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.

Oh well, Steven Wilson. I have to say that it's a little hard for me to refrain from expressing derisive takes about his gen-x fans (ironically sounding like boomers) when they fawn over absolutely *everything* the man did -- whether as a solo artist or in his original act Porcupine Tree (gradually adding lengthy metal and seventies prog-rock dirges to their nineties psych alt-rock shtick). Those hardcore fans talk of Wilson as if he was a groundbreaking genius or something, and it sounds quite laughable for me given how obviously derivative his music is (to his own admission, I think). I really tried with Porcupine Tree, several times, actually...But I just can't help finding most of their music either quite bland or very heavy-handed, or both (which takes the cake actually!). *Fear Of A Blank Planet* is OK, I guess, but it's not the revolution stans think it is. And the rest is quite forgettable. Especially if you compare it to truly groundbreaking artists also working at the time those records were released. That personal mileage about PT doesn't mean I can't show the respect Wilson deserves as an incredibly proficient, skilled and productive artist, though. And that includes his valuable work remixing classic albums recorded by seventies prog rock legends to help them stand the test of time, of course. About Wilson's solo career as a singer-songwriter and musician, what I already knew of it (not much, I admit it) suggested that said career was as hit-or-miss as the one of his main act (his recent solo foray in a relatively more streamlined strand of pop rock is an absolute borefest for my ears, for instance). Needless to say, I expected to be underwhelmed by *Hand. Cannot. Erase.*... Well, guess what? I was NOT underwhelmed by this album. On the contrary, I have to admit that it's objectively excellent, for two main reasons I will try to quickly pinpoint now: a) The overall concept behind this album, drawing from that heartbreaking event that took place in London, raises a lot of questions about modern alienation and the overall human condition. And that inspiration is used as a catalyst that's emotionally powerful throughout the record, whether musically and lyrically. Regarding those lyrics, they are a little oblique sometimes -- prog rock constraints play a part there -- but when you know what they're really about, most of them hit the mark in memorable ways. In closer "Happy Returns", that part about the lonesome protagonist counting years as if they were trains she waves at, unable to make them stop, tightened my throat in a fashion I didn't see coming. And the last words of the song (and album) are a tear-jerker for sure when you know what they are referencing. An extraordinary conclusion, enhanced by that eerie choir in the background. b) As suggested by my last lines up there, the music is often up to the task of enhancing the lyrical assets and overall concept. The prog rock tones -- drawing from Genesis and Yes to Pink Floyd's The Wall -- do feel genuine and authentic. The unavoidable meandering turns associated to that style are kept to a minimum. And as I said, the last track slaps, as well as the long epic one that leads to it. Oh, and the short indie-rock title-track reminds me of a mid-career Manic Street Preachers hit, hits which I have a soft spot for (even if they're drawn from albums that are mostly mixed bag affairs for me). So yeah why not? Except for one little thing... Due to his personal life, Wilson has strong ties with Israel, and he's already stated in the past that he can't comprehend why some international artists are calling for meaningful action to end apartheid there, including through BDS sanctions (FYI, that was before Oct 7 and the genocide in Gaza, but more on that later...). I understand that Israel's society is very warm and accepting, and when your wife is Israeli, it's hard to take a stance that goes beyond a vague "civilians, wherever they are, shouldn't die" so as to address the systemic issues plaguing the region, some of whom stems from the current fascistic leadership there (even if others go back from a long time ago...). I can even grasp that BDS might appear as too extreme for someone like Steve, that it sounds like a collective punishment for all Israeli artists. Then again, this situation can raise a few eyebrows. Especially when you've collaborated with a musician (Aviv Geffen, once aligned to the side of peace) who's now pandering to the illegal religious settlers in the West Bank -- a lot of whom routinely do everything in their power to make their Palestinian neighbors' lives miserable (check out Israeli human rights organization B'tselem to know more about that). Yet Wilson has remained silent about his old friend's new alignment. Because he now agrees with him? Worse, to this day, Wilson remains silent about the Gaza genocide itself. Sure, not every artist needs to take a stand in this. But the context for Wilson is different... After the horrible events of Oct. 7 (which MUST be condemned in equal measure, there's nothing to argue here), he tweeted to express his support for the Israeli victims, which was the right thing to do, of course. Incidentally, he also lamented about the probable future loss of civilian lives in Gaza (evidence that he knew what was going to happen, like a lot of Israelis). But then, he said that the IDF had to do "everything in their power to destroy Hamas", or something to that effect. A phrasing that has aged very poorly in two years time... I know there's a deep trauma in Israel because of that pogrom and the whole hostage situation, and I won't shed a tear for the Hamas leaders and the direct perpetrators of those crimes who have since been killed. Yet can you doom or ethnically cleanse two million people because of those crimes? No you can't. And yet that's exactly what's happening today. So yeah, beyond that awkward phrasing, Wilson has since made zero public statement to extend the expression of his sorrow to the Palestinian civilian victims of the war. Official number: 60,000 dead (plus the maimed, the displaced, the starvation, the rubbles everywhere...). You don't believe those numbers? Well, even if Hamas is inflating them, 10,000 or something like that would still be unacceptable. And yet the so-called "progressive" Wilson has nothing to say about this. And only two plausible alternative reasons can explain this silence: he's too afraid, or he looks the other way. Let me be clear here: in the face of the current tragedy, none of those reasons are valid enough. They can only show that the bulk of Israeli society is going down a very slippery slope through constant brainwashing, and that voices for peace over there must take the upper hand before it's too late. Even if it's *already* too late... Sorry for the lengthy political rant here, but this issue is too grave and serious to let it go. Because for me, opinions about those pivotal matters will decide who's in the right side of history in the foreseeable future, plain and simple. I'm gonna step down from my soapbox very soon, don't worry... Regarding 1001-albums matters, I will still give the positive grade I originally wanted to assign this LP for purely artistic reasons, yet I only do so begrudgingly. To be clear, I *don't* want to separate the person and the artist here. But I gotta maintain some sort of cohesion. Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood are for instance in a very similar situation regarding their take on this war right now (it's worse for them, actually, because RH are also known as a band that's far more "political" than Porcupine Tree). And yet, being an old fan of them, most of their albums are still in the high or highest-rated galleries for the original list, and it wouldn't make much sense for me to edit them now. Same thing with Kanye West, whose music I once loved, but whose revolting antisemitic, n*zi-praising rants have logically dismantled whatever legacy me might have had in the future. No one but me cares about those galleries anyway... What truly *matters* here is to inform potential readers of what I know about those artists' stances about that subject whenever I find one. Of course I'm not forcing anyone to share my own opinion, here expressed after the quick descriptions of those stances. Please rest assured that the factual parts up there are seriously sourced, at least. If you have time on your hands, a few keywords will help you find said sources... After that, it's up to everyone here to make up their minds on the issue. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5). Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 33 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 44 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 90 (including this one) ---- Émile, quelques réponses au dessus..

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.