Finally sat down to listen to Steven Wilson's new solo album. Was hoping for good stuff since his last solo album was so great, but in the back of my mind, I knew that there was a chance it could follow the direction of the new, awful PT.
And the verdict... kinda shit. All his 'chances', his progressive proclivities, are totally stale and fall flat. It's very obvious what you're getting when you pick up a new Steve record: soulless melodrama, in-the-PC arrangements, and risk-taking that could've been a risk in 1966, but flat-out safe in this digital age.
In fact, Steven is kind of a hypocrite. He constantly laments this iPod-era of shuffled distraction and hard disks, while glorifying the analog past. Yet he composes entirely in Apple Logic, utilizes VSTs and Plug-ins for the majority of his studio experimentations, records digitally in his Mom's attic and on his laptop, and over-analyzes and edits every tiny nuance to the point of absolute sterility. Someone give this guy a tape deck so he can practice what he preaches.
That said, here's my favorite track.