Grace for Drowning | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 26 September 2011 | |||
Recorded | January 2010 – June 2011 | |||
Studio | No Man's Land (Hemel Hempstead) Koolworld (Luton) Angel Recording Studios (London) various locations in the UK, United States and Germany | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 83:01 | |||
Label | Kscope | |||
Producer | Steven Wilson | |||
Steven Wilson chronology | ||||
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Deluxe Edition | ||||
Singles from Grace for Drowning | ||||
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Grace for Drowning is the second solo studio album by Steven Wilson,producer,songwriter,and frontman of Porcupine Tree. It was released by Kscope on 26 September 2011 as a double album. [1] The album received a nomination at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Surround Sound Album. [2]
After the release of his first solo album, Insurgentes ,Steven Wilson spent time on a number of his other projects. These include Porcupine Tree's album The Incident in 2009,Blackfield's third album Welcome to My DNA ,on 28 March 2011,and an ongoing project with Mikael Åkerfeldt (the leader of the band Opeth) named Storm Corrosion. "Cut Ribbon" was a song written in 2001 for a collaboration with Åkerfeldt,but it didn't fit the style of what Wilson was doing at the time. Wilson eventually released the song on his Soundcloud account (with Gavin Harrison on drums),having completed the recording during the Grace For Drowning sessions. However,among all these projects,in 2010,he announced that he had started working on his second solo album as well.
In early June 2011,Wilson launched a minisite for the new album revealing the album's name and album art photographed by his longtime collaborator Lasse Hoile. Additionally,a free download of the track "Remainder the Black Dog" was also added. Sound and Vision magazine's website premiered the video of "Track One" on 10 August 2011. [3] Not long after,Yahoo! Music debuted the music video for "Index". [4] On 16 August, WNYC's website premiered a free download for the radio edit of "Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye". [5] A video clip for "Remainder the Black Dog" was finally released on 31 August,through Guitar World magazine's website. [6]
Upon completion of the album,Wilson said:
"'Insurgentes' was an important step for me into something new. This record takes that as a starting point, but it’s more experimental and more eclectic. For me the golden period for music was the late sixties and early seventies, when the album became the primary means of artistic expression, when musicians liberated themselves from the 3 minute pop song format, and started to draw on jazz and classical music especially, combining it with the spirit of psychedelia to create "journeys in sound" I guess you could call them. So without being retro, my album is a kind of homage to that spirit. There’s everything from [Ennio] Morricone-esque film themes to choral music to piano ballads to a 23 minute progressive jazz –inspired piece. I've actually used a few jazz musicians this time, which is something I picked up from my work remixing the King Crimson records" [7]
The special edition of the album was released on Blu-ray video disc with the music playing in 5.1 surround sound. There are accompanying visuals and videos for each track. [8]
The track Raider II is based on the murders of the "BTK killer", Dennis Rader. [9]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [10] |
Classic Rock | [11] |
Mojo | [12] |
Ox-Fanzine | [13] |
PopMatters | [14] |
Rolling Stone | [15] |
Reception for the album was generally favourable. Ben Bland of Stereoboard wrote positively of the album, stating "For a work so defiantly widescreen in its intentions as this, it is truly remarkable that there is nothing that could, or rather should, be accused of being filler or being over the top." [16] William Ruhlmann from AllMusic gave a mixed review to the album and compared it to Wilson's other projects, Porcupine Tree and Bass Communion, saying "Grace for Drowning has a particular conception in terms of its emotional journey from sadness through anger to acceptance, but it is also just another in a lengthy discography of albums by Wilson under various names in relatively similar styles". [10] Brice Ezell of PopMatters gave a very positive review to the album, scoring it 8 out of 10. He wrote that "[Wilson] may remain a divisive musical personality, but Grace for Drowning is such a fine listen that even the most adamantly opposed listener has to at least give him style points, both for the artistic presentation of the album and the music within". [14]
All tracks are written by Steven Wilson
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Grace for Drowning" | 2:06 |
2. | "Sectarian" (instrumental) | 7:41 |
3. | "Deform to Form a Star" | 7:51 |
4. | "No Part of Me" | 5:45 |
5. | "Postcard" | 4:29 |
6. | "Raider Prelude" (instrumental) | 2:23 |
7. | "Remainder the Black Dog" | 9:27 |
Total length: | 39:38 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Belle de jour" (instrumental) | 2:59 |
2. | "Index" | 4:49 |
3. | "Track One" | 4:16 |
4. | "Raider II" | 23:21 |
5. | "Like Dust I Have Cleared from My Eye" | 8:01 |
Total length: | 43:23 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Home in Negative" | 3:00 |
2. | "Fluid Tap" | 5:45 |
3. | "The Map" | 3:30 |
4. | "Raider Acceleration" | 6:15 |
5. | "Black Dog Throwbacks" | 2:30 |
6. | "Raider II" (demo version) | 21:15 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Home in Negative" | 3:03 |
2. | "Fluid Tap" | 5:45 |
3. | "Sectarian" (demo) | 9:06 |
4. | "Deform to Form a Star" (demo) | 7:09 |
5. | "No Part of Me" (demo) | 5:59 |
6. | "Remainder the Black Dog" (video) | 9:29 |
7. | "Remainder the Black Dog" (demo) | 9:17 |
8. | "Belle de jour" (video) | 2:59 |
9. | "Index" (video) | 4:49 |
10. | "Track One" (video) | 4:10 |
11. | "Raider II" (demo) | 21:09 |
12. | "Like Dust I Have Cleared from My Eye" (video) | 8:02 |
13. | "Like Dust I Have Cleared from My Eye" (demo) | 5:05 |
Credits adapted from the official website [17]
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Wilson and longtime collaborator Lasse Hoile announced in late August 2012 that a DVD, filmed live in Mexico City on the Grace for Drowning tour, would be released on 24 September 2012.
Touring band members included drummer Marco Minnemann, bassist and backing vocalist Nick Beggs, guitarist Aziz Ibrahim (First European leg only), John Wesley (First US leg only), or Niko Tsonev (Second leg), keyboardist Adam Holzman, and Theo Travis on flute, saxes and clarinet. Drummer/keyboardist Gary Husband was originally announced on keys, but pulled out for medical reasons. Ibrahim was unable to tour in the US due to visa problems. [19]
Date | City | Country | Venue |
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Europe [20] | |||
20 October 2011 | Poznań | Poland | Eskulap |
21 October 2011 | Kraków | Wisla Hall | |
22 October 2011 | Berlin | Germany | Heimathafen |
23 October 2011 | Munich | Muffathalle | |
25 October 2011 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Paradiso |
26 October 2011 | Paris | France | Bataclan |
27 October 2011 | Cologne | Germany | Live Music Hall |
28 October 2011 | Hamburg | Markthalle | |
30 October 2011 | Zoetermeer | Netherlands | Boerderij |
31 October 2011 | London | United Kingdom | O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire |
United States and Canada [20] | |||
8 November 2011 | Orlando | United States | House of Blues |
10 November 2011 | Baltimore | Rams Head Live! | |
11 November 2011 | New York City | Best Buy Theater | |
12 November 2011 | Philadelphia | Temple Performing Arts Center | |
13 November 2011 | Boston | Berklee Performance Center | |
15 November 2011 | Montreal | Canada | Corona |
16 November 2011 | Toronto | The Opera House | |
18 November 2011 | Chicago | United States | Park West |
"Luminol", from the then-forthcoming album The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) was introduced by Wilson in January 2012 and added to the set list for the second leg of the tour.[ citation needed ]
Date | City | Country | Venue |
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United States and Mexico [20] | |||
4 April 2012 | Seattle | United States | Showbox |
6 April 2012 | San Francisco | The Fillmore | |
7 April 2012 | Los Angeles | House of Blues | |
9 April 2012 | Dallas | House of Blues | |
13 April 2012 | Mexico City | Mexico | Metropolitan |
South America [20] | |||
15 April 2012 | Caracas | Venezuela | Hotel Eurobuilding |
17 April 2012 | Santiago | Chile | Teatro Oriente |
18 April 2012 | Teatro Caupolicán | ||
19 April 2012 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | Teatro Flores |
21 April 2012 | São Paulo | Brazil | Via Marquês |
Europe [20] | |||
25 April 2012 | Malmö | Sweden | KB |
26 April 2012 | Stockholm | Gota Kallare | |
28 April 2012 | Bergen | Norway | Peer Gynt |
29 April 2012 | Oslo | Rockefeller | |
30 April 2012 | Copenhagen | Denmark | Amager Bio |
2 May 2012 | Tilburg | Netherlands | 013 |
3 May 2012 | Mannheim | Germany | Alte Feuerwache |
4 May 2012 | Paris | France | Le Trianon |
6 May 2012 | Saarbrücken | Germany | Garage |
7 May 2012 | Stuttgart | Theaterhaus | |
9 May 2012 | Pratteln | Switzerland | Z7 |
10 May 2012 | Milan | Italy | Alcatraz |
11 May 2012 | Rome | Orion | |
13 May 2012 | Dortmund | Germany | FZW |
14 May 2012 | Brussels | Belgium | AB |
15 May 2012 | London | United Kingdom | Shepherd's Bush Empire |
Country | Peak Position |
---|---|
Netherlands [21] | 22 |
Poland [22] | 7 |
Italy [23] | 45 |
Switzerland [24] | 54 |
France [25] | 96 |
Belgium [26] | 76 |
Austria [27] | 40 |
Finland [28] | 30 |
Germany [29] | 22 |
United Kingdom [30] | 34 |
U.S. Billboard 200 [31] | 85 |
U.S. Independent Albums [31] | 12 |
U.S. Top Rock Albums [31] | 19 |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
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2012 | Grace For Drowning [2] | Best Surround Sound Album | Nominated |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
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2012 | "Raider II" [32] | Anthem | Nominated |
Grace for Drowning(Deluxe Edition) [32] | Grand Design | Nominated |
Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you'd never heard of".
Steven John Wilson is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosion and No-Man. He is also a solo artist, having released seven solo albums since his solo debut Insurgentes in 2008. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Wilson has made music prolifically and earned critical acclaim. His honours include six nominations for Grammy Awards: twice with Porcupine Tree, once with his collaborative band Storm Corrosion and three times as a solo artist. In 2017, The Daily Telegraph described him as "a resolutely independent artist" and "probably the most successful British artist you've never heard of".
In Absentia is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the first to move into a more progressive metal direction, contrary to past albums' psychedelic and alternative rock sounds. Additionally, it was their first release on a major record label, Lava Records. It was very well received critically and commercially, with it often being considered the band's crowning achievement, and selling three times as many copies as any of the band's earlier albums.
Lightbulb Sun is the sixth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in May 2000, and later reissued in 2008 on CD, DVD-A surround sound, and vinyl.
Arriving Somewhere... is the first live performance DVD by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Disc one is a full show from the Deadwing tour filmed by "Studio M" with nine High Def cameras at Park West, Chicago on 11 and 12 October 2005, edited by Lasse Hoile, with the soundtrack mixed in stereo and 5.1 surround sound by Steven Wilson, and mastered by Darcy Proper. Disc two includes live performances on the German television show Rockpalast, a promotional video for "Lazarus", the live films used as the backdrop for three songs, Gavin Harrison's "Cymbal Song", and a photo gallery with over 100 images. The soundtrack to the DVD is available in FLAC and MP3 formats from the band's download store since April 2007. This audio edition is in the top 10 of the "Top Albums of 2007" chart of Rate Your Music website. The DVD was re-released under Kscope record label on 21 April 2008 the same day of the regular release for the DVD-A edition of Lightbulb Sun. In March 2018, Blu-ray and 2CD set was released.
Theo Travis is a British saxophonist, flautist and composer. He is a member of Soft Machine which he joined in 2006 while the group was still using the "Legacy" suffix and was a member of Gong from 1999 to 2010.
Blackfield is a collaborative music project by the English musician and founder of Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, and Israeli rock musician Aviv Geffen. Together, six albums have been released under the moniker. The first two records, Blackfield and Blackfield II, saw Geffen and Wilson working together as equal partners, while the third and fourth, Welcome to my DNA and Blackfield IV, saw Geffen take on a leading role, writing all but one track across both albums and providing a significantly increased share of lead vocals. Despite initially announcing his intention to leave the project in 2014, Wilson instead worked again as an equal partner on a fifth album, Blackfield V, which was released on 10 February 2017. A sixth record, For the Music, was released on 4 December 2020, with Geffen again taking a leading role.
Lasse Hoile is a Danish artist, photographer and filmmaker. He has collaborated with musician Steven Wilson and his projects Porcupine Tree and Blackfield. He has also designed live visuals for US progressive metal band Dream Theater. In the mid-1990s he was the vocalist for Danish death metal band Panzerchrist.
"Lazarus" is a single by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in March 2005 only in Poland and Germany. It was accompanied by a music video directed by Danish longtime collaborator Lasse Hoile. The song charted in Germany at number 91.
"Way Out of Here" is a song by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, and the fifth track from their ninth studio album, Fear of a Blank Planet. It is remarkable for being the only full-band composition of the record. A promo two-track single was released by Roadrunner Records intended for radio airplay. The record consists of the album version of the song and a radio edit, the same used for the promo videoclip, it comes housed in a cardboard sleeve with unique artwork.
Tightly Unwound (2008) is the seventh studio album by The Pineapple Thief, and their first album released by Kscope. All previous Pineapple Thief releases were published by Cyclops Records. Kscope dedicated a microsite to the album before its release, containing a preview of the album in audio streaming, a picture gallery, desktop wallpapers and audio samples as a source for remixes.
Insurgentes is the debut full-length solo album released by British musician and record producer Steven Wilson, known for being the founder and frontman of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. The album was recorded all over the world in studios from Mexico City to Japan and Israel, between January and August 2008, and released in November 2008 as a special deluxe multi disc mail order version, with retail release to follow in February 2009. According to Wilson himself, the album contained "the most experimental song-based music [he had] made." The album is named after the Avenida de los Insurgentes, the longest avenue in Mexico City near which part of it was recorded.
"Harmony Korine" is the debut single by English musician, songwriter and music producer Steven Wilson. The song is the first track and the only single to be released from Insurgentes, Wilson's first full-length solo studio album. The single is named after the American filmmaker of the same name.
Anesthetize is the second live concert film by progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released on 20 May 2010. The Blu-ray edition was released on 15 June. It is filmed in high definition and taken from two concerts given by Porcupine Tree at Tilburg, Netherlands on 15 and 16 October, at the end of the Fear of a Blank Planet tour in 2008. The film is directed and edited by Lasse Hoile and the audio track is mixed in stereo and 5.1 Surround by Steven Wilson.
Welcome to My DNA is the third studio album by Blackfield, a musical collaboration between Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen. It was released in Europe on 28 March 2011, and released in the US on 19 April 2011, as a digi-book CD and heavyweight vinyl limited to 2000 individually numbered copies.
Storm Corrosion was a musical collaboration between Swedish musician Mikael Åkerfeldt of progressive metal band Opeth and English musician Steven Wilson of the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Åkerfeldt and Wilson began a longstanding musical partnership in 2001 when Wilson produced Opeth's fifth studio album Blackwater Park. The two began writing together for a new project in 2010, releasing their self-titled only studio album in 2012 through Roadrunner Records.
Heritage is the tenth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 13 September 2011 through Roadrunner Records. The album was recorded in early 2011 at Atlantis Studios in Stockholm and produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt, engineered by Janne Hansson, and mixed by Steven Wilson. It takes on more of a progressive rock sound, something the band had wanted to do for some time, resulting in a stark contrast to the progressive death metal sounds of their past albums.
Storm Corrosion is the self-titled only album from Storm Corrosion, the musical collaboration between Mikael Åkerfeldt, frontman of Opeth, and Steven Wilson, frontman of Porcupine Tree. The album was released on May 7, 2012 by Roadrunner Records.
Get All You Deserve is the first live DVD and second live album by progressive rock musician Steven Wilson, released on 24 September 2012. It was filmed at a sold-out show in Mexico City, Mexico, during his Grace for Drowning tour. The deluxe edition of Get All You Deserve consists of two CDs, a DVD and a Blu-ray disc.
Blackfield IV is the fourth studio album by Blackfield, the musical collaboration by Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson. Similar to their third album, Welcome to My DNA, Geffen has taken over more active duties on the album while Wilson focuses on his solo career. The album was released on 26 August 2013.