HiRez Poll Wilson, Steven - Hand. Cannot. Erase. [BluRay Audio]

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Rate the BDA of Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.

  • 7:

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  • 5:

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  • 4:

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  • 3:

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  • 2:

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  • 1: Poor Surround, Poor Fidelity, Poor Content

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    144
I’m way behind the eight ball on this one as I just got the standalone Blu-ray last week. I’ve always liked Wilson’s work, but this one has blown me away. One listen and I can say that this is a great album. It kept my utmost attention start to finish...my favorite Wilson effort both solo and with others. Should easily be in Rolling Stone‘s new 500 list.
 
I’m way behind the eight ball on this one as I just got the standalone Blu-ray last week. I’ve always liked Wilson’s work, but this one has blown me away. One listen and I can say that this is a great album. It kept my utmost attention start to finish...my favorite Wilson effort both solo and with others. Should easily be in Rolling Stone‘s new 500 list.

Ditto
Played the Bluray this past weekend for the first time, definitely my favourite SW album (though I haven’t played To the Bone yet so we’ll see where that places)
 
I believe HCE to be his best solo album. From start to finish, a great listen with wonderful sonics, along with some great photography by Lasse Hoile. And there's a flow to the album that just seems to "work," more so than with his other stuff. "Happy Returns" is a particular fave.

As a matter of fact, I'm gonna crank it right now! (The song, not myself. ;))
 
Hand.Cannot.Erase is my absolute favorite Steven Wilson album. I've listened to The Future Bites several times in stereo and can't imagine the surround mix changing my opinion (damn you DHL). This is the release that rechristened my interest in Steven Wilson. I had been purchasing his deluxe edition since Insurgentes but not quite connecting with them ("I'm a collector"). I liked Insurgentes, had problems with Grace Before Drowning (and still do) and liked The Raven, HCE hit me from the first moment I put it in my player. It hit me so hard that I sat down a few days after receiving it to absorb it as intended.

The entire package is extremely well thought out. I was listening to the disc and going through the book at the same time and found that I was able to absorb all of the artifacts in time with the songs and find the lyrics to the song that was just starting in the diary, then find more engrossing material. It was a true multimedia experience. One that made me go back and reevaluate Raven, and judge it a nearly equal achievement.

The sound quality and mix are astounding, Wilson at his peak. I saw him on this tour and again on the 4-1/2 tour, which had much the same song selection. I will not miss seeing him in the northeast.

This album connected with me on many levels, and is one I return to often. An interesting connection is the HBO show The Leftovers, "Routine" is an episode of the show.
 
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Hand.Cannot.Erase is my absolute favorite Steven Wilson album. I've listened to The Future Bites several times in stereo and can't imagine the surround mix changing my opinion (damn you DHL). This is the release that rechristened my interest in Steven Wilson. I had been purchasing his deluxe edition since Insurgentes but not quite connecting with them ("I'm a collector"). I liked Insurgentes, had problems with Grace Before Drowning (and still do) and liked The Raven, HCE hit me from the first moment I put it in my player. It hit me so hard that I sat down a few days after receiving it to absorb it as intended.

The entire package is extremely well thought out. I was listening to the disc and going through the book at the same time and found that I was able to absorb all of the artifacts in time with the songs and find the lyrics to the song that was just starting in the diary, then find more engrossing material. It was a true multimedia experience. One that made me go back and reevaluate Raven, and judge it a nearly equal achievement.

The sound quality and mix are astounding, Wilson at his peak. I saw him on this tour and again on the 4-1/2 tour, which had much the same song selection. I will not miss seeing him in the northeast.

This album connected with me on many levels, and is one I return to often. An interesting connection is the HBO show The Leftovers, "Routine" is an episode of the show.
I would agree. Listening to the album and following along with the text/images in the book makes for a very satisfying multimedia experience. There's a cohesiveness to this album that is missing from his other works. The material alone would warrant at least a '9', but then mixed in 5.1? Almost perfect. I come back to this one a lot. Favorite track? "Happy Returns."
 
I would agree. Listening to the album and following along with the text/images in the book makes for a very satisfying multimedia experience. There's a cohesiveness to this album that is missing from his other works. The material alone would warrant at least a '9', but then mixed in 5.1? Almost perfect. I come back to this one a lot. Favorite track? "Happy Returns."
Favorite track for this album is difficult. I love so many of the songs on it, but it builds to "Ancestral", which in incredible. I love "3 Years Older" and "Routine", but the songs between those two just keep raising the ante. When you get to "Ancestral" the release is so powerful. "Happy Returns" is incredible and makes me cry every time I hear it, it is the perfect coda, and should have finished the album. So no matter how cliche, I'd go with "Ancestral."
 
Just noticed I had yet to vote on this one. Well, what can I say? If this isn’t an impeachable offense... I mean, if this isn’t a ‘10’, what is? Amazing on all fronts and quite possibly SW’s masterpiece. Honestly, a 10 isn’t enough!
 
Can't believe I hadn't voted yet. If you visit this forum contemplating the option of buying your first surround system, consider that this album in 5.1 on its own will justify your investment :D This is the 10 of tens. Just the perfect mix. Steven, thank you for this!
 
Great album and probably the best surround mix of all his solo stuff (I do not have his latest effort, as what I heard didn't appeal to me). He has also pulled off one of the most important things for a concept album, which is to make it flow. He has also made the concept interesting, as opposed to some corny 70s sci-fi story, a la Logan's Run meets a guitar. An excellent, cohesive effort with the immaculate fidelity and mixing that you expect from SW. Another easy 10.
 
Well, hell, it's a 10, right? Hard to rate it anything else. "3 Years Older" reminds me of Rush, only the 5.1 mix sounds better than any Rush disc, including Steven's one for A Farewell to Kings.
A solid 10 if there ever was one! I have said it before but it is worth repeating - I am born 1959 so my musical decade is the 70's, which for me is shock full of 10 point albums (including the last part of the 60's as well). Hand.Cannot.Erase is for me the best album released since the 70's - I can not come to think about any other album topping this one.
 
It took me quite a while to fully appreciate this LP because of its sordid true story that it's based upon...once I opened up my mind I DID believe this is his best album ever...the Raven being the second one...
When I saw the video clip of "Routine" track I did fully understand the meaning. There is a fully sync between the sentiments, the music crescendo and the video images.

After many times watching that video, I still cry at the end...
 
I gave this one a 10 years ago. I don't give out a lot of 10's.

This is one of those albums where the surround mix and the music are married beautifully, complementing each other perfectly. A musical journey that carries you away to another dimension, and in the end, you wish it would never finish.

It really is a magical experience and there are not a lot of albums that do this for me. Another example (albeit, in stereo) I can think of is Ry Cooder's - A Meeting By The River.
 
Music - 10
Fidelity - 10
Mix - 10

Can’t say much more other than this is a phenomenal release and my favourite SW solo work. Exactly what I want and nothing more. Redbook CD and a blu-ray packed with an assortment of audio options plus a few extras.

Lovely surround mix, really allows you to hear all of the layers in the music while keeping the integrity of the stereo mix.
 
One of my favorite guitar solos of all-time is on HCE, and that’s Regret #9. Check out the video for that song on YouTube.

Guthrie Govan gives it his all on a Fender Strat. When I met Guthrie at his camp in 2019 I was able to tell him how much I loved that song and his work on the album.
 
One of my favorite guitar solos of all-time is on HCE, and that’s Regret #9. Check out the video for that song on YouTube.

Guthrie Govan gives it his all on a Fender Strat. When I met Guthrie at his camp in 2019 I was able to tell him how much I loved that song and his work on the album.
I just pulled HCE out yesterday specifically to listen to Regret #9 multiple times (although I listened to the entire album eventually). That is one awesome instrumental that really rocks. Love hearing that shredding guitar.

Like most of my collection, I never voted on "Hand.Cannot.Erase." because it came out before I joined QQ, so I try to circle back around when I do listen to an older title and vote. This is without a doubt a 10 in my book. It might be the last album of his that I liked immediately the first time I heard it. It took a few listens for me to warm up to "To The Bone" and, sadly, I've never warmed up to "The Future Bites". As for the surround, it's F-in Steven Wilson. I don't think he has ever produced a shitty surround mix (at least not that I've heard).
 
One of my favorite guitar solos of all-time is on HCE, and that’s Regret #9. Check out the video for that song on YouTube.

Guthrie Govan gives it his all on a Fender Strat. When I met Guthrie at his camp in 2019 I was able to tell him how much I loved that song and his work on the album.
To quote Terry Bozzio, that solo is more fluid than Jeff Beck! Regret #9 is my favourite track off my favourite Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree album! And Guthrie Govan is from the town where I live, although I've never met him :rocks
 
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