Steven Wilson – Insurgentes

I will be honest - I was not positively disposed to Steven Wilson's debut solo album, Insurgentes, even before I first heard it. It's not that I have anything against Wilson or his band, Porcupine Tree - I've almost no experience of either - but just because of the form in which Insurgentes arrived with me. My review CD had each song cut into ten tracks, making ripping the album nigh-on impossible and forcing me to listen to it on a CD player - the cheek! I'm assured that this isn't the case with ordinary retail copies of the album though, so not too worry. This heinous crime against reviewers, probably an example of how undeserving of trust labels seem to think we are, won't be counted against the album; but I will say that whoever came up with this idea deserves a firm slap at the very least. A curious mixture of drone, shoegaze, ambient, industrial and rock musical styles, Insurgentes is a decidedly uncommercial, off-the-wall beast. This is not a radio-friendly unit shifter, it is an amorphous, progressive work which aims to challenge more than it does to actually entertain. It's fair to say, I think, that most people won't like it at all. The songs are long, droning compositions of guitars, drums, synths and occasionally some smatterings of other instruments, and before long it starts to blend into one huge suite, which may well have been the intention. Vocals generally take a back seat - they appear intermittently between the lengthy instrumentals, and they're usually low in the mix. Very experimental, Insurgentes is consequently barely songful at all.So who will this appeal to? Fans of droning, spaced out music with a few rock touches here and there will most likely enjoy this, and that is what is on offer. This is never something to be just plonked on an MP3 player or stuck on for a few minutes before leaving the house - this is a very serious, deep album by a very serious muso. Ideally, it should be listened to in a dark room, alone, with your eyes closed. In that sense, it's a bit like some classic prog - Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells spring to mind, as well as Nine Inch Nails' more out-there moments. If the idea of closing yourself from the world for a while like that appeals, then Insurgentes could be an album for you. If you prefer songs however, or accessible music, steer well clear. 53%Steven Wilson on MySpace