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. scline31
    Feb 4, 2021
    1
    I wonder if the concept has become more important than the music. At least he has a large back catalog to listen to.
  2. RDC04
    Feb 4, 2021
    1
    If you're looking for a prog record, you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for a good electro-pop record, well you're also going to be disappointed. It's just simply not a good record (for any genre).
  3. ChefShwasty
    Feb 3, 2021
    2
    Steven Wilson has the absolute right to abandon his ambition and cash in on easy soulless pop music, and as a die-hard fan, I have the absolute right to hate it.

    Look, do I blame the dude? Absolutely not. If I had spent my entire life making some of the best music in existence only to receive mild acclaim, I'd be kinda mad, too. I'd want to do something easy. This is like a world class    Steven Wilson has the absolute right to abandon his ambition and cash in on easy soulless pop music, and as a die-hard fan, I have the absolute right to hate it.

    Look, do I blame the dude? Absolutely not. If I had spent my entire life making some of the best music in existence only to receive mild acclaim, I'd be kinda mad, too. I'd want to do something easy. This is like a world class chef with Michelin stars and multiple cook books buying a few McDonald's restaurants just to make a quick buck.

    This is the same man who has written Homeric Epics like "Anesthetize," "Arriving Somewhere Not Here," and "Time Flies." Someone who belongs in a Hall of Fame unto themselves for remastering, collaboration, and inspiration.

    And he's making terrible pop garbage.

    Within seconds of putting my CD in my car, I became a faceless drone of attention-seeking cacophony, because the distorted bass is the same thing your hear in every Walmart parking lot in the ghetto. That same guttural bass rumbling and license-plate slapping BRRRRRRT from people who have no qualms on trying to be deaf by their 40's.

    The music, itself, has the same pattern as someone who's recently drawn inspiration from blasé hackneyed artists like the Weeknd and Lorde, grinding through the paces of mediocrity like a high-schooler who downloaded a free app trying to emulate the much less sophomoric efforts of Daft Punk.

    What's most insulting is that the album feels like a parody of itself. Even the name "The Future Bites" insults you, insinuating that the current state of music is not to entertain, only to repress and neutralize your brain, but then flagrantly using every heartless computer program to ram another bass-drop down your throat. In the song "Eminent Sleaze," Wilson talks about skeezy, slimy, untrustworthy people who are only out for your money by brandishing a sharp suit and a fake smile.

    It's utterly ironic, intentional or not, that this album is the personification of the latter two things.

    I'm going to keep trying, but currently I just feel insulted as a fan of Wilson's. Maybe one day it will click. Maybe one day the silver pills and soma will just knock me into an unconscious state where I can appreciate something on this album.

    But until then, I think I'll throw on some Opeth and think of better times.    … Expand
  4. yorai
    Feb 3, 2021
    0
    this is nothing less than betrayal. abandoning his much dedicated crowd to make cheesy pop songs that will fade from your memory the second the album ends.
  5. Pupplehaze
    Feb 5, 2021
    3
    His 'least interesting' offering to date. However, King Ghost is excellent, beautiful and amazing imho (ty SW). Moving on... 12 Things I Forgot is basically a Pete Frampton/Blackfield mix that I like, but it's ultimately weak and should be on a Blackfield album. Count of Ease shows that SW knows where to put a great track on an album, to give it a powerful finale. 2 great moments, 1His 'least interesting' offering to date. However, King Ghost is excellent, beautiful and amazing imho (ty SW). Moving on... 12 Things I Forgot is basically a Pete Frampton/Blackfield mix that I like, but it's ultimately weak and should be on a Blackfield album. Count of Ease shows that SW knows where to put a great track on an album, to give it a powerful finale. 2 great moments, 1 nostalgic track (wishing for a decent Blackfield album again) and the rest is drab mediocre pop that is trying to be edgy and sophisticated but is, ultimately and regrettably, forgettable.
    This is the first time in 6 albums I didn't by his 'super deluxe' version... and, thankfully, I feel like I dodged an expensive and non-essential bullet.    … Expand
  6. photosilva
    Feb 10, 2021
    1
    sorry steven,,with respect: the fact of this album is not my cup of tea, is not because someone like me likes hard metal or prog or jazz, blues of hard rock! which i do all. the reason for this album being a very disappointed album in my opinion is due to factor of being more than nothing special, with the same old routine pop album that you can find it everywhere, anywhere but evensorry steven,,with respect: the fact of this album is not my cup of tea, is not because someone like me likes hard metal or prog or jazz, blues of hard rock! which i do all. the reason for this album being a very disappointed album in my opinion is due to factor of being more than nothing special, with the same old routine pop album that you can find it everywhere, anywhere but even better than this album. when artists goes from one area into another is something that i really admire. i seen 5 shows from porcupine tree and 7 from steven wilson and it looks like he wanted to provoke hard metal fans and make them to go away or at least to exempt himself from prog music. he always criticized in concerts people who likes guitar star players or hard metal, but if you are going to do something different, at least be different from the others, and that thing was always something steven did better than everyone else by creating a difference in his music. i know that electronics is a future state of mind of the new generations of musicians or non musicians, and the guitar instrument is fading away in this millenium decades, but this album didn't went well on me by not creating any other way for perfection we got used too with steven. when bands like silverchair, pain of salvation, imelda may, span and other bands decided to go into a different direction, they left behind something that was so amazing that would take decades to have such bands like that coming by or they would be the best in their style. porcupine tree was one of those examples: it sounded like radiohead, coldplay, dream theater, nine inch nails, pink floyd and other genres. this album would get into your ears very fast but it will fade away faster as well, at least for me. prog genre was always a name for me that represents various genres and that's the reason for me to call progressive music, because you never knew were they stand. this album is somehow the other way of that. it's justsounds like many thousands pops albums out there. it's like when a man gets married and gets kids, he tries to please his music more to his wife than too his fans,,,,and he achieved that,,,but like every other man, when you get tired of your wife and kids, the old mind will kick off and it will come back soon or later. i still admire steven wilson for his dedication and i will never stop going to his shows. look at this point: even in his shows when he lost money because he wanted to produce an amazing and different live show, and only to a small bunch of people,,,he did that because he wanted to leave people shocked from their performance and the visual aspects from being different. people would get out and say: **** what the hell did i just watch,,amazing shows, and next time he would perform another show, i would come back with more invited people to witness his shows,,,they all loved their live shows but they also didn't like this album either.… Expand
  7. Eraldocoil
    Feb 17, 2021
    0
    Steven Wilson perdió el toque, sus últimos álbumes han ido decayendo ya que cada vez más va siendo reemplazado el rock por el pop.

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.
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