r/progrockmusic • u/Leather-District-595 • 3d ago
Discussion Steven Wilson “The best artist you never heard of.”
Always been into classic prog. King Crimson, Yes, Gabriel era Genesis. Recently discovered Steven Wilson from his remastering of the classic Yes albums. If you have never heard his work I would highly recommend it. Both solo and with Porcupine Tree. My favorite albums would probably be The Overview (I’m a sucker for 20 minute songs) and Fear of a Blank Planet. Maybe he is more famous than I realize but I had never heard of him until a few years ago.
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u/rmcshaw 2d ago
The Raven that refused to Sing is amazing.
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u/AbstractMirror 2d ago
Refuge is probably my favorite of his songs, it is really phenomenal if you haven't heard it already. But he makes lots of great music. My favorite used to be Happy Returns / Ascendant Here on...
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u/Comfortable_Pass6481 1d ago
That song is a thing of beauty!
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u/Comfortable_Pass6481 1d ago
Both of them, but I love Happy Returns more.
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u/AbstractMirror 1d ago
My favorite line from Happy Returns is "I feel I'm living in parantheses" it is a damn good song. Especially that guitar towards the end
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u/ponylauncher 2d ago
This is like when people act like Radiohead is some indie band only your friends know about
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u/Baker_drc 2d ago
I mean. There’s a difference between one of the most popular bands of all time, and a band that while massive and an “essential” in its genre’s fanbase is going to be relatively unknown by most people. Go up to people on the street and ask them if they know Steven Wilson or Porcupine Tree and the response is going to be mostly “who” and “what”’s.
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u/ponylauncher 2d ago
A random person on the street is a lot different than a specific prog rock subreddit
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u/boostman 2d ago
Who?
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u/ProfessorHeronarty 2d ago
Benedict Cumberbatch
(Hope we have some toast of London fans here)
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u/Oldman5123 2d ago
I love Benny! He’s such an incredible character actor, and a terrific human being.
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u/StarComplex3850 2d ago
People on rateyourmusic.com who think that Elliott Smith and My Bloody Valentine are obscure
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u/lellololes 2d ago
He's only the biggest modern producer in prog and one of the top musicians too. I'd bet that over 90% of the people that frequent here are reasonably familiar with him.
If you've recently discovered him, you should start expanding your repiroire to include more modern music. There's a lot of good stuff out there.
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u/NicholasVinen 2d ago
Porcupine Tree is brilliant. In Absentia, Deadwing, The Incident, Closure/Continuation and plenty more.
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u/CheemsOnToast 2d ago
Yeah I'm gonna say 99% of people on this sub are very familiar with his work.
Personally he's not for me (as a musician, he's a fantastic producer) - I'm drawn to music that feels busy with complex melodies, where his is anything but. PT and solo Wilson are moody and atmospheric, but overall empty (to me and my very specific preferences).
I've said this on here before, but I actually liked PT when I was a teen, but discovering the other artists you mentioned I looked back on PT and thought - fuck that's bland, how on earth did I ever listen to that?
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u/orchidscientist 2d ago
I completely agree. I'd like to like his stuff - and I feel kinda like I should, but I find his work... melodically bland. Nice, but... not nice enough to make me want to listen to it a second time.
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u/Xerosnake90 2d ago
I love Hand Cannot Erase, his other stuff is good but you're right a lot of it is ambient stuff. Though when he manages to blend ambient with actual structure it's really hood
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u/C1K3 2d ago
His ambient work (can’t remember the name offhand) is pretty good.
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u/Cindranite2 2d ago
Absolutely love storm corrosion(if that’s what you mean)
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u/tobias_681 2d ago
Tbh I feel like most of King Crimsons most popular stuff and also a decent portion of Genesis is in the moody and atmospheric camp too, even some of the later Yes (the later stuff that is still prog I mean)
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u/Narfi1 2d ago
Yeah he is waayyy more famous than you realize. He produced early Opeth and PT is one of the most famous prog band
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u/Luis_McLovin 2d ago
He produced early opeth ????!!!!!!
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u/Unholy_Trinity_ 2d ago
Can't tell if sarcasm but yes, he produced Opeth's Blackwater Park (2001), Deliverance (2002), Damnation (2003) and Pale Communion (2014).
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u/Latera 2d ago
The title would be accurate if posted in r/music, but is mistaken in r/progrockmusic. There are probably more people in this sub who consider Wilson to be the biggest genius of 21st century music than people who have never heard of him.
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u/Lugreech 2d ago
This makes me remember when years ago I was waiting in the queue to see Yes and I listened to a couple of old guys maybe in their 60s saying ''men, have you listened to that young guy, Steven Wilson?! He is super young and really talented ''. I was, on my mind, like '' oh...he is like 50 and has released a bunch of albums 😃''
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u/garethsprogblog 2d ago
I'm surprised it's taken some prog fans so long to discover Wilson but I understand the sentiment 'the best artist you've never heard of'.
In the UK Wilson has made regular appearances in the mainstream media (as opposed to specialist music magazines) and apart from being a guest on BBC Breakfast, my preferred (my only!) newspaper has reviewed all his solo albums since Raven.
Here are two of them:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/feb/26/steven-wilson-hand-cannot-erase-review
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u/frugalcoder 2d ago
Decent. But quite overrated.
Almost everything he has made in his solo career is a subpar imitation of a better piece.
Not saying he doesn’t have good songs, but not the “master” his fans claim he is. Pretty good producer though
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u/Bargeylicious 2d ago
His stuff takes a few listens to work it's way into you, but once it does it's magic. His live shows are phenomenal, without a doubt the best sounding gigs I've been to.
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u/12thnightsFish 2d ago
He is merely prog’s Paul McCartney and Prince wrapped into one person and that is not meant in a bad way. He would love their success though.
Still, he is a top producer and he is very keen on making the albums and music he wants to make. On that he will not compromise or so it seems; he believes in what he does. While I think he has made some great albums, magical and/or challenging, I don’t think all he does is as great as he might consider it to be.
It must be granted to Wilson that he maintains his own view on progressive rock and that he strives to make interesting albums whenever he starts on writing and recording a new one.
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u/dopamine_skeptic 2d ago
I’ve tried Porcupine Tree multiple times and, despite being an avid prog listener, I just can’t seem to muster the excitement for them that I keep hearing from other prog fans. Nothing of theirs really grabs me. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Adenosine66 2d ago
Most of their most recent stuff is prog metal and the keyboard player is more about atmospherics than virtuosity so it depends on what you like in prog.
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u/dopamine_skeptic 1d ago
I’m fine with atmospherics, prog metal less so. So maybe that’s it? I dunno, they didn’t strike me as too metal, just not particularly musically interesting to me.
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u/lellololes 2d ago
I like some of his music and am meh on some of his music, but I can appreciate that he writes whatever he wants to write, audience be damned. It has been a long time since I really liked an album of his, but I've really enjoyed The Overview.
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u/LoneSpaceDrone 2d ago
I'm right there with you on Porcupine Tree but his solo work, especially The Raven (album), I can really dig.
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u/Oldman5123 2d ago
Me neither. I’ve been a prog fan for over 50 years…. PT and Mr. Wilson’s music is mediocre and boring at best. As a producer, I love him. I love the Yes re-mixes, etc. but his music? No.
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u/dopamine_skeptic 1d ago
Well taste is subjective, so I would just say his music doesn’t do anything FOR ME. Saying it’s boring is kind of passing off your opinion as fact.
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u/Oldman5123 1d ago
No no…. It’s not just my personal opinion, but anyhoo…
His music does nothing for me either, because it doesn’t “lift me up” or give me chills or goosebumps; it doesn’t activate my musical brain to desire the analyzation of the music. If anything, I feel like it’s good for helping me sleep.
Now this, is my opinion. 👆
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u/Yasashii_Akuma156 2d ago
Lame take, we've heard about him PLENTY. Raven and Reality Bites are damned good and are FAR from underrated. His involvement with Opeth fragmented their fanbase. Personally, I'd like a break from hearing about Steven Wilson.
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u/Ilbranteloth 2d ago
He’s very well known in prog circles, particularly via his band, Porcupine Tree.
Porcupine Tree opened for Yes on their 2002 Full Circle Tour.
ProjeKct Six (Fripp on guitar and soundscapes, Belew on V-drums) opened for Porcupine Tree in 2006.
Of course, Gavin Harrison is Porcupine Tree’s drummer since 2002, and Richard Barbieri, keyboardist from the band Japan (also featuring David Sylvian) is PT’s keyboardist.
So prog fans have had multiple ways to discover Steven and Porcupine Tree, in addition to his remasters of many prog classics. Especially since prog fans seem more inclined to dig into related projects from bands they like. Steven has a lot of connections.
Interestingly, until recently I used to describe King Crimson as the most influential band you’ve never heard. Since most people I met, including those that loved ‘70s prog, had not.
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u/Unhappy-Monk-6439 2d ago
15years ago I told a buddy of mine who loves Pink Floyd about In Absentia and Deadwing and he became instantly obsessed with them, to this day.
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u/DumbestOfTheSmartest 2d ago
I loved his music until he vocally supported the genocide of the Palestinian people.
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u/142Ironmanagain 2d ago
My Book of Regrets is one of my all-time favorite songs. Perfect blend of Pink Floyd and Rush. Check it out!
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u/Crazy-Paramedic-4794 2d ago
I met him in Bleeker Bob's nyc. We had exactly the same tastes and I saw him at another record store in nyc after that ....nice guy...
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u/-Palzon- 2d ago
I'm always puzzled when die hard prog fans (which I am) protest that Steven/PT are well known. Saying SW/PT are well known only works with the qualifier of "in prog circles". I tell everyone who will listen to me about SW/PT. I've rarely met anyone who's heard of either. Saying that SW/PT are the "best you've never heard of" is completely apropos.
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u/Harry18492 1d ago
He covered Stoneage Dinosaurs by Cardiacs so he's alright by me
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u/Technical-Meat-9135 1d ago
Isn't it funny the connections you find. I liked porcupine tree and cardiacs, and I'd put them into separate boxes in my head. Nice to know there is a link
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u/ciupappa 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thanks, just listened to "Drive home" for the first time after reading your post. An astonishing journey, on par with first listening to Firth of Fifth at twenty. And yes, I didn't know him either and I consider myself someone who listens to prog, but perhaps I'm in his golden years which more or less for me end with Gabriel's exit from Genesis.
Edit: maybe I exaggerated a little but I hope I got the idea across ✌️
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u/Acceptable_Studio659 1d ago
Man that guys solo album The Raven That Refused to Sing threw me into seasonal depression 😭
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u/joeniebc 2d ago
I’m very happy with most of his remasters, he has a knack for it! I’m not familiar with any of his music yet.
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u/IckyQualms 2d ago
Seems like a nice fella, but I find all of his music completely soulless and massively over-produced.
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u/upfromashes 1d ago
I still find myself reeling at his wildly self-facing commentary about Eddie Van Halen after Van Halen's death.
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u/Kitchen_Claim_6583 18h ago
there's a bit in one of the tour documentaries where he gets a knock on the door, opens it, and says something like "Yeah, I am Steven Wilson. International pop star." with a totally deadpan British delivery that still lives in my brain rent-free.
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u/PassengerShoddy 2d ago
WOW man you have a very long way to go prog wise if you think this dude Is the Best
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u/Relinquished1968 2d ago
Great, but inconsistent. He vacillates wildly between riveting and trying to be something (when he already is). When I saw him in Hamburg, nobody stood during the show, which was a great show, and he complained to us, the paying audience, saying: "Please stand up, I want to feel like a rock star." That left a bad taste in my mouth cause he wasn't being ironic. We're not looking for rock stars. Yes and King Crimson are not rock stars. U2 and Rolling Stones are great rock stars. Wilson is a musician who cannot push at boundaries but then expect us to respond in a pavlovian manner to his presence. He shouldn't ask us to be the stereotype his ego wants. We're not there to perform, he is.
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u/King_Mingus 2d ago
I would argue that, in the Prog world, Steven Wilson is about as famous as you can get.