A self-taught musician, songwriter and producer, Steven Wilson grew up wanting to be a pop star. His early band No-Man signed to a major label, but instead he gained a dedicated following and chart success with Porcupine Tree, who eventually sold out London's Royal Albert Hall in 2010 before a revival after 12 years in 2022. Porcupine Tree are the subject of Nick Holmes’ first book in this series.

 

This book, the first of two volumes on Wilson, tackles the first ten years of his solo career, from his debut Insurgentes in 2008, up until 2017’s bold and hugely successful To The Bone, via the award-winning Hand. Cannot. Erase. Wilson became known as the ‘King Of Prog’ since some of these albums feature long-form songs, virtuosic musicianship and complex concepts. But he has always enjoyed surprising his fans, and this part of his solo career also includes jazz, indie rock, pop and electronic music. Whatever the genre, his music shares strong melodies, profound lyrics, thoughtful concepts and high production values. This book is a forensic and illuminating analysis of Wilson’s first five solo albums, associated EPs and bonus tracks.

 

Nick Holmes has been passionate about music ever since he joined his local church choir at the age of six. He has an English Degree from Oxford University and now works for BBC Radio making programmes for Radio 3 and 4, mostly about music. He was a semi-professional classical baritone for some years, and has also played guitar in various rock bands with his brother. The first live concert he went to was Tangerine Dream at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, and he is lucky enough to have seen Pink Floyd, David Bowie and Prince live. He blogs at nick-holmes-music.com. He lives in Stockport, UK