Steven Wilson
The Raven that Refused to Sing
Kscope Music
2013
Steven Wilson is one of the most talented musicians of our time that gained lots of popularity in the 90s with Porcupine Tree. Since then, he has participated in various projects and dealt mostly with production and mixing. Spending his time among album production, mixing and other projects he left Porcupine Tree aside for 6 years and counting. Last year’s much advertised Storm Corrosion with Mikael Åkerfeldt was OK but nothing to drive the loyal fans crazy. Many, among them myself too, were waiting for his solo album as soon as it was announced.
In the past few years Steven had been working on the remixes of King Crimson,ELP , Caravan & Jethro Tull’s back catalogue. I bet he went all the way and he was charmed by their music. In truth to be told, if you were to listen to this band extensively for quite some time you may lose your senses or even influenced that much so as to want to make something like this on your own.
“The Raven that Refused to Sing (and other stories)” could have been a tribute to King Crimson and generally to the 70s psychedelic prog rock music. That ain’t bad at all. The album is well-prayed, greatly produced, as it was engineered by the legendary producer/engineer Alan Parsons.
The album is dealing with the supernatural side and it is rather gloomy, atmospheric and ambient by and large. Moreover, the prog rock music has been embellished with jazz, fusion & folk elements as well. The video for the homonymous song will give you a very good impression of the moody, mystical, dim & esoteric music of this album. Let’s hope that the darkness won’t overwhelm you in the end. Indubitably, this isn’t an innovative work nor something that hasn’t been done before, and in better ways, but that thing doesn’t take away the overall artistic quality of this work.
Certainly, “The Raven that Refused to Sing (and other stories)” needs several spins and careful listens if you’d like to get Steve’s complete idea. The prog albums in the 70s weren’t made to satisfy the listeners but to give the musicians a way to express and experiment as a rule. That’s the case here more or less. Steven had the chance to “study” the 70s music works very well and he just presents his own musical proposal. If you’re into the 70s prog music then this album will make you feel nostalgic about that era… but if you haven’t heard a single piece of the 70s prog rock, then this CD will probably make you shiver now and again. I do like it and I think it’s fairly good and sophisticated but nothing more. I’d like to see Steven creating some truly progressive music with Porcupine Tree again…
In the past few years Steven had been working on the remixes of King Crimson,
“The Raven that Refused to Sing (and other stories)” could have been a tribute to King Crimson and generally to the 70s psychedelic prog rock music. That ain’t bad at all. The album is well-prayed, greatly produced, as it was engineered by the legendary producer/engineer Alan Parsons.
The album is dealing with the supernatural side and it is rather gloomy, atmospheric and ambient by and large. Moreover, the prog rock music has been embellished with jazz, fusion & folk elements as well. The video for the homonymous song will give you a very good impression of the moody, mystical, dim & esoteric music of this album. Let’s hope that the darkness won’t overwhelm you in the end. Indubitably, this isn’t an innovative work nor something that hasn’t been done before, and in better ways, but that thing doesn’t take away the overall artistic quality of this work.
Certainly, “The Raven that Refused to Sing (and other stories)” needs several spins and careful listens if you’d like to get Steve’s complete idea. The prog albums in the 70s weren’t made to satisfy the listeners but to give the musicians a way to express and experiment as a rule. That’s the case here more or less. Steven had the chance to “study” the 70s music works very well and he just presents his own musical proposal. If you’re into the 70s prog music then this album will make you feel nostalgic about that era… but if you haven’t heard a single piece of the 70s prog rock, then this CD will probably make you shiver now and again. I do like it and I think it’s fairly good and sophisticated but nothing more. I’d like to see Steven creating some truly progressive music with Porcupine Tree again…