Steven Wilson Cover Version

Between 2003 and 2010, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) released six CD singles, each featuring a cover version backed with a new original song. Titled, appropriately enough, Cover I through Cover VI, the first of these singles was significant because it was the first release issued under his own name. All of these were almost ridiculously limited. The titles were all compiled before - when Cover VI was released, the other singles were included in a lavishly designed box - but this marks the first time all 12 tracks have been widely available. The music presented here is performed completely solo save for chamber and orchestral elements on some tracks that were added on later, and showcases a different, more intimate side of Wilson…

Between 2003 and 2010, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) released six CD singles, each featuring a cover version backed with a new original song. Titled, appropriately enough, Cover I through Cover VI, the first of these singles was significant because it was the first release issued under his own name. All of these were almost ridiculously limited. The titles were all compiled before - when Cover VI was released, the other singles were included in a lavishly designed box - but this marks the first time all 12 tracks have been widely available. The music presented here is performed completely solo save for chamber and orchestral elements on some tracks that were added on later, and showcases a different, more intimate side of Wilson…

Between 2003 and 2010, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) released six CD singles, each featuring a cover version backed with a new original song. Titled, appropriately enough, Cover I through Cover VI, the first of these singles was significant because it was the first release issued under his own name. All of these were almost ridiculously limited. The titles were all compiled before - when Cover VI was released, the other singles were included in a lavishly designed box - but this marks the first time all 12 tracks have been widely available. The music presented here is performed completely solo save for chamber and orchestral elements on some tracks that were added on later, and showcases a different, more intimate side of Wilson…

Steven Wilson's 4½ is a six-track (+ bonus track for Japan) stopgap mini album between 2015's Hand. Cannot. Erase. and whatever full-length comes next. Four tunes have origins in the previous album's sessions; another dates back to those from 2013's The Raven That Refused to Sing and Other Stories. There is also a re-recording of "Don't Hate Me" that first appeared on Porcupine Tree's 1998 offering, Stupid Dream. The players are by now familiar: Wilson's current working band comprises Guthrie Govan, Adam Holzman, Nick Beggs, Dave Kilminster, Craig Blundell, Marco Minnemann, Chad Wackerman, and Theo Travis. Opener "My Book of Regrets" is a nine-plus-minute exercise that commences with a seductive pop melody, and offers a hooky chorus and syncopated dynamics. It evolves into spiraling prog rock courtesy of Beggs' front-line Chris Squire-esque bassline, fueling Govan and Wilson's spiky…

Over the past decade, Steven Wilson's (Porcupine Tree) relationship with prog rock has grown increasingly intimate. He previewed a killer new band on the live album Get All You Deserve - woodwind/multi-instrumentalist Theo Travis, keyboardist Adam Holzman, session bass and stick player Nick Beggs, drummer Marco Minnemann, and guitarist Guthrie Govan - put a diverse, sophisticated face on Wilson's 21st century brand of the genre. The Raven That Refused to Sing and Other Stories is their first studio outing. Wilson was also able to coax Alan Parsons out of semi-retirement to co-produce and engineer the effort, and he fully committed: the album's crystalline, detailed sound and spacious ambience reflect some of his best work behind the boards…

Over the past decade, Steven Wilson's (Porcupine Tree) relationship with prog rock has grown increasingly intimate. He previewed a killer new band on the live album Get All You Deserve - woodwind/multi-instrumentalist Theo Travis, keyboardist Adam Holzman, session bass and stick player Nick Beggs, drummer Marco Minnemann, and guitarist Guthrie Govan - put a diverse, sophisticated face on Wilson's 21st century brand of the genre. The Raven That Refused to Sing and Other Stories is their first studio outing. Wilson was also able to coax Alan Parsons out of semi-retirement to co-produce and engineer the effort, and he fully committed: the album's crystalline, detailed sound and spacious ambience reflect some of his best work behind the boards…

Over the years, trying to determine what is true "prog rock" and what is not has become an increasingly tricky proposition. In the early '70s, it was easy - any band that performed "suites" that extended across entire album sides and dressed in capes and/or cloaks was a dead giveaway. However, when the early '80s rolled around, most former prog rockers trimmed out the fat from their compositions (and exchanged their medieval wear and kimonos for what looked like sports coats). Ever since, there have been bands that have aligned themselves to either of the aforementioned prog rock approaches. But along came Porcupine Tree, who somehow have found a way to incorporate both into their 2009 effort, The Incident. Set up similarly to Rush's 1978 classic, Hemispheres, The Incident is comprised of a single long song - the title track - that features many different movements…