Review Summary: The biggest prog artist of our generation makes a full pop album with mixed results
What can be said about Steven Wilson that hasn't been said already? This man has slowly gained the status of a modern prog figurehead by fronting various projects, most notably Porcupine Tree. But in the recent years he has been mainly focusing on his solo career which was met with equally good reception. Wilson never repeated himself and all four of his previous solo albums have been unique and different, so no one agrees which one is the best and everyone was wondering what Wilson would bring next. The first four singles released before the new album however gave a very mixed impressions:
First there is "Pariah" a solid breakup pop song which features Ninet Tayeb who previously appeared on last album's highlight "Routine". Unfortunately the lyrics are a bit iffy and the line "I'm tired of Facebook" is destined to be mocked as much as his infamous line about Xbox from 10 years ago. The second single "The Same Asylum as Before", which mainly deals with fake promises of politicians is one of the weakest songs Wilson has ever written. The song's instrumental chorus is a blatant rip off of his older song "Prodigal" and even the pre-chorus sounds slightly like "Stranger by the Minute". When looking at Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson reviews, you will notice that no one ever brings up Wilson's vocals and for a simple reason: his singing is completely average. But on this track he also tries to pull of falsetto vocals and it really doesn't work.
"Song of I" is easily the best from the singles, a dark trip hop track about love evolving into obsession with guest vocals by Sophire Hunger. The vibe here is very similar to his old song "Index". And then there is "Permanating" one of the most controversial tracks Steven has ever made. Ironically because it's his most accessible and poppiest track. Steven has written a number of poppy tracks before, but this one goes into such cheesy territory that it ends up sounding more like something by Coldplay or Keane.
Fortunately, the album itself has a very strong start with the title track co-written by Andy Partridge from XTC. This song has a powerful intro featuring a harmonica and spoken word and with lyrics talking about the concept of truth.
Second we have "Nowhere Now" an upbeat pop song with chorus slightly reminiscent of Happiness "III", lyrically the verses are bleak, but the chorus tries to bring more positive message.
"Refuge" is easily the best track on the album, the guitar solo on this track is by far the highlight of the album. As title suggests, the song is told from a perspective of refugee, but tries to be more personal than political.
We also get two tracks dealing with the topic of religious extremism and how these terrorists who conceal in society use religion to justify their prejudice and hatred. First there is the awkwardly titled "People Who Eat Darkness", the heaviest song on the album and second the penultimate "Detonation". This track tries to copy the formula of previous album's highlight "Ancestral". The track similarly starts with electronic trip hop beats leading to another guitar solo. The second half is entirely instrumental jam session, but it doesn't end up sounding as impressive and ends rather abruptly.
The album finale "Song of Unborn" is literally a song for an unborn child. The song's message is that despite all awful things happening in the world one should appreciate the gift of life. So the album ends on a positive note.
In the end, To the Bone is easily Steven's least cohesive and consistent work. It doesn't have any concept like his previous album, nor are songs in any way connected like on his 2013 record. The album is mainly song based as it takes inspiration from 80's art pop records by Peter Gabriel, XTC and Talk Talk. There is almost a complete lack of any true standout moments such as the guitar solo on "Drive Home" and "Regret #9" or the explosive finale of "Significant Other", "The Holy Drinker" and "Ancestral". Another thing that disappoints is the absence of virtuosos Guthrie Govan and Marco Minnemann. This time Wilson plays almost all guitar parts himself, but he brings a Slovak guitarist David Kollar on two tracks.
Some reactions to the album were quite negative, going so far to calling Wilson a sellout, but as we know, Wilson will keep trying something different, so let's hope this album isn't a start of a decline.
