quinta-feira, 24 de outubro de 2013

*. Steven Wilson .*

Album: Drive Home (2013)(Ep 7 Track's)
Genre: Prog Rock (Crossover/Art Rock)  /  UK

‘Drive Home’ is a two disc set – Disc One is a DVD featuring the Jess Cope directed videos for two of the tracks from ‘The Raven..’ (‘Drive Home’ and ‘The Raven That Refused To Sing’) and four tracks recorded live in Frankfurt (‘The Holy Drinker’, ‘Insurgentes’, ‘The Watchmaker’ and ‘The Raven That Refused To Sing’), plus two audio tracks in 5.1 surround audio (the unreleased ‘The Birthday Party’ and an orchestral version of ‘The Raven…). Disc Two, the CD features ‘Drive Home’, ‘The Birthday Party’ the orchestral ‘The Raven That Refused To Sing’ plus the four live tracks from the Frankfurt concert. The two Jess Cope videos are animations and both quite moving in their own quaint way – elevated, of course by the excellence of the music. The real gems though are the live recordings. Wilson has assembled a top notch coterie of musicians and they have delivered in spades. A particularly inspired choice – although they’re all superb – is Guthrie Govan on guitar, not a name particularly well-known outside guitar-players’ circles but, to those in the know, an exceptional player. All four tracks – three from ‘The Raven’ album and one ‘Insurgentes’ from the album of the same name, lean towards the quieter end of the Wilson spectrum with plenty of diverse passages but with less emphasis on the avant-garde squonks and squawls that sometimes dominate his solo work. The embodiment of this is ‘The Watchmaker’, a brooding, moving piece initially played with acoustics and Theo Travis’s flute to the fore but then ripped up with an amazing Guthrie Govan solo. Another highlight is ‘The Holy Drinker’, a prog fan’s dream with time signature changes a-plenty and a rare opportunity, courtesy of Nick Beggs to see and hear a Chapman Stick in full flow. So, much here for fans to drool over – especially as all the audio content is unreleased stuff and ‘The Birthday Party’ is a new track – written at the time of ‘The Raven..’ but not included. Hard for a reviewer to sum up without resorting, as Fish would say, to the old cliches – but it has to be said that ‘Drive Home’ can only be described as a triumph, catching the genuinely self-effacing Wilson at the absolute peak of his powers and cementing his place as one of the most innovative artists in progressive rock. Thought I’d just ramp up the hype one more notch… Review by "Alan Jones" (http://getreadytorock.me.uk).

RATING:  8 / 10

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