The Future Bites
by Steven Wilson
User Score
6.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 48 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 48
  3. Negative: 10 out of 48
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  1. Geffen
    Feb 5, 2021
    5
    While not my cup of tea, it did have a few good tracks to keep me listening all the way through.

    Favorites: "King Ghost", "12 Things I Forgot", "Personal Shopper".
  2. jk47
    Jan 29, 2021
    6
    Even dating back to the Porcupine Tree years, I rank Steven Wilson's skills in this order:

    1. Sound Design and soundscapes. This is what he most excels at. Whether it's the atmospheric textures of Porcupine Tree or the synth production of his later solo stuff, his sound production is always exceptional. 2. Musicianship. He's a good multi-instrumentalist and he always finds great    Even dating back to the Porcupine Tree years, I rank Steven Wilson's skills in this order:

    1. Sound Design and soundscapes. This is what he most excels at. Whether it's the atmospheric textures of Porcupine Tree or the synth production of his later solo stuff, his sound production is always exceptional.

    2. Musicianship. He's a good multi-instrumentalist and he always finds great musicians to work with.

    3. Songwriting. He's a solid songwriter and has written some great compositions. I wouldn't say he's an elite songwriter, but he does stand out from many of his peers in this skillset. 

    4. Vocalist. Wilson is a below average singer, but has largely written songs that fit his limitations until recently where he's tried stepping out of his comfort zone, which has made his limitations more apparent. An example of this is the falsetto in the previous album's "Same Asylum As Before", which sounds forced and insincere.

    5. Lyricist. He's never been great at writing lyrics in my opinion. He often takes some interesting concepts and expresses them with some of the most clumsy and corny lines. More often than not, his other skills distract from this limitation.

    Why am I starting with a ranking of his skills? Because I think this album perfectly exemplifies this hierarchy. There's some amazing synth and beat production and good musicianship, but there's also some very unfortunate falsetto vocals and awkward lyrics that prevent this album from resonating with me. And that's a big problem because a good pop album requires strong vocal performances. The first single, Personal Shopper, is a great example of this. The synth production is fantastic and musically, this song is amazing. The vocal melodies are well written and the female vocals on the chorus sound pretty good. But the falsetto verses are outside of Wilson's comfortable range and as a result it sounds spurious. The lyrics focus on one of the most overdone concepts in music (The typical breakup song is the only one I can immediately think of as more overdone) and is conveyed with clumsy delivery. Much of this album feels that way. There's a lot to like, but there's some glaring flaws that are hard to ignore. I welcome his venture into electropop and I think this album is stylistically more focused than his previous effort, but I can't help but wish that this was more of a collaboration with a skilled pop vocalist/lyricist.

    A lot of his fans are going to be disappointed that this isn't a prog record, but I applaud Wilson for trying new things. If you want to listen to prog, you can always listen to his back catalog. All bands reach that point where they need to go new directions to avoid becoming stale. But not everyone is capable of pulling off a KidA. Most bands end up in a tough spot where they either have to continue rehashing the sound they've done for decades, or go in new directions where they're not particularly impactful (See: Muse). I like that Steven Wilson is trying to expand into new genres, but the problem is that this genre requires a lot from the parts of his skillset that are lacking and exposes many of his flaws. This album both showcases his greatest strengths and his greatest flaws.    … Expand
  3. Kebber10
    Feb 6, 2021
    5
    My score lies between ripcord and AllMusic scores.. could listen to the whole album.. although heard interesting sounds along the way in general imho more akin with a 80s Peter Gabriel album, so a bit old school for the 2021s.

Awards & Rankings

68
#68 Most Discussed Album of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 13
  3. Negative: 1 out of 13
  1. Under The Radar
    Feb 10, 2021
    75
    If The Future Bites is heard as a provocative record, it also underscores how Wilson continues to creatively challenge himself.
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  2. No Ripcord
    Feb 5, 2021
    30
    The Future Bites is the worst sounding album he’s ever put out.
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  3. Record Collector
    Feb 5, 2021
    100
    It’s hard to imagine a more prescient-sounding record than one that explores how nascent technologies affect our motivations as modern consumers at a time when we’re all frantically buying online to stave off the effects of lockdown. The songs dealing directly with this are The Future Bites’ most captivating. ... There’s no need for the buyer to be wary here. The Future Bites is guaranteed to weather the ravages of time.
    Read full review
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