REVIEW

Music Review: Steven Wilson - Insurgentes

Written by Glen Boyd
Published November 30, 2008

The official backstory on the first ever full-length solo album from Porcupine Tree's ever-prolific Steven Wilson began a few weeks back when an announcement went out to fans via both e-mail newsletter and on the artist's official website.

Wilson's solo album, Insurgentes, was to be made available in a limited run of 3,000 copies. The album would include ten new original Wilson songs, recorded in 5.1 surround sound, and would be housed in a deluxe 2 CD/ 1 DVDA package also featuring bonus tracks leftover from the original sessions, an 18-minute film, and a book containing what were said to be gorgeous photographs taken by Wilson at various locations around the world.

A trailer film about Insurgentes also quickly made it's way to YouTube, followed in short order by another one. When I missed the original announcement, and found out the original run had quickly sold out, needless to say I was pissed. But there's good news.

Don't ask me how (and I'll never tell anyway), but a copy of Insurgentes found its way to my desktop earlier this week. I've listened to it pretty much every day since it arrived on Thanksgiving Day, and while part of me is more pissed at myself than ever for missing that original run, the other, more rational part is now anticipating the album's official wider release in February more than Christmas itself.

Insurgentes is every bit as gorgeous sounding as the tantalizing bits of music on that original trailer hinted it would be. Speaking of which, the music used there (seen below) is from the album's opening track, "Harmony Komine." This song kicks off the album with the sort of chiming guitar that wouldn't be at all out of place on a U2 record, before kicking into a wall of sound highlighted by Wilson's own angelic sounding vocal wails. It's just gorgeous sounding stuff.

From there, the lighter shades of that track are mostly left behind for what are the record's more dominant atmospheres of darkness. For all of Wilson's well-documented tendency to spend a lot of time in the recording studio (by my count, this is the fourth Wilson related project released this year, and one of them was a double CD), you do in fact hear elements of all of Wilson's other "projects" on this record.

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You'll find Blogcritics assistant music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blogs The World Wide Glen, and The Rockologist. In a previous life, Glen was a music professional and journalist whose work has appeared in The Rocket, SPIN, Pulse!, and The Source. Glen is also seeking an active full-time writing gig. Will somebody please hire this man?
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Music Review: Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
Published: November 30, 2008
Type: Review
Section: Music
Filed Under: Review, Music: Progressive Rock, Music: Experimental
Writer: Glen Boyd
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Comments

#1 — December 1, 2008 @ 14:31PM — Pico [URL]

Well done, Glen. I haven't had a chance to get through the whole thing even once yet, but it sounds much as you described it. Any Wilson fan will want to pick this one up.

#2 — December 5, 2008 @ 07:59AM — Paul Roy

Copies of the Insurgentes special edition version have been selling on Ebay for up to ten times the original price, since it sold out so quickly. Steve is pretty upset about it and commented about it on his MySpace page recently. He is debating on whether to release more copies, to take the market away from the Ebay sellers, or to keep his word and maintain the announced limitation.

#3 — December 5, 2008 @ 08:53AM — Pico [URL]

Steve is pretty upset about it and commented about it on his MySpace page recently.

Honestly, what did he expect?

#4 — December 5, 2008 @ 09:34AM — Brian aka Guppusmaximus

the simple answer to that is that they were so expensive to make that I had to err somewhere between caution and what I thought I could sell if things went fantastically well.

See, I knew it! I stated this "opinion" on Mr. Boyd's original article.

Honestly, what did he expect?

That if the release didn't do so well,at least he won't be living in a van down by the river and if it did "fantastically", it would be just that...A Limited Edition. It's not his fault that these bitches rape people via ebay Hell, they try & do that shit all the time with stuff that is available or still being published.

My experience was with a Spastic Ink release. If I had coughed up the amount they wanted via ebay, Amazon or Half.com, I would have been ripped off. So, I emailed Mr. Jarzombek & he responded rather quickly and stated that I could get a copy directly from him for $15. or at Laser's Edge for $12 plus s/h.

#5 — December 5, 2008 @ 10:35AM — Pico [URL]

It's not his fault that these bitches rape people via ebay

It isn't his fault, but he should have seen that coming a mile away.

#6 — December 5, 2008 @ 11:11AM — Paul Roy

Brian is right. Steve though he would be lucky to sell the three or four thousand copies that he did. He and his bands Porcupine Tree, No-Man, Blackfield, etc, don't sell millions of records. They have more of a cult following - for now.

#7 — December 5, 2008 @ 11:33AM — Pico [URL]

Brian is indeed right: "Hell, they try & do that shit all the time with stuff that is available or still being published."

That's why Wilson shouldn't have been surprised regardless of how well he thought his special edition CD would do.

Add to that, it's a cult, but a pretty fervent one. Surely Wilson knows that.

#8 — December 5, 2008 @ 11:41AM — Glen Boyd [URL]

Point taken Guppus, Pico and Paul. I went to ebay to check for myself and all I can say is...outrageous. But I also have to say that Wilson should have known this would probably happen.

Thanks for the comments and for pointing this out.

-Glen

#9 — December 5, 2008 @ 12:04PM — Brian aka Guppusmaximus

Pico definitely has a point but I don't know how any one artist can stop that from happening. But, I think Mr. Wilson is correct in not releasing anymore of those Special Edition CDs. That way they stay "Limited".

I probably shouldn't have said the nasty things about those "ebayers" - If they can get the money for that item then good for them. I say if you hold out long enough, the need might dissipate after the retail version comes out & you might be able to score one at a decent price.

#10 — December 6, 2008 @ 16:17PM — mia

If steve is pissed because of the big demand for his music (hence ebay prices)then he has nobody but himself to blame.

Release more and stop being pretentious steve - you are guilty of the very thing that you protest.


#11 — December 6, 2008 @ 17:58PM — Tom Johnson [URL]

It's an incredible piece of work and I'm only pissed about the possible re-release because he sold this with the intention of it being a limited edition, and with it being a limited edition, there is the possibility of some of the material never, ever being available again. If he goes back on his word and opts to re-press it, especially if he decides to offer a lower-priced model (not that this is something mentioned, I'm just throwing it out there,) I'm going to be furious. I bought this purely for the music that was there and because I wanted to support him rather than simply grab the files off filesharing sites, which I easily could have. I think some of his outrage to this is more than a bit manufactured - he KNOWS that he has a ravenous fanbase who will sell out his limited editions. This happened with Porcupine Tree's Fear Of A Blank Planet special edition, too - it's not like this is the first time he has dealt with special products. I'm certain he knew this was going to sell out in days like it did and that a good number would go straight to Ebay. Who would expect otherwise? Everything else he has done has had the same thing happen.

#12 — December 6, 2008 @ 23:19PM — Glen Boyd [URL]

Get ready to be pissed then Tom. From what I've heard, the commercial release includes the film, some sort of booklet, as well as most of the album and the DVD enhanced audio....

-Glen

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