THE RAVEN THAT REFUSED TO SING (AND OTHER STORIES)

I really think that this album will be one of the pinnacles in his career and it will be dificult for him to reach again. It can be perfectly the link between Insurgentes and Grace For Drowning. The music played in it it's complex, but Steven is good at making accesible complex music. And this album grows in you from the very beginning.

He puts in this record all I wanna hear in a progressive rock band: good use of virtuosity, mellotrons, beautiful acoustic guitars, remarcable bass lines, good voices, great melodies, a lot of jazz and a flute without losing any sense of that modernity that he gets us used to with his previous works.

Guthrie Govan is much more than a "fast" player. And I said so because some people complained about it recently. The work on electric and acoustic guitar is good, and some solos are great, like the one on Drive Home. Nick Beggs has a lot to do, this record contains a lot of interesting and constant bass lines. Marco... surely Steven needs something even more crazy and beastly ( and I'm not saying better ) than Gavin Harrison for this album. The ending of The Watchmaker is a good sign of that, where Minnemann go through the fields like a crazy and unstoppable horse. Good job on the flute by Theo and Adam does great too, specially when it comes to work on a "jazz bases".

"Luminol". I'm absolutely absorbed by this song. My blu-ray device burns because of it. The live version on Mexico is astonishing. In the studio album some little details change but when you get used to it, the result is amazing.

"Drive Home". Okay, this song is maybe the most Porcupine Tree/Blackfield song on the album. I can find some short Camel and clean Opeth influences that I absolutely love. Good ending solo.

"The Holy Drinker" is pure virtuosity, ambience and it really shows the skills of every musician on this band. Personally, I love the "verse" and the "chorus", rythm and voices. The choirs combined with Steven's voice are great in this song.

"The Pin Drop" it's not a top song of the album, but it combined well with the others.

"The Watchmaker" shows us an amazing progression. Lyrically and melodically great at the beginning, the song grows until a crazy Marco and the rest put an epic end to it.

"The Raven that Refused to Thing". What to say about this song... I think it's one of the most beautiful and touching things Steven Wilson has ever created.

Finally... one mention to Alan Parsons. You have to listen carefully the entire album a lot of times to find and notice the incredible level of details that it contains. Well, what can you expect when you join in the same studio room one of the world's best young producers and one of the world's best old producers? This record.