The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)
| The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Steven Wilson | ||||
| Released | 25 February 2013 | |||
| Recorded | East West Studios, Los Angeles 15–21 September 2012 and Angel Studios, London, 17 October 2012 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 54:03 | |||
| Label | Kscope | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Steven Wilson chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 77/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| The Guardian | |
| Metal Hammer |   |
| musicOMH |  |
| Sound & Vision | (favourable) |
| Sputnikmusic | (4.2/5) |
| The Monolith |  |
| PopMatters | (7/10) |
The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) is the third solo album by British musician Steven Wilson, released by Kscope Music Records on 25 February 2013. Each track on the album is based on a story of the supernatural. Alan Parsons, who had previously been involved in the creation of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, was responsible for engineering the album.
A deluxe, 4-disc edition of the album was released as well, which included a 128-page book of lyrics and ghost stories, with illustrations by Hajo Mueller. In addition to this, the album is also available in stand alone double-vinyl, CD and Blu-ray editions. The album was generally well received critically, and has sold over 100,000 copies.
After finishing the touring cycle for Porcupine Tree's The Incident in 2010, Wilson would spend the rest of the year, and 2011, recording and releasing his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, and Blackfield's third album Welcome to my DNA. While initially planning on returning to Porcupine Tree in "early 2012", this soon changed, with Wilson announcing that he would continue to focus his future on his solo career. This new focus included a second leg of touring in support of Grace for Drowning, in the first half of 2012, and then returning to the studio with the live band to record a third solo album, aiming for an early 2013 release, with plans for touring in support of the album throughout 2013.
"Luminol" was first performed by Wilson and his band on the last show of the first half of his Grace for Drowning tour. The song takes its inspiration from a busker, who, according to Wilson, is "there every single day. It doesn’t matter what the weather is like; he’s always there, playing his acoustic guitar and singing these songs. Snow, rain, gale force wind – nothing will stop him from being in his spot. ... He’s the kind of guy who is so set in his routine that even death wouldn’t stop him." Wilson considers the notion "that somebody could be a ghost in life, as well as a ghost in death, somebody who’s completely ignored even in their lifetime – it hardly makes a difference; and death doesn’t make a difference, either; it doesn’t break the routine."
...
Wikipedia