Grace for Drowning

Grace for Drowning
Studio album by Steven Wilson
Released 26 September 2011
Recorded January 2010 - June 2011
Genre Progressive rock, experimental rock
Length Disc 1: 39:38
Disc 2: 43:23
Total: 83:01
Label Kscope
Producer Steven Wilson
Steven Wilson chronology

Insurgentes
(2008)		 Grace for Drowning
(2011)		 The Raven That Refused To Sing (and other stories)
(2013)
Deluxe Edition
120-page deluxe edition hardback book
Singles from Grace for Drowning
  1. "Postcard"
    Released: 10 October 2011

Grace for Drowning is the second solo studio album by Steven Wilson, producer, songwriter, and frontman of Porcupine Tree. It was released by Kscope Music Records on 26 September 2011.[1] The album received a nomination in 54th Grammy Awards for Best Surround Sound Album.[2]

Background

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 on-going project with Mikael Åkerfeldt (the leader of the band Opeth) named Storm Corrosion. However, amongst 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[3] 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.[4] Not long after, Yahoo! Music debuted the music video for "Index".[5] On 16 August, WNYC's website premiered a free download for the radio edit of "Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye".[6] A video clip for "Remainder the Black Dog" was finally released on 31 August, through Guitar World magazine's website.[7]

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"[8]

The special edition of the album is going to release on Blu-ray video disc with the music playing in 5.1 surround sound and accompanying visuals and videos for each track,.[9]

The track Raider II is based on the murders of the "BTK killer", Dennis Rader.[10]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [11]
Mojo [12]
PopMatters 8/10 [13]
Rolling Stone [14]

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."[15] William Ruhlmann from Allmusic gave a mixed review to the album and compared it to Wilson's other projects, Porcupine Tree and Bass Communion and commented: "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".[11] 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".[13]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Steven Wilson. 

Disc 1: Deform to Form a Star
No. Title Length
1. "Grace for Drowning"   2:06
2. "Sectarian"   7:41
3. "Deform to Form a Star"   7:51
4. "No Part of Me"   5:45
5. "Postcard"   4:29
6. "Raider Prelude"   2:23
7. "Remainder the Black Dog"   9:27
Disc 2: Like Dust I Have Cleared from My Eye
No. Title Length
1. "Belle de Jour"   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

DVD

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.

Chart performance

CountryPeak
Position
Netherlands[17]22
Poland[18] 7
Italy[19] 45
Switzerland[20]54
France[21] 96
Belgium[22] 76
Austria[23] 40
Finland[24] 30
Germany[25] 22
United Kingdom[26]34
U.S. Billboard 200[27] 85
U.S. Independent Albums[27] 12
U.S. Top Rock Albums[27] 19

Tour dates

First leg

Date City Country Venue
Europe[28]
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 Shepherds Bush Empire
North America[28]
8 November 2011 Orlando United States House of Blues
10 November 2011 Baltimore Rams Head Live!
11 November 2011 New York 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

Second leg

Date City Country Venue
North America and Mexico[28]
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[28]
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 Sao Paulo Brazil Via Marquês
Europe[28]
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 Shepherds Bush Empire

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; Aziz Ibrahim was unable to tour in the US due to visa problems.[29]

Personnel

Credits confirmed by album's official website:[30]

Managerial

  • Andy Leff — Acme Music
  • Alex Leeks — assistant

Technical and production

Visuals and imagery

Sounding

  • Steven Wilson — vocals
  • Dave Kerzner — sound design
  • Choir — synergy vocals

On Instruments

  • Steven Wilson — keys, guitars, autoharp, bass guitar, percussion, piano, gong, glockenspiel, programming, harmonium
  • Jordan Rudess — piano
  • Theo Travis — saxophone, clarinet, flute
  • Ben Castle — clarinet
  • Nick Beggs — stick, bass guitar
  • Nic France — drums
  • Tony Levin — bass guitar

Awards

Grammy Awards

Year Recipient Award Result
2012 Grace For Drowning[2] Best Surround Sound Album style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated

Progressive Music Awards

Year Recipient Award Result
2012 "Raider II"[31] Anthem style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated
Grace for Drowning (Deluxe Edition) [31] Grand Design style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated

References

  1. ↑ Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nominees And Winners | GRAMMY.com
  3. ↑ "Grace For Drowning Minisite". Kscope. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  4. ↑ "Video: Steven Wilson's Track One". Sound and Vision Magazine. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  5. ↑ "Video: Steven Wilson's Index". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  6. ↑ "WNYC Soundcheck: Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye". WNYC. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
  7. ↑ "Exclusive: Porcupine Tree Guitarist Steven Wilson Premieres "Remainder the Black Dog" Music Video". Guitar World. 2011-08-31.
  8. ↑ Grace for Drowning by Steven Wilson, talk
  9. ↑ BD Music News - Steven Wilson's 'Grace For Drowning' Will Be Released On Sexy Blu-ray
  10. ↑ The Raven that Refused to Sing - Concert Review
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Grace for Drowning - Steven Wilson | AllMusic
  12. ↑ "Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning - OUT NOW". gracefordrowning.com. Retrieved 2011-12-26.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Ezell, Brice. Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning (Deluxe Edition): Review | PopMatters popmatters.com. 2011-10-20. Retrieved on 2011-10-29.
  14. ↑ David Fricke."Grace for Drowning - Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. 2011-11-22.
  15. ↑ "Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning (Album Review) - Stereoboard UK:". Stereoboard.com. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  16. ↑ Grace For Drowwing official's Website, Deluxe Edition infos
  17. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl - Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  18. ↑ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart". Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  19. ↑ "FIMI Federazione musicale industria italiana (archive)". Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  20. ↑ "Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning - hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  21. ↑ "lescharts.com - Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning". lescharts.com. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  22. ↑ "ultratop.be - Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning". ultratop.be. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  23. ↑ "Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning - austriancharts.at". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  24. ↑ "finnishcharts.com - Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  25. ↑ "Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning - Music Charts". aCharts.us. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  26. ↑ "Steven Wilson - Official page". Steven Wilson. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 "Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning - Music Charts - AllMusic". Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 "Live". Album's Official Website. Kscope. Retrieved 20 Jul 2011.
  29. ↑ John Wesley's personal website , 21 Nov 2011
  30. ↑ "Credits". Album's Official Website. Kscope. Retrieved 20 Jul 2011.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Progressive Music Awards 2012 Nominees". Progrock Music Magazine. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2011.