Steven Wilson

And if you buy Prog magazine this month there is a big interview with him about the new record. Plus a sample CD with the final version of Luminol. 

The recording quality is top notch.

I agree with you completely Stu, and am hopping from foot to foot like an expectant dad to be.

But Luminol is already "out there" as performed on the last tour, and as a live track.

So listening to that is a bit like going for a three month scan before the birth!! 

No way I will be hunting for streaming leaks.

I'll certainly won't be holding my breath for this.

I have nothing but extremely high hopes for this album. Steve is on a roll here with this wonderfully talented band, one of the best I have ever seen. His last album, Grace for Drowning, was a corker IMHO and one of the best of recent years. 

He is making Porcupine Tree seem very pedestrian with his new music. He has been set free with his own band and it is wonderful to listen to.

A number of reviewers in web land that I highly respect have been making extremely positive comments about the new album - they are lucky buggers to have had review copies of the album for the last month....

Roll on March 4th for the Festival Hall gig :-)

Seems these guys are enjoying the album rather a lot. Some reviews published on line.

http://therepublika.com/2013/0...g-and-other-stories/

http://www.metalwani.com/2013/...en-that-refused.html

http://www.themonolith.com/mus...g-and-other-stories/

This has to be one of the most anticipated releases for some time. I have not been this excited about a new album for a considerable time.

The hi res version I think will be something special this time. If the free sample track of Luminol is anything to go by then it appears to have captured alot of the atmosphere of the live recording which in itself is a revelation compared to most modern efforts.

Roll on the 25th Feb.

I like the comment made recently on his facebook page, and also mentioned in the interview in the Prog magazine, where Alan Parsons has been exceedingly careful to totally maintain dynamic range, and has limited the use of Eq / compression etc to the absolute minimum, hence you are going to need to 'turn this disc up rather more than usual' these days.

Loke most here - I have not waited with such anticipation for an album for an age.

A superb interview with Steve, Alan Parsons, Adam Holzman, Theo Travis and Nick Beggs about the Raven. Quality.

http://www.innerviews.org/inner/wilson2.html

Absolutely stunning track & equally moving video. Re-creating this on stage is going to be a challenge, unless the audience already know the story - which we now do.

Really I thought it good but nothing particularly advanced.

It is an absolute masterpiece.

Also a master class in engineering and production.

Steve is doing a signing at Sister Ray records on Berwick Street on Monday from 6pm.

My copy's not been dispatched yet.

I would guess, looking at the cover, it's not very...jolly?

Strangely enough I ordered the vinyl yesterday, from BurningShed, and received a dispatch confirmation yesterday, so hoping it turns up today.

John

Vinyl copies were on sale at Bristol Show on Friday!!!! Courtesy of Diverse Vinyl.

My CD copy arrived on Monday courtesy of Burning Shed - and playing at the moment. Very interesting, with lots to get to grips with. Better get my head around it all, as I will be seeing SW at RFH on Monday  Looking forward to it too.

Tony

Spooky in the tradition of Edgar Allen Poe and Arthur Machen...

Just downloaded 24/96 FLAC version of The Raven... for £7.50 from Burning Shed.  Only downside was no album art - easily resolved. Fantastic value and hopefully this will inspire others to provide high quality downloads at a more realistic price.

It's good - but I wouldn't regard it as his masterpiece...For me the Incident get's closer to a masterpiece.

Enjoy the gig Tony, I suspect he will be very good live. 

As for he album ( i too bought it on vinyl) it's good if not a tad eccentric in places. 

Gary

For the past few months i have been looking forward to the RFH concert with teenage like anticipation (  on a par with how i felt in '77 waiting to see Pink Floyd at Wembley ) .Had foot surgery 6 weeks ago but that wasnt going to get in the way of getting to the concert .. until i dislocated my shoulder a week ago . Cant begin to describe the total and utter frustration  .I just hope  Mr WIlson gets back to London soon , preferably in Porcupine Tree guise .

 As for The Raven .... for me its great in parts but quite a tough listen .  Might be a grower but at the moment i much prefer Grace for Drowning .   

I think you are going to be waiting a very long time. I cannot see PT reforming anytime soon as I think SW has been set free with his new band and will not want to return to the narrower confines of PT. The musicians in his solo band are a class or several above the guys in PT, and that is what Steve is enjoying more than anything. 

Anyway, he did play Radioactive Toy last night in Glasgow. Sorry to hear you cannot make tomorrow nights show - I can totally understand the frustration on that one. Hopefully he'll come back round later in the year.

Just as well there are plenty of PT albums to listen to. I definitely don't agree that the new band members are that much if any better than previous PT staff, they are different, louder and jazzier it don't make them better though. 

 'Burning Shed' is just up the road for me, so I popped in there today for my CD copy of 'The Raven'. All those lovely swirling and symphonic prog-rock influences are very much in evidence, with some delightfully strange shades of jazz chucked into the mix. Nick Beggs' bass playing is superb, and we get some Chapman Stick too. I love it.

It's about as good as modern recordings get, but nothing like the sound quality Alan Parsons was achieving in the 1970's. That's progress in the recording industry for you.

John.