Steven Wilson - Eyewitness (2020)

As you may have noticed from the Porcupine Tree albums that I've posted, I'm a huge fan of Steven Wilson, and we must be thankful to him for bringing progressive rock back into the mainstream in the 21st Century. As well as being the go-to engineer for remixing classic albums into 5.1, he's also had a successful solo career for over a decade, with five studio albums and a sixth on the way, as well as many remix albums, compilations and experimental outings. There have also been a number of EPs and singles released throughout this period, with some of them including exclusive b-sides, and the deluxe editions of the albums often have out-takes, demos and early renditions of the songs as bonus tracks. In fact, Wilson is so prolific that in his ten years of solo recordings there are over one and a half hours of non-album tracks that can be collected together for a superb progressive rock album in its own right. I've only omitted one track, which was a live cover of David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' on the flip of 'Happiness III', but while it was a perfectly acceptable version, it wasn't progressive rock so I decided to leave it off. During 2003–2010 Wilson released a series of six two-track CD singles, each one featuring a cover version and a Wilson original, and they featured songs by Alanis Morissette, ABBA, The Cure, Momus, Prince, and Donovan. The complete collection was released as an album in 2014, and that would be the perfect place for his version of 'Space Oddity' to reside. If you're a fan of Porcupine Tree but are yet to sample Wilson's solo work, then this album will introduce you to the wealth of superlative progressive rock that he's produced in the last decade under his own name.   

Track listing

01 The 78 (b-side of 'Harmony Korine' 2009)
02 Vapour Trail Lullaby (given away with pre-orders of the 'Insurgentes' music DVD 2010)
03 Desperation ('Insurgentes' 2008 out-take completed 2010)
04 Stoneage Dinosaur (cover of a Cardiacs song, released as a single 2011)
05 Fluid Tap (bonus on 'Grace For Drowning' Blu-Ray edition 2011)
06 Home In Negative (bonus on 'Grace For Drowning' Blu-Ray edition 2011)
07 Map (from the 'Grace For Drowning' bonus disc 2011)
08 Raider Acceleration (from the 'Grace For Drowning' bonus disc 2011)
09 Black Dog Throwbacks (from the 'Grace For Drowning' bonus disc 2011)
10 The Old Peace (single with Mariurz Duda 2014)
11 Happiness III (single 2016)
12 Northern Cyclonic ('To The Bone' out-take 2017)
13 A Door Marked Summer ('To The Bone' out-take 2017)
14 Ask Me Nicely ('To The Bone' out-take 2017)
15 How Big The Space (single 2018)
16 Eyewitness (b-side of 'Eminent Sleaze' 12" single 2020)
17 In Floral Green (b-side of 'Eminent Sleaze' 12" single 2020)
18 Move Like A Fever (b-side of '12 Things I Forgot' 12" single 2020)
19 King Ghost (single 2020)