INSURGENTES

"Insurgentes" is the debut full-length studio album by progressive rock artist Steven Wilson. The album was released through Kscope in November 2008. Steven Wilson is mostly known in progressive rock circles as being the frontman and guitarist in Porcupine Tree. He is also involved in a long list of other projects including artists such as Blackfield, No-man, Bass Communion and I.E.M.. "Insurgentes" is however the first album released as a solo artist under his own name.

The music on the album is unmistakably the sound of Steven Wilson. Dark and melancholic progressive rock. The music on "Insurgentes" differs just enough from the music of Porcupine Tree to justify calling this album a solo effort but there are many similarities between "Insurgentes" and latter day Porcupine Tree. In addition to Steven Wilson on vocals, guitars and keyboards there are a couple of rather prolific guests on the album. Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison plays the drums on the album, Tony Levin lays down a couple of bass tracks and Jordan Rudess plays piano on a couple of songs. Other than Gavin Harrison´s contributions on the drums, most guest appearances on the album works as spice though and not as fundamental parts of the compositions.

There are 10 tracks on the album and if you have the limited edition (limited to 3000 copies), which was released through Headphone Dust, there is a bonus CD with 5 extra tracks and a DVD in addition to the original album. A 4 x 10 inch vinyl version (limited to 1000 copies) is also available through Tonefloat.

"Insurgentes" is an album with a flow that works best if you listen to it as a whole. That´s the way an ambient track like "Twilight Coda" works best. While there are some heavier rock parts on the album too, the music is predominantly ambient, atmospheric and emotional and it´s probably the fans of Steven Wilson´s most ambient/atmospheric material that will enjoy this album the most. "Insurgentes" is a pretty diverse album though. Just take a listen to how a song like "Get All You Deserve" evolves from a quiet and melancholic Radiohead sounding opening to a massive wall of layered sounds towards the end, the beautiful title track, the changing stylistic directions of "Salvaging", the radio friendly "Harmony Korine" or the great "No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun". The latter features an almost 4 minutes long guitar solo intro, an ambient vocal middle part and a beautiful piano ending. While there are great variation on the album it´s consistent when you view it as a whole and the dark and melancholic atmosphere which is dominant throughout the album also is a contributing factor to the great flow of the album.

"Insurgentes" is a very well sounding album featuring an organic, detailed and warm sound. The sound production is actually quite brilliant. Upon conclusion "Insurgentes" is an excellent album by Steven Wilson. It´s an album that might feature experimental ideas and playing but keeps those elements on an accessible level. Solo albums by creative artists like Steven Wilson are often outlets for wild experimentation and avant garde ideas and don´t always meassure up to the quality level of an artist´s main act(s), but thankfully "Insurgentes" isn´t one of those. So sit back, relax and disappear into the dream (sometimes it sounds like a nightmare though, which in this case should be perceived in the most positive way possible). A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.