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micky
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: October 02 2005
Location: .
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Points: 46828
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Posted: January 23 2017 at 17:07 |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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Progosopher
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 12 2009
Location: Coolwood
Status: Offline
Points: 6394
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Posted: January 23 2017 at 17:50 |
I like both In Absentia and especially Deadwing, but Fear of a Blank Planet burned me out of Porcupine Tree. I have two of SWilson's solo releases: The Raven That Refused to Sing, which I like quite a bit, and Hand.Cannot.Erase. which I think is pretty good.
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The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"
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cemego
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 18 2010
Location: Philadelphia PA
Status: Offline
Points: 498
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Posted: January 23 2017 at 17:55 |
Initially didn't like it. Took forever to grow on me, but Fear of A Blank Planet has become one of my all time favorite PT albums. I thought The Incident was crap. Cant get through it. Deadwing was kinda lame too. In Absentia was nice, and anything before that was awesome (Lightbulb, Stupid Dream, Signify... all great). I am one of these Steve Wilson zombies. I like pretty much most anything he does. I love No-Man as well which has led me into some wonderful music (like Henry Fool). Also he is responsible for my love of Opeth as well. So its very difficult for me to say anything bad about Mr. Wilson.
Edited by cemego - January 23 2017 at 17:56
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listen to streaming stuff! no commercials!
http://wmom.servemp3.com:8000/listen.pls
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mlkpad14
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 23 2017
Location: U.S.
Status: Offline
Points: 665
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Posted: January 23 2017 at 18:41 |
[QUOTE=cemego]Initially didn't like it. Took forever to grow on me, but Fear of A Blank Planet has become one of my all time favorite PT albums. I thought The Incident was crap. Cant get through it. Deadwing was kinda lame too. In Absentia was nice, and anything before that was awesome (Lightbulb, Stupid Dream, Signify... all great). I am one of these Steve Wilson zombies. I like pretty much most anything he does. I love No-Man as well which has led me into some wonderful music (like Henry Fool). Also he is responsible for my love of Opeth as well. So its very difficult for me to say anything bad about Mr. Wilson.[/QUOTE
All makes sense, except... YOU THOUGHT DEADWING WAS LAME??
I thought it was their best album! Say you like "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" or "Deadwing" or "Halo." They're all so good!
"Fear of a Blanket" has the amazing "Anesthetize." It's great. However, after that, Porcupine Tree becomes silly. You said so yourself, you don't care for "The Incident." The album "Anesthetize" just pieces together old songs, which don't really fit together. "Octane Twisted" does the same.
Then Wilson goes solo and he starts No-Man and Blackfield, and everything since then is amazing. However, I still want Porcupine Tree to regroup and make some actual new stuff (doubt it'll ever happen.) And "In Absentia" will always be classic. Nothing solo by Wilson will ever top "Grace For Drowning."
Don't get me wrong, Wilson is my favorite current artist. Just spilling out my negatives.
I haven't tried too much Opeth. I tried the album "Ghost Reveries," but was chased away by the metal growls. I'm scared to try much else by them. Was it just that album?
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twosteves
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 01 2007
Location: NYC/Rhinebeck
Status: Offline
Points: 4070
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Posted: January 23 2017 at 21:54 |
like his solo stuff more because it has moments of a jazzy feel and think his keyboardist is very good.
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Dellinger
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member
Joined: June 18 2009
Location: Mexico
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Points: 12608
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Posted: January 23 2017 at 22:23 |
My first Wilson/PT album was Grace for Drowning, which was a nice surprise for modern sounding prog, and then Comma Divine. I had heard some PT stuff rapidly on YouTube and didn't do much for me, but these two albums sold it to me. Then I got all the Gavin Harrison era albums, and next year I got The Raven. So far, my favourite albums from him are Comma Divine and The Raven (actually, I went to see the Raven concert, and it was one of the finest concerts I have attended, I just loved every song). I feel Comma Divine has something special that I find missing from the studio albums with Gavin Harrison (and I do feel that a small bit of it is Maitland really working wonderfully with the ambient sort of songs)... I also got the Warzawa concert with the same line-up, and even though not as great as Comma Divine, it seems like a continuation of the same, and great too. However, I haven't got any of the studio albums with that line-up, and I guess I still have to get them, though I understand they sound more pop and less ambient than the live ones.
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uduwudu
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 17 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 2601
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Posted: January 23 2017 at 22:50 |
I first heard the third album a long time ago and thought it was some guy and his mates wanting to be Pink Floyd. The awhile later I heard something else and ended up collecting shed loads of bootlegs, lie, studio outtakes, soundboards, footage. Lock stock the lot. There were some great ones and good laughs as well. A great way to get into a band. Playing to six people in clubs with great sound.
One thing unreleased (and likely to remain that way) is the number that was performed for the Blank Plant tour but unreleased as SW's death growl (!) was probably not going to get the respect such a gimmick demands. Not with his voice anyway.
So I got the studio albums, expanded and finally got a hold of Lightbulb Sun which had been out of print for ages. I recall seeing stacks of those in Tower Records as well...
I tried some of the non P Tree stuff such as IEM, Blackfield and later solo albums and found I was definitely a P Tree fan but not necessarily an SW fan. Ok, so some music did not float my boat. What a shock. I liked Grace for Drowning (the only SW solo I do like) and wished that had been the last P Tree album rather than the to me, flat uneventful (non) Incident. Someone's mind was on other things, not P Tree.
He may have been the writer in P Tree - and a fine one indeed - but it was the rest of the band contributing arrangements that made their music not just palatable but exceptional. And that to me was a big difference to P Tree at their best and SW with band.
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Watchmaker
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 02 2016
Location: Greece
Status: Offline
Points: 170
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 03:08 |
I would agree that FoaBP is a tiny bit overrated mainly because of Anesthetize being the magnificent song it is. Most people seem to forget that they rate an album and the other songs have to be stellar too. I would give it an 8.5/10 and a straight 9/10, had they replaced Sentimental with Normal (from Nil Recurring). Also the "fanboy service after In Absentia" accusation is BS. If they had wanted that, they would have done it past The Incident. Also, albums Like Deadwing and FoaBP brought many new fans to the band. If I recall correctly, they wanted to blend jazz music into PTree and somebody (Richard Barbieri is the obvious culprit) didn't want that, which led to the end of the band. That doesn't sound like fan service to me, especially if you do it after your most commercially successful album (The Incident). I guess the recipe just stopped working and they called it a day. Now as far as his solo work is concerned, there was a poll not long ago about PT and SW albums. I stand by my original opinion, that PT have the edge just because of the amount of work they have released. I believe, though, that the next SW album could be the one that will change my preference. No-man is an excellent project for what it is (soft, relaxing, electronic, pop, ambient music). The song Things I Want to Tell You from Together We' re Stranger is one of my favourite songs of all time. Especially the ending. It doesn't always work when it comes to No-man, but, when it does, you get things like this. I really want to fully get into his other projects as well. It's just that there is so much free music out there that you have to set some of it aside.
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mlkpad14
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 23 2017
Location: U.S.
Status: Offline
Points: 665
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 05:13 |
uduwudu wrote:
I first heard the third album a long time ago and thought it was some guy and his mates wanting to be Pink Floyd. The awhile later I heard something else and ended up collecting shed loads of bootlegs, lie, studio outtakes, soundboards, footage. Lock stock the lot. There were some great ones and good laughs as well. A great way to get into a band. Playing to six people in clubs with great sound.
One thing unreleased (and likely to remain that way) is the number that was performed for the Blank Plant tour but unreleased as SW's death growl (!) was probably not going to get the respect such a gimmick demands. Not with his voice anyway.
So I got the studio albums, expanded and finally got a hold of Lightbulb Sun which had been out of print for ages. I recall seeing stacks of those in Tower Records as well...
I tried some of the non P Tree stuff such as IEM, Blackfield and later solo albums and found I was definitely a P Tree fan but not necessarily an SW fan. Ok, so some music did not float my boat. What a shock. I liked Grace for Drowning (the only SW solo I do like) and wished that had been the last P Tree album rather than the to me, flat uneventful (non) Incident. Someone's mind was on other things, not P Tree.
He may have been the writer in P Tree - and a fine one indeed - but it was the rest of the band contributing arrangements that made their music not just palatable but exceptional. And that to me was a big difference to P Tree at their best and SW with band.
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This comment is so great. :)
Starting to understand how much people like one more than the other. Interesting.
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mlkpad14
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 23 2017
Location: U.S.
Status: Offline
Points: 665
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 05:19 |
Watchmaker wrote:
I would agree that FoaBP is a tiny bit overrated mainly because of Anesthetize being the magnificent song it is. Most people seem to forget that they rate an album and the other songs have to be stellar too. I would give it an 8.5/10 and a straight 9/10, had they replaced Sentimental with Normal (from Nil Recurring). Also the "fanboy service after In Absentia" accusation is BS. If they had wanted that, they would have done it past The Incident. Also, albums Like Deadwing and FoaBP brought many new fans to the band. If I recall correctly, they wanted to blend jazz music into PTree and somebody (Richard Barbieri is the obvious culprit) didn't want that, which led to the end of the band. That doesn't sound like fan service to me, especially if you do it after your most commercially successful album (The Incident). I guess the recipe just stopped working and they called it a day. Now as far as his solo work is concerned, there was a poll not long ago about PT and SW albums. I stand by my original opinion, that PT have the edge just because of the amount of work they have released. I believe, though, that the next SW album could be the one that will change my preference. No-man is an excellent project for what it is (soft, relaxing, electronic, pop, ambient music). The song Things I Want to Tell You from Together We' re Stranger is one of my favourite songs of all time. Especially the ending. It doesn't always work when it comes to No-man, but, when it does, you get things like this. I really want to fully get into his other projects as well. It's just that there is so much free music out there that you have to set some of it aside.
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Steven Wilson has always been a hard-worker, and is the best prog artist of the new generation. The "fanboy service after In Absentia" is silly, but something definitely changed after "Fear of a Blank Planet." "Anesthetize" and "Oceam's Razor" were just so pointless.
I created this poll totally unprepared XD. I haven't tried No-Man in detail. Only as background music :(. Any specific albums you can recommend me?
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Watchmaker
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 02 2016
Location: Greece
Status: Offline
Points: 170
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 05:29 |
Together We're Stranger, Schoolyard Ghosts and Returning Jesus are all great and pretty much equal to my ears. Flowermouth is a bit weaker. The rest I have not heard yet. Now that we're at it, give the album "Stone to Flesh" a listen. It is a collaboration between Barbieri and Jansen (both members of the band Japan) and I find it to be excellent.
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Khalie
Forum Newbie
Joined: August 21 2016
Location: France
Status: Offline
Points: 12
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 07:02 |
I have seen Porcupine Tree 4 times since 2001 and I have missed them a few times. I don't think I ever missed a SW solo concert. For no rational reasons, I pay more attention to his solo work.
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Fluctuat nec mergitur.
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Jeffro
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 29 2014
Location: USA
Status: Offline
Points: 2040
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 07:27 |
SW is very hit or miss with me. I love the later heavier PT stuff. The earlier material is a little too spacey for me. I do like parts of The Incident.
I tried listening to Hand Cannot Erase the other day and thought it was crap. I like a lot of The Raven That Refused to Sing.
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Barbu
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 09 2005
Location: infinity
Status: Offline
Points: 30845
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 09:11 |
Classic PT (Downstair to Lightbulb)
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digdug
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 13 2005
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 4707
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 12:58 |
I love Fear of a Blank Planet. Nil Recurring is really good as well.
Also love In Absentia and Deadwing
I found The Incident to be really boring
I like SWs solo work more than The Incident but less than the classics mentioned above.
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Prog On!
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mlkpad14
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 23 2017
Location: U.S.
Status: Offline
Points: 665
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 14:40 |
Watchmaker wrote:
Together We're Stranger, Schoolyard Ghosts and Returning Jesus are all great and pretty much equal to my ears. Flowermouth is a bit weaker. The rest I have not heard yet. Now that we're at it, give the album "Stone to Flesh" a listen. It is a collaboration between Barbieri and Jansen (both members of the band Japan) and I find it to be excellent.
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I'm giving "Wild Opera" by No-Man a try. It seems very interesting. I'll probably try "Together We're Stranger" sometime today as well.
I searched for the "Stone to Flesh" album, but am rather shocked that I can't find it anywhere for free. What site do you usually use for free music?
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Catcher10
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member
Joined: December 23 2009
Location: Emerald City
Status: Offline
Points: 17501
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 15:36 |
I've seen SW 2x.....GFD Tour and HCE Tour. Two very excellent shows, attention to detail is excellent...Especially sound wise, GFD and the quad sound was cool..
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Barbu
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 09 2005
Location: infinity
Status: Offline
Points: 30845
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Posted: January 24 2017 at 20:42 |
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Watchmaker
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 02 2016
Location: Greece
Status: Offline
Points: 170
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Posted: January 25 2017 at 02:20 |
I'm giving "Wild Opera" by No-Man a try. It seems very interesting. I'll probably try "Together We're Stranger" sometime today as well.
I searched for the "Stone to Flesh" album, but am rather shocked that I can't find it anywhere for free. What site do you usually use for free music?
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Thepirat....ummm...YouTube, yes...YouTube... Joking aside, if you google something like "stone to flesh Jansen", the second result is the full album uploaded on YouTube (at least for me). You can also search Youtube directly. There, it is the first result. Bandcamp is an amazing site for free music. Bands upload their own music there and let you listen to it for free or buy their products. Spotify has also a good variety of well known artists, but I'm new to it so I don't know its limitations. You can generally stream about 99% of music for free on the Internet, legally and safely. Google is your friend
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Tapfret
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
Joined: August 12 2007
Location: Bryant, Wa
Status: Offline
Points: 8576
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Posted: January 25 2017 at 02:56 |
I am far more impressed with his post-production work than any writing/playing he has done. I have not heard everything of his, and scant any in the last 7-8 years.
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