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<\/p>\nIn some ways, the 2017 album To the Bone<\/i> introduced a more user-friendly Steven Wilson. Certainly, Wilson\u2019s fifth solo full-length features a good deal of the musically ambitious progressive rock styles that led to his being named Prog Rock King by the 2015 Progressive Music Awards in London. But the record also finds Wilson displaying his knack for writing accessible, popular music, the sort of songs that in an earlier era might have earned the label of \u201cradio-ready.\u201d But for the 51 year old Londoner who just released a 2CD+Blu-Ray live set, the pop textures of songs like \u201cPariah\u201d and \u201cBlank Tapes\u201d merely represent the pop side of his myriad talents.<\/p>\n
For the open-minded fan, the musical journey upon which Wilson has been traveling is a fascinating one, full of perhaps unexpected twists and turns. But for the music fan who prefers an artist who crafts a specific approach and then sticks with it, Wilson\u2019s work maybe too challenging. \u201cEveryone loves AC\/DC, but they\u2019ve basically been making the same record for 40 years,\u201d Wilson offers by way of example. \u201cWhich is fine.\u201d But that approach isn\u2019t one he\u2019s likely to adopt.<\/p>\n
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Wilson mentions the names of just a few of the many artists whose work has inspired him: Todd Rundgren, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Prince. He describes the unifying characteristic as \u201cthat category of people [who] constantly reinvent themselves, constantly confront the expectations of their existing fan base.\u201d He says that such artists \u201cconstantly shift the goalposts around, so their fans never really know what\u2019s coming next.\u201d And he acknowledges that approach is a tightrope walk.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo pull that off time and time again over a career is really difficult to do,\u201d Wilson concedes, \u201cbecause every time you make a new record, you run the risk of basically losing your existing fan base and not necessarily regenerating a new one.\u201d But for the artists who follow their own muse \u2013 and for their fans \u2013 the creative rewards can ultimately be greater. Those artists \u201cstand the test of time the best,\u201d he believes, \u201cbecause their catalog becomes this kind of constantly surprising trajectory.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview clip included on the Blu-Ray version of Wilson\u2019s new Home Invasion: In Concert at the Royal Albert Hall<\/i>, Wilson forthrightly acknowledges that some of his longtime fans actively dislike To the Bone<\/i>. He goes so far in the live introduction to \u201cPermanating\u201d to remind the audience that after the Beatles, the greatest pop group ever is ABBA. After launching into the irresistibly catchy tune, he welcomes a colorful troupe of Bollywood dancers onto the stage; at one point during \u201cPermanating,\u201d the dancers run in a circle around Wilson. That\u2019s not the kind of entertainment fans signed up for when they bought the heavy prog-metal of Porcupine Tree\u2019s Fear of a Blank Planet<\/i> or The Incident<\/i>.<\/p>\n
While Wilson is careful not to compare himself or his work to that of, say, Neil Young, he makes a point about Young\u2019s body of work. \u201cYou may not necessarily like everything in it \u2013 and I don\u2019t like every Neil Young album \u2013 but I totally respect his right to have made all of those career choices. And I\u2019m still fascinated by the fact that he made those career choices.\u201d Wilson feels similarly about the work of Frank Zappa. \u201cI don\u2019t like all Zappa records, but I own them all,\u201d he says. He says that the mere existence of some works that he might not personally enjoy remains part of the artist\u2019s overall appeal. \u201cAnd I hope my fans have come to expect that about me, too,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
And for anyone who\u2019s been paying attention to Wilson\u2019s multifarious projects, none of this will come as any surprise. I first interviewed him in October 2007, while Porcupine Tree was touring the U.S. in support of Fear of a Blank Planet<\/i>. At that time, Wilson had just begun work on his first solo album, Insurgentes<\/i>, released a year later. And he previewed the eclectic approach his solo work would take. \u201cIt\u2019s an album of all the pieces that have never fit into anything: anything from almost singer\/songwriter based material, to electronic, to disco, funk\u2026all those sorts of things,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo I\u2019m going to put them all together in a kind of indulgent, eclectic mess.\u201d<\/p>\n
But though Wilson\u2019s work does cover a lot of stylistic ground, his music is rarely what most would describe as indulgent. \u201cIn my past career, you\u2019ll hear the point at which metal becomes a part of [my] vocabulary,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019ll hear a point at which songwriting and harmony singing become much more prevalent in my work, and you\u2019ll hear points in time where electronic music, pop music and jazz influences all have become part of the fabric of the music.\u201d<\/p>\n
And as he surveys the musical landscape, Wilson sees much yet to explore. \u201cI\u2019m working on new material for my next record right now,\u201d he says, \u201cand it\u2019s going to be different again. Because what\u2019s the point of repeating yourself? For me, there has to be a reason for every new album to exist in the catalog. There\u2019s no point in simply making another one of what you\u2019ve done before.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Wilson nearly always has very specific ideas about how a piece of music ought to sound (\u201cI am a bit of a control freak when it comes down to it,\u201d he admits), the songwriter\/producer\/multi-instrumentalist frequently collaborates with other artists. Many of his long-term and\/or ongoing projects have been the product of teamwork: no-man (with Tim Bowness), Blackfield (with Aviv Geffen), Storm Corrosion (with Opeth\u2019s Mikael \u00c5kerfeldt). Even Porcupine Tree \u2013 in its earliest incarnation when Wilson was still in high school \u2013 was a collaborative effort with friend and classmate Malcolm Stocks.<\/p>\n
Wilson\u2019s embrace of pop and his willingness to share the spotlight has resulted in a clutch of guest vocal spots by (and duets with) Israeli vocalist Ninet Tayeb. Tayeb\u2019s lead vocal on \u201cRoutine\u201d and \u201cAncestral\u201d from Wilson\u2019s 2015 release Hand. Cannot Erase.<\/i> set the stage for her increased participation on 2017\u2019s To the Bone<\/i>. Tayeb\u2019s breathtakingly expressive (and technically impressive) vocals on \u201cPariah\u201d also demonstrate Wilson\u2019s facility at writing vocal parts for a singer with a much different range than his own.<\/p>\n