The ultimate poll for pissing off prog afficionados. No middle way, choose one of the two!

I haven't listened to it yet, I don't have the mood but once i do, I'll be able to express an opinion. 

Very poppy and artsy sounding but not in a PT or early Wilson manner....some are almost in the realm of dance music almost disco like. 

Like all Wilson things it's well produced and played but the songs don't work for me.

Unless I get a free copy it won't be in my collection anytime soon.

This is an absolutely fantastic album, and all the things I read were missing from it (guitar and prog) are most definitely there. The only song I could do without it 12 Things, which is a nice enough song - but it’s typical SW fare on an album that’s not otherwise, and it feels terribly out of place because of that.

It’s like a wonderful meshing of Duran Duran and Bowie, who both knew how to make progressive pop. The guitar slashes remind me of Bowie guitarists such as Belew and Gabrels.

It bewilders me that people can adore Ulver when they make this sort of music, and turn on SW when he does the same.

I’m definitely glad I made a point of not listening to anything from this album, until it was released, because it means it is all new for me.

This isn’t just going to be my favourite SW solo album, but one of my favourite of anything he’s been involved in.

Just, wow!

Ok, you can go back to hating him now. 😜

Yeah, give me a chance to listen to it first. My local record store didn't have it yesterday.

 

Also the fact that this is an anti-consumerism album.... that was delayed nearly an entire year so he could press copies of the deluxe boxset and a sh*t ton of vinyl variants. Even the lyrics criticize this very thing yet he's still pushing his overpriced boxsets, the boxset even has a CD that's an hour of silence. I know it's meant to be tongue in cheek, but it comes off as extremely pretentious and smug, a blatantly poor attempt at humor.

Sadly, I still like the music more than To The Bone 

Ulver does synthpop a lot better than Steven Wilson. It's not about style, it's how it's executed. And the execution was terrible.

This is one of my favorites from the latest Ulver record. Really dig the songwriting and the overall sound of the record. 

Despite Garm saying that that he was surprised by all the comparisons to Depeche Mode after JC, and that none of the band had ever listened to DM, it is DM that Ulver sound like. TFB, on the other hand, sound like Duran Duran, if we must make comparisons.

I love Depeche Mode, but I love Duran Duran even more. So I guess I am already pre-disposed to enjoy TFB more than the recent Ulver albums.

But just as Depeche Mode do not sound like Duran Duran, nor does Ulver sound like TFB. It’s a lazy comparison at best, and doesn’t hold up at all in my opinion.

How familiar are you with their discography? Like Depeche Mode, since they have been mentioned, DD changed their sound quite considerably over the years. Ulver sound like only a certain era of Depeche Mode, and TFB like only a certain era of Duran Duran.

But, more importantly, what you hear and what I hear can be completely different. Again, to go back to Ulver, the band had never heard any Depeche Mode when they made the JC album. So all the people who heard the DM sound were only inferring an influence that was never actually there. We all infer similarities and comparisons to other artists, and often it is more “reminiscent of” than “sounds like”. Furthermore, it tends to be reflection of what we already appreciate.

So, I can completely believe and understand you not hearing Duran Duran, but I can’t not hear it.

I find it hard to believe that the guys from Ulver had never heard of Depeche Mode. 

I listened to their last album today, but DM never came to my mind. 

So which era or album of Duran Duran do you hear on TFB? 
 

“Heard”, not “heard of”. It’s an important distinction. I wouldn’t believe that Ulver had never heard of DM, but I can believe easily enough that they never heard them.

I also don’t really see the point in stating which DD I am reminded of, and regret mentioning the different eras, because it did almost invite the question you’ve asked.

My point was meant to be that I can understand you not hearing DD, but I can’t not hear it. It was meant to be a recognition of how we all hear different things in music, and that is why it becomes so personal, and why people can often react so apparently irrationally to music to the point of loving or hating something.

heard of and listened to is what i meant. But hey, maybe they didn't, only they know. 

Ok, I get your point. 

I definitely agree that it’s not an album to judge on one listen. My initial reaction is extremely positive to the point of being hyperbolic. And I definitely came down on subsequent listens. And yet, it is still far above To The Bone for me, and while I am no longer willing to claim it’s likely to be my favourite album he’s done, it’s still right up there.

Personally. Raven is my least favourite SW album, and I barely listen to it. It was a huge letdown for me, after the first two awesome solo albums, and I’ve never quite understood why it is so highly regarded. Hand Cannot Erase probably remains my favourite SW album.

I would definitely agree, though, that both TTB and TFB have one great track that overshadows the rest, and I would agree with you on those tracks being Detonation and Personal Shopper.

Personally the hype around the album is slightly annoying, my FB page is full of ads for it and people don't get the campaign (complaining that £200 is too expensive for a loo roll).

I agree with Richard, I think Raven is his best solo album, but I would probably rank Storm Corrosion as the best thing he's been involved in - love that album!