New Steven Wilson solo album due out in February

Just ordered the 2-disc edition.  I didn't really like Grace but am giving this a shot anyway.  

Grace, bottom line I didn't buy the "proggy", intense sections at all...thought they felt totally contrived, proggy for the sake of it, whereas I think he is brilliant and a natural for crafting melodic pop with crossover or metal overtones.  But I'm sort on an outlier Wilson fan I suspect....I'd much rather hear FoaBP or Incident than Sky Move Sideways or most of his earlier, "cool" stuff.

Just bought the concert DVD too!  Excited, but I doubt it will slay me like Anesthetize or Octane.   But I'll give it and Raven a fair shot, I promise you that

Looking forward to it.

Looking forward to seeing how I feel about these solo-band guys compared to PT.  I really love the PT band individually for the strengths they bring without ever getting pompous musically....I don't like to sit there and get hung up on "whoa these guys are technically brilliant players".......instead I like to be blown away by what they bring out of the track.....and I think the PT band members bring out SW perfectly.  Just like the Floyd members brought out Waters....whose stuff may not have worked nearly as well with other people....and thinking about his solo albums, they didn't.

I pre-ordered from Burning Shed and it turned up a bit early and it is excellent.   It's much more prog in the classic sense than his first two.  However, as like GFD there are quite a few KC references it should appeal to the avant crowd as well as mainstream proggies. 

The musicianship is officially awesome.  Who would've thought the bassist from 80s UK pop band Kajagoogoo would end up an eminent prog musician?  The mellotron on this album is incredible (played by SW himself and not the brilliant keyboard player in his band) and I find in the notes they used the exact same mellotron that was used recording KC's ITCOTKC.  SW actually plays some mean guitar solos on this disc too.

Watch this album stroll to number one prog cd of 2013.  I doubt it'll he bettered this year thats for sure.  If I hear a better song than Drive Home this year I'll be surprised. This, Luminol and the title track are my favourites.

Finnforest wrote: Looking forward to it. Looking forward to seeing how I feel about these solo-band guys compared to PT.  I really love the PT band individually for the strengths they bring without ever getting pompous musically....I don't like to sit there and get hung up on "whoa these guys are technically brilliant players".......instead I like to be blown away by what they bring out of the track.....and I think the PT band members bring out SW perfectly.  Just like the Floyd members brought out Waters....whose stuff may not have worked nearly as well with other people....and thinking about his solo albums, they didn't.

Jim, my impression from the live DVD is that they are all "team players".  They are ensemble players, and not "flash" players.  There are some extended solos, but they are all tasteful........no "w**king" in Wilson's solo band.  Keep in mind that there is a different guitarist on the DVD than is on the new album.

I just picked up my copy today.  After one listen, I can't figure out if he's making or making fun of prog.  If that sort of thing bothered me I wouldn't love "Thick As A Brick".  So far I enjoy this immensely.

sturoc wrote: Luminol Live clip on you tube is very very good.

Finnforest wrote: Grace, bottom line I didn't buy the "proggy", intense sections at all...thought they felt totally contrived, proggy for the sake of it, whereas I think he is brilliant and a natural for crafting melodic pop with crossover or metal overtones.

Exactly how I see it. But somehow the ambient stuff managed to grab me after quite a lot of listens. Suppose it could also be Dave Stewart's orchestra arrangements which brought me closer to the music.

"Sectarian", however, was pretty dull. I hope the new album has more rock moments than the title track offers.

infandous wrote: Finnforest wrote: Looking forward to it. Looking forward to seeing how I feel about these solo-band guys compared to PT.  I really love the PT band individually for the strengths they bring without ever getting pompous musically....I don't like to sit there and get hung up on "whoa these guys are technically brilliant players".......instead I like to be blown away by what they bring out of the track.....and I think the PT band members bring out SW perfectly.  Just like the Floyd members brought out Waters....whose stuff may not have worked nearly as well with other people....and thinking about his solo albums, they didn't. Jim, my impression from the live DVD is that they are all "team players".  They are ensemble players, and not "flash" players.  There are some extended solos, but they are all tasteful........no "w**king" in Wilson's solo band.  Keep in mind that there is a different guitarist on the DVD than is on the new album.

Hey Mike!   Just hoping it gets here by the weekend....I wanna rock!

richardh wrote: Probably been mentioned already but Wilson is using the same Mellotron that King Crimson used on ITCOTKC. There is nice little bit of footage on the DVD of him playing it.