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)

Steve Hackett - ...and on guitar (2020)

Stephen Richard Hackett was born on 12 February 1950 in Pimlico, London, just one day before his future Genesis band-mate Peter Gabriel. He grew up having access to various musical instruments, such as the harmonica and recorder, but he didn't develop an interest in the guitar until the age of 12 when he started playing single notes. By 14, he was learning chords and experimenting with chord progressions, although he never received any formal training. His first professional playing experience came as a member of Canterbury Glass, where he played on 'Prologue' on their album 'Sacred Scenes And Characters', which was recorded in 1968 but didn't receive a release until 2007. He also played with Heel Pier and Sarabande, and all three bands performed rock with progressive elements. He joined Quiet World in 1970, which featured his brother John on flute, and he used his time with the group to gain experience in a recording studio, playing on their only studio album 'The Road'. In December 1970 Hackett placed an advertisement in Melody Maker in his search for a new band, and he received a response from the lead singer of Genesis, Peter Gabriel, as the band had just lost founding guitarist Anthony Phillips and so were seeking a new, permanent replacement. Hackett got the job, and played his first gig with them on 24 January 1971, and it wasn't long before the band were recording their new album 'Nursery Cryme', which was Hackett's first taste of recording with Genesis. He helped shape the group's sound by strongly encouraging them to incorporate a Mellotron into the songs, and his guitar work is prominently featured through solos on 'The Musical Box', 'The Return Of The Giant Hogweed', and 'The Fountain Of Salmacis'. For the next four years Hackett was an integral part of Genesis, but by 1975 he wanted to show what he could do on his own, and recorded his first solo album 'Voyage Of The Acolyte', before resuming work with Genesis and recording his final albums with them, 1976's 'A Trick Of The Tail' and 'Wind And Wuthering'. He had grown increasingly constricted by his lack of freedom and level of input and was insistent that more of his material be included on the albums, but was rebuffed, and so he left the group. His solo career proper commenced with 1978's 'Please Don't Touch!', and he's released over two dozen albums since then. With such a workload, as well as being part of bands Box Of Frogs and GTR, his guest appearances on other artist's records have been quite sparse, perhaps one every couple of years, but when they happened they gave the track that extra bit of magic, and so it's certainly worth seeking them out and collecting the best of them for this double disc set.

Track listing

Disc One
01 Prologue (from 'Sacred Scenes And Characters' by Canterbury Glass 1968)
02 Knights (Reprise) (from 'Two Sides Of Peter Banks' by Peter Banks 1973)
03 The Wind In The Willows (from 'Wind In The Willows' by Eddie Hardin & Zak Starkey 1985)
04 Voo De Coracao (from 'Voo De Coracao' by Ritchie 1983)
05 A Life In Movies (from 'Guitar Speak III' 1991) 
06 Face In The Mirror (from 'Gallery Of Dreams' by Gandalf 1993)
07 All Grown Up (from 'Arkangel' by John Wetton 1998)
08 Singing Deep Mountain (from 'Emergent' by Gordian Knot 2002)
09 Remainder The Black Dog (from 'Grace For Drowning' by Steven Wilson 2011)

Disc Two
01 12 (from '?' by Neal Morse 2006)  
02 Living From The Inside Out (from 'Sitting On The Top Of Time' by Jim McCarty 2009)
03 Moon Song (from 'Dirty & Beautiful Vol. 1' by Gary Husband 2010)   
04 The Parting (from 'The Theory Of Everything' by Ayreon 2013)
05 Old Man Of The Sea (from 'The Ghosts Of Propyat' by Steve Rothery 2014)
06 Man And The Machine (from 'Citizen' by Billy Sherwood 2015) 
07 Covid Nights (from 'Isolation' by The Backstage 2020)
08 What Have You Done (from 'The Bride Said No' by Nad Sylvan 2017)  

Thanks to Stenn for helping put this one together.