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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

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Zoltanxvamos
5 stars 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗗𝘂𝗼

For a duo like Alan Parsons and Steven Wilson to team up in the 21st century, that's a real 21st century duo. Alan Parsons' Production, Steven Wilson's masterful writing ability, and all the masters of their instruments here. Adam Holzman of Mile Davis? Nick Beggs? Marco Minneman? You got great player's here. This is Prog to the max, Steven Wilson's songwriting on this album was absolutely top notch, and with Alan Parsons... having him supervise the writing and the production, this has to be an album worth the top 100 on ProgArchives. It's a fluid album from start to finish, the harmonies are absolutely top notch, the production is incredible, the musicianship is off the charts, and of course the songwriting is great. 'Luminol' is a 10/10 song, all the playing is incredible, the song is fluid, the sax is just incredible, the flutes, its Prog mastery.

'Drive Home' is a more song rock piece with progressive elements, the vocals and vocal harmonies are of only Steven Wilson genius, the clean tone guitar is very tasteful, and of course the fingerstyle guitar playing is everything it needed to be. The lyrics of course are very depressing in concept, the music video does show the story of the lyrics so please watch the video, its amazing. Steven Wilson challenged himself to write a soft rock tune with prog elements, but it had to be catchy enough to be a hit single, and of course it had amazing time signatures. The recording quality of the song is impressive but Alan Parsons is behind it so I'm not too impressed because... well... Alan Parsons.

'The Holy Drinker' was much more of a playing driven song with a much darker subject matter. Alan Parsons on slide guitar, and the band just trying to make such the song was of modern prog genius. This song makes you wonder if prog has changed much at all, Modern Prog takes so much from the Prog of the seventies that you wonder if Prog Rock should be just renamed to Art Rock. I love the approach of this song, the harsh lyrics, the tonality, the production is (again) through the roof, and (of course) the songwriting is dark and amazing. Steven Wilson is a fantastic songwriter (when he wants to be).

'The Pin Drop' was very similar to the previous song in terms of songwriting style, very dark, and playing based, but it has more of a harmony based songwriting style. Steven wanted a song that could show off his harmonies and that's what he did. Very masterful, very compelling, very harsh, and very dark, fantastic lyrics as well. What can I say? This song just fits the album perfectly, it flows well, it has emotion, it has all the elements to be prog. I love this song, its unbelievably fantastic, it's immaculately played.

'The Watchmaker', so melodic, so emotional, so many harmonies, so many acoustic guitars... where did it all go wrong for Steven... my idol... but now gone pop. Steven, you had something gorgeous here, I just wish you stuck to this. The harmonies are exploring differences, they are gorgeous, this is really gorgeous music. Everyone is playing to their max, the songwriting is 100/10, and that isn't a typo. I mean it. This song has my top 20 spot of all time, its so beautiful, its so well written, and t its hard for me to play on drums, so from a musicians perspective, this song is incredible. Steven, from one of your biggest fans, seriously... I wish you stuck to this. By The Way... I loved the reference to YYZ by Rush, very clever Steven.

The Title Track... here we go... the absolute pinnacle of the soft rock mix with Prog. This song brings tears to your eye everytime, the lyrics are unbelievably depressing, it's a soft song with a very emotional background. The violin on this song just works and blends perfectly with the tone of the song. I really do wish Steven stuck to this structure, this songwriting style, this beautiful lyrical mood, the harmonies, etc.

Overall this album is beautiful, its Steven Wilson's masterpiece. I just wish he stuck by this style, he would've been an influence to much more, and he would've become a legend... even though he already is considered a legend. Well done Steven, you made a beautiful album, one that brings emotion.

Zoltanxvamos | 5/5 |

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