THE OVERVIEW

Listening to The Overview leaves me genuinely sad, a kind of hollow melancholy that feels vaguely shameful, like mourning a friend who's still alive but irrevocably changed. Steven Wilson, whose genius I'd readily testify to under oath, whose Fear of a Blank Planet isn't just an album but a personal favorite, and which I consider the stellar point of my generation catalogue, simply doesn't have another masterpiece of that magnitude left within him. I resist typing this admission, partly because it sounds defeatist, mostly because it hurts.

Wilson's newest creation, tragically, resembles something like a weary b-side from The Sky Moves Sideways, yet systematically diminished in every conceivable metric: less vision, fewer epiphanies, and, frustratingly, none of the self-awareness needed to prune away the fluffy excess (prunning that dramatically improved the remixed version of The Sky Moves Sideways over the original release). This isn't just padding; it's active disregard for the listener's precious minutes. Wilson commits what I'd argue is one of the gravest musical sins possible: he squanders the listener's time without apology or payoff.

This album, such as it is, unravels into two sprawling, disjointed suites. Each track spirals aimlessly, crowded with half-hearted narrations and transitions that feel less like purposeful bridges and more like artistic procrastination. There's no hook, no moment that lodges itself in memory. Perhaps Wilson aimed deliberately for a simulation of drifting in outer space as the most existentially tedious experience imaginable. If so, full marks.

One might fairly compare The Overview with Pink Floyd's tragically disappointing The Endless River, an album haunted by its own emptiness, an artifact that aches with opportunities missed rather than captured. Wilson, on his podcast, once admitted a loss of enthusiasm for contemporary music since around 2000, a statement which suddenly, painfully, crystallizes my disappointment. Had he ventured outside his increasingly insular creative orbit, perhaps absorbing recent masterpieces: HMLTD's kaleidoscopic and audacious The Worm, Wilderun's expansive Epigone, Devin Townsend's deliriously inventive Empath, Drifting Sun's tenderly ambitious Forsaken Innocence, or Between the Buried and Me's disciplined chaos of Automata II; perhaps Wilson's music today wouldn't feel so trapped within its own echo chamber.

After Dominic Sanderson's latest predictable, paint-by-numbers prog album shattered any optimism I held for a torch-passing moment, my fragile hope now rests entirely upon AVKRVST. They alone seem poised to fill that deep, echoing void Porcupine Tree left behind.

Writing this feels miserably like penning a eulogy I never wanted to deliver.

I'm going to go cry now.

Goodbye.

3.5 stars rounded up to four because you know, is Steven going back to a more progressive style. Ok, the album is a grower, as it usually happens with everything produced by this man (and I am a big fan of everything he does). I must admit that on the first listen I did not even like the production, the falsettos or the electronics and now I am starting to appreciate all the hidden details of the tracks. The album feels like a whole and is relatively short, with plenty of memorable moments, but also with some things that prevents me from a better rating. For example the slow start of the first track and the heavily distorted ending, and I think too much time of the second track is wasted on spoken passages that barely contribute to the music and could have been instrumental developments.

Still, is a good album that I will keep listening.

This album completely subverted my expectations. Firstly, given the subject and the 'spaciness' of the concept, I expected an instrumental album that had strong elements of space-rock and psychedelia, but much of 'objects outlive us' has strong vocals, especially Steven's trademark falsetto (I'm not sure if that's a great idea).

The music is disjointed and underwhelming. There are some short, interesting instrumental bits, but the album doesn't flow as a whole. Given the space theme, a lot of the textures on 'The Overview' are disarmingly acoustic and rustic, a bit like Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, which brings things back down to earth. Steven's wife narrates some boring astronomical facts about the sizes of stars, nebulae and whatnot, (twice!) but why? It doesn't add anything to the music and is slightly annoying, especially when repeated. Steven seems keen on adding narration over the top of his music, but it's never really worked, except on 'Perfect Life' from 'Hand Cannot Erase'.

Steven's usual brilliant collaborators are here on keyboards and drums, (Adam and Craig) with the addition of Randy Stine, who plays a very long guitar solo at the end of 'Objects outlive us'. I listened to an interview with Steven on the making of the album, and he said that Randy and he were excited to process the sound of the guitar so that it wouldn't be like 'comfortably numb' - the guitar sounds they have used are, to my ears, unpleasant. The aforementioned guitar solo sounds like a bee farting through a distortion pedal! The processing of the guitars used elsewhere is just as irritating.

Other reviewers have remarked that, as you would expect from Steven, the album is excellently produced, but I found many of the timbres and sound choices underwhelming or bizarre.

All in all, it's a very curious album indeed and somewhat of a disappointment. I listened to Steven's last album 'The Harmony Codex' just once, and had no desire to listen to it again as I felt there wasn't anything appealing to revisit - I also feel the same about this one.

I have to say that Steven's work, for me, peaked with 'The Raven that Refused to Sing' and 'Hand Cannot Erase' and although I enjoyed 'To the Bone', it has been going downhill ever since.

As a diehard fan of Steven Wilson, I've come to fall in love with all of his projects. Solo, Porcupine Tree, No- Man, Blackfield, Bass Communion, and even some of the less talked about projects too. And I'm glad to say, this album lives up to it's name; not only does it refer to The Overview effect that is the main inspiration of the album, but I also feel like this is an album that celebrates all of Steven's various projects and musician ideas, and in a way that works really well!

Anyways, about the songs:

Objects Outlive Us starts with warbling electronics and Steven's falsetto vocals, seemingly describing an encounter with an Alien life form. Quite an atmospheric start, but then a Coldplay-esque piano line comes in that slowly builds in intensity with some really cool vocal harmonies until it leads into the next section, which is in more of a britpop style, kinda like Lightbulb Sun-era PT. Midway through the song, a bass riff comes in and things prog out for a bit, before a refrain to the britpop sounding song. Next part is kind of atmospheric until another vocal part that builds in intensity comes in again until it transitions into some more proggy riffs that bring to mind songs like Vermillioncore. After Steven and co progs out again everything dissolves and a refrain of the first part comes back, with steven's vocals almost having a more pessimistic edge to them, which leads into a solo I can only describe as if Fripp played some slow blues. It builds until it turns in an almost Godspeed You! Black Emperor heavy drone, and that concludes the first epic.

My first impressions of the song is that it's only a tad disjointed, most sections flow into each other, but there's a few awkward breaks. However they're not completely horrible in my opinion. Still a solid effort from Steven and co.

The Overview starts off with this cool electronic section that sounds like if Pink Floyd's On The Run was remixed by the likes of Steve Hillage's System 7. Placed on top are some monotone voiceovers by Steven's wife. I really actually like the spoken word parts, combined with the music it works really well for me. The electronic section gradually builds into something more grand until it transitions into the next section, which is more britpop styled, but with hints of Returning Jesus-era atmospheric country and some of the more mellow Pink Floyd moments. Then a short section with this really pretty piano part passes by and the britpop section has one last refrain, this time it starts building and leads perfectly into the next section, which is when this song starts to prog out a little. It's really propulsive, with a short guitar solo and an epic jazzy keyboard solo. It then fades into the final section, which is more of a coda. It recalls textures of early bass communion with great atmospheric sax shining through.

Overall I liked The Overview much more, it felt more cohesive to me and was overall just more enjoyable.

Although this album isn't a complete return to proggy (as in Raven-era) prog that many may have hoped, as a longtime fan of everything Steven has done, this is an extremely solid effort from him. It seems like he's really honed his craft with these songs. I forgot to mention how breathtaking the production is! It's really great. Maybe not peak SW, but a worthy album, and I'm glad it exist! 4/5 for sure.

Steven Wilson's "The Endless River "?

Over the years, Steven Wilson has cemented himself as one of the most forward-thinking artists in progressive music. With The Overview , his latest release, Wilson once again crafts an ambitious sonic journey, that, unfortunately feels more like a collection of loosely connected ideas rather than a fully realized concept.

The album consists of two sprawling tracks, "Objects Outlive Us" and the title track "The Overview" each divided into multiple sections. At its best, The Overview delivers the pristine production and meticulous attention to texture that have long been hallmarks of Wilson's work. The layers of synthesizers, guitar passages, and dynamic drumming create an immersive soundscape that occasionally recalls the experimental edge of Grace for Drowning. However, the compositions themselves lack the cohesion that has made Wilson's best albums so compelling. Many sections feel isolated, fading out abruptly before an unrelated new idea begins, making the overall experience somewhat disjointed.

One of the most irritating aspects of The Overview is the inclusion of spoken-word passages in the second track. While spoken segments can serve as effective narrative devices when used sparingly, the monologues here feel indulgent and ultimately detract from the momentum of the piece. The time spent on these sections could have been better utilized for instrumental development, which is frustrating given the talent of the musicians involved.

Another notable issue is Wilson's increasing reliance on falsetto vocals, a stylistic choice that worked well in previous records like To the Bone but feels misplaced here. His natural voice has always been one of his greatest strengths (although I do not consider him a great singer), and its limited presence on this album makes the vocal sections feel less impactful. The contrast between his breathy high notes and the album's more textural, expansive moments often feels inconsistent rather than intentional.

The Overview is not without its merits. The production is, as expected, immaculate. Every sound is carefully sculpted, painting a vast sonic landscape. Textures shift seamlessly from warm analog synth washes to cold, mechanical pulses, creating an undeniably captivating atmosphere even when the songwriting falls short. Additionally, the musicianship shines through in moments, particularly in the expressive keyboard solos by Adam Holzman and the "Frippian" guitar work of Randy McStine by the end of the first track. These solos stand out as some of the album's most engaging moments, adding a much-needed spark to an otherwise uneven composition.

Overall, The Overview is a mixed bag. It showcases Wilson's technical prowess and sonic craftsmanship but lacks the structural integrity and emotional weight of his strongest works. While longtime fans may find moments to appreciate, the album ultimately feels like a project that was either rushed to completion or not fully conceptualized before execution.

Nonetheless, even a mediocre effort by Wilson still stands well above most progressive rock releases today, proving once again that, for better or worse, he continues to push boundaries in his own unique way. One can only hope that his next effort will see a return to the sharper songwriting and cohesion that made albums like Hand. Cannot. Erase. and The Raven That Refused to Sing, modern prog classics.

Music: 2 stars

Lyrics: 3 stars

Execution: 4 stars

Emotion: 2 stars

Production: 5 stars

Artwork: 2 stars

Average: 2.83

Music For Beginners

Steven Wilson is the man behind at least five or six of the greatest prog records of all time. He's also responsible for remastering tons of classic prog albums, and his name on a remaster is a guarantee of great sound and deep knowledge.

But Steven doesn't like being confined to a single style. Over time, he has grown to resent being associated with the prog world?despite the fact that he makes a living from it. Unfortunately, there are also fans who keep buying his records, hoping for another Hand. Cannot. Erase. or The Raven That Refused to Sing. But this is not that. Once again, we come up empty-handed in our search for a better Steven, while the musician who refuses to be pigeonholed claims another victory.

It's not that I want my money back or that I think he should stop making music. I've always appreciated music that evolves, that mutates into something unique. But not this time. This album is a step backward? a leap into the void. It feels like an artist trying to disappear behind a mask or throwing a smoke bomb to obscure himself. Now, it's obvious why he lost the musical "armor" that once surrounded him?like Brian Wilson with the Wrecking Crew, Steven Wilson was always backed by incredible musicians. But now he stands alone, exposed, revealing a mediocrity that borders on amateurish.

The Overview (2025) promised something different?two long, epic tracks. Musically, it was supposed to mark a return to Wilson's progressive rock roots, drawing inspiration from Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, and Vangelis. The first track, "Objects Outlive Us," leans towards classic rock with dynamic shifts and intricate arrangements, while the title track, "The Overview," delves into ambient electronica, reflecting on humanity's place in the cosmos. That all sounds great on paper.

In practice? It's another exercise in self-indulgence. The compositions feel bloated, ideas meander with no real payoff, and the album never quite justifies its length. There are moments of beauty?Wilson has always been a master of atmosphere?but they're lost in a structure that feels more like a series of experiments than a cohesive artistic statement. Collaborators include keyboardist Adam Holzman, guitarist Randy McStine, and drummer Craig Blundell, but even they can't inject enough life into this to save it. Wilson's wife, Rotem, narrates parts of the title track, and Andy Partridge of XTC co-wrote some of the lyrics, but none of that stops this album from feeling like a hollow shell of what it could have been.

The great production the mix is almost perfect despite the fact that the second song it is a bit bored the record deserves a listen and a better place this year

3.5 out of 5

It's a fantastic musical journey that evolves the ideas of his previous album The Harmony Codex with added ambitious and space rock elements. (which were already prominent in that album). Both tracks are a musical journey as expected from the length but have a very distinct feel.

Objects Outlive Us is more ambitious and we get to SW trying some more weirder chord progression and unique vocal patterns (for him, ofc). I was scared about the comments of overuse of falsetto and the track not flowing well structurally, but I was pleasant surprised that both didn't happen. The ending solo is really beautiful and something I would expect from Randy, he has a unique way of playing guitar and he did a great job (also in other solos from both tracks too)

The Overview takes a more electronic approach with spoken voices, which reminds me of early PT which works beautifully to me, although all the synth is definitely new gig and reminiscent of his later works. it still has a lot acoustic moments, and later on a mix of both approaches. The outro of the track is sublime and definitely pays off the whole journey, very Cowboy Bebop-ish!

Definitely an album that will take a lot of listens to appreciate all the small elements, but also one that I already enjoy a lot especially with headphones. It feels great to see SW going back on his space rock roots with a new arsenal of synths and musical ideas. One of his best works, IMO, 5/5

I was really looking forward to this album as I have booked tickets for the 2025 tour,plus it has been well prophesied as a pure prog rock album. The album is certainly well produced which you would expect from Steven. I would say the sound is Pink Floyd-ish but not at their classic moments - yes ,more the Endless River. I don't think it's a very adventurous album with classic phases or moments - more of a late night listening experience. Of the two tracks, I prefer The Overview - Track One doesn't seem to go many places. Of Track Two - one sequence : A Beautiful Infinity 11 - I love this sequence with the synth solo all too short -but superb. I will certainly pick this part out as something to look forward to live,otherwise nothing to make you jump out of your chair

Mr. Wilson's 2025 offering shows his return to science and space perspective themes as well as a return to the kind of music he was making in the early years of his Porcupine Tree infancy: the Pink Floyd and Beatles-inspired stuff before his collaborators became as important to the music as his own ideas and inputs.

1. "Objects Outlive Us" (23:17) (44.25/50): - "No Monkey's Paw" (1:59) - opens with electronica vocal, sounding like Steven's attempt at a James Blake song. Not bad! (4.375/5) - "The Buddha of the Modern Age" (2:26) - Paul McCartney-sounding piano, cymbal play, chant-proclamation vocals delivered at first via solo voce but then with banked full "world" choir. (4.375/5) - "Objects: Meanwhile" (6:31) - harkening back to Steven's "current events" perspective songs with acoustic guitar strumming, piano chord hits, big synth and guitar chords and Steven's astute and poetic observational commentary over the top. Randy McStine's microtonal guitar play in the instrumental section, pedal steel guitar beneath the second verse. Macho-bass leads the way into a heavier motif in the second half of the instrumental passage. Then strumming acoustic guitars, synth and piano inputs resurface for Steven to continue his observational rant. (8.875/10) - "The Cicerones / Ark" (3:42) - a mathematical weave of arpeggiating piano and guitar guitar chords peppered with bouncy synth and distorted electric guitar flourishes leads into this slow build motif over which Steven & Co. chant a list with repetitious urgency. (8.75/10) - "Cosmic Sons of Toil" (3:00) - continue the bouncy (fast-oscillating volume control) synth chords only add chunky jazz bass, sophisticated syncopated drumming, complex chord progressions, and solos from rhythm guitar (Steven), lead guitar (Randy), keyboard (Adam), and some pretty awesome bass and drum play. This is pretty fresh: not unlike the genius Steven was trying to express on Grace for Drowning. (8.875/10) - "No Ghost on the Moor / Heat Death of the Universe" (6:00) - opens with deep space synth before Steven (or some other male voice) joins in with a high falsetto voice at 0:30. Steven's normal voice (sounding a lot like Steve Hogarth) proceeds over "Sky Moves Sideways" echo snare beat and synth washes. Randy McStine microtonal infinity guitar solo in the third minute is interesting and unusual. Pink Floyd/Radiohead "Subterranean Homesick Alien" sound and chord palette rises to dominate the fifth minute as Randy's guitar goes Frippertronic. I like it. (But then, I loved "Sky" and "Homesick Alien.") (9/10)

2. "The Overview" (18:27) : - "Perspective" - trip-hoppy instrumental space music with astronomy science facts & distances being recited over the top. Steven is using a lot of very familiar sounds, chords, and chord progressions (from his own previous works). - "A Beautiful Infinity I" - strumming acoustic guitars with Steven singing over the voice. Again, so much of this we've heard before in Steven's previous works; the effects, the voice styling, the guitars, the Pink Floyd chords, the Beatles/XTC sound effects and engineering techniques. - "Borrowed Atoms" - - "A Beautiful Infinity II" - Some of this even goes back as far as "The Sky Moves Sideways" and "Every Home Is Wired" and "Stars Die." - "Infinity Measured in Moments" - the coolest movement of the suite with its syncopated rhythm pattern, layered synths, guitars, and choral vocals. There feels some originality in this mélange. I love the presence/use of ukelele/mandolin and banjo! - "Permanence" - space ambient synth chords that sound like the sexy love music Vangelis put in his Blade Runner soundtrack. Even the love-time sax is fitting. Just waiting for Barry White's voice to enter to narrate the foreplay. There is so much that I love about this song--just as there is so much that I love about everything Steven did in the 1990s and his more recent solo discography--yet there are elements of everything that rub me a little the wrong way: much of which results in my disappointing reaction of "I've heard this before" or "he's used this before." (35.5/40)

Total Time 41:44

My single most dominant "complaint" about the music on this album is how cut-and-paste patchworked it is with so much of Steven's past sounds, riffs, "tricks," and styles. Otherwise, this is another brilliant "time capsule" of art. My second much smaller "complaint" is that the perspectives offered here on The Overview are not as obvious as they were on Fear of a Blank Planet or Hand. Cannot. Erase. --two albums that I consider among the best representatives of 21st Century "first world" Homo sapiens sapiens. Perhaps Steven's perspectives are a bit more subjective and isolated than before and, thus, sometimes tough to interpret.

B-/3.5 stars; despite the rather low rating, I still greatly admire this album as a wonderful representative of the genius of the one and only Steven Wilson. I'll rate it up to four stars as it is an excellent exhibition of progressive rock music that most every prog lover will enjoy and despite the over-familiarity of a lot of its ideas and sounds for we who know Steven's discography fairly well.

Steven Wilson's latest solo album was much heralded as a return to prog sensibilities in his solo work, and it kind of is and kind of isn't. It consists of two side-long tracks with different subsections, but anyone expecting something high on proggy complexity and a retro sound should remember that Steven Wilson was the original Marillion fan, and Misplaced Childhood had exactly the same structure but also included a bona fide pop hit in that structure.

I don't think there's a Kayleigh here, though - but nor is there a Close To the Edge. Instead, The Overview is a decidedly different animal, weaving its way through ambient textures, propulsive post-rock soundscapes, flashes of the sort of indie-rock-with-prog-inflections style that Porcupine Tree delved into on Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, easy listening jazz, and more besides.

Wilson doing this project under his own name perhaps makes sense because it really doesn't quite fit into any of his band projects, though there's aspects of many of them here, from dream pop vocals and trip-hop beats worthy of No-Man to New Prog moments that could have come off a late 1990s Porcupine Tree album to the sort of ambient textures that Bass Communion may have touched on, and so on and so forth.

Where it doesn't particularly touch on is the heavier, crunchier sound of Porcupine Tree's more metal-oriented phase - the In Absentia era and its followups - or any of the aspects of that sound that Wilson has drawn on elsewhere in his solo career; there isn't something like Raider II from Grace For Drowning on here. On the other hand, it can hardly be accused of being a left turn into synthpop either. Ultimately, if there's one lesson that Wilson has taught us with these solo albums, it's that he's going to do what he likes with such releases and not be bound by past precedent or the expectations a band project might carry with it. But for my money, he's put out another top-tier effort.

Judging by early reviews of this album I was expecting something a lot worse than it actually is. For the most part it's a return to 'prog' for Steven after the experimental and largely underwelming last few releases which didn't seem to have any real point. I appreciate that it would be hard for anyone to better such releases as Hand Cannot Erase and The Raven That Refused To Sing but it would be nice to know he cares at least!

The Overview is defintely for me a return to form. He is well known to be a Pink Floyd fan (perhaps his favourite band) and this has definite echoes (see what I did there) of the early spacey psyche rock of Floyd. Perhaps he 'bottles' it slightly but not that much. The opening 23 minute suite Objects Outlive Us is as good as anything he has done for 10 years. Great drumming from Russell Holzman especially oushining Craig Blundell who appears on the second piece. It feels to me that a lot more effort went into this part of the album and maybe it could have stretched to being a one album track? The second ( and only other track) is the Overview coming in at 18 minutes long. This is where the album gets slightly derailed and is a much more disjointed long song. Contains some unecessary contributions from wifey Rolem quoting off scientifiic information and then a perfunctory outro. Craig Blundell (not my favourite drummer) takes over the stool and he's about as blunt as usual. This track feels a lot more cobbled together in order to make an album.

Overall though there is enough here to justify a rating of around 8.5/10 (9.5 for Objects Outlive Us/ 7.5 for The Overview)

This a great album because it makes a statement like the great albums of the 70's. This is a statement about life and looking at life and we are simple creature who don't really understand life because we live it in real time. I believe that he wants us to look at ourselves from a distance and he choose to have this motif about space to make us see ourselves from this perspective. I always like Mr. Wison's direction because he always want to reinvent himself. With this album, he is channeling his inner Bowie. This is good and I like it. We can always like space because we are space and we will die and go into space. This is a good idea and I can like it and give it my assurance that this will be a competent artistic statement. This is 4.5 stars, no question..

A new album by Mr. Wilson always deserves my attention.

And I have to say that the first listen surprised me. In a bad way, I admit. But I gave it a chance and I've changed my mind. So don't be influenced by those who give it poor reviews.

I understand that we were all expecting a new album like the one he composed for his band Porcupine Tree, or at least in the style of "Hand, Cannot, Erase" or "The Raven..." two absolute masterpieces of progressive rock (prog crossover, to be more exact) during his solo career. But no, with great courage, he has created a conceptual album, but not a complex one, with simple melodies, but with the complexity of his music, his ideas, his obsessions, and his skill as a musician, composer, and prog genius, which are always there, no matter what the haters say.

I was expecting something bigger, much better than the eclectic The Harmony Codex, and what I'm hearing is something more solid and coherent. Better? For me, yes.

Well. He did it again, at yet, not quite right, he did something entirely different. The Overview is an ambitious album, and follows such acts as the likes of Thick as A Brick or Tubular Bells, where two solid pieces coexist to create something different. Sonically it furthers the sounds of The Harmony Codex, taking sonic and stylistic distance from The Future Bites (not so much as from the lyrics). I feel there are some places where he tends to reproduce sounds already created and is leaning on his own palette and history to explore new sounds and compositions. I have to disagree with some other reviewers, a I don`t feel this extremely fragmented, or that the two suites/epics are written without a sense of cohesion. I think the fragmented cycles within the pieces, the silences and the relative chaotic nature of the album are designed by Wilson precisely to understand the view from up there. And of course I still think, the experience is what actually matters, this is an album planned for a LIVE experience, recommend to listen to It with headphones late at night.

The concept of the album is about our perspective looking at the earth from space and how it can create a sense of joy in some people and a feeling of emptiness in others. The album has 2 long songs; the first one is related to humanity and the second to science. This explains why we are in front of 2 different atmospheres on those songs. 

 

The first song starts at a low pace with vocals and piano, and it takes a while before we can hear the guitars. Some more upbeat music starts with the bass and some cool synth effects. Then there is a long silence at the 11:00 mark. The guitar takes more space with a solo. I enjoy the buildup in this song that ends peacefully. The second track is spacey at the beginning in an Ozric Tentacles style with electronic effects and the narration of Steve's wife. If you enjoy ambient music, you will enjoy this; if not, then the second half will please you more when the drums kick in and the guitar has more space. It's here that we can hear some nice keyboard solos. The beginning of this second song reminds me also of Porcupine Tree's "The Sky Moves Sideways" and some bits of "Dark Side of the Moon." 

 

So, we have here a proggy album, but some may be disappointed if you expect a more rock-oriented album. It's more on the line of "Harmony Codex" while maintaining some of the sound of earlier albums. But in the end, it must be enjoyed for its cinematic feel with some new things and some old things from Steven. While I am not excited by the story, the music has enough quality to satisfy me. I prefer the first song because I prefer to be more on the earth than in space... 

Not too long ago, I reviewed Steven Wilson's then latest release, "The Harmony Codex". In that review I mentioned that this release was forthcoming, and here it is. "The Overview" was released on March 14, 2025, thus making it one week old as I type this (a little older by the time this gets posted). Anything Mr. Wilson releases has a tendency to get a lot of notice right away in the prog-fan community, and this is no exception. This album seems to be a "love it or hate it" release. We shall see what I think shortly. The album is split between 2 "sidelongs", with the first being 23:19 and the second being 18:21. In the version I have from Apple Music, the tracks are repeated with the different sections in separate tracks. In a newly published interview in Guitar Player Magazine, Wilson describes the album thusly:

[Interviewer] It's billed as two pieces, but the album really feels like a singular experience.

[Wilson] It's two different sides of the same coin. The first side of the album is really about the human side of it, and the second side is more about the science. And even then, it's not as simple as that, because there's little bit of each in both. I think that's the way I kind of rationalize these two separate pieces of music to be. The second half is more about the science and the sheer magnitude of space, and the first is about the human race and its relationship to it.

The musician line-up is:

- Steven Wilson / vocals, guitars, keyboards, sampler, bass, percussion, programming

With: - Adam Holzman / keyboards - Randy McStine / guitars - Craig Blundell / drums

So, without further ado, here are my first impressions as I give it a "cold listen."

Track 1 - Objects Outlive Us

The "movements" are as follows:

- No Monkey's Paw - The Buddha of the Modern Age - Objects: Meanwhile - The Cicerones - Ark - Cosmic Sons of Toil - No Ghost on the Moor - Heat Death of the Universe

The piece begins with Wilson singing a high note with minimal synth accompaniment. He sings in harmony starting around the 30 second point. Bass and more keys join in just before the one-minute point. The music is unfolding slowly, with lots of space between phrases. A piano part begins to establish some rhythm before the 2-minute point, and then Blundell taps a ride cymbal on the beat. Over the next minute, the song builds in intensity. I am getting Pink Floyd-" Interstellar Overdrive" vibes between the 3-minute mark and 4:15; very cool. I like the musical textures that follow. We are in 6-8 after 5 minutes. I like the instrumental textures in the section after 6 minutes. I am listening on fairly decent speakers now but betting it would sound spectacular in headphones. At around 7:15 there is a possible David Bowie reference when he sings "While he wondered, 'Is there life on Mars?'" I love the fuzz bass at around the 8-minute mark. Then Blundell joins with an AWESOME drum groove. This becomes a prog- tastic instrumental break! I am really enjoying this track! Another vocal section begins following that at a softer dynamic level. Then at 10:15 the level increases for an ascending melody. Excellent use of dynamic levels, Mr. Wilson (yep, I can't hide my music teacher thought process!). A more mellow section follows this with some odd meter shifts. I am picking up a return of a musical theme from earlier, but with variations from 11:30 or so. Great dynamic changes again at 13:30. The music gets "heavier" around 14 minutes. Excellent piano around 14:25. More prog coolness ensues at around 14:45. Not sure if the following guitar solo is Wilson or McStine, but it's wonderful! The piano motif returns, joined by the entire band. Great bass at 16:20, followed by a cool guitar riff. Great playing leading up to a pause in activity at 17 minutes. After that the music gets a "floating-through-space" vibe. Wilson sings some nice falsetto lines here. By 19 minutes in, a subtle rhythm has returned. A quiet guitar solo joins in following that. I have not been focused on the different sections here, preferring to listen as a whole. Wonderful guitar playing as we approach the 22-minute point. A disturbing tone brings the piece to a resolution. I absolutely LOVED that! So far, I know which side of the "Love it or hate it" debate I fall on!

Track 2- The Overview

A bit of "static" starts the second track. A rhythmic sequenced synth part follows, joined by some electronic percussion sounds. A spoken word part joins in describing the sizes of various identified stars and nebulas. So far this one has more of an "electronic music" vibe. He eventually begins mentioning galaxies as we proceed. The sounds fade out at around 4:15. More peaceful, floaty type sounds follow that. At 4:44 the band kicks in with a moderate tempo 4-4 beat. Wilson begins singing at around 5:15. This has a strummed acoustic with the keys and rhythm section, along with clean electric flourishes. He returns to falsetto at around 6:25 for a couple of lines. A guitar solo follows. This one is kinda mellow so far, but I like it. The rhythm section and guitars drop out around 7:45 and piano and sound effects accompany the vocals. A very short, but impressive a cappella harmony section leads the band back in in a bigger way than they had been previously at around 8:45. If the Beatles had continued into the modern day, it might sound like this. Superb harmony vocals, as we have come to expect from Wilson in Porcupine Tree and other projects hit at around 9:20. At 9:45 Holzman gives us a very Rick Wright (the late-great keyboardist from Pink Floyd) keyboard-tone feature, but only for about 15 seconds. At 10:00 the music drops back out for spacy sounds. By 11 minutes, the band has a cool rhythm going with more stats about the size of objects in space being described. The harmony vocals recapitulate some of the themes from track 1. Fantastic guitar sounds take over at around 12:15. At 13:00, we have handclap sounds with another cool rhythm happening. I like it! The Wright style keyboards get a longer feature after that. Nice sounds at 14 minutes! This is GREAT PROG! I don't know what the ones who didn't like this were listening to, because it couldn't have been this! The music fades and more stats are read. By 15 minutes a mellow keyboard takes over. It is spacy here as well, but the album is ABOUT SPACE! (lol) These sounds seem to be taking us to the close of the track for the last minute and a half. GREAT TRACK!!

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

So, first I will start with an admission. I was dreading this one a bit, after seeing so many negative takes on this album, and the disappointment I felt over "The Harmony Codex" in my review in January. However, to quote my earlier self: "Maybe 'The Overview,' will be more what I am looking for. The early info shows that he recorded it with only Randy McStine (Guitars), Adam Holzman (Keys) and Craig Blundell (Drums) along with him, so it seems more like a rock band effort." And indeed, it was! Sure, there were a few segments here and there that were a bit slow moving, but it fits in with the concept of the album. This album belongs alongside Wilson's best solo-efforts as well as the best Porcupine Tree albums. The harmonies in the middle of the title track reminded me of PT classics like "Waiting," "Lips of Ashes," and "Lazarus." While it maybe isn't quite as good as "The Raven That Refused to Sing," (which I gave 5 stars) it's very close. I gave "The Harmony Codex" 3.75 out of 5, as it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. This one gets 4.75 out of 5 stars! It's great prog, and Wilson and crew really delivered.

Clicked 5 stars, but really 4.75...4 is too low.

Steven Wilson enters 2025 with a dazzling new studio album aiming to be a contemporary musical interpretation of the so-called "overview effect" experienced by astronauts seeing the Earth from space, an experience described as deeply moving and emotional, which is often the case with Wilson's musical ventures. This is the British musician's eighth solo album and is a very welcome and warmly-received return to a more psychedelic-progressive style of writing, at times even reminiscent of his earliest experiments with Porcupine Tree (thinking of 'The Sky Moves Sideways' or 'Metanoia'), and is ideally in a format he has never tackled before as the album is composed of just two lengthy pieces of music, both of which are tied to the overarching concept of the aforementioned "overview effect". Alongside Wilson one shall find the usual cast of collaborators in the likes of Adam Holzman, Craig Blundell and Randy McStine, with Theo Travis making a brief appearance, together with Willow Beggs, Niko Tsonev and Rotem Wilson.

The first part of 'The Overview' album is the 23-minute piece titled 'Objects Outlive Us', a cathartic, complex and incredibly diverse movement that is made up of eight different bits, although the entire piece (and the whole album, in fact) works as a cohesive whole and should be seen as such. Starting off with a choral, enchanting intro, the song gradually moves to a more traditional Wilson-esque progression, with loads of atmospheric keys, haunting acoustic guitars and refined melodies, topped by the picturesque lyrics of Andy Partridge. A more avant-garde instrumental sections awaits the listener later on, similar to some of the material on 'The Harmony Codex', then drifting away into space on the wings of a spacious guitar solo, one of the best on a Steven Wilson recording, authored by McStine. The title track comes second here and is an 18-minute-long movement structured in six parts - this is a much wider, more atmospheric and fluid piece of music, with some spoken word from Wilson's wife and a prevalent use of various effects, synths, and keyboards. An interesting counterbalance to the first part of the album, together with which it forms a very endearing, calming and fascinatingly enticing musical experience, elevated perhaps by the fact that this album is much more pertinent to the progressive roots of the artist yet intelligently claiming enough of his more recent experiments with electronica.

Steven WILSON, one of the prog benchmarks; a patchwork, conceptual album bringing together two musical overlays to escape this dark world through his unique musical universe. A title about the effect of seeing Earth from above.

"Objects Outlive Us: No Monkey's Paw" with a cappella falsetto vocals addressing the extraterrestrial, coming from limbo, captivating latency worthy of POPOL VUH, a cosmic air to put us in the space mood, with ENO and REICH in the background. "The Buddha of the Modern Age" with lyrics by Andy of XTC, a pop gem about the problem of screens. "Objects: Meanwhile" central theme: life and its deceptions, imploding black holes. A romantic-dramatic mid-tempo ballad with a strong bass variation, a feel of "The Sky Moves Sideways" and the psychedelic-prog-post-rock madness that rises like an endless wave with keyboards favoring memories on ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA. A nervous, invasive finale reminiscent of "The Harmony Codex". "The Cicerones/Ark" acoustic arpeggio with its organ jelly, musical time seeming to stop on this metronomic vocal mantra that swells, swells like in the good old days of HAWKWIND. The heavy prog sound of the future with hints of his previous works. "Cosmic Sons of Toil" introduces a synth from TANGERINE DREAM, an energetic, tormented guitar taking the place of the keyboard. Unstructured, hypnagogic sound, modern notes and the outline of the heavy metal finale. "No Ghost on the Moor/Heat Death of the Universe" has the soaring atmosphere of the 95s, "The Sky" again features Craig's signature drums on the phrasing vocals, Randy's guitar connecting with the previous track. A surprising guitar solo with a final sound reminiscent of a ship's noise.

"The Overview: Perspective" builds on the foundations of the last track, "The Harmony Codex," with Rotem's voice rattling off sequences of numbers, like the TALKING HEADS, with a rudimentary TANGERINE DREAM-esque soaring synth, an amplified atmospheric ambiance. A metronomic, repetitive, tinkering space lacking soul. "A Beautiful Infinity/Borrowed Atoms" has the slow melody of PINK FLOYD, like "Wish You Were Here," a languid, reverberating air reminiscent of disco in the distance, and closer "Stupid Dream," even "The Future Bites." Randy brings his touch with a tortured solo that restores order; Beatlesian overtones, piano arpeggios and distant beats, helicopter blades. The chorus's languid ending is predictable, lacking spark. "A Beautiful Infinity II/Infinity Measured in Moments" returns to the stratosphere with robotic female phrasing and BOWIE-esque funky rock keyboard drops. The atmospheric choir fills the ears, flooding with its fluid melody of OLFIELD, electro, and then another tortured guitar solo flirting with the keyboard. Crystalline arpeggios, musical water drops, and the muffled sound launch "Permanence" into a codice-like harmonic finale, sax in the distance, as in "Le grand Bleu." Adam's languid jazzy air invites us to float in space and see from above, a clear nod to the melodies of VANGELIS. Steve Wilson has projected his album with Miles Skarin-esque views, for an immersive audio on the phenomenon of the visual sensation of space. It is a return to progressive and expansive music, an opus for traveling in endless prog space. An excellent album for those who do not know his work, very good for those who like prog and good for those who know the work well, delivering here a tactical best of his discography. (3.5). (4.5 in atmospherics for musical pleasure, WILSON is avant-garde anyway.) Originally on Progcensor.

Steven Wilson has described his new album, The Overview, as a return to longer-form writing. I'm not sure "return" is necessarily applicable here. Even To the Bone and The Future Bites had one song apiece that pushed 10 minutes. Though I suppose if he's talking more specifically about songs long enough to cover one whole side of an LP, it has been a while. The last one of such length was "Raider II" off Grace for Drowning in 2011. And this is the first album to feature two such massive songs since The Sky Moves Sideways (though disc one of The Incident is billed as one hour-long song cycle).

This is also the first Steven Wilson solo album in a while I've gone into with good hopes. He has explicitly cited Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd as influences he channeled here, as well as stating that the concept of The Overview is well-suited to progressive rock. (The concept behind this album is "the overview effect," where astronauts viewing the Earth from above often report overwhelming emotion and a strong connection with all of humanity.)

The first half of the album is the 23-minute, eight-part "Objects Outlive Us", which was co-written by Andy Partridge of XTC. Opening with some wispy, echoing falsetto vocals, things coalesce slowly, and the second part has a touch more urgency. Piano underpins a steady marching rhythm, and multilayered vocals add to the building tension. It grows louder and more oppressive before suddenly cutting out, seemingly evoking the growing weight of G-forces before arriving in a zero-gravity setting.

Pink Floyd is indeed a very obvious influence in this song, but it's all run through the filter of Wilson's songwriting style. Wilson has always drawn heavily from Floyd, and part three gives me strong echoes of Porcupine Tree circa the turn of the millennium. This phase then shifts into a heavier passage, and I really like the guitar tones here. The riffs are irregular and exciting.

Near the midpoint of "Objects Outlive Us", things quiet down, and piano and acoustic guitar again take the lead. As more textures enter, it lends the song a trancelike, hypnotic quality. Wilson again pulls off a powerful buildup before pulling back and letting blooping synth patterns push things along. There's a wiry, bluesy guitar solo that contrasts against the space-age retro-futurism of the backing in a really interesting way.

Heading into the final leg of this opus, Wilson revisits the subdued themes of this song's opening, underscoring the thesis laid out in this song's title: the persistence of things. A stretched-out guitar solo occupies most of this song's conclusion, gradually fading into an anxious swirl of effects.

The 18-minute, six-part title track comes next. Opening on radio static, it quickly shifts to bouncy electronica with outer-space words being narrated over top. Here are those Tangerine Dream influences he mentioned! This passage goes on for a bit longer than it needs to, but it's not too terribly dragged-out. The shifting textures beneath the narration do give this section some dynamism, and it does a good job at setting the tone. 

Part two starts as an acoustic song with a simple rhythm, and the Pink Floyd influences are again obvious, especially in the guitar flourishes. His vocal melodies are strong and catchy, and this is a good synthesis of his more pop-oriented writing with some of his prog influences. There is some nice twang here and there in the instrumental backing that I'm not sure I've ever heard from Wilson before. The mood is overall mellower and dreamier than on the prior epic. This piece takes its time a bit more, and that's a nice contrast between the two sides.

The opening narration reemerges, but this time the backing is more a blend of rock and electronic influences, rather than diverging into one or the other. After one last reprise of the preceding section's chorus, the song pushes into an ascendant, interstellar guitar solo.

There's an unexpected hard pivot to a rather sunny, bouncy section led by biting bass and punctuated by handclaps. Despite how different it is from the preceding passage, it fits in perfectly, and it serves as the backing for an exhilarating synthesizer solo. Delicate guitar and ukulele arpeggios evoke twinkling stars as things fade out.

"The Overview"'s final passage emerges from this void with gently wobbling electric piano and distant saxophone, calling to mind the emptiness of space. This resolution feels somewhat anticlimactic. Had, perhaps, this been shorter and flowed more immediately from the preceding passage, it may have worked better. But as it is, it simply lingers too long for my liking. That said, it's a fairly minor overall quibble.

It's nice to have Steven Wilson making music I like again. Where The Harmony Codex saw him bridging his electronic and rock influences, The Overview is where he has jumped fully back into prog. Who knows how long he'll stay there, but I'm enjoying it while I can. The two huge tracks here are both smart and striking, with distinct personalities. I've got minor gripes with each, but on the whole, this is quite the strong release.

Review originally published here: theeliteextremophile.com/2025/03/17/album-review-steven-wilson-the-overview/

"𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻'𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗢𝗱𝘆𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘆."

1. Objects Outlive Us (23:19) (25/25) I. No Monkeys Paw. Beautiful way to open the track, really pretty, it's like Floyd mixed with a bit of Harmony Codex and Future Bites. Gentle piece, nice intro.

II. The Buddha of the Modern Age. Some of my favourite vocal work Steven Wilson has ever put to record, that includes everything he did in Porcupine Tree. Gregorian chant-esque, mixing Pink Floyd and the intro of Revealing Science of God by Yes.

III. Objects: Meanwhile. Pure Floydian-Steven Wilson. The guitar playing, the keyboard sounds (maybe lacking in organs and rhodes but regardless), the atmosphere, even the Harmonies (which PF could never replicate). The verse is catchy, the chorus mixed Hand. Cannot. Erase. qualities and Floyd-esque mood, a little bit of complexity, and cool yet subtle use of Saxophone.

Also, Andy Partridge (XTC) having lyrical credits here is really cool.

IV. The Cicerones Nice little guitar part, feels like something off Deadwing or even Hand. Cannot. Erase again. Mellotrons to give that old prog feel to go directly into...

V. Ark. A vocal focused bit, almost polyrhythmic. Love the lyrical flow, love how Steven executes this part. Gorgeous, production holds up really well too. A bit of heaviness, a bit of beautiful harmonies... what's not to love?

VI. Cosmic Sons of Toil. A little space rock / jazz fusion focused prog in this bit. Steven has a way of phrasing guitar parts, sorta Floyd-esque but... it's also like Fripp-esque too. You get this Floydian Jazz bit with the Fripp like weirdness. Great part, love the angular nature, love the keyboards here.

VII. No Ghost on the Moor. Reprising 'No Monkeys Paw' Lyrics and 90% musically, just add some slow drums. Really nice way to tie the epic together. Once again, strong ties to HCE, TFB and THC.

VIII. Heat Death of the Universe Reprises the opening with even more emphasis on the Floydian (DSOTM or The Wall-esque) Space Rock elements and production. Beautiful way to close off this epic. Very Floydian, really spacey, awesome guitar solo. This ends so ominously too, spacey string section, creepy, fitting for the mood of the album. If you like Pink Floyd, this is the closest you will get in the 21st Century. Period.

2. The Overview (18:48) (19.5/20) I. Perspective. Trippy, Electronic Rock, a little bit of the Dark Side of the Moon and Sky Moves Sideways elements. Really cool, but this is the only part of the album I find overstays it's welcome. Creative though! Reminds of stuff he also did on his previous solo album 'The Harmony Codex', a little more Tangerine Dream influence. As much as it's not my favourite moment on the album, how much does this differ from the opening of Time on DSOTM? Plus, it's part of the concept and has cool keys....

II. A Beautiful Infinity I. Beatles-esque with the Classic Wilson Floydian touch. Reminds me a little bit of Porcupine Tree's 'Stupid Dream', cool space-oriented lyrics, Floydian Guitar slides (obviously reminiscent to David Gilmore), strong songwriting.

III. Borrowed Atoms. The closest thing you'll get to Pink Floyd harmonies in the 21st century. Period. It's 'The Great Gig in the Sky' musically and 'Goodbye Blue Sky' vocally in the 21st Century. Very pretty.

IV. A Beautiful Infinity II. We return to the Beatles-esque feel of A Beautiful Infinity, really beautiful like I said. Strong hints of the Psychedelia that inspired SW so much. Definitely something worth reprising. Slightly rough transition, but you may end up getting used to it (it's just a tad abrupt).

V. Infinity Meassured in Moments. Mixing the Tangerine Dream qualities, spoken word, into a more prog drumgroove. It's also weird how I can compare this to Dukes Travels in ways. We get some more great vocal work, followed by a truly electric Adam Holzman solo. The sequencers, the guitars, the sounds and fx, the drums, everything. Absolutely incredible. One of my favourite moments Steven has written in his career.

VI. Permanence. Richard Wright-esque chords, Saxophone, the mood, the way the keys sound... I love every moment. A little bit of Floyd, Jean-Luc Ponty, and just mood music. Some of the most serenely gorgeous 3 minutes ever put on a Steven Wilson record.

Total: (44.5/45) = 98.89% Grade : A+ Favourite Track: Objects Outlive Us Favourite Section: Infinity Meassured in Moments.

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So! The Overview... This is the Pink Floyd record that Pink Floyd never made. This is Animals meets Wish You Were Here, mixed with a little Tangerine Dream, Yes, Crimson, and some Jazz elements to keep you entertained.

Listen, if you are going into this thinking this is gonna be "The Raven That Refused to Sing" or "Grace for Drowning" or even "Hand. Cannot. Erase" you'll be disappointed. This is Steven's attempt at a Space Rock album and he made it clear that's what this album will be. 'Objects Outlive Us' is taking more from Floyd directly, more comparable to something like "The Sky Moves Sideways", a little bit of the classic Yes/Crimson influenced prog in there too. While the Title Track took from Psychedelic Rock like The Beatles, the 70s Floyd sound, and emphasis on the Harmony Codex "Tangerine Dream" qualities as well.

This is both an attempt to make a modern Floyd record, and recapturing a ton of Steven Wilson's career all on one disc. At a concise 41:44, this album doesn't waste your time... it just delivers exactly what's intended. My only real critiques are that a small few of moments feel cut and pasted together, like there wasn't enough time to write a proper transition (most notably A Beautiful Infinity II into Infinity Meassured in Moments), and how long 'Perspective' drones for.

Absolutely astounding record. The closest I've come to giving an album a 10/10 review so far.

PA Rating: 5 stars - Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music.

When I watched Star Wars: Episode VIII for the first time in the cinema, there was silence. Nobody said anything, nobody clapped. I walked out the cinema unsure whether I actually liked what I had just experienced. I felt as though I should love what I just saw, deep down I did not. It was strange and unsettling. I had a similar feeling when I attended one of the preview events for The Overview in Mexico City. When the screening ended, the audience applauded. I hesitated but, in the end, I decided not to join in. Over time I developed the running joke that The Last Jedi is the worst movie in history. That said, the evolution of The Overview in my mind has gone in the opposite direction, I believe it is a very good record. It is neither a failed effort like To The bone, nor a scattered pastiche like The Harmony Codex. However, it is also not the progressive Wilson of The Raven, not even of Hand.Cannot.Erase. Musically, both tracks on The Overview, mainly the second one, feel like a continuation of his more recent work. Generally, I consider the first one slightly better, as it flirts with a sound reminiscent of Porcupine Tree's latest album. Then, there is the much-discussed format: two long tracks. The suites feel a bit disjointed, particularly on early listens, and I believe it is because they do not end the typical epic grand finale, but instead seem to fade into the void, drifting into long calm passages that abruptly despair. Still, I think the album's biggest limitation, and what keeps it from reaching the heights of Wilson's first four solo albums is the absence of band. Let me explain. This is very much a solo record. You can feel Wilson made it alone and brought it to life alone, in his room. What made The Raven and Hand.Cannot.Erase so powerful was that they sounded like a band, a truly magnificent group of musicians playing together. The Overview sounds like Steven Wilson by himself, for better or worse. It feels pieced together rather than performed and the spark that comes from collaboration, from musicians living and working together is missing. To sum up, The Overview offers a certain balance between progressive music, at least in its structure and modern Wilson sound. It is easy to listen to, surprisingly brief, which invites repeat plays. On the downside, it carries and sense of loneliness and recycles familiar musical language. It is an improvement over his recent works , but misses the energy, depth, emotional impact and even the sinister touches of Wilson most acclaimed records.

As one of the biggest names in modern Prog, it's always interesting to hear what Steven Wilson is up to, and this album had additional expectations as it was hyped as Steven's 'return to prog' after multiple albums experimenting with different musical forms, with mixed results. On this album, Steven tackles the concept of The Overview, which has to do with a state of awe and transcendence reported by astronauts while viewing Earth from Space. And if Steven was attempting a musical depiction of that experience, I don't think he succeeded. But for me, Steven Wilson has always been hit and miss, as he has produced some brilliant music, but also a lot of just OK stuff over the years. On this album Steven serves up a mixture of sounds and themes that span through his history, from the more atmospheric, spacey early work of Porcupine Tree through to the more experimental pop of recent years. As usual, the production and sound is impeccable, but for me at least, the results are similar to past work in that it is extremely up and down, equal parts good and disappointing. There are only 2 album side-long tracks here, but yet they don't really hold together as cohesive pieces, more as a collection of shorter pieces just placed together, some of which work and some that don't. It seems to be put together from various pieces and ideas he had lying around. The best parts are really good, with some great melodies, proggy elements, and pop-rock arrangements, whereas the weaker parts are somewhat dull or not very interesting. Overall, maybe about half of each full track was enjoyable for me, about 15-20 minutes out of the 41 min length. I know many consider Mr. Wilson to be a musical genius, and I'm glad that Steven is able to do whatever kind of music he wants to do, but once again, these musings strike me as being just pretty good, and a bit underwhelming. Rating: 3.0

Without completely abandoning the electronic influences of his recent albums, "The Overview" marks Steven Wilson's return to what he does best: outstanding progressive rock!

Here, we find only two unique and lengthy tracks, split into more standard-length songs on disc 2. While these may not represent the instrumental excellence of "The Raven That Refused to Sing" or "Hand. Cannot. Erase." (it's worth noting that the musician himself handles most of the instruments), they certainly bring us back to the most inspired Wilson from a compositional perspective.

Within this work, the most remarkable elements are the more acoustic and less experimental passages, present in both tracks, which might even remind us of the best moments of Porcupine Tree or albums where the British artist served as producer, such as "Damnation" by Opeth.

I hope this return to the right path continues over time and that Steven Wilson keeps delivering music of this quality, whether under his name or that of Porcupine Tree.

A true surprise, indeed!

*In a moment of existential contemplation, this review was written simultaneously with Cosmic Cathedral's Deep Water. In a similar mode to Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, the general theme here is existential understanding, big and small. Here Steven Wilson is thinking big, with terrifying consequences, and in the moments he thinks small, it's mostly to provide a context to properly consider the banality and unimportance of most of our thoughts and decisions. What we do doesn't really matter, and we need to determine what's important to us without religious or superstitious dogma to guide us, because those are only artifacts of the human tendency toward lazy and comforting thinking. Scientific advancement and understanding, and the determination to maintain a commitment to pursuing it, is the best we can do, even if it matters nothing to the universe itself. The fading red of the red pill observed at the heat death of the universe, so to speak.*

A throwback, 2001: A Space Odyssey-style interstellar journey to the end of the universe with Captain Steven Wilson? Yes.

A well-constructed, epic album culminating with a Cinema Show in space, with perhaps the sickest keyboardist I've ever heard in my life? Hell yes.

Lyrics that perhaps answer the question of what 70s Roger Waters would come up with if he read the 3 Body Problem and had a visceral premonition about the current rise of authoritarianism in the world? Let's freaking go!

Objects Outlive Us. When I first got this album in the mail, I had my family around, knowing it wouldn't be a perfect listening environment, and then made it worse when I played it through my TV soundbar. That is not an optimal way to experience this album, so say the least. Then, the first thing I heard was Steven Wilson's falsetto. I think it's a poor way to open an album, and it's the one thing I'd change about this song. The only other part that doesn't work for me is the heavy break in between the contemplative parts with Andy Partridge's lyrics--it seems a bit forced, and doesn't advance the song for me, which is unusual for anything Steven Wilson does.

Having said all that, this is a great track. When I crank it up in a proper setting, the layers, textures, and sound effects blow my mind. This isn't about virtuoso playing, but instead extending the boundaries of the tone and emotion of the instruments, with a song structure that emotionally progresses from existential dread to wonder (and disgust) of humanity to brief hopefulness (I think of broom boy in Star Wars when I hear the lyrics about the boy with the telescope) to beautiful (and terrifying) nothingness.

The Overview. I would say this baby is perfection: patient, adventurous, groundbreaking, thoughtful, and impactful. I like prog rock in general, but to me this is rare true progressive music.

The bottom line: Is this perfect? Close, but no, as explained above. Is this essential? For me, absolutely. Each listen gets better for me, and I keep finding new things to enjoy, from the writing, the playing, the mixing, and the larger ideas. I don't know about the Buddha of the Modern Age, but this is the Dark Side for my middle age.

"The Overview" is the eighth studio album by Steven Wilson, the internationally acclaimed producer, remixer, creator, and composer.

This 42-minute work is Steven's most audacious to date, comprised of just two songs: "Objects Outlive Us" and "The Overview." Each is inspired by the "overview effect" astronauts experience when looking at Earth from space.

"The Overview" began as a solo recording, but the final version features studio collaborations with longtime collaborators Craig Blundell (drums), Adam Holtzman (keyboards), and Randy McStein (guitar). It's an album that seamlessly and adventurously blends many different genres, all of which fit together perfectly. A sonic journey featuring some of the most exhilarating music of 2025.