(kscope/Shock)

Sprawling double album from modern prog hero

Porcupine Tree frontman Steve Wilson has been a major figurehead in the last few years’ renewed fascination with progressive rock. While this hasn’t culminated in prog becoming anything resembling fashionable, the simple fact remains that the genre enjoys probably its biggest audience since its ‘70s heyday. Wilson is one of the smarter modern prog artists, in that he respects the classic artists of the era (Floyd, Crimson etc) but doesn’t let them infiltrate his own music too heavily. His new album Grace For Drowning is perhaps his most blatant recognition of prog past, right down to its double-disc format. He still avoids the record sounding like a facsimile of the early 1970s by incorporating (as he often does) elements of modern electronica into the sound. But at the same time, the guest-heavy line-up conspires to make this the most retro Wilson recording yet. The likes of Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Steve Hackett (Genesis) and Pat Mastoletto (King Crimson) keep things in a decidedly old-school prog direction, but Wilson is too much of an adventurer to stick to one style of music. Throwing in choral chants, Ayler/Coleman-esque free jazz and even some drone/doom elements, it’s an expansive, intense work. There is a lot to take in and its determinedly epic structure makes it less engaging than his last solo record (the messy but fascinating Insurgentes). But it’s still unreservedly recommended for Wilson aficionados or indeed anyone who’s been seduced by the new wave of prog.

***½

MATT THROWER

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