Steven Wilson – The Ovserview :: Ondarock reviews

Steven Wilson's heterodoxy prog is one of the most discussed and interesting pages of contemporary rock music. A skilled restorer of fundamental works of the 70s and 80s scene (from Jethro Tull to King Crimson, from Yes to XTC, from Tears for Fears to Ultravox), musician well rooted in the technological avant-garde, leader of one of the few neo-prog formations appreciated by a transversal audience (the porcupines Tree), the English composer remains faithful to a now desuetic design.

Yet another concept-album, “The Ovrserview” marks his return to progressive, with two suite that occupy the facades of the disc, both conceived as a soundtrack of an installation Visual-Art Which tells the emotions of an astronaut while observing the distant land, an almost philosophical paradigm of the downsizing of the human figure towards nature. The project, coordinated with the Space Rocks organization, is also supported by a 42 -minute video, which does not appear in the various editions deluxewhich include Blu Ray Audio, colored vinyls and two songs bonus lasting 60 and 23 minutes (the first, “The Alterview”, is completely unpublished, while the second is an orchestral version of one of the two “Object Outlive Us” suite).

Steven Wilson belongs to that current of musicians who developed a prog-rock vision within the New Wave scenario, towing their canons with audacity and courage, intercepting the darkness of the post-rock in “Insurgentas” and challenging the alleged emptiness of synth-pop with the brilliant art-pop of “The Future Bites”. “The Ovrserview” puts at the center of attention more organic sounds: the keyboards of Adam Holzman, the rhythmic ease of the drummer Craig Blundell, the touch to the David Gilmour of the guitarist Randy McSstine and the valuable falsetto of Wilson are sufficient elements to celebrate “Object Outlive Us” as one of the most complex compositions and the artist. British. A composition divided into eight movements that embrace over sixty years of rock languages ​​- from prog to pop, from new wave to hard rock, from Drone Music At the post -rock – with the texts of Andy Partridge of the XTC as a icing on the cake.

Narrative needs are a source of delight and torment, the eight chapters of “Object Outlive Us” are rich in ideas, from the Goth-Prog choirs that introduce the suite, to the “Bohemian Rhapsody”-style chorus that opens hostilities by introducing one of the clou moments (“Objects: Meanwhile”), a song where the powerful images flow daily developed by the wise hand of Andy Partridge. The rest of the first suite is a succession of hard-rock impulses, Pinkfloydian reminiscences and post-rock guizzi that do not disdain electronic e drone-music: The effect is a brilliant mix of the Jethro Tull of “Thick as a Brick” and the Pink Floyd of “Animals”.
Wilson shows even more security and gamble in the second suite, which gives the title to the album, further expanding the scenario and making an interesting reverse excursion, starting from Warp -style electronic atmospheres, which flow into the most similar page to the Porcupine Tree, up to rewind the ribbon of possible quotes involving in the bizarre cauldron alcohol. cosmic-Country And metal subtleties, re -entitling all the threads of a story where the protagonists are man and space, with inevitable references to “The Dark Side of the Moon”.

“The Ovrserview” proves to be a relevant work more for potential interactions with other sectors, scientific and cinematographic, than for the strictly musical ones, extremely commendable for the refined and never pompous prog structure that will like to the most Orthodox fans but also to the youngest audience. Unfortunately, the music is sometimes too functional to visual support, the harmonious tissue is in some frankctive fragrances, perpetually in the balance between aesthetic elegance and predictability, but the fate of “The Overiew” is full of unexpected and variables, and the media and critical impact will certainly be more powerful than the project itself. What is not lacking in Steven Wilson's new album are intelligence and imagination, in addition to a little imprudence that also contributes to keeping attention in this case.

12/03/2025