Album Rating: 4.0

That's a good way to put it, even though I pay more attention to lyrics than most people do

"honestly my throwaway comment didnt deserve your time and effort, i was mostly poking fun at fear of a blank planet's "it's easier to talk to my PC" and similar stuff from a decade ago"

I got that, but I figured it would be a good opportunity as any to address this particular issue.

Album Rating: 3.5

my face is mogadon

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

anyone heard the new sample from recording sessions?

you mean this? http://stevenwilsonhq.com/sw/recording-harmonica-for-new-song-to-the-bone-with-mark-feltham/

pretty interesting actually, the harmonica really sounds like something from a classic talk talk album (= good), the tribal drumming is a nice surprise as well. gets pretty dreadful once wilson starts singing but hopefully it won't be too long on the album

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

hopefully it's a three-hour long album with 5 bonus tracks and 3 rejected.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

It's a player from Talk Talk, sweet

It's interesting that he describes the next album as more "song-oriented" than his previous two. I was expecting a sort spiritual follow-up to Raven and this, but I guess I wouldn't mind something very diverse and sprawling as Grace for Drowning either.
Or something else entirely, there seems to be a more specific musical direction here.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

This and Raven are pretty different from each other. I think the next one will be more pop and electronic influenced, going off from the more accessible parts of this more than any of his others.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

the next one will be definitely varied. Strings, harmonica, duets, electronic sounds... All these indicate a really diverse album. If only we had tracks and durations, we could be sure about the similarities. Given, though, the direction he takes with his solo band, I believe the poppy-short tracks were channeled towards Blackfield, so he's keeping the more intricate ones for this.

Album Rating: 4.0

if the next one is 80% as good as this, i'd be satisfied

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Agreed, I'm excited about the diversity and will be more than happy if it lives up to this.

Album Rating: 4.0

Seeing as this is Steve's best solo effort I'm excited to see what's next too.

Yeah, this and Raven are mostly just similar in that they're both very album-oriented and defined by a thematic unity, which is loose on Raven but pretty much ties everything to together here.

But I agree, the excerpts he's published from the next record seem to be a somewhat honed and expanded take on his pop and electronic explorations on this. This could mean many things, in terms of quality, really.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Insurgentes and GFD were very sprawling and diverse, with Raven beginning the more concise route yea. The new one could end up being the best of both worlds.

Album Rating: 4.0

Raven is pretty lifeless imo, this injected some much needed emotion and diversity.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Raven has grown on, off, & on me again over the years. There's lots of interesting ideas to take in and a unified, spooky way about Raven. But it does sound dated and lifeless at times, with a bit too much cheesiness as well. Pin Drop and the t/t are among his best solo songs though, and the first few minutes of Luminol are amazing. It's a great album overall, but I think this and Insurgentes are his best.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Raven is a pleasantly successful experiment for SW. I don't think he'll ever do something like that again. That and GFD took all the jazz out of him and he now focuses on electronic. Would like to see him experimenting with industrial.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

You want industrial from Wilson then listen to The Incident (song), lots of Insurgentes, and some of his Electronic compilation album I believe. I think those got industrial out of his system the way that jazz got out of his system with the following two releases, as you mentioned Mythodea.

Album Rating: 4.0

yeah but raven has the t/t and drive home