Genre and Influence: Tracing the Lineage of Timbre and Form in Steven Wilson's Progressive Rock

Abstract

This thesis examines the music of contemporary British progressive rock artist Steven Wilson and explores the ways in which specific musical influences have informed and shaped his work. Wilson’s solo output is extremely eclectic and draws from a plethora of diverse genres including progressive rock, electronica, metal, drone, pop, jazz, and industrial. Although it would be impossible to trace all of the influences involved in Wilson’s unique musical idiolect, I study the influence of three seminal tracks upon his work: progressive rock band King Crimson’s “The Court of the Crimson King” (1969), electronica duo Boards of Canada’s “An Eagle in Your Mind” (1998), and progressive death metal group Opeth’s “Blackwater Park” (2001). I demonstrate how Wilson’s recordings share timbral and formal features with these earlier works and consider the analytic implications through the lens of genre theory. The findings are then synthesized through a focused analysis of Wilson’s “Ancestral” (2015) in order to explore genre fusion and demonstrate how these salient musical features are integrated within a single song. This project ultimately seeks to situate Wilson within the progressive rock tradition, consider the role of timbre and form in popular music genres, and investigate the complex relationship between genre and influence.