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PO Now: Steven Wilson - 4 ½


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22nd January will see the release of a new Steven Wilson album “4 ½”, so titled because it forms an interim release between Steven’s recently released fourth album Hand. Cannot. Erase. and the next studio album.

4 ½ comprises 6 tracks with a total running time of 37 minutes. 4 of the songs originated during the sessions for Hand. Cannot. Erase., and one from the recording sessions for the previous album The Raven that Refused to Sing. The final track is a version of Don’t Hate Me, a song originally recorded by Porcupine Tree in 1998, and is based on a live recording made on the recent tour of Europe with additional recording later done in the studio. The vocals on this new version are sung as a duet between Steven and Ninet Tayeb.

Also appearing on the album are members of Steven’s band over the last few years; Adam Holzman, Nick Beggs, Guthrie Govan (Official), Dave Kilminster, Craig Blundell, Marco Minnemann, Chad Wackerman, and Theo Travis.

4 ½ will be released by Kscope on CD, 180 gram vinyl, and blu-ray, with all formats housed in a beautiful die-cut sleeve photographed by Lasse Hoile and designed by Carl Glover. The blu-ray (audio only) edition includes high res stereo, a 5.1 mix of the album, and a bonus 5.1 mix of the new version of Lazarus (recently included on the Transience vinyl compilation). The vinyl edition will include a download code for the album in a choice of FLAC or mp3. The album will also be available digitally on 22nd January from iTunes, Amazon.com, Google Play & Apple Music.

Steven Wilson - "4 ½"

1. My Book of Regrets (9.23)

2. Year of the Plague (4.15)

3. Happiness III (4.31)

4. Sunday Rain Sets In (3.50)

5. Vermillioncore (5.09)

6. Don’t Hate Me (9.34)

https://www.burningshed.com/store/stevenwilson/

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  • 2 months later...

Just got back from the gig in Stuttgart!

Damn, that was great but (especially in the first set) very loud!!! :wub: :wub: :wub:

Stelist (as far as I can remember):

hand.cannot.erase

- Break -

Drag Ropes
Open Car
My Book of Regrets
Index (crazy version)
Lazarus
Don't hate me (extended version)
Vermillioncore
Sleep Together

- Encore -

Sound of Muzak
Dark Matter

In total they played around 2.5 hours! A fantastic gig!  :wub:

Ninet was absolutely crazy! :o  Routine was her song! Fantastic! But also Ancestral (my favorite from h.c.e) was absolutely mindblowing!

She also sang the chorus of "Don't hate me"...SW told the crowd that it was initially inteded to be that way and that he'd written the song as some sort of a duet (he sang the verses).

 

....DRAG ROPES!!!! DAMN...... :wub: :wub: B) B)

 

One of the best gigs I've ever been to!

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Oh wow! What a set list!! I know this is probably blasphemy but that sounds better than the RAH gig of his I went to last year!

Assume Akerfelt wasn't there for Drag Ropes?

Also, why is there such a lack of PT/SW fans on this forum?? Metacritic has HCE as the 5th or 6th greatest album of 2015!

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No, unfortunately no Akerfeldt :) But was great anyways...love that song and could never imagine to see it live!

 

Yeah, asked myself the same...not many PT/SW fans in here...and HCE hab been doing great:

 

UK

Prog magazine - #1 album of the year
Classic Rock Magazine - #7 in Top 30 albums of 2015
Fireworks Magazine - #5 album of 2015

 

GERMANY

VISIONS Magazin (Germany) - #2 album of the year
Metal Hammer magazine – #1 progressive album
Rocks magazine – album highlights 2015
ROCK HARD MAGAZINE – best of 2015
Rolling Stone magazine - readers poll #17

 

EUROPE

ROCKERILLA magazine (Italy) - #1 in Readers Poll
Classic Rock Magazine (Italy) - #1 album of the year
Mania Magazine #1 in albums of 2015
IO Pages (The Netherlands) # 1 in albums of 2015
Rocking.gr website (Greece) - #1 album of the year - http://www.rocking.gr/timemachine/best-album-2015/26122/

 

AMERICA

Hi Res Audio Central (USA) - #1 Best Hi Res Audio Release of 2015: http://hiresaudiocentral.com/hrac-exclusive-steven-wilson-…/
The SoundBard (USA) - #1 in Top 31 Albums of 2015
http://www.soundbard.com/…/the-soundbards-top-31-albums-of…/
HumoNegro (Chile) - #2 album of the year - http://www.humonegro.com/…/mejores-discos-internacionales-…/

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Giving it the first spin :):wub:

img_90247zu1d.jpg

Oh man! Jealous!

Amazon are being shitty and mine is still preparing for dispatch. Little annoying, but I have an AutoRip copy from them anyway so it's not the end of the world.

I have to say, the new tracks are nice. They're mixed well, and I can see why he wanted to release them. That said, other than Don't Hate Me (which is just brilliant with Ninet), this feels a little more like a "B-Sides" kind of release (and I guess it is). Obviously nowhere near as strong as his other releases, but a nice addition to the collection all the same.

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Oh man! Jealous!

Amazon are being shitty and mine is still preparing for dispatch. Little annoying, but I have an AutoRip copy from them anyway so it's not the end of the world.

I have to say, the new tracks are nice. They're mixed well, and I can see why he wanted to release them. That said, other than Don't Hate Me (which is just brilliant with Ninet), this feels a little more like a "B-Sides" kind of release (and I guess it is). Obviously nowhere near as strong as his other releases, but a nice addition to the collection all the same.

 

Yeah, have to agree...gave it three spins this afternoon; the songs are good but not as good as the songs that made it on Raven or HCE! My favorites are definitely My Book of Regrets & Don't Hate Me!

 

That said I find myself giving Stupid Dream & Lightbulb Sun quite a few spins lately...I love these records! So strong (except for maybe "4 Chords..."! Can't stand that song)! It's a perfect mix of the PT-era before and after those records!

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Both brilliant PT albums. I much prefer PT from those two albums onwards personally, but you can definitely tell that those SD and LS were a turning point in their sound and style.

My copy of 4 1/2 turned up this morning. Given it a couple of spins. The mix is nice, Nick Beggs' bass work really shines through on this album.

WP_20160124_11_59_51_Pro.jpg

Saw on Twitter the other day that Burning Shed were asked whether Deadwing will ever get a repress. They basically replied saying they would love to, and if they could they would, but it's not looking likely... :(

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  • 6 months later...

Rather than start a new thread, I figured it's easier to post this here. From SW's Facebook page:

 

"Happiness III will be released as a 7 inch and digital single on 14th October. This song was originally on the 4 ½ album mini album released at the beginning to the year, but a special 3.35 edit has been created for this single. The full length version has also been added to the CD edition of the Transience compilation (released on 16th September). The B-side is a live recording of David Bowie's classic Space Oddity, recorded live at the Hammersmith Apollo Theatre on 27th January 2016, and performed as a duet with Ninet Tayeb. You can watch a video of the performance here...

 

 

 

The 7 inch is a limited edition of 3,000 copies in a new portrait picture sleeve (taken by Susana Moyano), and can be pre-ordered now from Headphone Dust and Burning Shed.

 

http://stevenwilsonhq.com/sw/headphonedust/happiness-iii-7-inch-single/

 

https://www.burningshed.com/store/stevenwilson/product/65/7909/ "

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I find this to a little pointless, especially with such an uninspiring front cover. If it was to buy it, it would be for the Bowie cover alone as he didn't play it when I saw him in Manchester earlier this year. But PT/SW do tend to attract heavy collectors so it'll no doubt sell fast! Not that I can talk, I have at least a handful of SW 7" singles! :P

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1 hour ago, THE_James_Champ said:

I'm seeing him in November, i'll see what merch he has then. I'm so excited. 

I dunno if you've seen him on this tour (or ever before), but if not I'm fairly confident in saying it'll probably be one of the best gigs you'll ever go to.

 

I saw him perform HCE twice and both times were absolutely incredible. Very jealous of you going, I really wish he was doing one more UK date before wrapping up the tour. 

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