WEEK 5 - STEVEN WILSON

Welcome back to the best blog on Earth! Im just kidding, your blog is the best; no blog could ever surpass that work of fine art. I am writing today to share with you my personal favorite musician of all time. I’m not saying that this artist is the most talented musician/songwriter ever, but I do think his body of work is one of the most impressive of any active musician today.

Steven Wilson is an English singer/guitarist/bassist/pianist/composer whose music is most closely tied to the progressive rock genre. Progressive rock emerged as a reaction to more traditional “Rock ’n Roll,” which critics called simplistic and formulaic. Progressive rock emerged to disprove those notions, so songs are usually fairly long (7-10 mins) and explore various musical themes throughout the piece. While Steven Wilson’s music generally follows this trend, he also incorporates many unique elements, like electronic sounds and synthesizers, jazz sections, and heavy rock to create his music. 

The main reason I admire Steven Wilson so much as a musician is because I respect him as a person. The music industry today has become overrun with egotists, sideshows, talentless puppets, and a myriad of other profit-driven acts that completely fail to contribute anything useful to music. Steven Wilson, on the other hand, is one of the most humble, hardworking, creative, and honest musicians I know of. He dedicates himself fully to every song and album he produces and puts a tremendous amount of thought into every detail of the process, from lyrics, to music, to album art. 

Wilson’s entire career has been a long battle against compromising his artistic integrity to make more money. In his first band, Porcupine Tree, he wrote countless songs about the internal conflict of making the music he wanted to make versus producing a more commercial product to make him famous. Luckily, he never gave in, and his work today remains incredibly unique and inspiring. Each album sounds vastly different from the last, demonstrating his curiosity and fearlessness in exploring new genres of music and creating original works. Today, Steven Wilson has earned the respect of many of the most world-renowned bands from the previous decades like Pink Floyd, Yes, and Jethro Tull.

Steven Wilson’s most recent album, Hand. Cannot. Erase., came out in 2015. It is a concept album inspired by the life of Joyce Carol Vincent. Vincent was a woman from London who had a job and was quite popular among her friends, but when she died suddenly near Christmas one year, her body was not found for nearly three years. Steven Wilson explores the alienation and isolation modernity and technology has brought to our culture throughout the album. His band features Guthrie Govan, often called the greatest active guitarist today, and Marco Minnemann, a brilliant drummer. Listen to the opening song of the album, “3 Years Older,” which sets the tone of the entire piece. Wilson’s bold approach to creating modern progressive rock manifests itself beautifully in this song. If you enjoy it, please listen to the whole album!