THE OVERVIEW

As a diehard fan of Steven Wilson, I've come to fall in love with all of his projects. Solo, Porcupine Tree, No- Man, Blackfield, Bass Communion, and even some of the less talked about projects too. And I'm glad to say, this album lives up to it's name; not only does it refer to The Overview effect that is the main inspiration of the album, but I also feel like this is an album that celebrates all of Steven's various projects and musician ideas, and in a way that works really well!

Anyways, about the songs:

Objects Outlive Us starts with warbling electronics and Steven's falsetto vocals, seemingly describing an encounter with an Alien life form. Quite an atmospheric start, but then a Coldplay-esque piano line comes in that slowly builds in intensity with some really cool vocal harmonies until it leads into the next section, which is in more of a britpop style, kinda like Lightbulb Sun-era PT. Midway through the song, a bass riff comes in and things prog out for a bit, before a refrain to the britpop sounding song. Next part is kind of atmospheric until another vocal part that builds in intensity comes in again until it transitions into some more proggy riffs that bring to mind songs like Vermillioncore. After Steven and co progs out again everything dissolves and a refrain of the first part comes back, with steven's vocals almost having a more pessimistic edge to them, which leads into a solo I can only describe as if Fripp played some slow blues. It builds until it turns in an almost Godspeed You! Black Emperor heavy drone, and that concludes the first epic.

My first impressions of the song is that it's only a tad disjointed, most sections flow into each other, but there's a few awkward breaks. However they're not completely horrible in my opinion. Still a solid effort from Steven and co.

The Overview starts off with this cool electronic section that sounds like if Pink Floyd's On The Run was remixed by the likes of Steve Hillage's System 7. Placed on top are some monotone voiceovers by Steven's wife. I really actually like the spoken word parts, combined with the music it works really well for me. The electronic section gradually builds into something more grand until it transitions into the next section, which is more britpop styled, but with hints of Returning Jesus-era atmospheric country and some of the more mellow Pink Floyd moments. Then a short section with this really pretty piano part passes by and the britpop section has one last refrain, this time it starts building and leads perfectly into the next section, which is when this song starts to prog out a little. It's really propulsive, with a short guitar solo and an epic jazzy keyboard solo. It then fades into the final section, which is more of a coda. It recalls textures of early bass communion with great atmospheric sax shining through.

Overall I liked The Overview much more, it felt more cohesive to me and was overall just more enjoyable.

Although this album isn't a complete return to proggy (as in Raven-era) prog that many may have hoped, as a longtime fan of everything Steven has done, this is an extremely solid effort from him. It seems like he's really honed his craft with these songs. I forgot to mention how breathtaking the production is! It's really great. Maybe not peak SW, but a worthy album, and I'm glad it exist! 4/5 for sure.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to Ultranec223
• Report this review (#3161348)
• Buy STEVEN WILSON music online with PA partners
• Show all STEVEN WILSON MP3/Stream
• Go to STEVEN WILSON page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to The Overview page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for STEVEN WILSON related discussions