THE RAVEN THAT REFUSED TO SING (AND OTHER STORIES)

When I look at great albums - you know, those with 4.4 ratings - and I see people who give them one or two stars because of reasons, it boils my blood. Why the hell would they rate acclaimed masterpieces such a low score? I feel like it's their duty to explain themselves. After all, not only they're giving an unpopular opinion, but they're tarnishing an otherwise flawless artist's curriculum. Eventually, this situation came to me. And - oh boy - to one of the prog community's most cherished darling: STEVEN WILSON.

THE RAVEN THAT REFUSED TO SING just stale and overall uninteresting. The focus on lyrics and the exaggerated attempt of melancholia repel me, as well as generic modern rock with progressive elements that WILSON offers. His endless homage & influence... rather blatant in many cases... to 70's prog bands is observable on every song.

The exception is the magical "what-if [this was better]" Luminol.

The first four minutes is a showcase of various instrumentations - such as the plethora of keyboards, a flute-busting solo, and guitar licks - blended together under the sturdy work of a sax/violin & bass & drums riffing. Once those first four lively minutes are over, you're given a minimalistic section where STEVEN does his singing, followed by a respectable slow jazz piano piece. Then, at last, the song transitions its entire atmosphere into something terrifyingly similar to In The Court of the Crimson King (hence why so many people call it a rip-off, folks). Needless to say, it's a good part. So there you go, a great introduction for an ungreat act.

In fact, this album is not entirely bland - I can actually pluck a few good passages here and there - but generally speaking, it's dull. As a fan of fast-paced music with perceptible, excited instruments, this is a big turn-off. Perhaps in the future, I'll give this a more thoughtful listen. So for all symphonic, metal or general uptempo proggers out there, beware: WILSON probably isn't your style either!

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