Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories) CD (album) cover

THE RAVEN THAT REFUSED TO SING (AND OTHER STORIES)

Steven Wilson

 

Crossover Prog

4.31 | 2369 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Progkid
5 stars Steven Wilson needs to Introduction and his 2013 effort is one of his best in his musical career(if not the best). He assembles a great cast with musicians such as Nick Beggs, Theo and Guthrie. This album is a tribute to classic prog.The Album has six songs and clocks over 50 mins.The theme is about classic ghost stories and each song reflects that.

1. Luminol - It starts with something like a bass solo then other instruments come in until Theo takes over with his beautiful flute playing. The song is about a street busker who would play everyday at the same time over the years like a routine. He was not very good in playing but he would be there everyday, regardless of the weather conditions, it seemed like not even death can stop him and he'd play even after he died. I must stay I am impressed by Nick's bass playing. It becomes a little quiet and gentle before the song ends in a bang with great playing on guitars and bass

2. Drive Home- The vocals of Steven in this one are beautiful he really improved since his PT days. This song is about experiencing something so tragic that you lose your memory about what exactly happened during that time..its like a lamenting love song(not exactly but kind of missing someone and not knowing what happend) it is accompanied by a great music video. This story was suggested to Steven by the guy who did artworks. Lovely keyboards and acoustic guitars in this one....but Guthrie steals the show with his guitar solo in the end...you need to check this out

3. The Holy Drinker- This is a dark jazz inspired prog song, lovely drum playing on this one and Guthrie is great as usual. Steven sings in a dark tone in this one. Lovely sax by Theo too. This song is about people like journalists who are always critical of other people and are "not very nice". So this guy walks into a bar and challenges another guy for a drinking challenge cause of his ego( that guy is the devil himself) and of course you can't win a drinking competition with the devil( duh! ). So he loses and gets dragged to hell in the worst way possible...well Steven interesting ideas

4. The Pin Drop- The shortest song of the album.Its about relationships and how vulnerable they are.sometimes a simple thing such as a pin dropping down can end it...this song is sung from a female perspective who's killed by her husband and is floating down the river. Quite Sad

5. The Watchmaker- The masterpiece of this album.It is the longest track on the album and is clearly the best. Acoustic guitar and vocals give way to some lovely flute playing and an impossible guitar solo by Guthrie Govan. Some lovely keyboard work too in this one. This song is about being in a relationship without any love and just because you are comfortable with it. Time passes by quick and you realize that now its too late to go back. So the watchmaker kills his wife but she comes back as a ghost and says she has been with him so long that he can't get rid of her and kills him(maybe). But anyway great track

6. The Raven That Refused To Sing- The title track is an eerie and haunting song about a man who lost his sister when he was small and made no friends after her and lived all alone. Whenever he was sad his sister would make him feel alright but now that she's gone and he's old he fears death. He sees a Raven and thinks that its the rebirth of His sister and wants the raven to sing like his sister used to whenever he was sad. Very touching song and Steven does a very good job vocally. Great Way to end a beautiful albun

Progkid | 5/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this STEVEN WILSON review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.