Steven Wilson albums ranked & reviewed by emptysquares 
Its hard enough to make yourself a career in music without allying yourself to the most demonised genre in music history - progressive rock!! But that exactly what Steven Wilson did, firstly with his (initially spoof) band Porcupine Tree before moving on to a string of high-quality solo albums. Despite a prolific production rate that would put many of his idols from the 60s & 70s to shame, the quality he has managed to maintain over a 30 year period has been astonishing. His skills as a writer, performer and crucially, a producer means that despite frequently changing both style and collaborators, somehow he seems incapable of producing a bad album.
- Chart updated: 12/19/2021 02:15
- (Created: 12/19/2021 01:36).
- Chart size: 8 albums.
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Inspired by the sad story of Joyce Carol Vincent who's death, despite living in a large city, went unnoticed for more than 2 years. Whilst many of the songs have a melancholic theme, the music is beautifully varied and more than any of his previous albums, demands to be listened to from start to finish. Wilson retained the same brilliant line-up used on 'The Raven' and the sound and production is simply perfect. Clearly inspired by the subject matter, Wisons lyricism on songs like 'Routine' and 'Happy Returns' is first class and some stellar playing from Govan and Minnemann make this an exceptional listen.
v,g,b&k:Wilson; d:Minnemann/Wackerman; b:Beggs; g:Govan/Gregory; k:Holzman; fl&sx:Travis; v:Tayeb; Produced by Steven Wilson [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
v,g,b&k:Wilson; d:Minnemann/Wackerman; b:Beggs; g:Govan/Gregory; k:Holzman; fl&sx:Travis; v:Tayeb; Produced by Steven Wilson [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,216
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Comments:
43
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For his 3rd solo album Wilson decided to max out on the 70s prog vibe with each song telling a supernatural story. The musicians assembled for the album were simply top drawer and included keyboardist Adam Holzman, drummer Marco Minnemann and guitarist Guthrie Govan and the songs are delivered with passion and precision. Wilson is at his best when the extended instrumental passages are balanced with songwriting, and that works perfectly here as beautifully illustrated on songs like the title track and 'Drive Home' complete with its majestic guitar coda from Govan.
v,g,b&k:Wilson; d:Minnemann; b:Beggs; g:Govan; k:Holzman; fl,cla&sx:Travis; Produced by Steven Wilson & Alan Parsons [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
v,g,b&k:Wilson; d:Minnemann; b:Beggs; g:Govan; k:Holzman; fl,cla&sx:Travis; Produced by Steven Wilson & Alan Parsons [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,947
Rank in 2013:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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With Wilsons breakthrough band Porcupine Tree still very much active, the obvious question regarding this debut solo effort was, as he wrote most of the PT stuff anyway - how would this be different? The answer lied primarily in Wilsons eclectic musical influences and never a man to hide his influences, on 'Insurgentes' we heard vibes similar to My Bloody Valentine and the Cure as well as various electronica - but still combined with his trademark prog/pop style. This was certainly one of Wilsons darkest efforts and in my opinion, one of his best. Sure, its long and asks a lot from the listener but I found numbers like 'Salvaging' and 'Harmony Korin' pretty immersive and I loved the jazzy-prog-metal 'No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun'.
v,g,b,k&p:Wilson; d:Harrison; b:Levin; g:Outram/Serries/Snowman; k:Rudess; fl;cla&o:Travis; k:Yagi; Produced by Steven Wilson [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
v,g,b,k&p:Wilson; d:Harrison; b:Levin; g:Outram/Serries/Snowman; k:Rudess; fl;cla&o:Travis; k:Yagi; Produced by Steven Wilson [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
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'The Future Bites' saw Wilson continue his move towards more conventional song structures and further away from his prog-metal Porcupine Tree past. The album also uses a far more electronic palette than his previous records with the guitar playing a much reduced supporting role. But for me, this album has much more energy and imagination than it's predecessor 'To The Bone' and the songs, although still varied in style, seem to flow nicely. Centre-piece is the synth-pop single 'Personal Shopper' with its guest appearance from Elton John, but the album is consistently enjoyable throughout.
v,g,b,k&p:Wilson; d&k:Kosten; d&p:Spearman/Cooper; b:Beggs; k:Holzman/Barbieri; v:John; Produced by Steven Wilson & David Kosten [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
v,g,b,k&p:Wilson; d&k:Kosten; d&p:Spearman/Cooper; b:Beggs; k:Holzman/Barbieri; v:John; Produced by Steven Wilson & David Kosten [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
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Released between his 4th and 5th solo albums, '4 ½' is a 36 minute mini album mainly containing left-overs from 'The Raven That Refused To Sing' and 'Hand. Cannot. Erase.' and the high standard of material on offer here demonstrated the level Wilson was operating during this period. Also included are two songs originally performed with Porcupine Tree with the fabulous 'Don't Hate Me' sung with Ninet Tayeb being the albums highlight.
v,g,b&k:Wilson; d:Blundell/Minnemann/Wackerman; b:Beggs; g:Govan/Kilminster; k:Holzman; rd:Travis; v:Tayeb; Produced by Steven Wilson [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
v,g,b&k:Wilson; d:Blundell/Minnemann/Wackerman; b:Beggs; g:Govan/Kilminster; k:Holzman; rd:Travis; v:Tayeb; Produced by Steven Wilson [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
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With Porcupine Tree now officially in storage, for his 2nd solo effort Wilson decided to tone down the 'Shoegazer' influences of 'Insurgentes' and instead added a little more jazz flavourings and dark vibes. A runtime of 1hr 23min meant that this was never going to be an easy journey and 'Grace for Drowning' is probably Wilsons most uncompromising album as atmospherics take precedence over melody - although both the creepy 'Index' and the sad 'Postcard' showcased Wilsons best songwriting. The rest, while sonically and technically brilliant, seemed to me at times to be a little aimless and lacking structure or purpose - although it still sounds pretty awesome.
v,g,b,k,ah&p:Wilson; d:France/Mastelotto; b:Beggs/Levin; g:Outram/Reuter/Snowman/Hackett/Gunn; k:Rudess; fl;cla&sx:Travis; cla:Castle; Produced by Steven Wilson [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
v,g,b,k,ah&p:Wilson; d:France/Mastelotto; b:Beggs/Levin; g:Outram/Reuter/Snowman/Hackett/Gunn; k:Rudess; fl;cla&sx:Travis; cla:Castle; Produced by Steven Wilson [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
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'To The Bone' saw Wilson decisively take a step away from the 'proginess' of previous albums and instead embrace what he described as 'progressive pop' as heard on 80s albums by Tears for Fears and Peter Gabriel. The album also saw him collaborate with XTC's Andy Partridge who wrote the lyrics to two of the songs. I find 'To The Bone' an uneven album as it sounds like Wilson is hedging his bets rather than truly embracing a new direction, so whilst the pop of 'Permanating' works quite well, the more rock-orientated numbers like 'The Same Asylum as Before' and 'People Who Eat Darkness' are less effective.
v,g,b&k:Wilson; d&p:Eckford/Blundell/Stacey; b:Beggs/Mullarkey; g:Kollar/Stacey; k:Holzman; v:Hunger/Tayeb; Produced by Steven Wilson & Paul Stacey [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
v,g,b&k:Wilson; d&p:Eckford/Blundell/Stacey; b:Beggs/Mullarkey; g:Kollar/Stacey; k:Holzman; v:Hunger/Tayeb; Produced by Steven Wilson & Paul Stacey [First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
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A compilation of six singles, each consisting of a cover version and a Wilson original. Wilsons eclectic taste was once again on show as the chosen artists include the Cure, Momus, Alanis Morrissette, Prince, Donavan and (of course) ABBA. The songs are presented with a sparse accompaniment and arrangement, often an acoustic guitar or piano, which is fine and I did like the song choices, but it didn't really play to Wilsons strengths of high production values and worse still, the format does tend to draw attention to his limited vocal capabilities.
[First added to this chart: 12/18/2021]
Total albums: 8. Page 1 of 1
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Steven Wilson albums ranked & reviewed composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1970s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1980s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1990s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2000s | 1 | 13% | |
| 2010s | 6 | 75% | |
| 2020s | 1 | 13% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Steven Wilson | 8 | 100% |
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