and so it kinda caps out at like a 7.5/10.

Both are significantly better than TFB though.

[showdonttell]

Hi, all,

Used to lurk here (and sometimes post) many years ago. Just wanted to see if anyone here had received an invitation to the Harmony Codex listening session on 30 August in London. I was recently contacted through Instagram DM by a guy called Rob Skarin, who offered my an invite to an open spot. Super keen on going, but my "street sense" is getting me tripped up...

First, it's weird (IMO) to have someone reach out and offer a ticket to an event via social media, even if the profile looks legit (Rob Skarin is supposed to be the name of Steven's social media manager; things check out on the Crystal Spotlight site as well).

Second, I cannot find any info on the actual event, which is supposed to be happening at the same place as the event last month (the L-Acoustics studio in Highgate). Nothing on the L-Acoustics site, nothing on SW's site, nothing on SW's social media that I can find... I know this is an exclusive event, but surely his team would have put out something?

Anyway, I am asked through DM what my email address is so that I can get added to the list, and I receive the email invitation -- similar copy to what Rob801 posted above, though it says:

Please email ______ (using the email you signed up with) by Friday 26th August at 6pm BST. As spaces are limited we cannot accept replies after this date/time.

The 26th was a Saturday, not a Friday. Maybe just an honest error. But it doesn't help that, despite coming from mail at stevenwilsonhq dot com, my email provider alerts me: "This email has failed its domain's authentication requirements. It may be spoofed or improperly forwarded."

Am I being paranoid here?  I would be coming from out of town, and it would take me a good 2.5 hours to get up to the studio. Really want to experience this, but don't want to be... disappointed. Maybe someone else has been invited to one of these events? Were you ever reached out to on social? Is this a thing?

[Nick]

I can assure you that assuming it's Rob's account contacting you and not some fake, Rob is indeed a trusted source so no worries proceeding.

[showdonttell]

I can assure you that assuming it's Rob's account contacting you and not some fake, Rob is indeed a trusted source so no worries proceeding.

Thanks for the assurance. Yeah, handle was @robskarin, and I saw the profile looked to be set up for a couple years, so seems like it is above board.

[faizoff]

I would've loved to have gone to those Atmos sessions. It must be an amazing way to experience it. I have a few albums and many movies with Atmos but no way to listen at home as I don't have that setup.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

so is the album gonna surprise drop this week??? 

[nobloodyname]

Apparently a single, Economies of Scale, has been released in Australia and New Zealand. I've not heard it, though. I assume it's being released in the UK tomorrow.

[Fritzinger]

so is the album gonna surprise drop this week??? 

On some shop websites like JPC, the release date is the 29th of September.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

damn ,, i CANNOT wait that long! 

[RoeDent]

It's only a month. Usually when albums are announced it's 2-3 months away from release.

Yes, Economies of Scale is released at your local midnight.

[Buddyhunter1]

damn ,, i CANNOT wait that long! 

Depends on if the single's good or not.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

damn ,, i CANNOT wait that long! 

Depends on if the single's good or not.

loool, very fair!