STEVEN WILSON – Hand. Cannot. Erase
 
Label: KScope
Release: February 27 2015
By: Jordan
Rating: 9.5/10
Time: 65:44
Style: Progressive Metal
URL: Steven Wilson
 

STEVEN WILSON is a man who needs no introduction in my opinion. He has been building a name for himself since the 1980s with his work in bands such as Porcupine Tree, No-Man, Blackfield, Storm Corrosion, Bass Communion, and many others. Since the release of his debut solo album in 2008, his attention has mostly gone to his solo career. Hand. Cannot. Erase is his 4th solo album. On this album, he continues working with his group of high caliber musicians that includes Marco Minnemann on drums, Guthrie Govan on guitar, Nick Beggs on bass, and Adam Holzman on piano (including many addition guest musicians). The album continues STEVEN WILSON’s trend of ambitious songwriting by being a concept album, based on the true story of Joyce Carol Vincent (a young, popular, and attractive woman who had friends and family, but one day died in her apartment in a large city and was not discovered for three years). WILSON uses this story to include typical subject matters of his such as the problems of technology, the loss of innocence from childhood to adulthood, and the increase of isolation as people focus on themselves rather than others. Musically, it encompasses STEVEN’s career by including moments of jazz, drone, electronic, progressive rock, pop, and progressive metal. Each song on this album is truly unique from one another, and the album flows together in a way that makes it seem much shorter than it actually is. The album is unique in STEVEN WILSON albums as it makes use of female vocals in addition to STEVEN’s vocals, so that the thoughts of the main character feel much more believable. All in all, one of the best albums STEVEN WILSON has ever released, and definitely my favorite release so far in the year 2015.