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

[Metro]

It’s a very middle tier album for me. I’d rank his solo albums:

1. Hand. Cannot. Erase.
2. The Raven That Refused to Sing
3. Grace for Drowning
4. The Harmony Codex
5. To the Bone
6. Insurgentes
7. The Future Bites

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

my SW ranking

Insurgentes
The Raven That Refused To Sing
To The Bone
The Harmony Codex
Grace For Drowning
Hand Cannot Erase
THE FUTURE BITES

[Buddyhunter1]

New album's not really clicking with me, at least not yet. It's an incredibly slow and dreary album, which isn't exactly new territory for Steven Wilson's music, but there's usually a lot of beauty to be found in the atmosphere which I'm not really finding here.

Hand. Cannot. Erase.
To The Bone
Grace For Drowning
The Raven That Refused To Sing
Insurgentes
The Harmony Codex
The Future Bites

[nobloodyname]

Hand. Cannot. Erase.
The Harmony Codex
To the Bone
The Future Bites
The Raven That Refused to Sing
Grace for Drowning
Insurgentes

There you go. That's The Official Order. Accept no substitutes.

[romdrums]

For me:

Raven
HCE
To The Bone
The Harmony Codex
Insurgentes
Grace For Drowning


























The Future Bites

[ErHaO]

Hand. Cannot. Erase.
The Raven That Refused to Sing
Grace For Drowning
To The Bone
Insurgentes
The Harmony Codex
The Future Bites

I enjoy all of them and listen to them plenty, so Harmony Codex ranking "low" doesn't really say anything.

[SoundscapeMN]

unsure if this was shared a few weeks ago, but if not, here's  pretty good 2 hour video podcast with Steven, where he talks a little about the new record, but also just his career and the music industry now including AI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khY7ICfIxmw

[Sacul]

Very tough to rank them, but I'll try:

Grace for Drowning
The Harmony Codex

Insurgentes
H.C.E
Raven
To the Bone

The Future Bites

[PixelDream]

It's been 7 days but this is truly how I feel right now. Recency bias definitely. We'll see what happens, but that THC is one of his best is quite clear for me.

The Harmony Codex
Insurgentes
Hand. Cannot. Erase.
To The Bone
The Raven That Refused To Sing
Grace For Drowning
The Future Bites

For me, he's released his 'worst' and 'best' record in succession.
I like them all very much by the way. The Future Bites is the only album with songs I dislike (Personal Shopper, Follower).
Hand. Cannot. Erase. has the highest highs of any album though.

[axeman90210]

Half a dozen listens in and I definitely like it better than TFB. It successfully brings some of that style into a more prog rock setting and the result is an album that I enjoy, but nowhere near as much as my favorites from SW.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

just finished another listen. i think my favorites are Inclination, What Life Brings, Impossible Tightrope, The Harmony Codex, and Staircase.

the biggest issue with the album for me is the songs between the title track and the last song are really weak. additionally, i'm not crazy about economy of scale and rock bottom and beautiful scarecrow are probably the lowest point of the album for me

[PixelDream]

It’s funny to see so many people either loving Rock Bottom a lot, or having it down at the bottom of their ranking.

For me it’s one of the most emotionally powerful songs, even more so than Pariah. The people I play it to (ppl who love music but not necessarily SW) seem mostly quite moved by this song. I actually think it has major crossover mainstream appeal but in a good way.

[Zantera]

For me it's his best since Raven but I wouldn't put it over any of his first 3. So a very solid entry in the middle of his solo discography.

The first half or so is really strong but then Ninet enters and Rock Bottom ironically lives up to its name of being the weakest song on here. Just don't get his obsession with her, she was a fine contribution on Routine but has since long outstayed her welcome for me at least. Not a very interesting voice and it doesn't really gel with SW's voice either IMO. I'm sure she sounds better singing her own music. Second half does have some highlights, for me the title track is sublime and Staircase is a wonderful closer.

Overall I would say it's like a solid 8/10.

[Kram]

It’s funny to see so many people either loving Rock Bottom a lot, or having it down at the bottom of their ranking.

For me it’s one of the most emotionally powerful songs, even more so than Pariah. The people I play it to (ppl who love music but not necessarily SW) seem mostly quite moved by this song. I actually think it has major crossover mainstream appeal but in a good way.

Agreed. Incredible performance by Ninet! This whole album is growing more and more on me. Will be updating my SW album ranking soon.

[Sacul]

I don't understand how Rock Bottom is so divisive, it's a wonderful song imo. I love the new album, and I think the weakest one might be Time is Running Out tbh. It's a fine track surely but the rest of the album is just on another level.

[faizoff]

Go my Deluxe edition today, Got it in 4 days. Not bad at all from Norwich MC to Florida in that time. I'd say that was quite fast actually.

Going to spin the 2nd disc first before diving into the bluray.

[Kram]

I don't understand how Rock Bottom is so divisive, it's a wonderful song imo. I love the new album, and I think the weakest one might be Time is Running Out tbh. It's a fine track surely but the rest of the album is just on another level.

The weakest song for me by far is Economies of Scale.

[TAC]

Dammit, wrong thread! I don't even know how I got in this thread. I had to look up my own posts just to find my post.

[Metro]

I've got a lot of listening in, and I'm even starting to scratch out some writeups on songs I'm pretty sure about.

Pretty comfortable with my rankings as well. It pained me to give some of these songs 7's, and even a couple of 6's. But this round is pretty strong, and The Ranker is being a bitch.


Should be ready to post Sister Song Comparisons tomorrow afternoon, most likely after Ariich goes to bed.

Never took you for a Steven Wilson fan, but interesting development.

[faizoff]

See sending Steven Wilson to TAC's roulettes helps him check out the rest of discography and rank them accordingly.

[nick_z]

[hefdaddy42]

Dear God

[faizoff]

Going to spin the 2nd disc first before diving into the bluray.

The bonus disc 'Harmonic Distortion' was a fun listen. I really liked the alternate version of Impossible Tightrope, the bass riff and violin are great, I think it would've worked in the released version too, I may splice it together someday if I'm feeling adventurous. The Akerfeldt version of Time is Running Out is pretty good too, his vocals give the song a different lighter tone to it. The various Codex themes are just mellow soundscapes apart from #8 which is a piano piece based on the tune for Time is Running Out. It serves as a nice intro to the song.


The long take of the title track doesn't add much, it's mostly atmosphere and just chill which is nice to listen to if you're in the mood. The remixes by different artists are interesting, I need to listen to them a few more times to get familiar.


I think from all the bonus discs, this might be one of the better ones which isn't just demos like they recently have been.

[hefdaddy42]

BTW, I enjoyed SW's interview on The Prog Report. 

[nobloodyname]

I think from all the bonus discs, this might be one of the better ones which isn't just demos like they recently have been.

Although I think some of those demos have been brilliant! Those for Hand. Cannot. Erase. were great. Almost different songs in many places.

This reminds me I haven't listened to the bonus content for The Harmony Codex. Perhaps I'll fix that today. Listening to the Atmos mix for the first time on Saturday night with my new partner, looking forward to that. I think it's the first time she'll have heard the album since we went to the pre-release event at EartH.

[Mladen]

I'm still somewhat on the fence about the record, though it certainly isn't bad. I also wouldn't say it's an improvement over The Future bites, as there was nothing wrong with that album. This one reminds me of Insurgentes and Grace for drowning in terms of its diversity, but the jammy and atmospheric bits give off some Up the downstair vibe.

What life brings and Time is running out are familiar sounding, they certainly scratch the itch, though I also enjoy Inclination. What's missing here, however, is the emotional impact that songs like Routine, Luminol and others had for me. Now, I don't know if that has to do with me or with the music itself. Probably the former.

[ReaperKK]

BTW, I enjoyed SW's interview on The Prog Report. 

I just saw this pop up on my feed, I'm going to give it a watch tonight

[HOF]

Got my copy from Amazon finally. Pleasantly surprised to see it come in a standard plastic jewel case. Don’t get many new releases in those.

Still enjoying the album quite a bit.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

BTW, I enjoyed SW's interview on The Prog Report. 

I just saw this pop up on my feed, I'm going to give it a watch tonight

link?

[nobloodyname]

https://youtu.be/CuT4X_e65z8?si=9qHeTSse13HJ6xTj

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

thank you!

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

don't show this interview to TAC, one of SW's loved ones interrupts him during the interview

edit: and now a dog on camera, lol

[hefdaddy42]

don't show this interview to TAC, one of SW's loved ones interrupts him during the interview

edit: and now a dog on camera, lol

[KevShmev]

Had to bump this to say that The Harmony Codex is freaking great.  It feels like a blend of various styles he has done over the years, all in one big stew.  Love it.

[HOF]

Had to bump this to say that The Harmony Codex is freaking great.  It feels like a blend of various styles he has done over the years, all in one big stew.  Love it.

Been bumped from my car CD player by other new releases, but it was in there for a while and is easily my favorite solo thing he’s done. Feels like he finally managed to make an album that captures the spirit of a Peter Gabriel or Talk Talk album but doesn’t sound like a stripped down Porcupine Tree album. Economies of Scale, Impossible Tightrope, Time is Running Out, and Staircase are all really great tracks.