THE RAVEN THAT REFUSED TO SING (AND OTHER STORIES)

Well I could get the album before the release date, anyway let's review the whole album step by step For almost 30 years Steven Wilson has shown a lot of abilities in different genres, since He was a teenager till now at the moment I'm writing this review listening to the first masterpiece of 2013 ! No-Man, Porcupine Tree (Psychedelic era to Heavy music era) , Bass Communion an adorable ambient project, Blackfield a soft-rock beautiful piece of art ( I mean the first 2 albums) I.E.M which is a tribute to Krautrock and so many collaborations ! the most famous collaboration was the album Storm Corrosion with Akerfeldt of Opeth which I loved it ! and now the 3rd studio album by Steven Wilson ! The Raven that Refused to Sing (and other stories) 1 - Luminol : Album starts with this 12 minutes piece of great melodies and full madness on Bass guitar ... We were able to watch this track live from the last DVD Steven released "Get all you deserve" recorded at Mexico City, the song starts with a great Bass riff it goes on and continues with lots of great melodies on Keyboards and Flute, then the vocals begins with more than 2 voices (this part is amazing!) melody continues and in a moment something like silence grows and a soft chord of guitar starts then Wilson begins to sing a beautiful story, then other instruments joins the vocals and with a GREAT GREAT solo guitar by Guthrie Govan

2 - Drive Home Starts with a beautiful simple melody then drums joins with Wilson singing so softly and so emotional, in my opinion this song is so simple although its nearly 8 minutes but its just verses and chorus, but the back instruments highs and lows of the song is simply amazing, the guitar chords I love it, the solo at the end is phenomenal, of course I forgot to say right before the solo guitar the arpeggios and the bass melody was an amazing introduction of the solo guitar !

3 - The Holy Drinker this song is all about dreams and nightmares ! its extreme on keyboards ! starts like a beginning of horror scene of a movie ! Steven really knows how to show feelings with music, dirty feelings and pure feelings all together again ! it goes with improvisation of keyboards and a crazy Bass and guitar riff then absolute drum and bass begins with the vocals and long note guitars great drum passages, it continues with the great riff of guitar and drum rhythm, chorus continues the vocal is amazing, its kinda heavy music, sax starts to fly in this ocean of music . . . after that a great Bass rhythm come along with the track, keyboards to be added at the moment, with Flute, this part is completely over the madness ! psychedelic even ! and this part ends with the drums, now cymbals come along, tranquility now . . . Steven is singing like He's in a dream, with his beautiful soft voice, with a good stereo sound you can hear the breathes, NOWWW DRUMS GUITAR, come along together, the journey is on its way to end, guitar riffs again, the song is back to the main theme, AND the end ...

4 - The Pin Drop starts with a spacey arpeggios, vocal starts to sing and back vocal is adding, right after this bass rhythm, Drum rhythm and the passages begin to play together, with a beautiful solo from Theo Travis ! the song is 5 minutes long not much progressive, but a great membrane for the rest of the album, another great guitar solo again, looks like Steven is to prove that He's great on writing solo's for any instrument !

5 - The Watchmaker

The lyrics are so beautiful, reminds me of a lonely man that struggles to find a joy in his work maybe . . . the music begins so sad, the way I love music, another beautiful arpeggios, and impressive melodies, then everything starts to slow and a modulation, then it changes the mood, turns it to a lighter way to see everything, after that guitar chords begins to work, the rhythm begins, with cymbals, bass, after the Drum passage, Travis starts to blow in his Flute, then Guthrie's magic fingers play on the guitar so beautiful, hammer on and pull off again and again, silence, the song find its new path, Wilson sings again, amazing again, God I love his voice . .. the Piano behind it is simple but amazing, it continues over and over with a beautiful few simple notes, and a great rhythm by Marco, at this moment Wilson is playing with his voice, making tunes, after that the song goes to be messy with drum solos and it finishes

6 - The Raven that Refused to Sing

My fave song of the album, a beautiful finish for the album, the song has its path from the beginning to the end, nothing changes really but the way instruments add to the song is amazing .... this simpleness is almost 8 minutes but so clever and smart that you can't feel the time because you're drowned in the song, The Raven that Refused to Sing tells us how mankind needs to be known ! how mankind needs to feel everything around . . . how We need to be together . . . how We need to tell each other what We feel and what We want, when Steven says please stay with me, the song finishes with a beautiful playing guitar chords, I watched the recording of the song, Wilson was playing this part, it was so brilliant !

Wilson has proved that more He gets avant-garde more He find new tunes, I admire him because He doesn't scare of what He does ! He just want to do what his heart says, and the album is the most progressive music that Wilson has ever made ! even more that Grace for Drowning . . . for me it's a masterpiece! 6 songs engineering by Alan Parson !!! the whole album is on its top, no weakness . . . the first 2013 album I've heard and maybe the best one