Hand. Cannot. Erase.

I like what's going on here, but I think the record is too long, and generally suffering from prog problems.

Kind of bland prog, if I'm being honest. I mean, it's fine, very enjoyable in moments. But if I want prog I want it spicy, but this is like when you go to a Vietnamese restaurant and they give you the "white people" spicy. Nah man, I want it to hurt, hit me with the challenging stuff.

Halfway through 3 Years Older I perked up and started to really attend to this album even though not a lyric had yet been delivered. Something special was unfolding here. The music is layered and interesting. Dulcimers! Epic rock organ! Kate Bush-inspired boy choristers! This really engaged me. When I started investigating deeper it did not surprise me in the least that this drew comparisons to The Wall. The story behind this album is so compelling - there are a million ways that attempting to capture this story in a concept album should fail but I was enthralled for the duration. After one listen this album and its story haunts me - I’ll be listening to this a lot more and checking out more from Steven Wilson.

Prog usually leaves me cold, but despite being be big, dramatic and theatrical, this has undeniable heart. It connects, builds and it soars. Thanks for the recommendation! Rating: 4.5 Playlist track: Hand Cannot Erase Date listened: 15/11/24

Masterpiece

I was totally surprised by this album. Never heard of the artist, but I was hooked just from the Wikipedia article about the album and the trail it led me down about the inspiration of the characters in this album. Such a tragedy that befell Joyce Vincent. I think its re-listenability is hindered due to its concept nature, but I really enjoyed this album and glad for the submitter to have shared it with us. 4.5/5, but downgraded to 4 stars based on re-listenability.

I had a friend who told me this was his favorite artist, and when I realized I'd never heard of him (but had heard of Porcupine Tree), I checked them out. I did not check this album, nor did it particularly pull me in enough to warrant more listens, but now listening to this record, I found myself enjoying it. In parts. Any of the heavier proggy parts, I love. When the record slows down, it's easy to lose track of it. It's clearly steeped in every prog-rock band that came before it, and I think it holds the mantle well, just not entirely my bag. Call it 3.5. Favorite track: "Ancestor"

Might be my favorite of the user albums so far; very beautiful!

Really good. Great add

Someone I'd never heard of, and really interesting. A lot of Prog DNA but shades form Rush to CSN&Y. Didn't do a ton for me lyrically but they did the job.

Really good mix, huge instrumentals. Nice vibe for some morning work

interesting progrock album. Lyricaly, I had a harder time to empathize with the story of the album. But the music is very good.

Jamais entendu parle de l'artiste mais j'ai bien aimé le style. 4.5

This was pretty cool! 8/10

I really enjoyed listening to this. Complex, but accessible progressive rock with elements of so much (Crosby Stills and Nash, Pink Floyd, Marillion, even Elton John). Intriguing and heartbreaking story concept. A worthy bonus inclusion

Good prog rock album by Steven Wilson. I like the album cover too. The music gets complex sometimes. Smart, but not too smart.

Fourth studio album? It is unique. I think I like it.

Really great album, lots of variety but with that slightly electronic vibe. Jazzy and rock at times.

A really solid prog album with fantastic grooves and some really effective more tender moments, though quite a few of these softer parts don’t have as much impact. It’s not Wilson’s strongest work in my opinion, and The Raven Who Refused to Sing or something like In Absentia from his time in Porcupine Tree would be a better example of a more consistent and rewarding project

It's nice to hear modern non-metal prog, and my favourite prog always has a plot and narration, so a win all round!

An enjoyable surprise.

I enjoyed this. Well played. Well recorded. Interesting songs.

Familiar with this guy from a couple of prog album remasters he did. Wish I had a better vocabulary for it, but this kind of has the same vibe as the Todd Rundgren stuff from the main list. Something about Producer guys and their musical sensibilities

This was wild, really all over the place, but that were bits that I loved. There were also bits I hated. But overall I think it was a very well put together album and did keep my interest.

I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this album, but it was fascinating. Routine tugged at already stretched heartstrings.

Impressive, and a lot to like but also a touch overdone. Opens like Quadrophenia. A lot of strong passages but stuff that also loses a listener not fully bought into the plot. Not quite worthy of list proper one would say, though one might be tempted to listen again and seek out tunes by his real band. (And don't sleep on Stephen Wilson, Jr., strong emerging country artist.).

Real nice

I really enjoyed this one and definitely plan on listening to it again. This was very easy to listen to and get into right off the bat.

I’m not normally a fan of progrock as it often seems soulless and just an excuse to noodle around on your guitar/keyboard/zither etc, but I actually liked this because it was emotive without being melodramatic.

cool album but concept albums just aren't my thing. great bass and dynamics work.

Steven Wilson is one of those people who I assume is like his fans - annoying.

The most bland of these bonus albums so far. Totally inoffensively fine.

Ancestral was the easy track highlight. The other tunes contain some shredding and thematic material, but without going all in on the latter Wilson refuses to try in a certain way. Even in failure that style can "succeed". Instead, we get a non-jagged but muted waveform.

Weird, but nice solid sound

6/10. This was peaceful and chilled out, but didn't really stand out to me a ton. Definitely a good album, but not something I am crazy for.

Fans of Porcupine Tree will definitely like this as its basically an extension of that sound. First Regret sounds remarkably like Rush, but the remainder is the driving prog/rock sound that PC is famous for.

I appreciate Steven Wilson for his support of prog rock and some of the great remixes he's done. I like his music also, but I find it a bit cold and emotionless. It's sort of how I feel about Rush compared to Yes. I absolutely love Yes, but with Rush, while I can appreciate their technical proficiency at the end of the day it leaves me a little unsatisfied. I will give his another listen though. 3 stars.

Well, what can I say. I love a lot of the Procupine Tree records and the work Wilson did with Opeth. But honestly, this work doesn't distinguish itself a lot from what he did earlier. That doesn't mean I don't like it. Quite the contrary. I still have weakness for this kinda prog. And on a good moment when I have the space to listen to it, it still sounds great.

Well crafted, there's great talent there. On the other hand nothing too memorable.

Good stuff Should get into some porcupine tree soon 4 3

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Hand cannot erase

This was a good prog/power pop album. It had shades of jazz, CSN style harmonies, and fantastic musicianship. The story itself is very compelling and allows Steven Wilson to explore themes of youth, relationship, isolation, and death. That said, there were some parts that didn’t work as well musically that really made the album feel disjointed.

Progressive rock, progressive pop. Ni fu ni fa.

Community theater dropout musical. If you want a long prog album, this is for you!

An interesting hybrid. A little introspective/heartfelt singer-songwriter, that goes into several experiments in the rock/classic rock/prog rock genre. Perfect Life was the first track that stood out, though it wasn't until Ancestral that i felt the rock side of things took off a bit better. Not a bad listen, just not too much to return to.

There were a couple interesting mixes of 70s and modern prog rock but overall it was just whatever. I’m beginning to realize that it’s hard to sit through these 70 minute albums when they don’t even have the 1001 album stamp of approval. At least there I’m guaranteed some reason for why I should listen to it beyond “some guy thought it was really good”

This was well written and very well played, but I didn't connect much with the proggier songs. And yeah, it was overly long. Pleased to see music of this quality being produced so recently. Fave Songs: Perfect Life, Hand Cannot Erase, Routine

I was unable to really connect with this today.

Very interesting album, a good change of pace. Categorized as prog rock, which makes sense. I like the long, meandering nature of some of these tracks. I also think the variety of instruments and sounds is cool, it's a bit all over the place in a good way. Only saving one song, but it was a fun listen. Favorite tracks: Home Invasion / Regret #9. Album art: A woman's face deteriorating into colorful paint. Very bold and vibrant, I like this one. 3/5

Cringe

I really can't take Steven Wilson's lyrics seriously in Porcupine Tree or his solo work, but the guy can compose a fine ass tune. Somebody should tell him to finally bite the bullet and become a full-time "JRPG final boss battle theme" writer.

Ah the curse of prog rock. Why do so many people who finished this challenge just have a hard-on for prog rock? I don't get it. Do you just like songs that go on for 15 minutes? 10 minutes longer than they should? It's tiring after a while. Musically it's competent but the songs are just too damn long for me to really care. Again the problem with prog rock. Learn to edit! My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3.5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Not bad. Some interesting stuff but some bits that I felt where overproduced.

Wears its influences on its sleeve a bit too much.

Hand Cannot Erase is very proggy, not all bad, has some dreaminess and some hard guitar jamming, both of those sounds are pretty enjoyable when they turn up, there's a lot of forgettable stuff in between and it runs so unnecessarily long. Hard to really pick out standout tracks because they all have sections of good and bad within, probably gets a low 3, just.

Pretty enough but somehow, at least for me, lacking a beating heart.

Musically it's very accomplished- it sounds like a 70 Prog concept album... I'm kinda amazed people still listen to these now and reading into it transpires Steven is from Porcupine tree and has worked with, well most of the old 70s Prog groups from the 70s! Not my bag but still interesting. He's a very talented guy.

Solid, though I prefer his albums “Grave For Drowning” and “The Raven That Refused To Sing”

Wow. The conceit of making a prog rock epic "from a woman's perspective" is frankly pretty astounding. I can't say that it lives up to its ambitions. It is frequently subject to the ridiculous ornate overindulgence of the worst of prog as a genre, while not coming even close to the highs that that genre can afford. At its best, it is competent prog. I certainly do not hate it, but I cannot for the life of my fathom it's inclusion when there's so much less wanky prog out there.

Good in places

I just can't with prog sometimes man, sorry.

I like the proggier bits, but the rest sounds like emo musical theatre.

Probably the most pretentious album on this list which is some accolade!

He's such a self-absorbed guy that it's almost unbearable. I highly respect him as an artist within Porcupine Tree, and especially his work in modernizing the sound of old prog classics. However, I've never been drawn to his solo work. This was a perfect opportunity to give him another chance... and all he's done is reaffirm my opinion

This is too neat and clean mor my taste. Steven Wilson is being music's equivalent of that annoying OCD neighbour who manages to have his garden pristine on every day of the year. Not a single piece of weed or dirt - no room for some wild out of bounds things that might appear if you give them room. Musically it's all very well done, but with all the wrinkles professionally ironed out, it's fails to actually grab me. I like to actually be in my garden, not look at it from inside the house.

This LP has no idea what it wants to be, and all the guises it tries on are equally annoying. There are longer sections of breezy radio-friendly pop that give way to boring attempts at pummeling hardcore, all that circling back to plucky synth pop that should’ve stayed in the ‘aughts. At its completion, this album gives me no sense of what Wilson was trying to accomplish or what kind of artist he wants to be, even though he tried damn hard for an hour to convince me otherwise.

Not that great. It was too long for what it was. Nothing really stood out and the dial did not move much on it.

Faaaaar toooooo looooong

Interesting, but I wouldn't add it to any Best Album list.

This is modern indie prog rock and I do not love it. The bigger than life concepts have been around for a while but this felt like took that a step further with this album. Some songs were quick and other were way too long. This album suffered from being disorganized. It’s an adventurous attempt but falls flat for me. 5.8/10

Wow I have no idea what to make of this! What WAS it. I often complain that albums are too samey but wow this was all over the place. And I'm not sure that was a good thing. No coherence. Despite it being varied I still didn't like the songs individually. Too long too

Oh prog off, you prog.

I don't understand the appeal of this. It's so bland.