S. Wilson confirms PT on "indefinite hiatus"

Maybe the break will do them some good and they come back fresh.  I'm one of those who didn't like The Incident.  Hopefully it's not the end either way.

All bands including the very greatest have a shelf life though. Ok Rush have the shelf life of an oak tree but most bands explore a limited number of ideas before it becomes self evident that they are repeating themselves. PT probably have about 6-7 albums that are solid 4-5 star albums in PA terms but it would be sad if they started to drift into 3 star territory. SW can try different things now with different musicians and all three of his solo albums are distinctly different to me . Perhaps PT was beginning to become too rigid stylistically to be that interesting for much longer.

moshkito wrote: Hi,   Of the things I have heard by Steven on his own, they are nice, but I am not impressed and I think that in many ways he has become too "famous" and "full of himself" in order to be able to work within a group atmosphere, and instead he feels he wants to "tell people" what to do, instead of allowing them to play it and add to the piece.   There is, of course, nothing ... absolutely nothing! ... wrong with his decision, and he has a right to make it ... specially when the whole thing was him in the first place, in the garage ... and maybe he is finding that there are things he wants to try and do himself ... that sends him back to his "roots" in the early days ... and that is fine and ok in my book.   But I will miss PT a lot more than I will miss Steven ... maybe its the words and the wording ... I am not sure ... but ... hey ... we all change wives and girlfriends now and then ... so what's the problem?

I agree Moshkito.
I like PT as well, it was different when it came out.  Found it very dark at times a well.
I can't listen to it all the time or put it on at any point in the day. i,e It has it's time and place.

After researching SW a bit. I find he is driven but also an autocracy.
Then I got a call from a good friend of mine in Los Angeles
He happened to be in the studio control room at East West one day while Parsons and SW were there. He felt that AP was getting a little flustered that afternoon as to why he was even there, since SW was micro managing all the time. This was towards the end of the sessions.
I personally do not like being in group situations where I play someone else's  project during which to be told what/ how/ when  to play note for note. If hired for a session I treat it more like a  job: get in -get out -play what they want to hear. But in group situ  ? NO. It's a democratic creative process.

As for the fans etc I think alot of people jump on the bandwagon, become very enthusiastic of their new musical god and then envelop them to almost obsession like level where when the artist does something not to their liking it's as if said artist snubbed them directly personally.

People, you must put yourselves in the artist position. After a time one must move forward in music, life, on and on. If it doesn't jive with your expectations well tough.
Most musicians do not write with the constant mindset of  " I hope the fans will like this ..." or "we'll scrap this song cause the fans will hate it"
Cherish what they gave you and move on. No need to bash, etc them.




Edited by sturoc - May 08 2013 at 17:23

npjnpj wrote: I think I was a little unclear, sorry. I'm a SW/PT fan. I find that SW's solo albums are just as good as the PT albums, but with the 'right' personnel they could have been even better. As for his solo material being so much different; sorry, I don't really hear that. When you hear something by SW, you just know it's him (well apart from some of his side projects).

There will always be different opinions on grounds of taste obviously but often people look for some objective reason as to why they don't like something. Porcupine Tree had evolved over the years as a proper band which ironically posed some problems for Steven. Does he write for the band or for himself? Now he is back writing for himself which I see as inherently more creative. I think he wanted to go a bit more retro as evidenced by Time Flies and needed a different line up to fully realise it. This may not please some but then being an 'artist' is not necessarily about trying to please people.

npjnpj wrote: I like both SW solo stuff and the last few PT albums, but his solo albums are (to me) severely lacking in the personell department. Yes, yes, I know, but I just feel that way. I would have thought that as it's all basically SW music, I wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference between PT and Wilson's solo work. But I've noticed that SW's solo albums miss the presence of particularly Colin Edwin and Gavin Harrison, who both have their own entirely unique and energy driven style. I find their replacements to be inadequate. So, even if not under the PT monker, Wilson should have retained those two players. His solo albums would have been almost unbeatable. It's a shame, they could have been even so much better with the proper players. It's quite astonishing how much of a difference the non presence of CE and GH seems to make. I would never have thunk it.

I would much prefer he stick with either PT or one of his other projects. I haven't really been a big fan of any of his solo work (at least the stuff under his name). I think he's just trying to re-hash a lot of 70s prog, albeit with a more modern-produced sound. I know a lot of people here eat that kind of stuff up, and I used to as well. But I've branched out of prog rock a ton in the last 2-3 years, and I'm kind of at the point where it annoys me when artists re-create the same album over and over again or just rehash classic bands from previous decades/generations.

I've enjoyed all his projects including PT, which was my introduction to Steven.  If PT is toast, it doesn't really bother me all that much.

I'm really liking the Raven.  He's refining themes he's explored before.  No real new ground and  that's fine with me, it's a nice album.  I got Storm Corrosion recently.  That's pretty cool, too.

I suppose if I were to offer criticism, it would be that I am hearing a bit of rehash going on.  But considering the volume of work he's put out, it's not all that surprising.

I'm still a little weirded out that The Incident arrived six days before the house flooded out.  That music will forever mark that time in my life.


Edited by Slartibartfast - April 26 2013 at 16:14

Well, from my perspective, Porcupine Tree had become quite formulaic on their last 3 albums (which does not mean I didn't like them or they were not good........all 3 had much that I like).  His last 2 solo albums are far and away better than any of those 3 albums, though I would say I prefer most of the earlier PTree stuff to them, but only by a bit.

See, I've never felt that Wilson was really all that original or groundbreaking in anything he's ever done, so it's not really hard for me to appreciate this "new" direction he's taken (as others have pointed out, it's hardly new at all, though somewhat new for him).

I'm content with him producing quality solo stuff like the last two albums, and I think that PTree very badly needed a break, as the repetition was starting to get old.  My feeling is that a few years hiatus will allow them to come back, creative batteries recharged, and explore new directions, much as they did with Lightbulb Sun/Stupid Dream, and then again with In Absentia.  I think it will be good for them, and I do hope they will return in the not too distant future.
 

stewe wrote: I consider PTs last albums (The Incident and Fear of a Blank Planet) as Wilson's creative apex. I wish he continues to work especially with Barbieri - their chemistry is something special. His solo work starting to remind me stiff attempts of re-creating 70s prog, because of overusing vintage instruments (keyboards). It is quite common disease of new prog with following typical signs: mellotrons have to be everywhere, wind instruments also, he is forcing himself to odd signatures and breaks, which sound fabricated, not natural... Wilson is closer than ever to Dream Theater and The Flower Kings kind of prog - bands which he always heavily criticized. And he's even going to attend a festival which has "prog" in its name:) Despite that, his solo music is still very good and Raven has especially awesome technical quality, sometimes still well blended with Wilson's typical melancholy.

I agree with you Stewe, especially your first two sentences....