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.

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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]
Year of Release:
2015
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Rank Score:
3,202
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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]
Year of Release:
2013
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Rank Score:
1,938
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Buy album United States
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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]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
121
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Buy album United States
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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]
Year of Release:
2011
Appears in:
Rank Score:
473
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Buy album United States
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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]
Year of Release:
2017
Appears in:
Rank Score:
511
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8. (=)
Cover Version 
Compilation
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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]
Year of Release:
2014
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Rank Score:
24
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Total albums: 6. Page 1 of 1

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Steven Wilson albums ranked & reviewed composition

Decade Albums %


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 %


Steven Wilson 8 100%
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 8 100%
Compilation? Albums %
No 7 88%
Yes 1 13%

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Best Albums of the 1960s
1. Abbey Road by The Beatles
2. Revolver by The Beatles
3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
4. The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground & Nico
5. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
6. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles
7. In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson) by King Crimson
8. Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan
9. Rubber Soul by The Beatles
10. The Doors by The Doors
11. Blonde On Blonde by Bob Dylan
12. Are You Experienced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
13. Led Zeppelin II by Led Zeppelin
14. Let It Bleed by The Rolling Stones
15. Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
16. Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin
17. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison
18. Forever Changes by Love
19. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
20. Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles
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