Steven Wilson Vs. Roine Stolt

 

Why not take it a step further Who is most Prog. "Unexpect" or "Opeth" ?

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No no dont fall in there........ there is no dark side of the Moon - infact its all dark

 

 

Only if the word derivative is interpreted very literally, to classify any music that has any trace of influence from an older band as "derivative" (strangely, many comments have attacked Wilson's attempt to supposedly define progressive in the literal sense of the word).  That way, most music has in some way been derivative of something before it.  But just as progressive simply suggests a tendency to embrace rather than reject new ideas, derivative suggests something that is too dependent on its influences.  Which necessarily means both terms are highly subjective and involve a matter of degree rather than something absolute.

I support the fact that the bands he mentioned are truly unique in sound I mean take Tool for example, they have a very established signature sound, and this is good, but the future of prog is not music that tends to sound mainstream and comercial, prog music is what truly is, music with great musicianship!, SW is referring to TFK and Transatlantic as copycats of the prog music of the 70's and he had a point, but SW can't say that b/c what he just did was mix that proggy mainstream stuff and mix it with Pink Floyd and space rock elements, I mean Pink Floyd is better known in the world that Genesis or Yes for example, so he just did that, Pink Floyd/Tool mix.

In fact, Roine is one of the top contemporary figures, he is REALLY a musician (not in the sense of SW that he doesn't even know the name of the chords and intervals) and for me the opinion of Roine have more weight. Another thing that bothered me was that he say that TFK and Transatlantic are pompous but THAT WAS THE APPROACH HE TOOK IN HIS SOLO RECORD!! he just made that album with a pompous point of view and let's face it is a cool and good album but, he can't say that it is entirely UNIQUE as he claims that band like TFK and Transatlantic copy so much from ELP, Yes, Genesis and the like, Wilson rip off Crimson and Floyd stuff all the time!!!

I don't know, I'm a big Steven Wilson fan, but this thing got me low...really...in his film Insurgentes he talk about this, about that is heartbreaking that people destroy what you do as a musician b/c is a extension of your soul and expression, but lets face it!!! HE IS DESTROYING THE OTHER MUSICIANS EXPRESSION AND ART!! with all this!!

The new album by the TFK has one of the most interesting themes right now, about the NWO and how the monetary system work to control people! that is quite amazing to me!

But as I say it, I don't hate SW stuff I just respect every work that a musician makes, it's art and pure expression!

For the tastes, there are colors!

Yeah! balance is great, but noise is something, dissonant is another thing! and don't get me wrong I love dissonant stuff and melodic stuff too! it is like you say, It's all about a good balance!

Roine Stolt's guitar solos aren't 'heartless' at all. Maybe the member just didn't feel anything from his playing and that's perfectly fine, but he's one of the best guitarists around in progressive music IMHO. You mentioning bands being derivative and I suppose that's why I think Steven Wilson's comments weren't grounded in logic. Porcupine Tree are as derivative as The Flower Kings. I think the biggest difference, IMHO, is that The Flower Kings are just all around better musicians and can play in so many more styles and have dabbled with just about everything: classical, jazz, rock, folk, ambient/electronica, etc. and they have been using different styles in their music before Porcupine Tree were as well. Porcupine Tree started off as very Pink Floyd-influenced then they became Radiohead-influenced and now they seem to be a mixture of Floyd, Radiohead, and Tool. So Wilson isn't doing anything new and if he thinks he is, then he needs to seriously go get his head checked for egomania. This is why Wilson has no argument for me and I just thought he was a hypocritical jerk in the interview for degrading bands like TFK and Transatlantic for the very things he does himself.

 

Roine Stolt has just as much a fighting chance of being recognized as one of the greatest progressive rock musicians of all-time just like Steven Wilson does. Both of these guys' music affects people in vastily different ways. Some people prefer one over the other and some like both of them. That will never change. What irks me about Wilson's comments is that he believes that The Flower Kings aren't important, but the reality is this is an ignorant comment because The Flower Kings are doing very, very well and have done well for a very long time. Wilson simply doesn't want to acknowledge how successful TFK or Transatlantic are. Notice how he didn't pick on Dream Theater. That would have upset a lot fans, but Dream Theater are just as guilty as Porcupine Tree, Marillion, IQ, TFK, etc. from borrowing from the past. As you said all of these bands and to paraphrase: swim in the same pool, they just all do it differently.

 

He could have easily picked on Dream Theater just like he could have easily picked on Marillion, Pendragon, or IQ. The only problem he needs to critically evaluate his own music before he can anyone else's. He borrows from the same pot that all of them do.