New single released today - Eminent Sleaze

That's just wishful thinking, Steve.

But speaking of death, ol' SW is certainly corpse stealing, lifting production values wholesale from early 1970s Temptations' tunes. Bass lines, strings, might as well just play "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" for a better version without whiny vocals. 

There is a bit of a "Rolling Stone" vibe there.

I pre-ordered the album when it first announced and now have to wait till Jan 2021......It will take me several listens to understand what Wilson is doing. I'm not a fan of the futuristic messaging.....but hell, Grace For Drowning took me many many months to even start to click. He continues to be an artist in motion.

there were two negative comments. 

The other SW single had similar postings.......Wait till the whole album gets released.

How do fans of progressive music find Steven Wilson's new single?

Allow me to give the third negative comment :

Awful pop song. And I have nothing against pop. I love Blackfield, which I consider pop too, but this was too disco/electronica for me. Sorry, maybe the rest of the album, but not the singles released so far.

Oh gosh...the "sorry I offended you post..." LOL  Please don't worry about it, don't defend your posts positive or negative, stand tall...... 

Shame. He can do great and isn't. But plenty of other stuff for me to listen to. 

Progressive music or prog rock? This is progressive for Steven, but I won't call it prog rock.

I've been a fan of PT for a long time and love many of his solo albums. To The Bone didn't do a lot for me. There are a few good songs, but the album overall doesn't quite work. TBF seems to deviate further from his roots and the pop/disco/funk thing he's got going isn't so far my cup of tea. I don't like singles since many songs need an entire album to work, but the first two singles doesn't make me giddy with excitement for the album.

I don't care what genre you put an album in, I just enjoy music in general. One the albums I've played the most this year is Alan Parsons' The Secret, which is more pop than prog. I don't have much history on Parsons, I just find the album a good listen.

And I certainly won't call any artist out for changing their sound. Steven stayed pretty well within the sounds of PT and his own works for many years, but has evolved towards something else. Good on him for not being afraid of alienating large parts of his fanbase.

I'm not that surprised about the music. I find the change in his personal appearance in the albums more significant. In PT and his early solo albums he hasn't been featured much, but Hand. Cannot. Erase. marked a change in that department and his person is now heavily involved. The TFB concept is a bit much politics for my taste, but it wouldn't matter a whole lot if I enjoyed the music. At this point I'm not too excited about any of it. It has a sort of Roger Waters-ish tendencies, which is somewhat ironic given that Steven and Roger stand on different sides of some political issues (Israel and Palestine). They do apparently share some common traits, like having strong personalities and not afraid to express themselves.

Overly religious themes (see Neal Morse) or political ones (SW, RW) is something I generally don't fancy in music. I just want to enjoy the albums and disconnect from anything else. When I'm being sung songs about religion or politics, it doesn't work as well. Many albums probably has a more political message than I'm able to comprehend.

It's interesting how some proggers are unhappy and bite at a single. I'd wait to hear the whole thing.

Otherwirse, the song is good.

Wilson manages to create something interesting whatever genre he takes up!

A Crimson Mellotron wrote: It's interesting how some proggers are unhappy and bite at a single. I'd wait to hear the whole thing.  Otherwirse, the song is good. Wilson manages to create something interesting whatever genre he takes up!

I am not unhappy. Just not particularly interested based on the two singles so far. But as I said, I won't judge the album by two songs.

That is one aspect of especially To The Bone and now seemingly TBF I don't particularly enjoy. I prefer his vocals when they are not falsetto. Some parts in falsetto works, but TBT had more than I need.

My girlfriend sat through the entire To The Bone show thinking Steven was using a female bass player. 

Hi,

Is it me or is this later PF meets Prince? Or wanna be Prince?

He released a single. I replied the single was derivative and appropriated the sound wholesale from early 70s Motown, specifically the Temptations. 

I didn't "bite". I sl*g.ed a derivative single. If the rest of the album lifts the same material rather than providing anything new or interesting, I will Sl*g that as well. But I can only go on the single. 

What is interesting is that you are defending an album you haven't even heard.

He's defending the song, surely.

Pedro, I am sure you know that SW is a massive fan of Prince and has been for years. He made reference to his falsetto tone on the last tour with the song Same Asylum As Before, saying it was his attempt at sounding like Prince.

He tries, gotta give him that much........

Please do not take it that seriously and personally, sir. I value your comment but, as FatherChristmas said, I was defending the song, and Wilson's more recent output overall.

Hi,

I think it was Monday Night Football way back when ... Conrad Dobler was told by someone that he was "cocky" when he played ... and he replied (translated!) ... "Wrong! I'm not cocky! I'm confident that I am going to get up and beat you in the next play!"

That's what "stand tall" means for me! 

SW is a musician searching for a soul he can't find anymore! He doesn't know what he wants to do, and he is afraid of the public's reaction will take down his empire! 

Hi,

The concert here in Portland (Hand ...) he couldn't stop arguing that Prince was one of the best American composers ... he asked who is next? He gave in to FZ, but no one else! There were about two or three suggestions from the audience! But, seriously ... SW wouldn't even make it in a FZ band!

Interesting, and a clear attempt to break from “traditional” progressive rock music. I can absolutely identify with the concept and lyrics. The threat of such a corporate dystopian future is very real, and will be more so after the disturbing times we live in. The video and concept borrow quite a lot from Waters in his Pink identity, but that is not such a bad thing.

I like the vocals. All in all, further proof that Wilson is very talented, and seeking to strike out in different and interesting new directions.

Funky, catchy, and makes me want to explore the forthcoming album.

Hi Steve....hope all is well with you and yours across the pond. As I said I think he continues to be an artist in motion. It goes without saying I think he is extremely talented and very smart, he knows what he is doing. The guy is one of the most sought after recording and mastering engineers currently, he has an ear for how albums should sound.

I'm not a big Waters fan so that stuff generally does not resonate with me, I just want great music and as I stated I pre-ordered on the first release date as I am confident I will enjoy the whole album.....Just might take a few spins!

What I remember him asking the crowd (TTB concert) was who is the most complete artist meaning who does it all...Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Producer.....I knew who he meant but people kept screaming Zappa and Peter Gabriel and Fripp.....WRONG!!! It's Prince, which totally makes sense, he was a musical genius.....Does not matter if you agree or not, its true 

I am enjoying this song and the last one much more than what was on TTB. The last album (which I wrote a review on this site and gave 2 stars) was mostly a pop-lite version of his more recent PT/solo stuff, with the odd good song that sounded more fresh. Here he is doing something new for him, which makes it much more interesting and inspired. Of course I would love him to release more Raven like albums, but we all know it would go stale after a while and he would just be another retro-prog artist. I would rarther he only go back to pure Prog when he has something new to say.

For the first time in several years I am actually looking forward to his new album. Even if Personal Shopper is the only long track on it, Its still a really fun track with great lyrics. Besides, he will change it up again in a few years time to don't expect this electro-Prince phase to last that long.

Hi,

I think that he is having issues putting together what he wants to say with the music ... he wants to do something, and then the lyrics he comes up with, say something that requires a change ... and that creates a bit of a dichotomy and confusion as to what the result is.

SW is competent enough that he knows that contrasting material is OK, and he has a good ear for mixing these things, however, there could be a point, or time, when either the music, or the lyrics take precedence and that can create an issue with the totality of the song, or musical piece.

I much prefer the "theatrical" style, which SW will not use, and will instead use his "lyrics" to try and invoke the emotion ... and for me, with theater and film experience, what he does is not very good, and if this was an exercise in your local theater, you would leave before half time, and say it was very poor! But being SW we give him more credit.

I don't dislike it ... these attempts are good learning ... but where is the real SW? ... I don't think he knows anymore, and how to interpret it with his music ... thus the inevitable "search" for something that works ... as a point of comparison, look at PH, and how he uses emotion to drive the music, and it's effortless many times ... and something that many people don't like because it may not exactly be "singing" in its most formal ability and style. It's pure theater! And SW has a problem with it ... in my book!

Doesn't make his music bad, but it does bring it up as a confusing piece of music, just like the previous one ... great moments, and then ... 

Hi,

No. I don't think he hides ... but he is very selective with what he says, which is like saying that he has a lot to hide that he does not want to mention or discuss ... 

Saying something is important ... trying to circumvent your feelings to say it in a different style or way, that is not you, creates a dichotomy for an audience ... and you would be aware of this if you were involved in theater and film, and how the reactions of those around you and in the audience show themselves. "They" didn't get it, because it was kinda hinted, or hidden.

I don't think he is hiding behind a wall of nothing ... I merely think that his thinking is confusing his lyrics and music to a point where he is going to start doing nothing but re-hashes of old stuff that he likes, since he does not have a "feeling" for the LIVELINESS and REALITY of what he wants to say.

THAT, my friend, is not a good actor, or stage person at all ... they will need a lot of costumes and makeup to convince the kiddies in the audience! But the adults? ... you gotta be kidding me ... he's not saying anything that you don't already know or feel! He becomes just another voice saying the same thing!

See the difference?

No offence, but you have said he "is going to start doing nothing but re-hashes of old stuff that he likes, since he does not have a "feeling" for the LIVELINESS and REALITY of what he wants to say", which totally untrue, and implies that he is just an attention seeker who promotes himself by copying other people's stuff. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me you just don't like Steven Wilson. 

Hi,

None taken. Compared to so many musicians and bands over 50 years, that we call "progressive", what SW does is quite alright and OK with me, though I do not consider it "progressive" and neither do I consider it "original".

I do not dislike SW and have a very large collection which includes PT and SW ... however, from a theater/film perspective, what he is doing is going to divide his audience even more ... I can't remember many of us feeling so separated with his output in the 90's with PT, for example. What he said then, made more sense ... and (maybe) he is trying really hard to sound and be "relevant" ... which is quite alright, but I think he is diluting his ability towards his "favorites" and losing a touch/side of himself in the process.

An artist, in general, is an ORIGINATOR, and CREATOR of something totally new and different ... and from someone like SW, I really expect that more than anything else ... but I think he is "trapped" within the "pop" mentality in music right now ... and I would like to see him get out of that ... but that, yeah, is my choice and preference, and not a comment about me disliking him.

Sometimes I think that he came up in the VERY COMMERCIAL time of the music side of things, and I'm not sure that he will be able to get out of it easily enough and likely lose some of his fans ... I would like to see him spread out and experiment more ... with unknown and totally different things, not creating mixes that bring up PF and Prince and whoever else he likes ... I even think he's just teasing us and that the actual album will be totally different!

In the same "futuristic" vein, I much prefer this song (and video) by Arcade Fire :

Duke has a third of it that is poppy but 2/3 of of it is prog. I want to like Wilson as at least he's trying to rip off other artists other than PF, Yes, Genesis and KC lol. But somehow its not music I would listen to all the time.

This is probably the best one so far from TFB for me.

First two:

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_H0NO-Cyew" rel="nofollow - Personal Shopper

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUKmOkrcMig" rel="nofollow - Eminent Sleaze

"...  I would like to see him spread out and experiment more ... with unknown and totally different things, not creating mixes that bring up..."

New Single, I think this ones really good. I'm not a SW fanboy, but i've liked all these tracks quite a bit and I think this is the best one yet. King Ghost has been my least favorite of them, but it's still good. I think i'll certainly like this more than To The Bone.