Porcupine Tree aka Steven Wilson Super Genius

Steven Wilson posts over at the Steve Hoffman forum (mastering engineer), it's cool hearing his insights into how he did the various remixes and remasters for the King Crimson, Caravan and Jethro Tull albums.

How many artists as busy as he is would take the time to post thoughts and answer questions on a message board?

Interesting comments from Steven Wilson about how he's looking to drop the "metal" from his sound after relying on it too heavily for too long. This is also the reason Porcupine Tree hasn't reconvened yet, because he's not sure what direction to take their music in now.


"The other part of what you’re talking about is the move away from metal. After Fear of a Blank Planet, the metal thing for me was played out. The Incident began to move a little bit away from metal. Storm Corrosion completely rejects the notion of metal and even rock. Grace for Drowning also rejected the whole metal thing which I had been so sated with from about 2002 to 2007. There is a search for me now, creatively, to find ways to be upbeat and in-your-face without having to rely on metal and “Luminol” was the first attempt at that."

Here's the track "Luminol" mentioned in the last sentence, this will be on Steven's upcoming 3rd solo album next year. The sound of Luminol is closer to heavy 70s fusion and progressive rock.

That is an AWESOME song!!!!!!!

Who is his band on this dvd? I recognize Nick and Marco but not the rest.

Marco Minnemann (drums), Nick Beggs (bass), Theo Travis (flute and sax), Adam Holzman (keys) and Niko Tsonev (guitars)

That track kicks ass! I like the new direction he appears to be taking.

In all honesty, I was getting bored of PTs metal direction myself........... Stupid Dream is my favorite album by PTree anyway.

There wasn't much on The Incident, especially the 4 stand-alone tracks on the 2nd disc which were more pop-oriented.

I don't listen to metal that often myself any longer, with both of my favorite current musicians (Steven and Mikael Akerfeldt) moving away from metal at the same time I feel like I'm in-tune with what they are doing.

I'm much more interested in melodies, textures and improvisation than I am heavy riffs and ripping guitar solos these days.

Finally used my points and bought the new one, with the dvd, for about 8 bucks!

Sounds killer in surround!!!

I've come to the conclusion that Steven Wilson is my favorite artist of the past 20 years, nobody else comes close...

I pre-ordered the Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape re-release.........

Steven Wilson and his band will be heading back into the studio this week to begin work on solo album #4. The lineup is the same as The Raven That Refused To Sing, the album will be released early in 2015.

Huzzah! I was deeply moved by Raven, a beautiful and complex collection. I'll look forward to what he does with this.

corplhicks wrote:

Huzzah! I was deeply moved by Raven, a beautiful and complex collection. I'll look forward to what he does with this.

Have you heard Insurgentes and Grace For Drowning?

S.D. wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Huzzah! I was deeply moved by Raven, a beautiful and complex collection. I'll look forward to what he does with this.

Have you heard Insurgentes and Grace For Drowning?  

Not yet, no; I've been wanting to invest some time into those. Similar?

corplhicks wrote:

S.D. wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Huzzah! I was deeply moved by Raven, a beautiful and complex collection. I'll look forward to what he does with this.

Have you heard Insurgentes and Grace For Drowning?  

Not yet, no; I've been wanting to invest some time into those. Similar?

They each have their own flavor and both are excellent.

I'm stoked to hear he's in the studio w/"Raven's" lineup. I have always dug Guthrie. In the future I hope he does some stuff w/Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes but individually.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/revolution_harmonys_charity_single_hello_featuring_tom_morello_and_steven_wilson_released.html

S.D. wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

S.D. wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Huzzah! I was deeply moved by Raven, a beautiful and complex collection. I'll look forward to what he does with this.

Have you heard Insurgentes and Grace For Drowning?  

Not yet, no; I've been wanting to invest some time into those. Similar?

They each have their own flavor and both are excellent.  

Listened to those youtube clips you sent me on Facebook today. Stunning stuff, has a familiarity about it, yet unpredictable at the same time.

It's also been so refreshing to hear expertly-mixed music that sounds so fucking huge, warm, and wonderful after wading through all these nasty-sounding metal albums.

Believe me, the "sound" of Porcupine Tree was one of the first things that hooked me. Not just the players, but the quality of the recordings and mix. Steven has some of the best ears in the music business right now.

For the last few weeks I've been watching vids of Wilson and his band in the studio and him talking about the concept of the album and it sounds like lyrically it could be him most ambitious yet.

I'm real excited to hear the new album, I've actually been avoiding listening to clips because I kind of want to hear the whole thing together for the first time.

S.D. wrote:

I'm real excited to hear the new album, I've actually been avoiding listening to clips because I kind of want to hear the whole thing together for the first time.  

I wish I had done that but being the fan I am of Govan I was champing at the bit and I've become an even bigger fan of Wilson. The ethereal stuff I've heard is a different kind of ethereal but still distinctly Wilson.