Steven Wilson, Prog Magazine
[Editor’s note: since the original title of this editorial was crap, I have updated it to what I should have called it to start with.]
In an interview with Metal Wani, posted as well by Prog Magazine, prog’s reigning king Steven Wilson has said that many bands in the progressive metal arena “lack freshness and originality.” He cited Opeth (of course) and Meshuggah as being his favorites. Perhaps, SW should be a positive force for prog and just make great music.
First off, Wilson’s own music isn’t all that original at times either. “The Raven That Refused to sing owed MUCH to classic 70s prog that he was remixing at the time it was made. And you cannot help but hear the Who and Rush in much of “Hand. Cannot. Erase.” There is NOTHING wrong with that either!
That leads to my second point. It is nearly impossible to be “original” anymore. I have no idea what being “fresh” means. Look, we have so many sub-genres now and sub sub genres that it is a MONUMENTAL task to create something that doesn’t sound somewhat like something else! And again, there is NOTHING wrong with that!
I am assuming that SW means that bands shouldn’t out and out COPY others, but it happens. And for me, if the SONGS are great, I could give a fuck how much one band sounds like another. If you can’t hear how much Opeth sounds like Anekdoten now, then you probably don’t know who Anekdoten is. Still, I love Anekdoten so again, I don’t care.
SW tends to get into hot water by criticizing everything from how many notes Joe Satriani plays to how retro The Flower Kings are. Now he is the authority on the progressive metal scene. Unfortunately for him, he isn’t prog metal anymore and let’s remember how heavy Porcupine Tree used to be. That wasn’t original at all. BUT it was amazing. Why? BECAUSE THE SONGS WERE GOOD!
Let’s all stop worry what upsets Steven Wilson. Let’s stop worry about what he is listening to that you are not. Let’s just worry about whether the quality of songs entering your ears pleases your brain! This is music. Either you like it or you don’t. You don’t need a musical genius to qualify it for you.
Rob's Music Planet 
lol
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Progmanrob needs to get a life. Man, you need to relax. It’s his oppinion. That’s all.
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I do need one! But this is just my opinion too. His however hold so much more weight that he could build things up versus tear them down.
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Probably the dumbest article I’ve ever read, what was the point in writing this? If you really believe that it is only the music that matters, which it is and which we all believe in as SW fans, and that the opinions of people in musical projects about other musical projects don’t matter, which they don’t, you would not have written this silly article detailing YOUR opinions on Steven Wilson’s opinions. After all, according to you, opinions don’t matter, do they? So you could probably find something else to do with your time other than writing 6 pointless paragraphs which could have been better spent writing a positive, excitement-filled anecdote about Steve’s upcoming record 4 1/2″, or a review of his awesome recent London show for those who weren’t lucky enough to be there. Peace out and prog on. 🙂
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I am glad my “dumb” article upset you so much! hahahaha! Thanks for reading though. So I should have just kissed SW’s ass and written something accordingly. My opinion does not matter. I’ve never thought it did. I offer it to anyone who cares to listen to it. The point is that I wish SW was more positive when offering his opinion versus slamming artists or prog. His opinion DOES matter and he can greatly impact people like you, obviously. I do not live in London or I would review the show. I was at the one in my area. Thanks for instructing me on what to do with my free time but I don’t actually have any with the releases I review (including 4 1/2!). Cheers!
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Some notes are correct but I couldn’t realize why are you so angry and negative ?
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Who is angry? Not me. 🙂
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Terrible article.
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In a lot of ways, the reason prog was never quite as popular as other genres was because of people who needed the geniuses at Rolling Stone to qualify their music for them. The geniuses who said the Sex Pistols were brilliant, but Rush was “bloated.” SW loves Rush, he should consider that before he becomes a music critic.
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