Steven Wilson – Grace For Drowning

What can I say about Steven Wilson ? He is one of my all time favorite musicians because for many years he consistently keeps releasing work of extraordinary quality. His intricate sense of balance and style always impressed me. As you might know Steven is one of the artists who refuses to confine himself to a single genre. The body of his work is truly grandiose. Be it ambient project of Bass Communion, post rock experimentation of No Man, kraut rock of I.E.M, pop rock of Blackfield or progressive/alternative rock of Porcupine Tree one thing remained the same through all of those different musical ventures Steven always poured his heart and soul into each one of them. Working with many different and interesting musicians he was able to explore new sounds and express his unique point of view in today's music world. In the process Steven created vast catalog of amazing albums. Incredibly for such prolific artist he only decided to release his first solo album Insurgentes only in 2008! Inspired by 1980s post-punk Insurgentes was a huge success: Deluxe version of the album sold out on the pre-order way ahead of the release. Freed from the restrictive boundaries of his main projects Steven let his imagination unwind without worries to appeal to any other writer but himself. The result was truly magnificent album of wonderful experimental music. Progressive in the best sense of that word. Many people I know calling it their favorite album in music period.
Now two years after the release of Insurgentes Steven Wilson finally gave us his long awaited second solo album Grace For Drowning. I really did not know what to expect from this one. Insurgentes was a real high mark in my book. Well I am pleased to say that Grace For Drowning not only matched Steven's first solo effort in scale, complexity and depth but managed to sur it. Drawing inspiration from seventies prog this time Steven created beautiful, intricate, sometimes hopelessly dark sometimes surreal but irresistibly fascinating monster of the album! Jazz is present courtesy of some wonderful jazz musicians that are involved in this record. It really shook me the first time I listened to it. It was so heavy without being metal. Combination of music and Steven's lyrics works very well to completely draw a listener to the state of almost trance. This is the kind of music that works best on good sound system or in good headphones. Allow yourself to be swept away in this tornado of notes and sounds and you will not regret it. Grace For Drowning is a powerful and grand statement. There is plenty here to listen album is divided in two parts. So many emotions and so many colors in this vivid and enchanting picture. Album comes in couple different formats the best being the luxurious Deluxe Edition which comes with 120 page book extra Cd of out-takes and demos plus Blu- Ray version of the album with 5.1 surround sound mix and in addition 5 films directed specifically for this release by long time Steven's collaborator Lasse Hoile. All in all Grace For Drowning is a work by true master. True art is priceless you only buying a chance to touch the reflection of the soul of the composer! Go ahead then and touch it...