CATALOGUE/PRESERVE/AMASS

I'm surprised there's no written reviews for this one yet. The music here is taken from the European tour for the "Grace For Drowning" tour, in particular this was recorded in October of 2011. I saw this same tour but in Toronto at The Opera House. When I went to that show I went with my daughter who is a huge fan and her husband who is a big Country music fan. He's a good sport though and I heard him saying "My God!" a few times while watching Marco Minneman and I have to say that his performance on the kit was the best I've seen live and I hate to say that being a big Neil Peart fan but man Marco blew me away. The whole show was incredible though and to get a taste of that again with this album has been very meaningful to me.

My two favourite Steven wilson albums are the first two which is what is represented here. There are two songs from "Insurgents" and the rest from "Grace For Drowning". Oh and just to emphasize how much I love these two albums I gave "Insurgents" album of the year in 2008 and "Grace For Drowning" was my album of the year for 2011. The album's title "Catalogue/Preserve/Amass" is taken from the chorus for the song "Index".

"No Twilight Within The Courts Of The Sun" has a sinister vibe early on with the bass and drums as the electric piano joins in. Some nice guitar expressions follow then flute. It kicks in hard at 5 1/2 minutes. So good! A calm with vocals follows then it kicks back in but with vocals this time. Incredible! Love the mellotron section that follows along with the piano.

"Index" is that creepy song about the collector. Fairly relaxed overall but check out the brief power before 2 minutes. "Deform To Form A Star" is one of my favourite Wilson songs of all time. Just a gorgeous track, especially the chorus with the mellotron and soaring vocals. This one got stuck in my head at work this past week many times.

"Sectarian" opens with drums and some cool guitar expressions before the heaviness arrives. Check out the sax and mellotron after 2 minutes. A change around 4 minutes with electric piano, drums and bass leading the way, oh and check out the mellotron as well. Back to the heaviness after 6 minutes. "No Part Of Me" opens with drums, keys and atmosphere as almost spoken vocals join in before 2 minutes. Nice bass before 3 1/2 minutes then it kicks in heavily with riffs. "Veneno Para Las Hadas" is slow moving with plenty of atmosphere as laid back vocals join in. Flute 3 minutes in as the vocals step aside until after 4 minutes when they return. This one is laid back and melancholic.

"Raider II" ends it and as Steven says while introducing it, it is the centre-piece of the new album. He goes on to say that it's long(25 minutes) and complicated so silence please. Ominous is the word to start but man I like when it kicks into gear with mellotron before 3 minutes. Vocals join in and they do get passionate. I like the flute playing over the heaviness. A calm follows that I really like then we pretty much get Prog-Metal after 8 minutes. A sax solo before 10 minutes as it settles back. The heaviness returns 11 1/2 minutes in before another atmospheric calm a minute later. More flute then vocals. It's building 17 1/2 minutes in as the vocals step aside. Some crazy sax expressions after 19 minutes then a big finish except it's not over despite the roar from the audience 21 minutes in thinking it is. It ends in an ominous manner just like it began.

Great sound quality, great track list and an amazing performance by all involved makes this a 5 star album and one of my favourite live albums period.

Steven Wilson's first solo live album is taken from the Grace For Drowning tour. Whilst that album had Steven play the multi-instrumentalist and enjoy the company of a large number of guests, for the live shows it became necessary to assemble a tight live band to deliver the tracks here (which make up the cream of Grace For Drowning - including the standout track Raider II - and a couple of cuts from Insurgentes). The band manage marvellously, really teasing out the jazz fusion influences on material like No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun.

Inevitably, the material lands differently in a live context than as the product of patient studio work, making the live album an interesting alternate interpretation of the tunes in question. It says a lot that a mere two albums into his solo career, Wilson was already producing enough quality material to fill out a setlist without drawing on the Porcupine Tree catalogue, and Catalogue/Preserve/Amass does a good job of capturing this excellent live set.

The first live album from Steven Wilson is a masterful exercise in re-interpreting boldly several of his best cuts, with the 2012 release 'Catalogue / Preserve / Amass' recorded during the European tour in promotion of the highly-acclaimed 'Grace for Drowning'. The single-disc live set features songs from both of Wilson's first two solo albums, with a particular highlight on the aforementioned 2011 double album, songs from which occupy five of the seven slots of the setlist. Alongside the then-former Porcupine Tree leader we find longtime collaborators Adam Holzman and Nick Beggs, together with drummer Marco Minnemann, woodwinds player Theo Travis, known from his work with Soft Machine and The Tangent, and experience guitar player Aziz Ibrahim, whom some might recognize from the H Band fronted by Steven Hogarth of Marillion. An all-around impressive lineup of musicians tackling a complex and demanding setlist, replete with classic Steven Wilson compositions, all part of his early and most experimental period, with lots of "fusion outbreaks" and improvisation going on around.

In the opening notes we hear the Bass Communion piece 'Citadel' playing in the background, over which Marco Minnemann swiftly builds a choppy rhythm that gives way to 'No Twilight within the Courts of the Sun', an 11-minute piece that sees the six-piece band setting up a fiery performance that approaches a sonic cavalcade at its loudest. Originally from the album 'Insurgentes', this live interpretation really brings out all the wicked qualities of this blooming and experimental piece. Next up on the setlist is the ghastly 'Index', as the live playthrough delivers that gloomy and claustrophobic feel in a dazzling way - there is a vivacity to this recording that one might not always get from the studio version. 'Deform to Form a Star' is the third track on the album, a beautiful performance that mostly stays faithful to the album version. The instrumental 'Sectarian' is an interesting entry here; this 7-minute piece allows the band to really "let themselves loose", the performance is manic and explosive, followed by the cathartic 'No Part of Me', with the live version expanding upon the melodramatic feel of the original recording. 'Veneno Para Las Hadas' from 'Insurgentes' also appears on this excellent live album, which is concluded with the centerpiece of 'Grace for Drowning', the 24-minute psychedelic fusion opus 'Raider II'. An outstanding performance of this closing piece, absolutely masterful, precise and breathtaking, and a grandiose finale to an otherwise-perfect set.

This live album from Steven Wilson might seem slightly overlooked, but it is a fantastic recording that shows the unmatched force that is his live band - every single nuance of this gorgeous album is perceptible and enjoyable, and every single minute of the album is an enriching sonic journey, making 'Catalogue / Preserve / Amass' one of the true masterpieces of Wilson's career.