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Steven Wilson - The Future Bites CD (album) cover

THE FUTURE BITES

Steven Wilson

 

Crossover Prog

3.01 | 381 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

RelayerFr
4 stars I discovered STEVEN WILSON for the first time in 2002 with the release of the album "In Absentia" by PORCUPINE TREE. I didn't know anything about this band until this revelation which literally changed my view of contemporary prog music. Since then I have not stopped accumulating everything that relates directly and indirectly to this group but especially to him! To this man who upset the status of Prog music from the end of the last century until the new millennium, to this modern poet with teeming talents, this extraordinary multi-instrumentalist, composer and sound engineer, in short a complete artist who never stops to work, create and innovate. We can say it STEVEN WILSON is an obsessed ... a freak of perfection who lives only by music and for music, but also from time to time for others, participating fully or appearing in bands like NO -MAN, BLACKFIELD and BASS COMMUNION. But this gentleman does not stop there ... he also remixes, and not just anything! Take a look at this non-exhaustive list of names ... well I hope so! : MARILLION, GENTLE GIANT, YES, CHICAGO, JETHRO TULL, ROXY MUSIC, ELP, TANGERINE DREAM, KING CRIMSON, RUSH, XTC ... but I wonder where the hell did GENESIS go in this list of giants?

These remixes have become benchmarks for fans and have achieved a worldwide reputation among audiophiles. When I look at the journey of our luminary I can not help but think of TOM YORK, the singer and leader of the group RADIOHEAD, for his tempered, rebellious and self-sufficient temperament, with his constant changes of styles and genres, confusing both his aficionados and the musicians of his own group. Now that the introductions and the praises are done, when is it for the seventh and new album? Is it different from "To The Bone" released in 2017, an opus classified as Crossover Prog with a marked shift towards Pop music ?! A rumor is circulating among the progressive population ... the publication of "The Future Bites" would not be unanimous because it would be about to leave the progressive galaxy at the speed of a thousand bits per second, and that it would approach dangerously close to the nebula called "no return". Let's take a closer look at which musical zone this brand-new ship sails.

"Unself" is a short intro of 1:05, a kind of demo for an appetizer with an acoustic guitar and reverberating vocals in a cold and sidereal space, only a brief little melody sung will give some warmth to this " no man's land ". "Self" invites us to dance in the company of young women singing in chorus with STEVEN WILSON in "moody" mode, in an artificial and electronic atmosphere, accompanied by a guitar with industrial sounds. We could imagine ourselves in a nightclub where we would see robots wiggle their hips and have fun with us as this music seems futuristic (8/10). "King Ghost" is a sublime piece, where the vocal cords of our singer deliver us magic and hallucinating falsets of beauty. Electronic manipulation had to be employed to achieve such a surprising result. Synthetic effects and electro beat music we will escort under guard throughout this original piece (9.5 / 10). "12 Things I Forgot" is a song to be placed in the purest pop tradition as KEAN or TRAVIS could play. Piano, dry guitar, and a small synth in the background to accompany a cheerful and catchy melody, this small ensemble will make us glimpse a return to a near past (7.5 / 10).

"Eminent Sleaze" puts us back in an electronic bath richly provided in genres, like groove, soul, dance ... A voice with an air of BLACK SABBATH and an articulation like PRINCE take us on female throats grooving with force and conviction. Funky passages and some guitar riffs will complement this opus with efficient and classy chords (8.5 / 10). On "Man of the People" STEVEN WILSON sings and vocalizes like never before, all smoothly and subtly. On typically pop tunes he sends us a beautiful calm and sunny ballad, with here a particularly highlighted voice (8/10). The title song "Personal Shopper" which is already a planetary hit tells us about consumerism and its excesses. A heady and organic chorus will be illustrated by so British humor performed by ELTON JOHN rhyming on a list of unnecessary items during shopping time. His intervention will not bring much more apart from breaking the recurring linearity present in this piece. Despite everything, this track displays a particularly successful mix of electro pop and dance that I will not place in the list of useless (8.5 / 10).

At the very beginning of "Follower" we hear a soundtrack from a weather newspaper where the announcer speaks in French and says: "on the side of" and stops abruptly ...? This track presents passages that make me think of PLACEBO and YES, for the well-rhythmic Pop Rock side and for the harmonious choirs heard on the album "Fly From Here" with a reminder of the song "Detonation" on the album "To The Bone". This well-composed piece contains all the ingredients to satisfy both pop and prog fans with harmonious and catchy choruses! (9.5 / 10). In "Count of Unease" STEVEN WILSON scratches an unidentified metallic object I suppose acting as a drums under morphine. Here everything is languor and fullness, the song moves nicely in a monotonous slowness with instruments seeming frozen in a score with an atmospheric atmosphere. It's lovely and soothing! (8.5 / 10).

STEVEN WILSON says it himself: "The Future bites" is his "Let's Dance", the album which allowed DAVID BOWIE to reach the general public, but which made him lose his fans of the first hour. "After several hours of listening have I lost one of my idols or my attraction for this artist ...? Negative my dear WILSON! Obviously here we are moving far enough away from "The Raven That Refused To Sing", as well in the spirit than in style. And the prog style that he proposed to us with his electric guitar solos and his jazzy developments have unfortunately disappeared here from his repertoire which has become somewhat minimalist. But his desire for creation remains immutable, his fury of 'writing and composing remain intact, whatever the medium or the genres used. His leitmotif is to surprise, and there I can say it, he pleasantly surprised me again. Because his silversmith's voice always makes me happy. wiggle the eustachian tubes until I become encrusted with serious earworms. he innovative and contemporary chords have the capacity to transcend the genre with concrete production and mixing. I suggest STEVEN WILSON never stop composing while he is singing with this perfection, because in the end it doesn't matter which bottle ... her voice is her finest instrument, and everything revolves around her with its magnificent melodies worthy of the "Fab Four"! I don't consider "The Future Bites" to be his best album, but I will definitely come to his next gig. I had to attend the one scheduled for September 2019, but unfortunately canceled for reasons everyone knows. Do as I did, over-consume by getting your multi-disc box and unnecessary items at an inflated price, and when the time comes, don't hesitate to visit him during a concert, with it seems a grandiose show at the key!

RelayerFr | 4/5 |

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