Steven Wilson Vs. Roine Stolt

The benefits of having been on here so long....

I remember when this interview was actually done, it made quite the stire here at the time as well (I expect that thread is long gone by now though). One thing people seem to have forgotten is that until around the time of Fear of a Blank Planet, Wilson hated the term Progressive Rock and being associated with it, it was only in the latter part of the 2000's when the term became much more widely applied to a wide variaty of bands that he came to accept being labeled as such. This interview reflects that.

Personally I find the majority of music from both Wilson and Stolt to be extremely boring, so I can consider myself neutral in this. I agree with some of Wilsons point, if only in part, but he still comes across as being an arrogant little so and so. Mind you, at first Stolt only just stops short of calling Wilson a sheep so as bad as each other I think.

Originally posted by Mirror Image Now, those that read this, what do you think about it? Who's right? Who's wrong?

Would be nice with a link to the interview.

I agree with some of what Wilson says, but he is foolish, and I expect somewhat egotistical to express his views in the way he did.

The Flower Kings and Transatlantic are clearly not the 'future' of prog. Was it ever their intention to be? I'm sure seasoned musicians like them, know the business well enough to know, that they are not about to start selling albums by the lorry load, in this day and age. They do what they do and they do it well. I don't listen to them. They do very little for me, but that's hardly the point. To be frank I've heard all I want to hear of Porcupine Tree, for now, too. Boring music. The Incident was wholly unremarkable.

^ being as this was in 2005 I don't see a retraction coming soon.  I'd love to hear his take on that interview now to see if he's matured at all.  Either way, you don't trash other bands in interviews, I think the term is professional courtesy.  

Steven Wilson is rather close to an imbecile when he opens his mouth. When he shuts up and plays his little simple instruments he fares way better. 

Originally posted by tamijo Would be nice with a link to the interview. Another thing, keep in mind this was 7 years ago.

I thought it was contemporary...after the release of the whirlwind and Banks of Eden..... well well well.........

Originally posted by HolyMoly If this happened in 2005, I think it's pretty much water under the bridge by now.  I think both parties came off a bit childishly.  Take Roine Stolt and Steven Wilson, and drop them in a discussion room of hard core "GLEE" fans.  Let them hear people argue at length over whether Finn and Rachel's marriage will be successful, or whether Puck is really a good guy or just a manipulative punk, the choice of songs in the "Madonna" episode, and whether or not Curt is a fair portrayal of a gay student.  After a couple of hours of this, Roine and Steve will understand that they're not so far apart after all.  They're both into progressive rock to the GLEE fan.

Sounds like your trying to turn them into a pair of mass murderers to me, either that or they'll create a suicide pact.

Originally posted by sleeper Originally posted by HolyMoly If this happened in 2005, I think it's pretty much water under the bridge by now.  I think both parties came off a bit childishly.  Take Roine Stolt and Steven Wilson, and drop them in a discussion room of hard core "GLEE" fans.  Let them hear people argue at length over whether Finn and Rachel's marriage will be successful, or whether Puck is really a good guy or just a manipulative punk, the choice of songs in the "Madonna" episode, and whether or not Curt is a fair portrayal of a gay student.  After a couple of hours of this, Roine and Steve will understand that they're not so far apart after all.  They're both into progressive rock to the GLEE fan. Sounds like your trying to turn them into a pair of mass murderers to me, either that or they'll create a suicide pact.

Yeah.

Still, the point of my ridiculous example is that we - prog-metal fans, new fans, old fans, RIO fans, Volta fans, Flower King fans, etc. - are not as ideologically different as  we sometimes think we are. 

Wow. f**k Steven Wilson. I've lost an enormous amount of respect for him after reading that.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with him, you can't deny that that was nasty, pompous, and downright sh*tty.


Edited by Anthony H. - August 02 2012 at 15:02