History YMMV / StevenWilson

** With a lack of personal life information or the fact he's always writing some depressing topics, fans will usually see Steven as this, or a StoicWoobie. However, he does have a partner and a dog, so that's something.

*** Adam Holzman and Guthrie Govan's mind-blowing Moog and guitar solos on "Regret #9".

** Bassist and Chapman stick player Nick Beggs in general. This is a man who once filmed a series of videos in which he plays pranks on cold callers.

* MomentOfAwesome: Before playing "Permanating" on the ''To The Bone'' tour, he reminds the audience that some people were opposed to the idea of him writing a pop song, which begins a short speech in which he demolishes the idea of music snobbery, explains that he grew up with no concept of genre thanks to his parents' diverse musical tastes, and explains ([[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped quite rightly]]) that musicians should be able to explore their creative desires to the full and not pander to people's expectations. After which he encourages the audience to dance along to "Permanating" and have fun.

* MomentOfAwesome: Before playing "Permanating" on the ''To The Bone'' tour, he reminds the audience that some people were opposed to the idea of him writing a pop song, which begins a short speech in which he demolishes the idea of music snobbery, explains that he grew up with no concept of genre thanks to his parents' diverse musical tastes, and explains (quite rightly) that musicians should be able to explore their creative desires to the full and not pander to people's expectations.

* NightmareFuel:
** The song "The Holy Drinker" talks about [[DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu a guy having a drinking contest with the Devil]]. He ''loses'', and the song gives a rather..[[CruelAndUnusualDeath disturbing implication on how he died]].
** [[https://youtu.be/GYydWVIgYlA?t=2m5s Sectarian]]
** "Abandoner".
** "Raider II" is definitely this, given [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Rader the subject matter]].
** The metal ScareChord onward in "The Watchmaker".
** [[http://stevenwilsonhq.com/sw/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Album-cover-with-title.jpg The cover art]] for ''The Raven That Refused to Sing'' qualifies as this, though it can also be counted as a resident of UncannyValley.
** [[http://cdn.discogs.com/-9CTw-SHrlBdwKUhymOYeVasoH4=/fit-in/500x500/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(96)/discogs-images/R-4151960-1357014180-1494.jpeg.jpg The cover]] of ''Insurgentes''. [[Series/DoctorWho "Are you my mummy?"]]
** From the ''Insurgentes'' bonus disc we have "Port Rubicon". Creepy even by Steven Wilson's standards.
** From outside of his canon of solo material is his interpretation of the English murder ballad [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eaw4Ndj1QAo "The Unquiet Grave"]], which was originally featured as a B-side to one of his singles in the ''Cover Version'' series. This not only qualifies as Nightmare Fuel (as well as a Tearjerker) for its lyrical content, but also in the way that it's performed and arranged. It's a track that practically drifts through a fog of droning, electronically-processed siren calls as Wilson sings his way through it all in a [[LyricalDissonance sweet]] yet slightly unsettling manner.
** "Ancestral", due to being one of the slower, heavier songs on ''Hand Cannot Erase'' and much grittier than the rest of the album.
** "Routine" borderlines SanitySlippage, to the point where it feels it's from the perspective of a person with OCD. And let's ''not even go'' into the semi-LastNoteNightmare.
** "Observer Commercial 1998". It's OK in the context of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-tg02VB38A the advert]], but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdlxk871GSM on its own...]]
** From 2017's To the Bone, ''Detonation''. It's a song written from the point of view of a religious extremist, and both the instrumentation and lyrics are downright chilling in their ruthlessness.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: [
** [https://www.instagram.com/stevenwilsonhq/ His Instagram]]. Just the fact you see [[TheStoic Steven fucking Wilson]] smiling and being '''''silly''''' at that makes it more hilarious. And then there's a picture of him wearing a JustinBieber shirt while thumbs-upping the camera with a shit-eating grin on his face.

* '''CreatorWorship''': Ho-yes. Wilson is ''heavily'' respected within the prog ''and'' metal community and by many people due to his collaborations and GenreRoulette experimentation. Being a NiceGuy helps too. This also hits a '''huge''' UnacceptableTarget when it comes to music criticism, although not as strong.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: [[https://www.instagram.com/stevenwilsonhq/ His Instagram]]. Just the fact you see ''[[TheStoic Steven]] [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] [[StoicSpectacles Wilson]]'' smiling and being '''''silly''''' at that makes it more hilarious. And then there's a picture of him wearing a JustinBieber shirt while thumbs-upping the camera with a shit-eating grin on his face.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: In 2014, Alec Wildey, a leading member of the Steven Wilson Street Team and an accomplished poet, [[TearJerker lost his battle with cancer at the age of 26]]. To honor his dream of having one of his poems turned into a song by two of his favorite musicians, Wilson collaborated with Mariusz Duda of Riverside to set the poem "The Old Peace" to music. They subsequently released the song as a downloadable single and donated the profits to cancer centers in both the US and the UK. The single ended up raising over $11,000 (US) in downloads.
** Songwise, A few, ''especially'' considering Steven's shtick of sad and scary songs, most notably "Hand Cannot Erase", the title track off of ''Hand. Cannot. Erase.''.

* HeartwarmingMoments: His Instagram. People are so used to his ultra-depressing or scary musical output and have theorized that he has one tortured or messed up mind... but his Instagram proves otherwise; it's just so amazing to see him smiling, so clearly happy and even making silly faces in pictures and visibly loving what he does. And then there's a picture of him as a child with his father... [[TearJerker *sniffle*]]...

** From outside of his canon of solo material is his interpretation of the English murder ballad [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eaw4Ndj1QAo "The Unquiet Grave"]], which was originally featured as a B-side to one of his singles in the ''Cover Version'' series. This not only qualifies as Nightmare Fuel (as well as a Tearjerker) for its lyrical content, but also in the way that it's performed and arranged. It's a track that practically drifts through a fog of droning, electronically-processed siren calls as Wilson sings his way through it all in a [[LyricalDissonance sweet]] yet slightly unsettling manner. This troper, upon first listening to the track, couldn't go back to it for a whole six months.

*** The lyrics, though:

* {{Anvilicious}}: Considering Wilson's stance on DigitalPiracyIsEvil, "Home Invasion" off ''Hand. Cannot. Erase.'' has the lyric, further enforcing his disgust to [=MP3s=] and downloading music in general:

** 2017's ''To The Bone'' is causing even more of a broken base due to its increased focus on pop compared to the previous album. While some respect Steven's decision to try out genres outside of the prog rock of old, others believe that this increased pop focus is a sign of Steven [[ItsPopularNowItSucks selling out to the mainstream]] in a manner similar to what he himself criticized in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp0OXICuZek Sound of Muzak]] years ago. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4LfUDV1x5s The video description to Permanating,]] one of the songs from the album, suggests that Steven expected this to happen.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: A lot of his music is considered this, both in Music/PorcupineTree and his solo work, but most people will say ''Insurgentes'' and ''Hand. Cannot. Erase''.
** Songs could also count like: "Harmony Korine", "The Raven That Refused to Sing", "3 Years Older", "Raider II", ect.
** The vocal harmonies on "The Watchmaker" could bring the dead back to life.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w8SY_9yO8k "Luminol" is a fantastic example]].

*** The lyrics though..:

--> ''until I could no longer remember her face, her voice, even '''''her name'''''.''

** His tribute the late David Bowie - [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGNRaUOg6JE a beautiful live performance of "Space Oddity"]].

I miss her so much\\

*** Dibs on "The Pin Drop", being a song about a woman, who's in an unhappy relationship being killed by her significant other '''[[DisproportionateRetribution over a fucking pin drop]]'''. The lyrics don't help either...:

Sing to me Lily\\
I miss you so much''

* JustForFun/XMeetsY: He's described his song "Permanating" as "what ABBA and Electric Light Orchestra would sound like as produced by Daft Punk!"

** With a lack of personal life information or the fact he's always writing some depressing topics, fans will usually see Steven as this, or a StoicWoobie. However, he does have a partner and a dog, so that's something.

** "Observer Commercial 1998". It's OK in the context of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-tg02VB38Athe advert]], but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdlxk871GSM on its own...]]