No Man Is an Island Trivia Quiz

Answer: No Man Is an Island, Except the Isle of Man

The clever full title is "No Man Is an Island, Except the Isle of Man". The band draws on many inspirations, but most of the songs have a light electronic airy relaxing beat to them. There is definitely a minimalist feel to the music, and often a repetitive, hypnotic quality as well. Tim's voice is very smooth and comforting. Steven Wilson is responsible for most of the instruments and musical arrangement, while Bowness takes care of the vocal components. From 1992 to 1994 Tim and Steven hired musicians to tour with them and fill in the needed band roles.

The drummer, Chris Maitland, and the keyboardist, Richard Barbieri, later ended up joining Wilson as part of his band Porcupine Tree. While No-Man quit touring for 12 years between 1994 and 2006, Wilson and Bowness still made four studio albums during that time.

After an eleven year hiatus, they released a new album in 2019 entitled, "Love You to Bits".

Answer: Drums

Gavin Harrison is a well respected drummer in the progressive and metal industry. Gavin joined the band for the "In Absentia" album, which had a much heavier sound than the band had used in previous albums. The guitar is usually at the center of most of Porcupine Trees' music.

They have a complex and rich sound that focuses on art and composition, as opposed to a more typical rock song structure. It is quite common for songs to be well over ten minutes in length. Critics and fans alike often place the band in the progressive rock category, but Wilson will be quick to emphatically state his music is NOT progressive rock! Porcupine Tree went on a hiatus after the tour of their 2009 album "The Incident".

While an official breakup was never announced, Wilson has made it clear he was looking to have more control over his music and instead wanted to pursue his solo career.

While a reunion was not completely out of the question, it is unlikely. A common theme with Wilson's career is trying new things and never staying the same.

Answer: West Germany

Krautrock was a popular style of music based in West Germany with a focus on psychedelic and ambient sounds. Krautrock frequently used a synthesizer and had a heavy influence on the technological music of the '80s. Between 1996 and 2001 Steven Wilson released four albums with a limited number circulated under the name I.E.M.

These compositions are largely instrumental and have a similar sound to the longer pieces on Porcupine Tree's "The Sky Moves Sideways" album. There is also a more ethereal jazz sound to the compositions in places.

It is very creative and much more like classical music than a typical modern song, maybe like a science fiction movie soundtrack.

Answer: A continuous note under overlayed music

An example of a drone note can be heard on the keyboards for the first few minutes of Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". It is a continuous note with gentle overlaying music playing on top of it. Steven Wilson has said in many interviews that this type of minimalistic ambient sound is his favorite type of music. So it is not too surprising that he has released over a dozen albums with his Bass Communion project.

Another example of drone-style music would be the bagpipes which have a drone underlying the music which is played on top. Several prominent musicians have made appearances on Bass Communion albums including Robert Fripp from King Crimson.

Answer: Optical illusion

Vidna obmana translates into "optical illusion" which is a rather strange way to describe a sound. In recent years Dirk has gone under the performer name Fear Falls Burning. The music Wilson and Serries have made as Continuum is similar to the ambient style of Bass Communion, except the music has a slightly darker sound to it and is even more minimalistic.

The music makes me think of floating out in space and has a slightly eerie feel to it. The Continuum releases were very limited with only up to 1000 copies released for each album making them a sought-after item for uber Wilson fans. Like abstract art, this style of music has a limited appreciation audience, but it definitely has an artistic feel to it.

Answer: Hebrew

Aviv Geffen had released several albums in Hebrew before he collaborated with Steven Wilson on their work with Blackfield. For the first few albums, Wilson sang and wrote most of the songs, however for the third and fourth albums, Geffen did most of the work while Wilson was working on his solo projects. Blackfield has a softer sound than Porcupine Tree and all of the songs follow a more traditional length with a focus on the lyrics and shorter instrument solos. Steven Wilson has also collaborated with another Israeli, Ninet Tayeb, on a few of his solo albums.

Answer: Opeth

Mikael Akerfeldt is the frontman for the Swedish metal band Opeth. While both musicians were known for producing heavy metal music the two artists decided they did not want their work to be like anything either had worked on before. The album has a subdued and eerie sound to it with minimal drums and lyrics. Steven Wilson became good friends with Akerfeldt during the time he spent helping produce and mix a few of Opeth's albums. Porcupine Tree and Opeth even toured together at one point.

There was not a tour of the self-titled "Storm Corrosion" album, rather both artists went back to working on their individual projects. Riverside is from Poland, Gazpacho is from Norway, and Devin Townsend is from Canada. All four bands make excellent music!

Answer: Supreme

Steven Wilson's album "The Future Bites" does poke fun at consumerism and the power corporations have to persuade. Before the release of the album, he set up a website where people could buy limited and numbered items with the "TFB" logo on them including toilet paper, a stapler, and even canned air! The Supreme company started out in skateboarding accessories. Over the years they have transitioned to buying a limited quantity of everything from a cotton t-shirt to building bricks, with the only addition being their logo...and then marking up the price significantly. Sounds like the modern version of a pet rock to me, but the company has made over a billion dollars with this strategy. Steven Wilson has a theme for all of his albums and has recruited several talented artists to play on them. With "The Future Bites" he has shifted to a more electronic sound with lots of keyboards and less guitar than most of his solo works. Each album has its own unique style.

Answer: Home Invasion

"Home Invasion" is a track on Wilson's "Hand. Cannot. Erase." album and one of his greatest masterpieces. The "Home Invasion" concert itself was about two and half hours long and had excellent sound and visual support throughout. The sound quality of the show was crystal clear and the smaller venue allows for the fans to be close to the action. Wilson spares no expense when it comes to putting on a quality show.

He has recorded and released 18 of his shows, mostly in the Porcupine Tree era.

Answer: Run-D.M.C.

Hip hop is not an area in which Wilson has explored much over his extensive catalog, at least not in his first 30 years as a professional. So Run-D.M.C. is not one of the musical acts who have sought out his talents behind the mixing board. Wilson is a huge fan of Dolby 5.1 surround sound and has been nominated for a Grammy with his Porcupine Tree "Fear of a Blank Planet" album's surround mix. Even when the music itself is strange or unusual, the production quality of a Wilson album is brilliant.

He also loves vinyl and has released most of his catalog for the turntable. To truly experience his masterpieces, the listener will need the best audio equipment available with surround sound.