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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: KevShmev on March 06, 2014, 02:06:51 PM
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Well, I suppose I will take a crack at this, just for fun, and we'll see how much interest there is (in regards to discussion, as opposed to people just reading and not posting). I am not doing ANY live albums, and I am not doing any side project albums like Orbert did for Yes, for example (since it would take years to get through all of those side projects :lol). Basically, I am gonna do the 12 Flower Kings studio albums. And I will use basically the same format Orbert did, as well, for posting the albums.
Back in the World of Adventures (1995)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/67/Flower_kings_back_in_the_world_300x.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - keyboards
Hans Bruniusson - percussion, drums
Hasse Fröberg - vocals
Jaime Salazar - drums
Michael Stolt - bass guitar
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar
Ulf Wallander: soprano saxophone
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1. "World of Adventures"
2. "Atomic Prince/Kaleidoscope"
3. "Go West Judas"
4. "Train to Nowhere"
5. "Oblivion Road"
6. "Theme for a Hero"
7. "Temple of the Snakes"
8. "My Cosmic Lover"
9. "The Wonder Wheel"
10. "Big Puzzle"
(all songs written by Roine Stolt)
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The band's debut album was released shortly after the release of the Roine Stolt album, The Flower King, which was the brainchild for going full-time with the band that recorded that album (although Tomas Bodin and Michael Stolt were absent on it). Many consider The Flower Kings the band's first album, but I do not, as the absence of Bodin in particular is glaring, with the keys play mostly a background role on the guitar-driven Flower King album, while they are very much at the forefront on Back in the World of Adventures, especially in songs like the ELP-influenced Atomic Prince, Big Puzzle and Theme for a Hero. For whatever reason, this is not a FK album that I listen to a lot, although the two epics that bookend the album are two of my favorites by the band, but it is absolutely stellar from start to finish. There are various examples of an artist's track 1 on their first album being among their best, and World of Adventures definitely fits the bill in that regard. Oft-overlooked on this album are the transitional tracks - Oblivion Road, Temple of the Snakes and The Wonder Wheel - all of which do a great job of helping the flow of the album and give it a very cohesive feel, instead of just randomly throwing a bunch of songs on a record. Interestingly, wikipedia lists Hasse Froberg as doing some lead vocals on this record, but going from memory, I am pretty sure Roine Stolt does all of the lead vocals on this album, while Froberg helps out with harmonies. Either way, this album is what got the ball rolling on one of the best progressive rock bands of the last 20 years.
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Nice read. I'll read this and try my best to post to show I'm interested in the writeups.
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I like this album. As with many bands, the early albums are often more interesting because the band's sound wasn't quite so "defined" as it would later become. There tend to be more examples of things you would be surprised to hear them do now, but which at the time were simply part of the process of pulling together the disparate influences which ultimately made the band what it would later become. I have no idea what any of that means; I just like the sound of it.
I kinda feel the same way you do about this album versus The Flower King as the "real" first album. Certainly there are arguments on both sides, but yeah, this was really the band's debut, whilst The Flower King was more a Roine solo album, although obviously Roine's mark is all over The Flower Kings' albums as well. Similar to The Mothers as a band versus Frank Zappa solo albums. Lots of overlap, but still certain distinctions.
Also, is it wrong that I like Roine's voice more than Hasse Fröberg's? I know some people have trouble with it, but I've always thought it was a really cool voice.
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Great post all-around, Orbert!
I have never hidden how much I like Roine's voice, especially in comparison to Froberg's, whose is a bit hit or miss for me. Sure, he's got range, but, to me, is a prime example of why you need more than range to be a great singer.
Excellent point, too, about how bands seem to be given more latitude early on when it comes to doing different things as a result of their core sound not totally being defined yet.
Personally, I think the band is at their best when they are giving us a little bit of everything, as opposed to all all-out prog, for example (which they did on a later album, which I will address when we get to it). The debut is a good example. We have a rocking epic (World of Adventures), a laid back epic (Big Puzzle), two straight-ahead rockers that still manage to have proggy moments (Go West Judas and My Cosmic Lover), one mellow short tune (Train to Nowhere), one rocking instrumental (Theme for a Hero), one instrumental that ranges from laid back to all-out chilling (Atomic Prince/Kaleidoscope), and several transitional pieces that help stitch it all together and make it cohesive. I love albums where you never know what you are going to get next, and where the mood is ever-changing.
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Well, I suppose I will take a crack at this, just for fun, and we'll see how much interest there is
Yeah! I'm glad, and interested.
I love Back in the World of Adventures. It's such a fun musical journey all the way through.
I always chuckle when I hear the opening lyrics:
I'm back in the world of adventures
in grand new adventures, expect to fly
I'm deep into sonical changes
radical strangeness and I don't know why
I get the impression that TFK are offering an indication of what their music will be like. Even if that's not the case, it still makes me smile.
Great posts both Kev and Orbert. I certainly agree with you both regarding Roine's voice in comparison to Froberg's. However, I also enjoy the lead vocal of Hasse in the later releases. I feel Hasse nicely compliments Roine. That said, no doubt Roine's voice is strong and undeniably distinctive. I love it.
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Well, fuck. Guess I'm following, but more importantly, listening. Will check this out as my first listen tomorrow. You're gonna cost me some money, ain't you Kev?
Dick.
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I still need to get some of their back catalog so this will be a nice read.
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Well, fuck. Guess I'm following, but more importantly, listening. Will check this out as my first listen tomorrow. You're gonna cost me some money, ain't you Kev?
Dick.
:rollin
What else are you gonna do with your cash? No worries, the return on your investment should be worth it.
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OOOOO OOOOW OOOWW!! MR. KOTTER!! I HAVE THE ANSWER.
Buying oil for his house since he lives in Antarctica. Or Canada or something like that.
That hoser.
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Great posts both Kev and Orbert. I certainly agree with you both regarding Roine's voice in comparison to Froberg's. However, I also enjoy the lead vocal of Hasse in the later releases. I feel Hasse nicely compliments Roine. That said, no doubt Roine's voice is strong and undeniably distinctive. I love it.
There are definitely many moments where their voices compliment each other extremely well, and I'll definitely make a point to mention what I feel those moments are. I feel like I do bash Froberg's voice a lot, but there are certainly a lot of moments where I love his vocals.
Well, fuck. Guess I'm following, but more importantly, listening. Will check this out as my first listen tomorrow. You're gonna cost me some money, ain't you Kev?
Dick.
God, I hope so. :biggrin:
P.S. I love you, too. ;) :P
I still need to get some of their back catalog so this will be a nice read.
Sweet. :coolio
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This week has been insane at work :eek I just saw this thread. The Flower Kings are one of my favorite bands. Definitely in my top 10. I have really come to appreciate Roine Stolt as a musician and composer. His guitar playing in particular is incredibly good. He's not a shredder. His solos tend to be more song oriented, often including some of the melodies/themes from the song in which he's soloing. He's got a very distinctive style and sound. I can always pick out a Stolt guitar solo, even if I am not familiar with the piece.
I've also grown to appreciate his vocals. Yes, he's got a bit of a thick accent and his style sometimes teeters on the edge of cheesiness, but never quite crosses over. He's not a technically gifted vocalist, but his voice and delivery are so unique and unmistakably HIS voice that his name has jokingly become a verb with some of the other musicians in my band. "Hey Steve, you should Roine Stolt that second chorus!"
I don't always like every project he gets involved with, but with The Flower Kings he has rarely issued any duds.
As far as this album goes, it's among my favorite albums from The Flower Kings. I don't skip any tracks on this one when I listen to it, like Kev, I really love the epics at each end of it, but the tracks in between are great as well.
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When it comes to soloing, to me, Stolt is up there with Lifeson, Gilmour and Petrucci when it comes to memorable solos. All of those guys simply have to way too many awesome ones to list them all.
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So I've been reading this thread since its inception but haven't had a chance to really reply to it quite yet. I've been busy at work and with other things but I did half-listen to the album last night/this morning.
I will say that it is one HELL of a debut. The bookending epics are certainly two of their best tracks from the early days, and the rest of the tracks all have a certain charm to them. They're all great in their own ways, and while half of the tracks are instrumental, it really shows off the band's musical chops. The band's recent trend of relegating their instrumental and transitional tracks to their Bonus Discs has been a bit of a shame - I miss hearing those stretches of instrumental goodness between the more song-like songs.
Following Roine's solo album of The Flower King, this album continues that direction but with the added instrumental prowess of Tomas Bodin and Michael Stolt. It's really a full-band effort even though the music is entirely Roine's. This was the beginning of a long and fruitful journey for Roine, and this is one debut I always come back to.
-Marc.
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This is my favorite TFK album and World of Adventures is probably my favorite song as well. I just like the overall vibe of the album, happy and proggy all the way without any excess in technicality or over wackyness.
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I don't think the band went overboard with the excess technicality until Unfold the Future, and even then, it was in pretty small doses, and overall is an extremely minor blip on their collective radar. They are great players, but they almost never overplay.
Michael Stolt is easy to overlook as the inferior bass player before the monster player that is Jonas Reingold came on board in 2000, but M. Stolt did a pretty darn good job on those first four albums.
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I assume there's a relation there? Brother?
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So, it was a good thing I listened first thing, as it turned out to be a crazy day with work. As has been repeated, the bookends of the album were terrific. Absolutely terrific. There wasn't anything wrong with the middle, but nothing grabbed my attention like the start and finish did. Will probably come back to this album when I can concentrate on it a little bit more.
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I assume there's a relation there? Brother?
Yes. Michael Stolt is Roine's younger brother.
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I just want to add how much I love "Theme For A Hero". It's so triumphant and uplifting. One of my favorites from the whole album.
-Marc.
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Ah, now here's a band I really need to explore. I'll be following as best I can.
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"Big Puzzle" is so beautiful, every part is wonderfully constructed and melodic.
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Ah, now here's a band I really need to explore. I'll be following as best I can.
Definitely, especially if you enjoy Roine's work in Transatlantic, The Tangent, Kaipa, or any of his other various involvements/projects/albums/appearances.
Be warned, though, about half of the albums are double albums, and the rest are pretty long, too. And their albums tend to be pretty dense, packed with a lot of music. They don't typically write 50 minute albums with 8-10 songs - they go from double albums with 20+ tracks, to single albums with just as many, to an album of 6 tracks that's pretty lengthy, too. Their albums tend to be all over the place in terms of structure, but if you follow with this thread and journey through their works chronologically, you'll see how they evolve and change as they grow up and mature in to the band they are today.
-Marc.
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Just had another go around with it this morning. Excellent album... might be purchase worthy (although, if you saw my recent 'haul', I should probably try and slow down - I'm such a music whore). Anyway, Theme for a Hero was wicked. Same with Go West Judas.
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I don't own a lot of Flower Kings material, but this was my introduction. I picked it up IMMEDIATELY after hearing the title track somewhere. That track is still my favorite FK song of all time, and I adore it. But the rest of the album just never clicked with me for some reason. I do own a few others now that I enjoy, but they just didn't *grab* me, ya know? I should go back and listen to what I've got...including this album.
In total, I own this, Alive on Planet Earth, and Space Revolver....I think that's it.
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Ah, now here's a band I really need to explore. I'll be following as best I can.
:tup :tup
I just want to add how much I love "Theme For A Hero". It's so triumphant and uplifting. One of my favorites from the whole album.
Yep, it's great. I'd call it one of their five best full-band instrumentals.
"Big Puzzle" is so beautiful, every part is wonderfully constructed and melodic.
Damn straight. It also has one of my favorite rolled 'r's of Roine, when he sings, "This puzzle grand...," near the end. I love the way he rolls the 'r' on grand. :hefdaddy
Just had another go around with it this morning. Excellent album... might be purchase worthy (although, if you saw my recent 'haul', I should probably try and slow down - I'm such a music whore). Anyway, Theme for a Hero was wicked. Same with Go West Judas.
No, you need to speed up and buy these albums as I feature them. :)
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Something I've noticed when listening to both The Flower King and BITWOA is that Roine's voice was a bit deeper back then, and he could even get a bit gritty at times (see parts of the 2nd half of Humanizzimo). Hell, even his wordless near-scream around 5:17 in My Cosmic Lover is something I cannot imagine him doing now. Granted, his style is not one that is gonna cause a significant drop-off in what he can and cannot do, but I am just saying, his voice does seem to have changed a bit over the years. But hell, he is in his late 50s now, as opposed to his late 30s then, so that is understandable.
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I've always wanted to get into the Flower Kings' earlier material, but never really got around to it yet so this thread is the perfect motivation for doing exactly that! Already halfway through the album and loving it so far, as I knew I would. What on earth took me so long!?
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Better late than never! I am glad to see them getting some new fans as a result of this thread. That totally makes it worth it. :) :coolio
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I find Oblivion Road to be an interesting instrumental. It is a perfect transition piece from the preceding Train to Nowhere. The opening sounds like it could possibly be in a train station environment. There are so many different sounds (especially various percussion instruments) featured in this song which add so much texture. I love the open spacious feeling of this tune, as well as the jazz style. I like the mood and style changes throughout this album, and I feel that Train to Nowhere / Oblivion Road certainly add a lot.
"Big Puzzle" is so beautiful, every part is wonderfully constructed and melodic.
Damn straight. It also has one of my favorite rolled 'r's of Roine, when he sings, "This puzzle grand...," near the end. I love the way he rolls the 'r' on grand. :hefdaddy
Ha! The rolling 'r' is so conspicuous, yet I never noticed before you pointed it out!
Something I've noticed when listening to both The Flower King and BITWOA is that Roine's voice was a bit deeper back then, and he could even get a bit gritty at times (see parts of the 2nd half of Humanizzimo). Hell, even his wordless near-scream around 5:17 in My Cosmic Lover is something I cannot imagine him doing now. Granted, his style is not one that is gonna cause a significant drop-off in what he can and cannot do, but I am just saying, his voice does seem to have changed a bit over the years. But hell, he is in his late 50s now, as opposed to his late 30s then, so that is understandable.
I don't know I may be wrong, but that vocal part that starts at 5:06 and ends at 5:19 in MCL sounds like Hasse to me. Anyway, I find Roine quite creative in the use of his vocals and vocal effects.
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You might be right, regarding that part of My Cosmic Lover; hard to tell.
I can't keep track of all of Roine's rolled 'r's, but that one in Big Puzzle is definitely one of the best!
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Retropolis (1996)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/be/Retropolis.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - keyboards
Hans Bruniusson - percussion
Hasse Fröberg - vocals
Jaime Salazar - drums
Michael Stolt - bass guitar
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar
Ulf Wallander - soprano saxophone
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1. "Rhythm Of Life"
2. "Retropolis"
3. "Rhythm Of The Sea"
4. "There Is More To This World"
5. "Romancing The City"
6. "The Melting Pot"
7. "Silent Sorrow"
8. "The Judas Kiss"
9. "Retropolis By Night"
10. "Flora Majora"
11. "The Road Back Home"
(tracks 1,5 and 9 written by Tomas Bodin; tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 written by Roine Stolt)
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The band's sophomore effort, Retropolis, is a record that I feel gets overlooked a lot, but it's one of their best. In fact, I would argue it is probably their best and most consistent single album. If you look at the eight full-length songs - not counting the Rhythm of Life intro, the Romancing the City piano intro to The Melting Pot, and Retropolis by Night, which is kind of a transitional piece of music, IMO - the consistency is astonishing. Anyone could put those eight songs in any order of preference, and I'd have a hard time arguing with it; all of those songs are that good.
While Back in the World of Adventures had very much of a hard rock edge on multiple tunes, that edge is non-existent on Retropolis. Instead, Retropolis has a very organic, almost-laid back overall feel, as they really stretch out and allow the songs to breathe with many moments of simplicity, like the acoustic guitar outro in the title track, the piano work and understated electric guitar work at the end of Rhythm of the Sea, or the piano breakdown in the middle of The Judas Kiss. Not saying the debut didn't have those type of laid back moments, too, but while there are certainly some rocking moments on Retropolis, they aren't as hard as those on the first record.
Notable is how so much of their material early on was largely instrumental. Only five of the 11 tracks have vocals, and the majority of those have extended instrumental sections, so they were bringing the instrumental prog in a big, big way. Also notable is the middle section of There Is More to This World, where Froberg gets his first lead vocal section. And he does a great job with it.
I have to give a special shout-out, too, to Silent Sorrow, which is arguably the most important song in my development as a TFK fan. I know I have told this story before, but I had bought three of their CDs in the summer of 2000, but wasn't really feeling them overall as a band, although my main musical attentions were admittedly on other bands at that time. Then, one day I put Retropolis on really loud and ended up falling asleep for a bit, and when I woke up, Silent Sorrow was just starting and I just laid there, slowly coming out my slumber, as the tune kicked my groggy ass. I love little moments like that when you get into a song or band.
The album cover is probably my 2nd favorite of theirs. It is very striking, and in a good way.
To sum up, I love this record like crazy.
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This was my first Flower Kings album. I've been a Flower Kings fan for a long time, though I admit that I've been a bit inconsistent in following them. They've released a lot of music over the years, and life can get pretty crazy sometimes and not allow time for music listening. I'm going to need to review most of the later albums as we move through this discography.
Listening to this one again, I suddenly remembered very clearly listening to it in the old apartment. We moved out of that apartment in 1998, so this album was only a few years old, and Stardust We Are was the new one. At the time, I had no idea that the band was still relatively new. Kinda cool that they've been around about as long as Dream Theater, and like DT, I've been with them the whole time.
I remember looking at the track titles and, considering the album title, wondering if this was a concept album. I still don't know, but that's mostly because I don't really listen to the lyrics. I listen to the vocals, their rhythm and even the words themselves, but have never really sought any particular meaning from them. Maybe it's because of my background listening to Yes, where the lyrics are usually abstract poetry, certainly with meaning, but which Jon Anderson himself has admitted are sometimes just chosen because they sound nice and seem to fit the music.
Like you, Kev, I'm struck by how much of this album is instrumental, and how many tracks are instrumentals. Even if some of them are pretty short, Bodin's keyboard work is great. "Romancing the City" is awesome. From grand piano to synthesizers to pipe organ, he's like Wakeman, and maybe even more consistent.
Part of the instrumental break in "Silent Sorrow" has a distinct Zappa feel to it, and I'm reminded that Roine cites Frank as an influence. Actually, part of the title track has some of the Zappa zaniness to it. It always catches my ear because I don't expect to hear it in "serious" prog.
In junior high, my parents bought a ping pong table, which we set up in the basement. My buddy Jim and I spent countless hours down there volleying ping pong, listening to tunes, and talking about everything from music to girls to parents to life and everything else. All set to "pic-poc... pic-poc... pic-poc..." of the ping pong ball. That sound is part of the soundtrack of my junior high life, and "Rhythm of Life" always takes me back there.
The occassional appearance of the soprano saxophone is cool.
Anyway, this is a freakin' awesome album. Probably my favorite, but that's largely due to it being the one with which I'm most familiar.
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Great post!
And what's funny is, I said it gets overlooked, and I think I even overlook it sometimes! I usually put Retropolis in my 2nd tier of favorite FK albums, but usually near the bottom (to where it is around my 5th favorite), but having listened to it a lot over the weekend, I can't imagine it not being a top 3 FK record. It really is that good, and it has a consistency that is pretty remarkable. Plus, while just about FK record sounds really good, at worst, from a mixing standpoint, several stand at the top as sounding particularly awesome, and Retropolis is one of them.
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Finally getting around to listening to World of Adventures now. I'm only on the first track, but there's already a much harder edge to it that I wasn't expecting at all. It's not metal by any means, but it has a really nice vibe kind of like Spock's Beard's first album, which I totally love. Vocal harmonies are sweet too.
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Retropolis is a fantastic and fun sophomore album from The Flower Kings. It's a very varied yet fulfilling album with a lot of different sounds and styles on it, with just as much instrumental goodness as the first album (and Roine's The Flower King). One of their few single disc albums without bonus tracks, this album actually had session leftovers that were later released - "Buffalo Man" and "Kite", the former of which was deemed too dance-y for inclusion, but the latter has recurring themes and motifs from the album, and it was a crime to exclude it. In my personal playlist of the album, it's laid out as a double album (Yes, I know - as if TFK need any MORE of those).
Disc 1:
1. "Rhythm Of Life"
2. "Retropolis"
3. "Rhythm Of The Sea"
4. "There Is More To This World"
5. "Romancing The City"
6. "The Melting Pot"
7. "Buffalo Man"
Disc 2:
8. "Silent Sorrow"
9. "The Judas Kiss"
10. "Retropolis By Night"
11. "Flora Majora"
12. "Kite"
13. "The Road Back Home"
Placing "Kite" as the penultimate track is pretty appropriate for me, considering the revisited themes from "There Is More To This World", one of my favorite tracks on the whole album.
Over-all, this is a pretty under-appreciated album, and probably at the top of my 2nd-tier TFK albums (in their 4-6 place). It's another kind-of-experimental follow-up to the debut, which itself was pretty broad as the band was finding their sound.
-Marc.
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Oooh, I didn't realize that about the extra tracks. Now I have to hunt them down to create my own "expanded" edition.
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So, I know we moved on to the second album, but I'm really impressed by Back in the World of Adventures. The bookending epics are obvious highlights, but Go West Judas was a really strong runner up. That's some excellent prog rock if I've ever heard it.
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Haven't listened to either of these first two albums in a long time. Need to rectify that.
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Oooh, I didn't realize that about the extra tracks. Now I have to hunt them down to create my own "expanded" edition.
https://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/palladium/6284/QuebecCD.html
According to this online transcription of Édition Limitée Québec 1998 (limited to only 700!!! Glad I have one!), those two tracks were recorded during the Retropolissessions, although it's interesting to note that "Kite" was written in 1985!
-Marc.
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Finally getting around to listening to World of Adventures now. I'm only on the first track, but there's already a much harder edge to it that I wasn't expecting at all. It's not metal by any means, but it has a really nice vibe kind of like Spock's Beard's first album, which I totally love. Vocal harmonies are sweet too.
Vocal harmonies are always one of TFK's strongest points. Given that Roine Stolt is a massive Yes fan, this comes as no surprise, hehe.
So, I know we moved on to the second album, but I'm really impressed by Back in the World of Adventures. The bookending epics are obvious highlights, but Go West Judas was a really strong runner up. That's some excellent prog rock if I've ever heard it.
I still wish Go West Judas had a stronger chorus (it's not bad, just a bit underwhelming, to me), but it's otherwise pretty great, especially musically.
Haven't listened to either of these first two albums in a long time. Need to rectify that.
Yes. Yes you do. :biggrin:
I remember looking at the track titles and, considering the album title, wondering if this was a concept album. I still don't know, but that's mostly because I don't really listen to the lyrics. I listen to the vocals, their rhythm and even the words themselves, but have never really sought any particular meaning from them. Maybe it's because of my background listening to Yes, where the lyrics are usually abstract poetry, certainly with meaning, but which Jon Anderson himself has admitted are sometimes just chosen because they sound nice and seem to fit the music.
I meant to address this yesterday...
Anyway, I haven't really mentioned their lyrics in either of my write-ups thus far, but I usually like them a lot. The comparison to Yes is appropriate in regards to them being abstract, although I think Roine's are sometimes easier to pinpoint. That aside, given that English is not his first language, I think he does a pretty awesome job overall with writing lyrics.
Going from memory, I think I remember Rhythm of the Sea being about someone who feels lost in life, and There Is More to This World is kind of self-explanatory given the name of the song, although I could see someone thinking it is fairly spiritual or not at all.
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Makes sense. I suppose I could always dig up the lyrics and study them, search for some kind of cohesive theme as relates to a retro city ("retropolis") but... nah. I just enjoy the album for what it is.
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Same here. A friend of mine who is a big TFK fan will usually read the lyrics closely and then ask me what I think about this or that song lyrically, and then I'll give them closer inspection, but, generally, TFK is like Yes in that I usually don't go out of my way to read and interpret the lyrics, even if I often find them very interesting.
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What is Rhythm of Life? Spoken word over a table tennis volley....it's not a song....it's not an instrumental....it's an odd little track....especially the end....why is there a squeal....is that the sound of something breaking? Moving on....
Retropolis is a monster of an instrumental. I love the 5/4 ascending bass line section. The keyboard riff reminds me a little of ELP's style. The guitar soloing and percussion over this ascending bass is just so much fun. To me the section from 8:16-9:05 almost has a celtic feel to it. The six string acoustic outro provides a nice segue right into Rhythm of the Sea, which is such a relaxing peaceful tune.
There Is More To This World is an epic masterpiece. As you pointed out Kev, the vocals of Froberg are great on this song....very memorable and beautifully done. Romancing The City is a nice intro into The Melting Pot, in which Roine absolutely nails his solo and Tomas plays a majestic pipe organ.
Silent Sorrow has such a cool groove to it, and my favorite part is when the instrumental section kicks in at 3:06. I love Roine's solos, not to mention the funky keyboards and bass, as well as the well-placed "duck quack". One great tune merges into another as TFK for a second time show a certain interest in this dude named Judas. I love everything about The Judas Kiss....it's just so dynamic, thunderous and ominous. Great unpredictable ending, too.
Retropolis By Night serves as a spacey breather (reminds me a little of Pink Floyd). Flora Majora is an understated, yet very pleasant piece. I especially enjoy the cymbal work in this song. Then the finale...another great song. I love the positive vibe of The Road Back Home. Roine's vocals are heart-felt and fantastic. The saxophone is just lovely in this tune. The entire song is well written and well played, and it closes another wonderful album from TFK. :hefdaddy
After all, it's good to be alive! :tup
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I've really tried hard to enjoy this album but I hardly ever listen to it. Not sure what it is, but most of this album fails to maintain my attention. I love the title track, The Judas Kiss and one or two of the rest of the tracks, but I've just never really connected with much of this one.
I haven't spun it in probably 5 years. I think I'll listen to it tomorrow morning at the gym, see if it sounds different after such a long time not playing it.
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Have to say I've always loved Jaime Salazar's drumming, very powerful and subtle at the same time. Underrated drummer IMO
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Great stuff, can't believe it has been so long since I've listened to this!
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What is Rhythm of Life? Spoken word over a table tennis volley....it's not a song....it's not an instrumental....it's an odd little track....especially the end....why is there a squeal....is that the sound of something breaking? Moving on....
Retropolis is a monster of an instrumental. I love the 5/4 ascending bass line section. The keyboard riff reminds me a little of ELP's style. The guitar soloing and percussion over this ascending bass is just so much fun. To me the section from 8:16-9:05 almost has a celtic feel to it. The six string acoustic outro provides a nice segue right into Rhythm of the Sea, which is such a relaxing peaceful tune.
There Is More To This World is an epic masterpiece. As you pointed out Kev, the vocals of Froberg are great on this song....very memorable and beautifully done. Romancing The City is a nice intro into The Melting Pot, in which Roine absolutely nails his solo and Tomas plays a majestic pipe organ.
Silent Sorrow has such a cool groove to it, and my favorite part is when the instrumental section kicks in at 3:06. I love Roine's solos, not to mention the funky keyboards and bass, as well as the well-placed "duck quack". One great tune merges into another as TFK for a second time show a certain interest in this dude named Judas. I love everything about The Judas Kiss....it's just so dynamic, thunderous and ominous. Great unpredictable ending, too.
Retropolis By Night serves as a spacey breather (reminds me a little of Pink Floyd). Flora Majora is an understated, yet very pleasant piece. I especially enjoy the cymbal work in this song. Then the finale...another great song. I love the positive vibe of The Road Back Home. Roine's vocals are heart-felt and fantastic. The saxophone is just lovely in this tune. The entire song is well written and well played, and it closes another wonderful album from TFK. :hefdaddy
After all, it's good to be alive! :tup
:coolio
I've really tried hard to enjoy this album but I hardly ever listen to it. Not sure what it is, but most of this album fails to maintain my attention. I love the title track, The Judas Kiss and one or two of the rest of the tracks, but I've just never really connected with much of this one.
I haven't spun it in probably 5 years. I think I'll listen to it tomorrow morning at the gym, see if it sounds different after such a long time not playing it.
Given your tastes, I suspect that it is low on your TFK list because it isn't as rocking as many of the others. Just a theory. ;)
Have to say I've always loved Jaime Salazar's drumming, very powerful and subtle at the same time. Underrated drummer IMO
Honestly, I've never gone out of my way to listen to his drumming, like listening to just the drums, but his playing always struck me as more than good enough (considering the talent he was surrounded by).
Great stuff, can't believe it has been so long since I've listened to this!
I can't believe it either! :biggrin:
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Stardust We Are (1997)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/Stardust_We_Are.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - keyboards
Hans Bruniusson - percussion
Hans Fröberg - vocals
Jaime Salazar - drums
Michael Stolt - bass guitar
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar
Ulf Wallander - soprano saxophone
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Disc 1:
1. "In The Eyes Of The World"
2. "A Room With A View" (Tomas Bodin)
3. "Just This Once"
4. "Church Of Your Heart"
5. "Poor Mr. Rain's Ordinary Guitar"
6. "The Man Who Walked With Kings"
7. "Circus Brimstone" (Bodin, Stolt)
8. "Crying Clown" (Bodin)
9. "Compassion"
Disc 2:
1. "Pipes Of Peace" (Bodin, Stolt)
2. "The End Of Innocence"
3. "The Merrygoround"
4. "Don Of The Universe"
5. "A Day At The Mall" (Bodin)
6. "Different People"
7. "Kingdom Of Lies" (Bodin, Stolt)
8. "If 28"
9. "Ghost Of The Red Cloud"
10. "Hotel Nirvana"
11. "Stardust We Are"
(all songs written and composed by Roine Stolt, except where noted)
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Now we are on to Stardust We Are, the band's third album and their first double album. I have to admit that this album was a difficult one to tackle at first, and I'll admit I didn't get very far the first times when trying. In the Eyes of the World was pretty good, but the ambience of A Room with a View threw me a bit, and the beginning of Just This Once was just so strange, that I took the "Okay, back to the Flower Kings stuff I like already" approach. :lol
But, while it still took a few more listens to grasp the scope and enormity of it all, it being an album that contains around 130 minutes of music, once I gave the whole thing my full attention, its overall greatness came just oozing out, song by song, listen by listen. Each listen revealed new layers, helped me discover a great song that had previously hadn't grabbed me, etc.
In many ways, this is their most cohesive double album to date, as several melodies from the title track that ends the record are found dotted all over the album, while the flow, as is customary with a Flower Kings record, is just tremendous. Interestingly, despite the cohesiveness of the overall record, the two separate discs do have their own identity, and that only adds to how good and epic it is overall.
Of particular note is Kingdom of Lies, which is the first FK song on record where Hasse Froberg sings the lead vocals on the entire song. And he does a great job on that song, as he also does with the "Stardust we are" section in the title track. But Roine is still the lead vocalist on just about everything else on the record, and as always, his vocals are right on point.
And continuing the early theme of having a lot of instrumentals and transitional songs, 10 of the 20 songs are instrumentals (or 11 of 21 if you count the latter half of Compassion, which is more of a hidden track than part of the actual Compassion song), many of them being of the shorter, transitional nature. But the full-length ones, like Circus Brimstone, Don of the Universe and The Man Who Walked with Kings, are all tremendous and some of their best ones ever.
I've sort of neglected Tomas Bodin in my write-ups thus far, not purposely, but I probably get so caught up in talking about other things, that I probably take his greatness for granted and figure it goes without saying, but that is not fair. He deserves to be talked about as one of the all-time great prog rock keyboard players. A shining example of his awesome piano playing is the last three minutes of The End of Innocence. Those sad notes he plays underneath that final chorus leave me shaking my head in amazement every time I hear that song. To me, he is similar to Genesis' Tony Banks in that he rarely dazzles you with technical wizardry, even though he is capable of it, while blowing your mind with understated playing that fits the song perfectly to where you can't imagine the song without his contributions. Roine Stolt is obviously the band's MVP, but Bodin is in 2nd place by a strong margin, and it's no coincidence that many of their best songs, including many on this album, are built around a memorable keyboard melody.
Other personal favorites of mine from this record are Ghost of the Red Cloud, Different People and The Merrygoround. But really, everything on this record is aces, and while it can be a chore to get through an album this long in one sitting, on the rare occasions when I do, it is an absolute thrill.
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I remember when I first heard about The Flower Kings after getting in to Transatlantic and loving Roine Stolt's playing/singing, I sought out TFK albums with epics, the BIG kind, and I found "Stardust We Are". I heard the epic before the whole album, and in a sort of backwards way, eventually found all the themes and motifs from it that were scattered throughout the album's songs.
This was my first TFK double album that I listened through all the way through, and as such, it holds a tight spot in my Top 3 TFK albums (along with UTF and PH). Everything I love about early TFK (meaning, to me, their first four albums) is greatly represented here. There's a wonderful mix of lyrical and instrumental songs, short transitional pieces, a good balance of solos and shared vocals. There's barely anything about this album that I dislike, if ANYTHING at all!
This is a desert-island disc if I had to pick any, and all the tracks that Kev mentioned as highlights are some of my favorites as well, including "Don Of The Universe", which perfectly plays with a theme from the title track. This is a wonderful 130 minute journey that I can definitely sit through a lot easier than most other double albums, even of TFK's other double albums!
-Marc.
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It really is a flawless record, and considering its length, that is an astonishing achievement. Okay, Crying Clown and A Day at the Mall are easily the least interesting of the transitional tracks, but they take up a combined total of one minute and 43 seconds, so downgrading it because of tracks that super short would be madness. A Day at the Mall is basically Different People's intro anyway.
If 28 is one of my favorite solo piano songs ever. It's absolutely gorgeous.
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I remember now. I remember why I have always considered The Flower Kings a great band and listen to them when I can, but have never really "gotten into" them. Not in depth, not like I've dug into Yes, Genesis, and other classic prog bands.
It's because there's just so much of it, and I just don't have the time like I did in the old days. This album is so dense that it would take a full week of devoted listening to grok it in fullness, maybe more, so it was with silent sorrow I realized that The Flower Kings would become background music. Great stuff to listen to while commuting, or playing games on the PC, or working out, but it's not the same as sitting with the liner notes and reading them as the music sinks into my brain. Short of constantly grabbing the iPod and checking the titles of each song as they come up, I realized that I would never learn them. I know the names of relatively few Flower Kings songs.
But I knew this album was coming up next, so I started Stardust We Are earlier today. I like that it starts with the full-blown mini-epic "In the Eyes of the World". Jump right in. "A Room with a view" is a nice interlude; I have no problem with it. I assumed, and was correct, that Bodin wrote it. Yeah, "Just This Once" starts off pretty crazy. It's even off-putting, but I like that about it. Prog bands do not conform! They do what they want.
"Church of Your Heart" is the first regular song, I guess. Nothing wrong with that. It's a good song, not an epic, not an instrumental, not a crazy workout, just a regular song. I like "Poor Mr. Rain's Ordinary Guitar". It's chill, and it feels like the intro to "The Man Who Walked with Kings" which surprised me by being another instrumental. An acoustic guitar piece as the intro to a song is a thing; serving as the intro to a broader instrumental is so prog!
That's as far as I got. Half an hour on the elliptical machine. It's frustrating not being able to dig further, and I'll try to keep up with this discography, but it's gonna be sporadic. Right now, I've still got two songs to learn before tomorrow's band practice, so that's it for today.
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I just realized, and I'm not sure why it never occurred to me before, but from "Poor Mr. Rain's Ordinary Guitar" to "Crying Clown", we're treated to almost 21 straight minutes of JUST INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC. Is that the longest stretch of instrumental music on any TFK album? Then again, "Circus Brimstone" is so awesome, I almost forget it has no lyrics because the melodies are so catchy and sing-able.
-Marc.
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My first exposure to the band was the live DVD/CD Meet The Flower Kings!, which I borrowed from a friend, so all I really knew were some of their epics, including Stardust We Are, which was my favorite piece from that project. This was the first FK album I acquired. It really is dense, but masterful, and I need to listen again in full.
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My first FK album. At first I wasn't impressed so I shelved it. It was years later that I gave it another spin and started to like it. I then started to buy a few of their albums.
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I remember now. I remember why I have always considered The Flower Kings a great band and listen to them when I can, but have never really "gotten into" them. Not in depth, not like I've dug into Yes, Genesis, and other classic prog bands.
It's because there's just so much of it, and I just don't have the time like I did in the old days.
I sort of know what you mean. Not trying to scare any possible new fans off, like, OMG, it is too big of an obstacle to overcome to get into them, but they do have so much material that it can be a monumental task to get into all of it. Fortunately, I became a fan in 2000, so they only had five albums out at that point, so I only had that many albums to get into, and then every new album since has been given its due attention and then some.
I just realized, and I'm not sure why it never occurred to me before, but from "Poor Mr. Rain's Ordinary Guitar" to "Crying Clown", we're treated to almost 21 straight minutes of JUST INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC. Is that the longest stretch of instrumental music on any TFK album? Then again, "Circus Brimstone" is so awesome, I almost forget it has no lyrics because the melodies are so catchy and sing-able.
Damn it, I actually meant to mention that in my write-up, and I completely forgot. :facepalm: :lol
This was the first FK album I acquired. It really is dense, but masterful, and I need to listen again in full.
Do so and report back. :biggrin: :hat
My first FK album. At first I wasn't impressed so I shelved it. It was years later that I gave it another spin and started to like it. I then started to buy a few of their albums.
In some ways, this album is the ultimate grower in the prog rock genre. :tup :tup
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Question for the initiated: Which do you prefer - the original/studio ending for "Stardust We Are", or the live version?
I've listened to the studio version enough to know that the ending to Part 3 is different than when they play it live. The live ending has a bit more energy, and when done at the end of shows or as an encore, is right for that time and place, but there's a certain majestic feel to the ending on the studio version which I also really enjoy, especially how it builds and comes back down at the end with Roine's little guitar bit before fading out on the last note.
-Marc.
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This was my favourite TFK album from pretty much the time I first got into them right up until I discovered Paradox Hotel. It's such a great and varied album, and the title track still blows me, probably the best of their giant epics.
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A challenging listen to say the least. I enjoy quite a bit of the material, but I also find myself reaching for the skip button pretty frequently with this one. It's not just the transitional pieces either. There are several songs on this album that just fail to capture and hold my interest, despite subjecting it to the PRAT more than once.
Still, I enjoy it for what it is, and the title track is killer. :hat
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Question for the initiated: Which do you prefer - the original/studio ending for "Stardust We Are", or the live version?
Studio version.
This was my favourite TFK album from pretty much the time I first got into them right up until I discovered Paradox Hotel. It's such a great and varied album, and the title track still blows me, probably the best of their giant epics.
When discussing the songs in the 20-31 minute range, there is no way I can it is better than I Am the Sun, but it'd definitely be in 2nd place. :tup :tup
A challenging listen to say the least.
Agreed, although I think one of their other double albums is far more challenging and difficult to get through, but we'll address that in due time. :lol :biggrin:
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I love it when Orbert says "grok"... I need to read Stranger in a Strange Land again...
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That book is so awesome. I started using the word "grok" just because, and to see who might catch the reference. Every once in a while, someone does, and I am pleased.
Congratulations, you have passed the test! :tup
On the other hand, I dropped two or three other references in that post just for the hell of it, so there you go.
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heh...I stopped using Grok because all the young'ns kept asking me what it was an acronym for :facepalm: :lol
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Sigh... kids these days. :facepalm:
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I'm a tad behind, but have to post because I was one of the guys that "forced" Kev into this. On my second listen of Retropolis. Nothing wrong with it, but like Barry, I can't say it's captivating my attention.
I think I tried Stardust We Are last month at Kev's suggestion, and man... that was a lot to digest. Will try again on the weekend.
Loved Bob's post about 'knowing' music. I feel that way about a LOT of the new bands I discover these days. I used to KNOW almost all the music I had, now I'm simply FAMILIAR with most of my new discoveries.
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Haha, yes, you absolutely have to post. :lol :biggrin:
But I know what you mean, via know vs. familiar. It's easy nowadays to just buy the mp3s and listen to the music on your computer or iPod or whatever while you are doing other stuff, as opposed to the old days where every CD or album you bought got your full, undivided attention as you read the liner notes and lyrics and whatnot while you listened to the music. I still try to do that when I can, but I simply don't do that nearly as much as I used to, and I am sure the fact that many can say the same thing is a contributing factor as to what you are talking about.
Interestingly, as I have been listening to TFK a ton lately, I am rediscovering some songs that I had, well, maybe not forgotten about, but had forgotten how great they were. Also, my opinion on certain albums has definitely been elevated, and even though I did an updated album ranking about a month ago in the proper TFK thread, I suspect that when this thread here is all said and done, it will look a bit different again.
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As for grok, I remember the expression, "I can grok that," and it bugged me all morning where I knew that phrase from, and it finally occurred to me that Cliff once said it on Cheers, but for the life of me I cannot remember which episode. Damn you, Orbert! :lol :lol
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Interestingly, as I have been listening to TFK a ton lately, I am rediscovering some songs that I had, well, maybe not forgotten about, but had forgotten how great they were. Also, my opinion on certain albums has definitely been elevated, and even though I did an updated album ranking about a month ago in the proper TFK thread, I suspect that when this thread here is all said and done, it will look a bit different again.
My top albums shift around from time to time too. I was reading this reply when I realized that every time I start listening to The Flower Kings I end up going through at least 3 or 4 of their albums, sometimes more, before moving on to something else. I do that with Dream Theater, Transatlantic and Opeth too.
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Haha, yes, you absolutely have to post. :lol :biggrin:
But I know what you mean, via know vs. familiar. It's easy nowadays to just buy the mp3s and listen to the music on your computer or iPod or whatever while you are doing other stuff, as opposed to the old days where every CD or album you bought got your full, undivided attention as you read the liner notes and lyrics and whatnot while you listened to the music. I still try to do that when I can, but I simply don't do that nearly as much as I used to, and I am sure the fact that many can say the same thing is a contributing factor as to what you are talking about.
Word. For me, the two biggest contributing factors are age, and the age we live in.
Age: When we were teenagers and in our 20s, we didn't have the kinds of responsibilities we do now. I could just sit with the liner notes for 5 or 6 listens until I memorized each lyric, could air guitar all solos and drum fills. :woot: I just don't have the disposable time to do that very often.
The age: Access to all kinds of global music is so easy and plentiful. 20 years ago, I would never know about acts like Ayreon and Nightwish the way I do now. If it didn't get FM radio airtime, I didn't know about it. Nowadays, I don't even listen to local FM radio. I occasionally listen to internet radio (morrow.com for my prog needs), but most of my music recommendations come from here. And there's no shortage of people willing to separate money from my wallet in the name of good music. :biggrin: Couple that with the technology we have (just plop the iPod on with 14,000 songs at my fingertips; or an endless supply available on Spotify/Grooveshark) and it's very easy to simply listen without getting to KNOW the songs/albums/band.
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I heard it again, and forgot to mention it before.
I'm listening to the whole album again, and in "Just This Once" there's a background keyboard line that reminds me of the keyboard line in "Watcher of the Skies" by Genesis. You know the line. There was a track on "Retropolis" that was even closer. I don't remember the exact track. Then, it was an homage; it was almost exact and could not have been coincidence. Now... it's more derivative, but starting to feel just a bit like a ripoff. If Bodin ever cops to it and calls it an homage, I'll buy it, but that's twice now.
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I have no idea what melody you are talking about. A little help with a time stamp?
But if it is in the background, I wouldn't call it a ripoff, since it's not like the song is built around it or anything (like when Yes built Heart of the Sunrise out of the King Crimson riff). And I've heard several other homages to classic prog in their catalogue, so I don't see it is as a big deal at all. Bodin admitting won't matter either, especially since TFK is such a low key and underground band that I don't recall ever seeing an interview with him, and the odds of that even coming up in an interview would be about a million to one. :lol :lol And if it did, what are the odds he would even remember, considering the song is 17 years old now, and they have done close to, if not, 200 songs over their career.
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I just figured you'd know it because it's pretty obvious and you're clearly a big Flower Kings fan. The only missing piece is being even casually familiar with early Genesis, since the "Watcher of the Skies" riff is pretty iconic in its own right. It jumped right out at me. I'll try to dig up time stamps in the next day or two.
I've never bought the "Heart of the Sunrise" - "21st Century Schizoid Man" connection. Has anyone from Yes copped to it? Because otherwise, it's four notes, completely different rhythms, repeated a different number of times, and even at that are still only the first notes in long runs which go off into different directions. But hey, some people hear those two riffs and it jumps right out at them, too. The "Watcher of the Skies" riff in the Flower Kings song is exactly the same riff.
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I have no idea what melody you are talking about. A little help with a time stamp?
Crap. It's not "Watcher of the Skies", it's "The Fountain of Salmacis", the song right before it in your Genesis chronology (last song from Nursery Cryme as opposed to first song from Foxtrot).
Listen to the opening minute or so of "The Fountain of Salmacis". That keyboard line with the intervals which eventually becomes the backdrop for the verses. Now go to 7:52 in "World of Adventures". Listen to the keyboards behind the guitar. He's playing around a bit, but twice he plays the exact lick, same key and everything. That's what first caught my ear.
Now go to 0:27 in "Just This Once" and again listen to the keys. Very similar. Structurally the same.
Listening again, I consider the first one to be an homage. On the first album, no one has heard of him or the band, and slipping the lick into the background is fun. By the third album, it's not exactly the same notes and can be written off as coincidence, or maybe just derivative. It's a weird lick, a Tony Banks lick, and when you've been playing a lick like that for so long, it's almost impossible not to play it once in a while when you're just jamming around, and those jams are what eventually become band compositions.
I'm not crying foul, and I wasn't before. I'm just pointing them out.
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I have no idea what melody you are talking about. A little help with a time stamp?
Crap. It's not "Watcher of the Skies", it's "The Fountain of Salmacis", the song right before it in your Genesis chronology (last song from Nursery Cryme as opposed to first song from Foxtrot).
Listen to the opening minute or so of "The Fountain of Salmacis". That keyboard line with the intervals which eventually becomes the backdrop for the verses. Now go to 7:52 in "World of Adventures". Listen to the keyboards behind the guitar. He's playing around a bit, but twice he plays the exact lick, same key and everything. That's what first caught my ear.
Now go to 0:27 in "Just This Once" and again listen to the keys. Very similar. Structurally the same.
Listening again, I consider the first one to be an homage. On the first album, no one has heard of him or the band, and slipping the lick into the background is fun. By the third album, it's not exactly the same notes and can be written off as coincidence, or maybe just derivative. It's a weird lick, a Tony Banks lick, and when you've been playing a lick like that for so long, it's almost impossible not to play it once in a while when you're just jamming around, and those jams are what eventually become band compositions.
I'm not crying foul, and I wasn't before. I'm just pointing them out.
I went back to Nursery Cryme thinking you meant "The Fountain Of Salmacis" but the Tony banks organ line in that is in duple meter where as Tomas Bodin's line in "Just This Once" was in triple.
Also, both keyboardists have the initials TB. Coincidence? Or just serendipitous?
-Marc.
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Neither. Conspiracy.
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Neither. Conspiracy.
At least TFK's bassist doesn't have the initials MR (Michael Rutherford)...although, their first bassist WAS named Michael, and Jonas's last name begins with an R.
And like Genesis, TFK have had plenty of drummers over the years. I think I'm reading in to this too much now.
-Marc.
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Actually, Genesis only officially had one drummer, Phil Collins. The first album had a studio drummer because they didn't have a regular drummer, John Mayhew played on the second album, but was considered a tangential member of the group at best, and Phil joined on the third album. After Phil left, they only made one album before calling it quits. Nir Z played drums on the last album, but was not considered a regular band member. He's listed under Additional Musicians.
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Actually, Genesis only officially had one drummer, Phil Collins. The first album had a studio drummer because they didn't have a regular drummer, John Mayhew played on the second album, but was considered a tangential member of the group at best, and Phil joined on the third album. After Phil left, they only made one album before calling it quits. Nir Z played drums on the last album, but was not considered a regular band member. He's listed under Additional Musicians.
Fair enough, but I always considered the drummers for their first two albums as official members. Then again, many fans don't really acknowledge Genesis' debut album all that much.
Anyways, back on the TFK train. Something that has bothered me for quite sometime is how often Hasse and Hans get interchanged. Is it like a knickname for Swedish people, like how people named Richard can be called Dick, or William get Bill, or Robert get Bob? I see both Froberg and Bruniusson get both Hasse and Hans as their first names in many places. Which is right for who? I think for Froberg, it's definitely Hasse, but for Bruniusson, I've seen both equally.
-Marc.
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Okay, to be completely fair, Phil Collins was the fourth Genesis drummer. The original drummer was Chris Stewart, who went to school with founding members Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Ant Phillips, and Mike Rutherford. But when they went to record the first album, producer/manager Jonathan King pushed to have him replaced because he wasn't good enough. John Silver was brought in, played on the first album, and is listed as a band member, but he left shortly thereafter. I guess that's why I don't really consider either of them actual drummers for the band. John Mayhew played on Trespass, but he pretty much came out of nowhere and left again afterwards. So again, an official member who really never gelled with the band.
As for the Hasse vs. Hans thing, I'm glad I'm not the only one who was confused. I just figured I got the names mixed up, again, whenever I see them.
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Something that has bothered me for quite sometime is how often Hasse and Hans get interchanged. Is it like a knickname for Swedish people, like how people named Richard can be called Dick, or William get Bill, or Robert get Bob?
-Marc.
Yes, that's it exactly.
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I have no idea what melody you are talking about. A little help with a time stamp?
Crap. It's not "Watcher of the Skies", it's "The Fountain of Salmacis", the song right before it in your Genesis chronology (last song from Nursery Cryme as opposed to first song from Foxtrot).
Listen to the opening minute or so of "The Fountain of Salmacis". That keyboard line with the intervals which eventually becomes the backdrop for the verses. Now go to 7:52 in "World of Adventures". Listen to the keyboards behind the guitar. He's playing around a bit, but twice he plays the exact lick, same key and everything. That's what first caught my ear.
Now go to 0:27 in "Just This Once" and again listen to the keys. Very similar. Structurally the same.
Ah, okay. I totally hear what you are talking about. Not a big deal to me; kind of cool, actually. :hat
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Flower Power (1999)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/Flower_Power.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - keyboards
Hasse Bruniusson - percussion
Hasse Fröberg - vocals
Jaime Salazar - drums
Michael Stolt - bass guitar
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar
Ulf Wallander - soprano saxophone
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Disc 1:
1-18. "Garden Of Dreams" (Tomas Bodin, Stolt)
"Dawn"
"Simple Song"
"Business Vamp"
"All You Can Save"
"Attack Of The Monster Briefcase"
"Mr. Hope Goes To Wall Street"
"Did I Tell You?"
"Garden Of Dreams"
"Don't Let The d'Evil In"
"Love Is The Word"
"There's No Such Night"
"The Mean Machine"
"Dungeon Of The Deep"
"Indian Summer"
"Sunny Lane"
"Gardens Revisited"
"Shadowland"
"The Final Deal"
19. "Captain Capstan"
20. "Ikea By Night" (Jaime Salazar)
21. "Astral Dog" (Salazar, Stolt)
Disc 2:
1. "Deaf, Numb & Blind"
2. "Stupid Girl"
3. "Corruption"
4. "Power Of Kindness" (Bodin)
5. "Psychedelic Postcard"
6. "Hudson River Sirens Call 1998"
7. "Magic Pie" (Hasse Fröberg)
8. "Painter"
9. "Calling Home"
10. "Afterlife" (Bodin, Stolt)
(all songs written and composed by Roine Stolt, except where noted)
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Now we move on to Flower Power, the band's 4th studio album and their 2nd double album. It was also my introduction to the band back in the spring of 2000. When I got the CD, I was immediately struck by how gorgeous the album cover is. There was just something surreal and almost hypnotic about it that grabbed me, and it remains my favorite album cover of theirs to this day, by a wide margin.
The music matches the greatness of the album cover. In fact, some of those dazzling keyboard lines heard during the first half of Business Vamp sound like they were written to match the album cover. Strange as that sounds, that is always the impression I get. The subtitle on the cover of "Journey To The Hidden Corners Of Your Mind" couldn't be any more appropriate, as the Garden of Dreams suite that takes up most of Disc 1 pretty much runs the gauntlet and takes you to places you never thought you'd go in such a short span. Is that a bit hyperbolic? Probably, but nearly 14 years after first hearing the near-hour long suite, I am still blown to shreds when I listen to in full and the magnitude of its totality overwhelms me for the nth time. Business Vamp remains, for me. the best five minutes of Flower Kings music ever, while All You Can Save has arguably Roine Stolt's best recorded guitar solo ever (although there are many top contenders for the throne).
The rest of the album is mostly really good as well, but, oddly, it took me nearly a year after getting these CDs to actually listen to anything from it besides the GoD suite. Tacking the two short songs and Astral Dog on to the end of the first disc was more than a bit strange, and the second disc mostly sounds like a bunch of songs that are in (mostly) no discernible order, aside from the obvious opener in Deaf, Numb and Blind (great song!) & the closer in Afterlife (which reprises the melody from the beginning of Garden of Dreams). But, even though the flow is a touch lacking, especially when compared to Stardust We Are, which has an immaculate flow, the songs are still there. I have always had major love for Psycedelic Postcard and Stupid Girl, and there is something about both Painter and Calling Home that I just really love. In fact, while typing this, I realize, when the songs are this good, who cares about flow?! :lol Even the Hasse Froberg-penned Magic Pie is fairly enjoyable, thanks to some out of this world playing by Tomas Bodin in the latter half of the song. I wasn't a fan of that song for a long time. but Bodin's work in it finally converted me somewhat recently. Basically, when I finally got into Disc 2, it was like finding money, money that had been under my nose for a year already! Haha.
Notable, too, is that was the last Flower Kings album that Michael Stolt appears on. Being that the band is so unknown that it is difficult to find any information on them, especially on events that predate my fandom, so I am unaware as to why he left the band, but if anyone has any inside information regarding it, feel free to share!
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Flower Power is still the one TFK double-album I have trouble fully digesting. I completely fell in love with Stardust We Are and Unfold The Future when I first heard them back around 2005. For some reason, they were so easy for me, and even after Paradox Hotel came out, which took me a couple years to really *get*, I still don't really *get* Flower Power. I mean, I enjoy "Garden Of Dreams" (abbreviated as GOD, I wonder if that was on purpose?), and many of the other shorter songs, but the album as a whole just doesn't gel with me yet. I've been hoping that while spinning their discography along with this thread will help me fix that.
As for Michael Stolt's departure, the most I could find online was that he left the group to pursue other musical ventures of his own. I'm not sure if anything like that ever happened, but when Tomas Bodin recorded his follow up to I AM, the album You Are by the band name Eggs & Dogs, Michael Stolt was his bassist and lead vocalist. Hasse Froberg, with Tomas Bodin, have also tapped Michael to play bass on a project with Opeth's drummer Martin Axenroth, vocalist Nathalie Lorichs (who has sung with Opeth), and guitarist Joakim "JJ" Marsh (Glenn Hughes band) titled Crime Of The Century. Because of the resurrection of The Flower Kings, work has been slowed down, but Tomas and Hasse are still working on this project, apparently. Hopefully more news comes about soon!
-Marc.
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Just chiming in to say that "Garden of Dreams" is pretty freakin' amazing, and yeah, it's weird that they put the three songs on the disc after it. Okay, there's nothing wrong that; ultimately we're looking at a collection of songs taking up two CDs, and a part of that (a huge part) is the GoD suite. It seems like that would occupy a single disc, then the other disc have all the "regular" songs. That would be the prog way. Obviously they weren't worried about that. They had 160 minutes of time space to work with, and pretty much filled it all up.
Wait... you know, I've never checked. AMG says the total album time is 140 minutes, and GoD is 60 minutes, so the other 80 minutes should have fit onto the other disc. Of course, I'm sure they're rounding off the times, but if the other 13 songs fit on Disc Two, why not do it that way? Whatever.
So anyway, this is yet another Flower Kings album that I put on, let it play through, think it's awesome, and hardly know any song titles. I think "Stupid Girl" was the one with the Zappa-esque sounding break. Or maybe I'm just making the association because of the title.
Other than that, I have nothing. Great stuff, but I can't discuss individual tracks.
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Actually, I did the math, and Astral Dog wouldn't have fitted on Disc 2. Granted, I think they could have tightened it up a bit and not let the latter half of the song drag on so much, and then it would have fitted, but as it is, it wouldn't have. That, of course, leads to the argument of having to put everything they wrote on the album. All three instrumentals on the second disc are enjoyable, but one (or all) of them could have been chucked and I probably wouldn't cared. Ultimately, if you ignore the disc thing and think of Astral Dog as kicking off Part 2 of the album, it is just fine; it just seems weird that it was tacked on after Garden of Dreams on Disc 1.
Stupid Girl is unique as it is about the closest thing they've ever done on a proper studio album to a dance track. Yet it still manages to rock. :metal
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This is really a spectacular album. There is just a tiny bit of bloat in the GoD suite, but other than that, the whole thing -both discs- is aces. Seeing them perform it live on the "Meet The Flower Kings" DVD really gave me a whole new appreciation for it.
Heh, I think I'll give this a spin at the gym tomorrow. :hat
Great thread so far, Kev! :corn
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In the end, how it's broken up by disc doesn't much matter to me because it's just an album on my iPod. I know some people actually tag the tracks with "Flower Power, Disc 1" and "Flower Power, Disc 2" but that doesn't make any sense to me. The tracks being divided up into discs is an artificial thing imposed by the medium, much as LPs back in the day were divided into Side 1 and Side 2. Actually, then it was kinda cool because you could often tell they they'd taken some care to sequence the songs knowing which song opened or closed a side. Anyway, here on my iPod it's the whole "Garden of Dreams" suite (individual tracks, but clean segues), then everything else, all one album. As it should be. Yay.
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In the end, how it's broken up by disc doesn't much matter to me because it's just an album on my iPod. I know some people actually tag the tracks with "Flower Power, Disc 1" and "Flower Power, Disc 2" but that doesn't make any sense to me. The tracks being divided up into discs is an artificial thing imposed by the medium, much as LPs back in the day were divided into Side 1 and Side 2. Actually, then it was kinda cool because you could often tell they they'd taken some care to sequence the songs knowing which song opened or closed a side. Anyway, here on my iPod it's the whole "Garden of Dreams" suite (individual tracks, but clean segues), then everything else, all one album. As it should be. Yay.
Exactly the way I feel too which is why I don't get the arguments about "disc 1 vs disc 2" with albums like SDOIT.
-Marc.
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I'm a little behind the thread, just finishing Stardust We Are disc 1 now. It's been too long, simply gorgeous.
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Great thread so far, Kev! :corn
Thanks! :coolio
In the end, how it's broken up by disc doesn't much matter to me because it's just an album on my iPod. I know some people actually tag the tracks with "Flower Power, Disc 1" and "Flower Power, Disc 2" but that doesn't make any sense to me. The tracks being divided up into discs is an artificial thing imposed by the medium, much as LPs back in the day were divided into Side 1 and Side 2. Actually, then it was kinda cool because you could often tell they they'd taken some care to sequence the songs knowing which song opened or closed a side. Anyway, here on my iPod it's the whole "Garden of Dreams" suite (individual tracks, but clean segues), then everything else, all one album. As it should be. Yay.
It's not an exact science, but the way I have the suite broken up into individual mp3s looks like this:
Dawn / Simple Song / Business Vamp
All You Can Save
Attack of the Monster Briefcase / Mr. Hope Goes to Wall Street / Did I Tell You
Garden of Dreams
Don't Let The d'Evil In
Love Is the World / There's No Such Night
The Mean Machine
Dungeon of the Deep
Indian Summer
Sunny Lane
Gardens Revisited
Shadowland / The Final Deal
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For things like Chicago's "Ballet for a Girl in Buckhannon", I use editing software to append things together, because I shuffle the album, and also have playlists which I'll shuffle, and the whole suite needs to be kept intact. But I was pleasantly surprised that my iPod is able to just play through the whole thing seamlessly (that is, without annoying gaps or other bad segues). And since I only ever listen to the whole album at once anyway, I just left it.
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Just catching up now. I listened to Stardust We Are on Friday while working, and found it enjoyable. Unfortunately, being a double disc, I just don't have the time to sit down with it and really listen to it with my undivided attention. Not sure anything really wow'd me.
On to Flower Power this morning. My gut says 'twill be a similar experience.
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For things like Chicago's "Ballet for a Girl in Buckhannon", I use editing software to append things together, because I shuffle the album, and also have playlists which I'll shuffle, and the whole suite needs to be kept intact. But I was pleasantly surprised that my iPod is able to just play through the whole thing seamlessly (that is, without annoying gaps or other bad segues). And since I only ever listen to the whole album at once anyway, I just left it.
Makes sense, but me separating the tracks the way I did is merely for the purpose of when I make CDs for my car, and since I rarely have time to listen to an hour-long song in one trip, this allows me to listen to whatever tracks I am in the mood for at any particular time.
Just catching up now. I listened to Stardust We Are on Friday while working, and found it enjoyable. Unfortunately, being a double disc, I just don't have the time to sit down with it and really listen to it with my undivided attention. Not sure anything really wow'd me.
On to Flower Power this morning. My gut says 'twill be a similar experience.
I do not accept excuses. I'm gonna need you to do a better job of keeping up here, sir. :biggrin:
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Ok... I'm sick as shit and spent most of the morning in bed with fever/chills/aches. Not before I got thru the first half of GoD. But so long as I'm not looking at the track titles while listening, I can't tell you what stuck out to me. Nice stuff though.
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Well, it's a start. :P
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Yep, better late than never!
Get better, jingle.boy! And when you do, get to listening. :coolio
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I love GOD, and mostly because of that, I rarely listen to the rest of the album. Normally, I would grab the CD and while I sometimes want to just start with disc 2, I'll put on Garden of Dreams everytime. After that hour long exploration of the mind, I never have the desire to listen to any more.
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That's pretty much why it took me so long to get into Disc 2; I never made it that far cause I was liking GoD so much!
In fact, I think when I finally did get around to Disc 2, like a year after owning it, when I finally took it out to listen to it, ya know that secure feeling the CD has in the case the first time you take it out, but is never like that again even if you put it back in and push it down as hard as you can? It was still like that...a year later. :lol :lol
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Ok... I'm sick as shit and spent most of the morning in bed with fever/chills/aches. Not before I got thru the first half of GoD. But so long as I'm not looking at the track titles while listening, I can't tell you what stuck out to me. Nice stuff though.
I don't know how into DVDs you are, but if you really want to see what The Flower Kings are all about, get yourself a copy of "Meet The Flower Kings"
It's a "live" recording, but what they did was they invited about 40 or 50 people to sit in the studio with them and they played a metric shit-ton of music together - "live" - in front of the group of people. It's a little strange in that none of the people ever clap or do anything, they just kind of sit there. But it was that DVD that really opened my eyes to Roine Stolt's greatness.
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I like that DVD, but it just doesn't look like a live release, and since I almost always think studio versions are better than live versions, especially with this band, I wouldn't recommend getting it until you've gotten most of their studio albums. If I were gonna recommend a live DVD, I'd recommend Instant Delivery.
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I like that DVD, but it just doesn't look like a live release, and since I almost always think studio versions are better than live versions, especially with this band, I wouldn't recommend getting it until you've gotten most of their studio albums. If I were gonna recommend a live DVD, I'd recommend Instant Delivery.
I really think both are great. Totally different, not only in terms of production and music, but too in how the band present itself. On Meet The Flower Kings they are just a bunch of goofy nerds on a stage, the silence in the room makes it even a little awkward at times. And on Instand Delivery they are a sharp live band, with some great stuff happening on stage (Hasse over-acting a bit). The difference in song lengths is noticeable too.
I'd like to think of Meet... as their 'prog' release, and Instant as their more commercial release. But both are awesome.
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Space Revolver (2000)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/87/The_Flower_Kings-Space_Revolver.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - piano, organ, synthesizer, Mellotron
Hans Bruniusson - mallet percussion, vocals
Hans Fröberg - vocals, acoustic guitar
Jonas Reingold - bass guitar
Jaime Salazar - drums
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitar, bass guitar
Ulf Wallander - soprano saxophone
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1. "I Am the Sun - Part One"
2. "Dream On Dreamer" (Tomas Bodin, Stolt)
3. "Rumble Fish Twist" (Bodin)
4. "Monster Within"
5. "Chicken Farmer Song"
6. "Underdog"
7. "You Don't Know What You've Got" (Hasse Fröberg)
8. "Slave to Money"
9. "A Kings Prayer"
10. "I Am the Sun - Part Two"
(All songs written and composed by Roine Stolt, except where noted.)
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Space Revolver is the band's 5th studio (and 3rd single disc) album, and features the first significant member change, as Jonas Reingold replaced Michael Stolt as the band's bass player. It was a change for the better, as Reingold's bass playing is beastly more often than not. Michael Stolt did a very good job on the first four albums, but Reingold, who was clearly influenced by Yes' Chris Squire, took it to a whole new level, and the best examples of this on his record with the band are the ending of I Am the Sun - Part Two, Rumble Fish Twist and Monster Within.
This also was the record where they really started to use Hasse Froberg more as a lead vocalist. He only has one song where he does all of the lead vocals, You Don't Know What You've Got, but this is really where they started doing a lot of songs where Roine Stolt and Froberg shared the lead vocals. They had done it a few times on previous albums, like in songs like There Is More to This World and Stardust We Are, but A King's Prayer, Underdog, Slave to Money and Monster Within all saw Roine and Froberg sharing lead vocals. This formula can sometimes be a bit hit or miss, IMO, but it worked great on this record.
Stylistically, this was still very much a TKF record, but they definitely veered out of their comfort zone more often than not here, and the rocking aspect definitely was way back up on this one, heard in the main riff in I Am the Sun - Part One, Monster Within, the first several minutes of Rumble Fish Twist and the ending of Underdog. The band can definitely rock hard when they want to.
As for quality, it is pretty darn high on this one, relatively speaking. This usually runs neck-and-neck for me alongside Retropolis for best TFK single disc. Monster Within is one of their most twisted and awesomely underrated songs ever, A King's Prayer is a wonderfully melodic tune with an astonishing guitar solo at the end, and I Am the Sun, which bookends the album with a Part One and Part Two (similar to DT's In the Presence of Enemies or Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond), is arguably their best "sidelong" epic ever. If someone asked me, what is the best 25 minutes of TFK music ever, I'd probably say either the first eight tracks of Garden of Dreams or I Am the Sun. If someone had never heard the Flower Kings before, and asked me where to start, you couldn't go wrong with this one.
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Stylistically, this was still very much a TKF record,
So a completely different band?
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I love this record! Another TFK album that I usually listen to front to back without skipping anything. It's funny how certain songs or albums can trigger memories. When I first got into The Flower Kings, this album was their "current" release. This is one of the more accessible TFK albums. At least it was for me. My only gripes with it are the over-driven vocals in "Monster Within" (an effect I've always disliked, regardless of band) and I'm not too fond of how long the ambient second half of "Rumble Fish Twist" drones on for. That could have been 2 or 3 minutes shorter and it would have sounded fine. Those are both pretty minor things, though. The epic is breathtaking and I think breaking it up was a good idea.
This is definitely a 4-star album :tup Also my favorite TFK album art.
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This really is my favorite TFK single disc album, and high up there in overall favorite TFK album. Like Kirk said, way more accessible than other albums. For starters it's shorter, you could easily listen to this in a single run, but stylistically it's more accessible too. And I often see this as one of the best produced records in my collection. Whenever I've bought new speakers, or new headphones, I play this, it's so wide and open, there's a lot going on, but it's never dense. I Am The Sun is great, maybe even their best epic.
As a matter of fact, I think it's one of my favorite albums by any band ever. When I went away for a few weeks last year, with none of my own music on me, this was the first album I listened to when I got the chance.
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I forgot to mention how funny the spoken word samples at the end of Underdog are, given that they are talking about a pizza.
"How could you possibly fit all of that in your mouth?!" :rollin :rollin
Stylistically, this was still very much a TKF record,
So a completely different band?
:facepalm: :lol
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This is a pretty solid album, especially as a single disc. I wonder if they knew to "cut out the fat", as it were, as they had removed a lot of instrumental pieces as they were relegated to "Bonus Disc" material.
Recently, I've revisited this album to re-do my remix of the track list and include all of the B-Sides in the album, as well as doing a Tomas-then-Roine version of "Dream On Dreamer" (where a cross-fade switch happens before the 2nd verse). Don't ask me why I thought I needed more double-albums in The Flower Kings' discography (as if they didn't already have enough), but I felt like the album could be a bit more refreshing for me by including all of the material produced from the album's sessions.
I Am The Sun (Part 1)
Space Revolver
The Meadow
A Good Heart
Dream On Dreamer
Rumble Fish Twist
You Don't Know What You've Got
Slave To Money
Last Exit
Monster Within
Chickenfarmer Song
She Carved Me A Wooden Heart
Underdog
Jupiter Backwards
Venus Flytrap
A King's Prayer
I Am The Sun (Part 2)
I set up the album as 6 sides of vinyl, or 2 CDs (with "Monster Within" opening the 2nd disc - a perfect way to open an album, especially with the recurring motif at the end of "A King's Prayer").
I like the B-Side material, especially "Last Exit" and "Jupiter Backwards", with the former being a killer instrumental version of "A King's Prayer".
I've also redone my 25-ish minute version of "I Am The Sun" as a whole song, and it's definitely one of my favorite side-long epics of TFK, or by anyone for that matter.
-Marc.
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For some reason I wasn't all that keen on Space Revolver when I first got into TFK. Now it's one of my favourites though, some really fantastic songs on it!
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Just wanted to say that "You Don't Know What You've Got" got a lot of soul, and that the vocal melodies all around the album are very memorable IMO, especially in "Underdog", the epic "I am the sun", and "A King's Prayer" (with a great Stolt solo).
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I haven't been listening to a whole lot of prog rock or metal for months now, but this thread has been inspiring me to throw some TFK on. I'm only up to BITWOA, but I hope I can catch up by the time you guys get to Unfold the Future.
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Better get to work, then ;), cause Unfold the Future will probably be up in about a week and a half (with the next one probably later this week).
Also, good to see the many comments; I appreciate all of the discussion here. :) :coolio
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Better get to work, then ;), cause Unfold the Future will probably be up in about a week and a half (with the next one probably later this week).
Also, good to see the many comments; I appreciate all of the discussion here. :) :coolio
:tup
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Yep, better late than never!
Get better, jingle.boy! And when you do, get to listening. :coolio
Man, what a brutal week (sick). But, I did trudge through with Disk 2 of Flower Power. Liked it much better than GoD. Can't remember the specifics, but some of those instrumental tracks were really on point with me as I listened. I'll give GoD another go sometime when I can hopefully give it some attention.
Now on to Space Revolver this morning.
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Yep, better late than never!
Get better, jingle.boy! And when you do, get to listening. :coolio
Man, what a brutal week (sick). But, I did trudge through with Disk 2 of Flower Power. Liked it much better than GoD. Can't remember the specifics, but some of those instrumental tracks were really on point with me as I listened. I'll give GoD another go sometime when I can hopefully give it some attention.
Now on to Space Revolver this morning.
Just listened to Space Revolver in the car, I really love that album. Have fun!
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Solid album. Couple of odd moments (can't remember specifically what tracks as I'm not watching the album listing as I listen), but the bookends of I Am the Sun were fantastic.
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Space Revolver is probably one of their most fun albums, easily, and that is probably a big reason why I find it to be pretty accessible for a newcomer.
Definitely some odd moments, but I usually like their odd moments. A good example is the 2nd half of Monster Within, when Roine ends that vocal section with, "...built this monster, from withiiiiiiiiiiiiin!", followed by that strange spoken word section, and then climaxing with the guitar playing the main melody while Reingold destroys us with that bass line. That is awesomeness personified. :hefdaddy
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That main theme at 11:30-ish is wonderful
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I decided to listen to Space Revolver, and catch up with the earlier albums later.
Well, my opinion on the album hasn't changed. It's a great TFK album, not the best, but solid all the way through, with some great highlights like I Am The Sun, Dream On Dreamer, Rumble Fish Twist, Monster Within, Chicken Farmer Song. I used not care for You Don't Know What You've Got, but for some reason, it hit a sweet spot when it came on, though still the weakest track. The last couple of tracks before I Am The Sun part 2 are epic, and close out the album well before the IATS reprise.
SR is the best album to show a newbie. As almost all TFK albums take a little time to 'get', but I feel like Space Revolver's awesomeness is more apparent, or would take less listens to get into than SWA or Paradox Hotel. There are better albums, and there are lesser albums than Space Revolver, but few TFK albums are as consistently good. This was also one of the first TFK albums I got, before I was even really a fan of the band, so it has sentimental value too.
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My first was "Alive on Planet Earth" and I was hooked.
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The Rainmaker (2001)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Rainmaker%28album%29.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - keyboards
Hans Bruniusson - percussion
Hasse Fröberg - vocals
Jonas Reingold - bass guitar
Jaime Salazar - drums
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitars, additional keyboards
Ulf Wallander - soprano saxophone
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1. "Last Minute On Earth"
2. "World Without A Heart"
3. "Road To Sanctuary"
4. "The Rainmaker"
5. "City Of Angels"
6. "Elaine"
7. "Thru The Walls"
8. "Sword Of God"
9. "Blessing Of A Smile"
10. "Red Alert"
11. "Serious Dreamers"
(All songs written and composed by Roine Stolt.)
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The Rainmaker, released in the fall of 2001, was the band's 6th album. It was also the first new album by the band after I became a big fan, and sadly, it was also extremely disappointing. At first, I wondered if my expectations were too high given how crazy I had gone over the first five albums, but time has not been kind to this record. Okay, it's not bad or anything; it actually is a solid record, but, while it has some great moments - the main riff in Last Minute on Earth, the harmonies in Serious Dreamers, the acoustic bit in the middle of Road to Sanctuary, etc. - it is lacking anything I would call truly awesome. I do think Elaine is a really nice tune; definitely a sleeper. And Serious Dreamers is mostly really good. But some of the vocal melodies are really clunky and just not overly pleasing to the ears. This is the first FK record where Hasse Froberg really could be called the lead vocalist - he sings the lead on four of the eight songs, including all three 11-minute plus songs - and while I'm not sure it is his fault, from a personal standpoint, I don't think it's a coincidence that what I consider the two least best Flower Kings records are the ones that feature the highest percentage of Hasse Froberg lead vocals. Not trying to dump on him, but anybody that knows me knows that I greatly prefer the vocals of Roine Stolt.
Another problem with this record is the sound of it. It's like they tried to crank up the sound of the drums, for example, as they have more punch and are more in-your-face than normal, especially the snare, but they also managed to sound muffled and stiff at the same time. The lush, organic sound that is usually customary with a Flower Kings record is absent for much of this record. Basically, it sounds like they tried a few different things, from songwriting to sound and production, and mostly missed the mark, but hey, you've got to give them props for trying, right? Like I said, the result is still that of a mostly solid record, but it is just disappointing, given how great many of their other albums are, especially the five that preceded it. It's a bummer for Jamie Salazar, the original drum who departed the band after this record, that his swan song with the band was such a disappointing one.
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I will say that this album is probably one of my least listened to albums up until recently. I went back and re-did my tracklist remix to include the bonus tracks, and as quirky as they are (from Tomas' "Valkyrian" to songs that would end up as part of Bodin and Karmakanic albums), they kind of break some of the monotony of the average-album. The bonus tracks are all pretty good, actually, and they help compliment some of the mediocre material on this album.
Last Minute On Earth
Violent Brat
Agent Supreme
Blessing Of A Smile
Red Alert
World Without A Heart
Road To Sanctuary
The Rainmaker
Except From Valkyrian
City Of Angels
Elaine
The Woman With No Shadow
Mr. Hope Goes To Salzburg
Thru The Walls
Sword Of God
One Whole Half
Serious Dreamers
Of the main album's tracks, the epics are definitely some of the better tracks, but I also enjoy the duo of "Blessing Of A Smile" and "Red Alert", as well as the title track.
Still, being a mediocre TFK album still makes it a GOOD music album, especially compared to other band's good/great albums! Unfortunately, this album has the luck of being sandwiched between two of my favorite TFK albums!
-Marc.
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This one has never really grabbed me. I've already admitted that I tend to put on a Flower Kings album and just let it play, so I'm not intimately familiar with specific tracks or even albums, but I know I don't reach for this one very often. Actually, not at all. Maybe it's the cover. But after giving it the requisite couple of spins, I don't remember anything grabbing me.
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I've always loved this album. It's not in my top 3 TFK albums, but still up there, probably in the top 5.
"Last Minute On Earth" is one of my favorite songs ever.
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Hopelessly behind, just starting Flower Power now.
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Flower Power was great although after the massiveness of Garden of Dreams, the rest is somewhat of a blur.
On to Space Revolver. This one is great so far! Excellent revisit!
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I've always sort of skipped The Rainmaker, like most of you, as it seems. The very first TFK track I heard was Last Minute On Earth, I remember I burned it on a CDR back in the day when that was something special. (I made my own PROG I - XII compilation albums :metal)
But when I finally gave it a serious chance a couple of months ago the album really clicked. It doesn't really have a highlight, which makes it sorta bland, but it's nowhere near bad. I need to give it a couple more spins to maybe fully appreciate it, but it's really a TFK album that stands out (at least since it's different from all albums)
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Unfold the Future (2002)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/Unfold_the_Future.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - keyboards
Hasse Bruniusson - marimba, glockenspiel, dulcimer, other percussion
Zoltan Csörsz - drums
Hasse Fröberg - vocals, guitars
Daniel Gildenlöw - backup vocals, lead vocals on "Fast Lane", "Rollin' the Dice" and parts of "Devil's Playground"
Jonas Reingold - bass guitar
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitars, keyboards
Ulf Wallander - soprano saxophone
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Disc 1:
1. "The Truth Will Set You Free"
2. "Monkey Business"
3. "Black and White" (Bodin Stolt)
4. "Christianopel" (Bodin, Zoltan Csörsz, Jonas Reingold, Stolt)
5. "Silent Inferno"
6. "The Navigator" (Bodin, Stolt}
7. "Vox Humana"
Disc 2:
1. "Genie in a Bottle"
2. "Fast Lane" (Bodin)
3. "Grand Old World"
4. "Soul Vortex" (Bodin, Csörsz, Reingold, Stolt)
5. "Rollin' the Dice" (Bodin)
6. "The Devil's Danceschool" (Reingold)
7. "Man Overboard"
8. "Solitary Shell" (Bodin, Stolt)
9. "Devil's Playground" (Bodin, Stolt)
10. "Too Late for Tomatos" (Bodin, Csörsz, Reingold, Stolt)
(all songs written and composed by Roine Stolt, except where noted)
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We now move on to the band's 7th album, Unfold the Future; it's also their 3rd double album. It is arguably their most ambitious and daring double album, yet I find it to be the least rewarding of their four double albums. For starters, the opening track, the 31-minute epic The Truth Will Set You Free, is an absolute bitch to get through, and even if I can get through it, there is still two hours worth of music left! :lol Honestly, Silent Inferno is the only song from Disc 1 that I listen to with any regularity. The aforementioned opening epic (The Truth...) is a good song, but it's way too long, and shortening it by around 10-12 minutes could have resulted in a much better tune. I adore the beginning of Black and White, thanks to that lovely melody, but then the song goes off into instrumental wankery for the remainder, which really threw me at the time, as they never overplayed, but the combination of that hyperactive keyboard lead and the equally hyperactive bass line is just too much; it sounds too busy and messy. The other songs on Disc 1 are all pretty good, but nothing I would go out of my way to hear. The best of that bunch is The Navigator, but the same melody can be found in the vastly superior Solitary Shell on Disc 2. Vox Humana merely regurgitates one of the least interesting melodies of The Truth... epic.
Speaking of Disc 2, most of it is aces: Genie in a Bottle is fun and quirky; Fast Lane, featuring new member Daniel Gildenlow on lead vocals, is very much of a sleeper tune, the first half making it one of my favorite TFk songs to drive to, before slowing down and ending in glorious fashion; Grand Old World, which kicks off with the same melody that kicks off The Truth..., is a great laid back, relaxing tune; Soul Vortex and The Devil's Danceschool both show off the band's fusion tendencies, albeit in very different ways; Rollin' the Dice is an enjoyable rocker; Man Overboard is one of the best songs under four minutes they've ever done; Solitary Shell is gorgeous, featuring Roine singing over a lovely piano lead; Devil's Playground, the best epic on this record, is much darker and rocking than the long epic on Disc 1, and is much more consistent and epic, IMO. And finally, Too Late for Tomatos, which I don't really think of as a bonus track, is a helluva jam, as new drummer, Zoltan Csorsz, shows off his bad ass chops.
Speaking of Csorsz, I think most would agree that he is by far the best drummer the band has had, yet oddly none of the three albums he played on are among my favorites. When the overall playing is as good as it always is with this band, songwriting is what matters the most, and whether it is coincidence that the best songwriting has taken place on albums where he wasn't there or not, it is what it is, at least for me. Despite not being a big fan of Gildenlow's main band, Pain of Salvation, most of his contributions to TFK were aces, especially his vocals at the end of Devil's Playground, which are absolutely killer.
Also, old prog fans should recognize the Onward melody in Devil's Playground, shortly before the 14-minute mark. That was one of those instantly recognizable tributes or whatever that I caught on my very first listen back in 2002.
I know a lot of TFK fans love this album to death, and while I can see why, it just isn's favorite of mine. It is very good, yes, but great? No. One of their best? No way. But a very good TFK album is still a winner. :)
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I totally agree with you, it's just too long and much. Too much 'jam-tracks', not enough real songs with a head and a tail.
The only thing I disagree on, is that I totally adore The Truth. The first official release I bought from TFK was the deluxe edition of Meet TFK, and hearing a band playing a 30-minute song like that live, was breathtaking. But because of that this album suffers from the same disease that Flower Power suffers from. I just can't get past the glorious first track. I believe I've made it through the entire double-album in one session only once.
And about the drummer question: I love what Marcus Liliequist has done on Instant Delivery, it's a shame he never recorded anything else with TFK (or did he?)
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UTF is a Top 3 TFK album for me, and not just because it is a double-album (because you all know I love those), and not because it's the band's longest album to date. It has some genuinely great moments, great songs, and I love the opening epic. I don't feel it's bloated at all, but then again, I am a sucker for epics, and this album has them in spades.
Hearing Daniel Gildenlow on the album is a treat and he works very well with the band! Zoltan is another warm welcome and his drumming fits the music perfectly, with the frantically fast-paced fusion pieces and the jazzy jams scattered throughout the long album. Come to think of it, this might be one of the longest studio albums I own and love! I can't think of many studio albums that come near or surpass this length.
-Marc.
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And about the drummer question: I love what Marcus Liliequist has done on Instant Delivery, it's a shame he never recorded anything else with TFK (or did he?)
He plays on the Paradox Hotel album, which we should be getting to in the next week and a half or so. :)
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And about the drummer question: I love what Marcus Liliequist has done on Instant Delivery, it's a shame he never recorded anything else with TFK (or did he?)
He plays on the Paradox Hotel album, which we should be getting to in the next week and a half or so. :)
In addition to being on TFK's Paradox Hotel and subsequent live album Instant Delivery, he also appeared on Roine Stolt's Wall Street Voodoo before being on his first TFK album. He was also on Circus Brimstone's (instrumental TFK band) Brimstoned In Europe, as well as Karmakanic's last album In A Perfect World, Tomas Bodin's I AM, and Tomas' Eggs & Dogs project/band's album You Are (the follow up to I AM).
So despite only being on one TFK studio album, he made his impact on his fellow former Kings and has appeared on many other TFK member's albums prior and since his stay in the band.
-Marc.
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And about the drummer question: I love what Marcus Liliequist has done on Instant Delivery, it's a shame he never recorded anything else with TFK (or did he?)
He plays on the Paradox Hotel album, which we should be getting to in the next week and a half or so. :)
In addition to being on TFK's Paradox Hotel and subsequent live album Instant Delivery, he also appeared on Roine Stolt's Wall Street Voodoo before being on his first TFK album. He was also on Circus Brimstone's (instrumental TFK band) Brimstoned In Europe, as well as Karmakanic's last album In A Perfect World, Tomas Bodin's I AM, and Tomas' Eggs & Dogs project/band's album You Are (the follow up to I AM).
So despite only being on one TFK studio album, he made his impact on his fellow former Kings and has appeared on many other TFK member's albums prior and since his stay in the band.
-Marc.
Haha, Marc, there isn't a question you can ask on this forum, that you've got an overcomplete answer to. Thanks!
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Just now listening to The Rainmaker for the first time in several years. Definitely not bad, but just as definitely the least of the albums so far.
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I don't know when I'm going to really be able to catch up to you guys, but I'll say this. UtF is my favorite TFK album, and you can't talk about the album without talking about The Devil's Playground. That epic was a sleeper for me, but one day, it clicked, and now I get goosebumps every time I listen to it.
Also, as a jazz fan, I like the jammy tracks.
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I actually like all of the jammy tracks on UTF, too; I just don't love them.
Devil's Playground is definitely all kinds of awesome. That is easily a top 10 TFK track for me, and maybe even top 5. It's that great. :hat
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Adam & Eve (2004)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/43/The_Flower_Kings_Adem_And_Eve.jpg)
Tomas Bodin keyboards
Hasse Bruniusson percussion
Zoltan Csörsz drums
Hasse Fröberg vocals, guitars
Daniel Gildenlöw vocals
Jonas Reingold bass guitar
Roine Stolt vocals, guitars, keyboards
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1. "Love Supreme"
2. "Cosmic Circus"
3. "Babylon" (Bodin)
4. "A Vampire's View"
5. "Days Gone By" (Bodin)
6. "Adam & Eve"
7. "Starlight Man"
8. "Timelines" (Reingold, Stolt)
9. "Driver's Seat"
10. "The Blade of Cain"
(All songs written and composed by Roine Stolt, except where noted)
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We now move on to the band's 8th studio album, Adam & Eve. This is a record of which I have never had a consistent opinion. How much I like it really goes in waves, and I think what throws me is that there is nothing on I would call one of their absolute best tunes, but it is a really good listen from start to finish, especially since it sounds tremendous. This is arguably the best sounding TFK record to date, which is easy to tell when you crank it up on a good stereo. The low end in particular is fabulous - the drums have never sounded as awesome with the Flower Kings as they do on this record - and the overall feel is very organic and lush.
I like both epics a lot, but both tend to sound a bit stitched together at times. The first half of Love Supreme kind of has The Truth... disease in that it goes on a bit too long, although that main theme is pretty great. Once the second half kicks in, it is pretty awesome the rest of the way. On the flip side, the first half of Driver's Seat is pretty magnificent, as it features all three lead singers at one point (Gildenlow, Froberg and finally Stolt). The second half of it is good, and the reprisal of the original main theme at the end is nice, but for such a long song, a more climatic and satisfying ending could have made it that much better. Having said all of that, I still like both a lot; but neither are in the same league as previous epic classics like I Am the Sun, Stardust We Are or Garden of Dreams.
They did attempt some different things on this record. A Vampire's View, sang by Gildenlow, is kind of a creepy slow burner, and the title track, also sang by Gildenlow, is kind of a crazy rocker, with some unusual vocal melodies. Both sound fairly unique within the context of the band's discography and I do like both songs, even if I don't love either. The latter ends with an absolutely gorgeous solo piano by Tomas Bodin, called Days Gone By. Two other gorgeous instrumentals - Babylon (which sounds like a sunset) and The Blade of Cain (the climax of the record) - are noteworthy, as well.
Also, I think Timelines is one of the more underrated songs the band has ever done; great vibe, it's dominated by Roine vocally (which is always good), and is dynamically an enjoyable listen. On the flip side, Starlight Man is a major disappointment, and probably the biggest tease the band has ever done. It has a super cool lead guitar line, and the verses are splendid and sound like classic TFK, but then the chorus comes in and it's like, "Oh shit, really?" The entire life is sucked out of the song by that wimpy chorus. I can't even fault Froberg, who sings the chorus, for it, cause I am not sure who could have made that chorus sound not wimpy. But even the best bands have their occasional misses! Hehe.
Overall, like I said, I like this album a lot, and I appreciate the different sounds and styles that we got on it. I just can't call it one of their best, but it certainly is not one of their least best either. It's just a very good record by the Swedish proggers. :hat
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I have to say I largely agree with that assessment, Kev. I really never connected with this album. To this day it's TFK album I listen to the least. The epics here don't work for me. But I like most of the shorter songs, especially "A Vampire's View" which is, as you said, very unique.
The sound of this record is, indeed massive. I have no beef whatsoever with the production. The artwork is kind of weird, but in a cool way.
It was my second time seeing them live when they toured in support of this album. This band is awesome in a live setting. Too bad they couldn't ever seem to make it work with Zoltan long enough for him to tour with the band. Dude just absolutely slays on the drums. The guy they have now is a fine drummer, but Zoltan is in another league - in the same class with guys like Portnoy, Mangini, Wildoer, Priester, Minnemann et al.
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As I continue to be behind, I am starting Unfold The Future right now. Be back with you in a year or so lol.
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Yeah... sorry I fell behind to. I've been traveling solid for work over the past 2 weeks, and away again next week. I'm still at Rainmaker.
In listening up to Space Revolver, I've come to the conclusion that TFK is the kind of band that I thoroughly enjoy, but because they initially passed me by as they were recording, there's just too much to digest in order to really comprehend them. Genesis and Yes fall into this category as well. For whatever reason in the 80s as I was going thru my musical discoveries, I never connected with them. In the mid-2000s, that's what happened with TFK. Now that there's a dozen albums (and four of them doubles), it's hard to conceive how I can 'catch up'. It'd be like asking someone to discover Rush right now - which may be ok for people without deep musical libraries and tendencies, but for me, I've already got enough new bands (to me) from the past 10 years to continue to enjoy and explore.
I'll try to catch up on the listening at some point, but no promises. I am following though.
This thread (and Bob's others in the past), are making me consider doing a Zeppelin one.
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Paradox Hotel (2006)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/Paradox_hotel_cover.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - keyboards, vocals
Hasse Bruniusson - marimba, percussion
Hasse Fröberg - vocals, guitars
Marcus Liliequist - drums, percussion, vocals
Jonas Reingold - bass guitar
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitars
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Disc 1:
1. "Check In" (Tomas Bodin)
2. "Monsters & Men"
3. "Jealousy"
4. "Hit Me with a Hit"
5. "Pioneers of Aviation"
6. "Lucy Had a Dream" (Bodin, Stolt)
7. "Bavarian Skies" (Bodin, Stolt)
8. "Self-Consuming Fire"
9. "Mommy, Leave the Light On"
10. "End on a High Note"
Disc 2:
1. "Minor Giant Steps"
2. "Touch My Heaven" (Bodin)
3. "The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson"
4. "Man of the World" (Bodin, Jonas Reingold, Stolt)
5. "Life Will Kill You" (Hasse Fröberg)
6. "The Way the Waters Are Moving" (Bodin, Stolt)
7. "What If God Is Alone" (Fröberg, Reingold, Stolt)
8. "Paradox Hotel" (Bodin, Stolt)
9. "Blue Planet"
(all songs written and composed by Roine Stolt, except where noted)
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Paradox Hotel is the band's 9th studio album, and itis fitting that we are now on to this album this week, as we have had some gorgeous spring weather all week, and I got into this record back when it was released in April of 2006 during similar-type weather. I mention the weather because, to me, The Flower Kings have always been a band best listened to in spring and summer. Once spring rolls around, and the weather routinely hits 70, I know it's time for some TFK. :)
I know a lot of fans don't rank this one very high - it seems to usually finish in the middle of the pack for many - but it is probably my favorite from start to finish. I love the simple and laid back nature of much of it - many of the songs were written on piano and/or acoustic guitar, and then allowed to mushroom into full-band, full-fledged tunes. It gives it a feel and vibe, really unlike any other TFK album. Oh sure, the prog elements are still all over the place, and we still have the standard long pieces, all of which are outstanding, but while TFK albums started to sound a bit busy at times, thanks in large part to Zoltan Csorsz and his absurd chops on the skins, this one scales it back quite a bit in that regard. New drummer Marcus Liliequist does a very good job, even if he isn't as technically proficient as his predecessor. It ended up being the only TFK album on which Liliequist would play.
I always love when Roine sings a lovely melody over a simple backdrop, and on this album, we get not one, but two songs - Jealousy and The Way the Waters Are Moving - that are mainly just Roine's voice and Tomas Bodin's piano (with some other minor accompaniment here and there). Plus, the four-song run near the end of Disc 1 - Lucy Had a Dream through Mommy, Leave the Light On - is one of my favorite 23-minute runs from any TFK record, as they explore some dark themes and tones not often heard in their music, much less for nearly 23 minutes straight. I love it. And then they came out of it with the sunny and bright End of a High Note, which is a fitting title for the song that ends Disc 1. The climax to that song is one of the most uplifting things I've ever heard, and I remember recommending that song to any and everyone who would listen back in '06. :lol
Disc 2 is probably a bit more upbeat, and features a lot more lead vocals from Hasse Froberg, and both of those factors manage to give it a different feel from Disc 1, yet it still maintains the proggy/simple balance, keeping the cohesive alive and well. Pointing out the standouts from it is probably pointless since nearly everything stands out; the only slight hiccup is the instrumental, Unorthodox Dancing Lesson, which has kind of an awkward main riff, but the King Crimson-esque solo section is outstanding. Blue Planet and What If God is Alone? remain personal favorites of mine, but opinions vary, as always.
To touch on the proggy stuff, Monsters and Men has always been a controversial track. Many fans, myself included, love it, but many fans do not. Even Roine himself does not like it a lot, as he feels it didn't live up to the potential. I remember a few years back him expressing frustration that several unnamed band members frequently dogged it during the recording, so you have to wonder if Roine feels they didn't put forth their best work in it cause they didn't believe in it as a song. If Tomas Bodin is one of them, since he and Roine went through a period back then where they weren't getting along really well, that seems crazy to me, as that song has some of the Bodin's best piano work to date, although I could see someone thinking his organ and synth work was fairly average in it, but that song didn't really call for that kind of stuff. We'll probably never know. What I do know is that I love this record to pieces, and this is the TFK album I go back to the most. I feel that it features the best and most focused songwriting of the band to date. If someone asked me, "What do you love about the Flower Kings?", I would direct them to this album; that pretty much sums it up. :coolio
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Top 5 TFK album for me. Hardly anything that I feel the need to skip. "Bavarian Skies" is the only track I actively dislike.
I had no idea that "Monsters & Men" was so controversial. What's not to like about it? I think it's pretty great and they killed it live! I'd love to hear more about it, why it was dissed by other band members, etc.
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Nice informative writeup Kev. Might put this one at the top of the list as a re-listen.
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As I've said before, PH is an album that took me a couple years to finally understand and click with me. I was more in love with albums like UTF and SWA, and even when TSONE came out, I was spinning that more than PH. After TSONE came out, I went back to PH to see if I could finally get it, if it would finally click with me musically and lyrically and just over-all.
And when it finally did, I was BLOWN AWAY by every song. It wasn't so much a collection of songs, written by more than JUST Roine (with contributions by Tomas and Hasse as well), it was very much a BAND album, and less Roine's stuff played by the rest of the band. The songs weren't so much just songs but they all contributed to the over-all mood of the album as it ebbed and flowed from beginning to end, with the bookending themes presented in "Monsters & Men" coming back in "Blue Planet". Chunks of songs became epic-pieces as the album has a continuous flow, and it makes it harder NOT to listen to the whole thing in one go (which is how I usually listen to it intently anyway).
Once I understood the songs, their flow, their composition, how the sum was greater than its parts, everything fit for me and it has now become a Top 3 TFK album for me (next to UTF and SWA). It's sad that this was Marcus' only TFK album, but I'm glad his fellow former Flower Kings invited him back to other projects, so at least we have the chance to hear him on other TFK-related albums. His drumming on this album isn't wild, but it isn't understated. It's very appropriate and he can rock hard when the song calls for it. He fit very well and while he was a departure from Zoltan, it was a welcome breather from Zoltan's frantic jazz-fusion drumming that was all over UTF and A&E (not that there's anything wrong with that).
It's hard to believe that this album has been out for over 8 years now!!! Time has flown by so fast for the Flower Kings. Then again, that 5 year hiatus really didn't feel like five years with all the projects every member of the band was involved in in that time span.
-Marc.
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Yeah, I think Marcus was definitely the most "rock" drummer the band has had. I always got the impression that he was more of a rocker than progger at heart.
Top 5 TFK album for me. Hardly anything that I feel the need to skip. "Bavarian Skies" is the only track I actively dislike.
I had no idea that "Monsters & Men" was so controversial. What's not to like about it? I think it's pretty great and they killed it live! I'd love to hear more about it, why it was dissed by other band members, etc.
Wait, I don't think Monsters and Men was ever played live. Maybe I am mistaken, but does anyone know for sure? As for it not being liked by certain band members, all I know is what was said on the TFK yahoo mailing list years ago (that I summed up in my write-up).
Regarding Bavarian Skies, I get why some are not wild about it, but in the context of the album, I think it is fantastic. And I just love the music in it.
Nice informative writeup Kev. Might put this one at the top of the list as a re-listen.
Thanks! And sweet. :tup :tup
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One of two TFK albums that I've never listen too from start to finish (the other being The Sum). I have no idea why. Will start in a minute!
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OK, starting Adam & Eve now. Been a long time. But the next one, Paradox Hotel, I've listened to many, many times, so I feel almost caught up lol.
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One of two TFK albums that I've never listen too from start to finish (the other being The Sum). I have no idea why. Will start in a minute!
You're in for a real treat. :coolio :hat
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Anymore Paradox Hotel chatter before we move on to the next record sometime in the next day or so?
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Anymore Paradox Hotel chatter before we move on to the next record sometime in the next day or so?
Did anyone else ever find it really odd that "Monsters & Men" had a track time of 21:21, and that "Minor Giant Steps" had the inverse track time of 12:12? Interesting coincidence that both are the first (real) songs on each disc (not counting "Check In").
Also, other than the shared themes between "Monsters & Men" and "Blue Planet", are there any other nods to other songs in other tracks on the album that I'm not really thinking of at the moment?
-Marc.
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I can't think of any, at the moment.
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The Sum of No Evil (2007)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c7/The_Sum_of_No_Evil_Album_Cover.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - piano, organ, synthesizers, mellotron
Hasse Fröberg - vocals, guitars
Jonas Reingold - bass guitar
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitars, additional keyboards
Zoltan Csörsz - drums
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1. "One More Time"
2. "Love Is The Only Answer"
3. "Trading My Soul"
4. "The Sum Of No Reason"
5. "Flight 999 Brimstone Air" (Tomas Bodin)
6. "Life In Motion"
(all songs written and composed by Roine Stolt, except where indicated)
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We move now to The Sum of No Evil, the band's 10th studio album. This is a single album with only six songs, and it's pretty much a non-stop prog fest. While most of their other albums have a nice diversity of different styles and whatnot, this is an album full of nothing but prog songs. Even the two shorter songs are very proggy, albeit in shorter song form. And while that might seem natural - a full-fledged prog band doing a full-fledged prog album - I don't think it worked out well. In short, this record was a massive letdown for me following the utter brilliance of Paradox Hotel. It almost seemed like, after writing songs in a simpler fashion on Paradox Hotel, they tried to write songs with more complex arrangements, instead of letting the songs grow naturally. All of the longer songs kind of have that padded "hey, let's do something to make this song longer" feel. That is a frequent criticism of the progressive rock genre in general, and I think the Flower Kings usually do a good job of not falling into that trap, but not this time, IMO.
At first, I thought maybe it was just a bit of initial disappointment cause it followed such a great album, but time has not been kind to it; it's just kind of there. It's not a bad album by any means, but it's not really outstanding in any way. Every song has something in it that I think, "Okay, this is really cool; now we're getting somewhere," but in every instance, something comes along that just lets the air out of the balloon. Take for example, Life in Motion, which starts off really cool with a nice intro and a cool verse, but then we get to the limp chorus that sounds completely uninspired, and the song never really recovers from that, even with a nice ending section (that is totally tacked on, following the song coming to a complete stop).
I have long stated that One More Time is their most boring full-length song (not counting really short transitional pieces) ever, and while a recent listen was a bit less unfavorable than usual, I stand by that opinion; it's just a boring song, and it being the first track on the album gives it that stuttering feeling, like it takes forever for the record to come to life., and in a sense, it never really recovers from that.
Plus, after there being a ton of acoustic guitar and piano on the previous record, we don't hear much of either on this record.
I don't want this review to be totally negative, so I will reiterate that there are some things I like about this record. Love Is the Only Answer might be totally bloated and overly long, but it has some dynamite sections; Trading My Soul has a very cool vibe during the slower verses; The Sum on No Reason has a great beginning and ending; etc. Really, I can turn this album on and let it play from start to finish, uninterrupted, and there is nothing that really bothers me, but there just isn't a lot that gets me excited. And considering how much I love this band, and most of their other albums, I can't call this album anything else than a disappointment.
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TSONE is the only FK album I currently have. I'm still in the process of growing to appreciate it. I love Love Is The Only Answer, Trading My Soul and Flight 999 Brimstone Air, but the others I've yet to get into.
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After my initial mixed feelings on PH, I eagerly awaited the prog-infused The Sum Of No Evil, where the epics returned in full-force. This album, however, seemed to be a bit polarizing for fans. Some praised it as a return to form and their earlier works (and the music itself even referenced "There Is More To This World", "The Flower King" and "The Truth Will Set You Free") while others felt it was bloated and prog for the sake of prog.
I've enjoyed it since its release and have loved the side-long epic as well. I've even made (as usual) my own personal 2-Disc remix of the track list with the bonus tracks.
Love Is The Only Answer
Trading My Soul
Regal Divers
Turn The Stone
The River
One More Time
The Sum Of No Reason
Flight 999 Brimstone Air
Life In Motion
Each disc is around 45 minutes long, and has a great flow. I kept "One More Time" as an opener but for the second disc. I always felt that "Love Is The Only Answer" was a better opener, so I made both an opener! :lol The bonus tracks on this album were pretty strong, so I felt I needed to include them. The lyrical reprise of LITOA's opening lyrics at the end of "The River" is also a great way to bookend the first disc of this mix! I love the mixing and meshing of themes and lyrics across this whole album!
Over-all, this is a good prog album, different than the last few, but it's an example of how TFK continues to transform and evolve. This album also marked the return of Zoltan!!! His sound is all over the album and he does a great job on what would be his last album with the band.
-Marc.
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Adam & Eve was amazing.
Been listening to Paradox Hotel in the car toward the end of the week. Absolutely love songs like Monsters & Men, Hit Me With A Hit, Pioneers of Aviation, End on a High Note, Minor Giant Steps, The Way The Waters Are Moving...I'm with Kev, this album is full of reasons to love this band. Might be my favorite of theirs.
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Sweet. :coolio
Regarding TSONE's bonus tracks, I remember being shocked at how forgettable they were. I'd have to revisit them to remind myself of them, but my feeling at the time was that it was easy to see why they didn't make the proper album, and considering the record isn't that strong, IMO, that is telling.
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Sweet. :coolio
Regarding TSONE's bonus tracks, I remember being shocked at how forgettable they were. I'd have to revisit them to remind myself of them, but my feeling at the time was that it was easy to see why they didn't make the proper album, and considering the record isn't that strong, IMO, that is telling.
Different strokes, I guess. Then again, my initial feelings for PH were mixed at best, and that took me a couple years to really appreciate. I guess because of that, I came in to TSONE with lowered expectations or just higher hopes, but either way, it grabbed me and held me tight because I have loved it ever since release, bonus tracks and all!
-Marc.
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Okay, I am revisiting those bonus tracks...
The River is good. Definitely better than I remember. But I think I remember why I was probably disappointed with it before: the song has a nice build, and you think there's gonna be this epic guitar solo at the end, and instead it just slowly peters out. Kind of anti-climatic. But the vocal melodies are very nice.
Turn the Stone doesn't have anything going on that makes me think, "I want to listen to this again, ever." Definitely falls into the forgettable category I earlier referred to. :lol :lol
Regal Drivers is pretty good, I suppose. It's another in a long line of slow burner instrumentals, but they've done that type of song much better before, so that is why I tend to look at it as not being memorable or essential.
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Banks of Eden (2012)
(https://www.thisisnotascene.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/The-flower-kings-banks_of_eden.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - keyboards
Hasse Fröberg - vocals, guitars
Felix Lehrmann - drums
Jonas Reingold - bass guitar
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitars
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1. "Numbers"
2. "For The Love Of Gold"
3. "Pandemonium"
4. "For Those About To Drown"
5. "Rising The Imperial"
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Following the tour for The Sum of No Evil, the band took a much-needed sabbatical, as the various members focused on various other projects, but they eventually decided to bring the band back together again, with the core four (Stolt, Bodin, Reingold and Froberg) and another new drummer, Felix Lehrmann. And the result was 2012's Banks of Eden, which I've never really full grasped until the last few months. Granted, I listened to it a lot when it first came out, because a) it was the first Flower Kings album in five years, and b) I always listen to a new Flower Kings album a lot at first. But while I liked it a lot at first, I wasn't sure if I really thought it was great, or if I was just happy that the band was releasing material again. Over time, I didn't listen to the album that much and my thought was, "Okay, it's not that great, otherwise I'd still be listening to it a ton," but I think was more to do with the phases I go through with bands and whatnot. I simply wasn't in a Flower Kings mood for quite a while. However, having listened to every Flower Kings album at least a few times in the last few months, partly because of this thread, I can safely say that Banks of Eden is most excellent, and probably one of their three or four best single albums.
One thing that really stands out is how consistent it is. This isn't like World of Adventures or Space Revolver, where the epic(s) are far ahead of everything else on the record; every song is really good. Granted, there are only five songs, but whatever song I like the least, I probably like about as much as the song I like the most. Listening to the entire record from start to finish is effortless. It's also notable that it's the shortest Flower Kings album to date, coming in at just over 53 minutes (although the four bonus tracks, if you include them in the mix, bring the album close to the 76-minute mark.
Stylistically, this album is musically classic Flower Kings. It's very upbeat, for the most part, and is probably one of their most rocking albums overall. Lyrically, the album seems a bit more cynical than normal for them. My interpretation is that much of it is a criticism of capitalism and, by that extension, America, which would make sense given Roine's socialist views. In a sense, the title of the the album implies that America is Eden, and the Banks of Eden is a metaphor for the greed for money that exists today, as well how materialistic we have become, in Roine's eyes. So, while the music is classic happy Flower Kings stuff, the more cynical lyrics give it a different dynamic than normal when considering the package as a whole. Regardless of what you think of Roine's views, it just works, as is generally the norm. I usually don't touch on his lyrics that much, but I almost always like them a lot, and just think, English is not his first language!
Overall, this is an excellent and very consistent record. Despite kicking off with a 25-minute song, I think this would be as good a place as any for someone unfamiliar with the band to start, as it's pretty accessible, and it also had that classic Flower Kings feel and style to it, to appeal to existing and/or longtime fans. It's the best of both worlds!
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So... Paradox Hotel. Loved it. Loved, LOVED, LOVED it. Think I'll be buying that one.
Sorry I'm a tad behind in following/commenting. Work has been brutal the last 5 weeks. But, will try to tackle TSONE (with an open mind), and given you're writeup on TBOE (which I remember listening to when it was first released), I'm very much looking forward to that one.
When all is said an done, I think I'll pickup 3 albums ... PH, for sure; perhaps Back in the World; perhaps TBOE... we'll see about Desolation Rose. I know that I just don't have the appetite to digest the earlier double albums.
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nevermind... :facepalm:
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Banks Of Eden was a bit difficult for me to get in to. I spun it when it came out but I didn't really absorb it like I should have. In the year that produced new albums from Rush, Marillion, and Neal Morse, TFK's triumphant return kind of took a back seat. It wasn't until lately when I revisited the album after Desolation Rose came out that I decided to give it a harder listen, and I also worked in the Bonus Tracks into a new track list (as I do) and came out with the following:
Numbers
Illuminati
For The Love Of Gold
LoLines
Pandemonium
Fireghosts
For Those About To Drown
Going Up
Rising The Imperial
It's a good balance and I now enjoy all the tracks, especially the opening epic (which I did enjoy when the album initially came out). Beyond that and the closing reprisal of "Rising The Imperial", the album sort of just fell through the cracks for me. There's a lack of recurring themes and motifs throughout the album that is a bit apparent, something that I do enjoy about their albums. Then again, Paradox Hotel was similar in that it lacked some over-all themes and it took me a couple years to really get that album.
I think in a year or two from now, after BOE and DR have settled, I'll appreciate both albums more than I do now, but as it stands, BOE is getting better and better for me. I really enjoy DR, so I'm hopeful and excited for the band's next album!
-Marc.
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So... Paradox Hotel. Loved it. Loved, LOVED, LOVED it. Think I'll be buying that one.
Sorry I'm a tad behind in following/commenting. Work has been brutal the last 5 weeks. But, will try to tackle TSONE (with an open mind), and given you're writeup on TBOE (which I remember listening to when it was first released), I'm very much looking forward to that one.
When all is said an done, I think I'll pickup 3 albums ... PH, for sure; perhaps Back in the World; perhaps TBOE... we'll see about Desolation Rose. I know that I just don't have the appetite to digest the earlier double albums.
Great to hear you are loving and will be buying Paradox Hotel! :tup :tup
No biggie on not keeping up with the thread. They have so much music that it can be hard to get to a new album every 5-7 days (before I move on to the next one). Hopefully, once I finish up with Desolation Rose next week, the thread will stay alive for a bit as others catch up. :)
Banks Of Eden was a bit difficult for me to get in to. I spun it when it came out but I didn't really absorb it like I should have. In the year that produced new albums from Rush, Marillion, and Neal Morse, TFK's triumphant return kind of took a back seat.
I hadn't thought about that, but Clockwork Angels coming out around the same time is probably a big reason why Banks of Eden didn't stick around in my CD player longer when it first came out, as I was way more into the new Rush CD, and that launched me into another one of those Rush phases that seemingly lasted for six months or so :lol, so TFK, among others, kind of fell by the wayside for much of the rest of 2012.
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I'm going to check out The Sum, but not with the greatest expectations. I just bought Banks... and well... Marc basically said what I think about that album. I like the title track, but it hasn't really clicked, and the rest of the album just feels like leftovers, some way or another. I mean, the short tracks aren't bad per se, but there isn't a great one either.
I just listened to Desolation Rose on the way home from work today, I'd be interested to see what you guys think of that one, cause it keeps growing and growing on me.
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When you say title track, I assume you mean Numbers, and, yes, that song is pretty great.
I think all of the shorter tracks are really, really good. No, none of them would be among my favorite shorter TFK songs, but, again, they are all really, really good, and, as I said in my review, it makes for a really consistent record. Even though I am a big fan of probably 3/4 of TFK's albums (while still liking the other 1/4, for the most part), some of them are so long than listening to many of them in one sitting can feel like a chore. However, Banks of Eden checks in at under 55 minutes and is just a joy to listen to from start to finish; it's an effortless listen. :coolio
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Yeah, I meant Numbers. I see what you mean about having the opportunity to finally listen to a TFK record in one go. That's one of the things that I love the most about Desolation Rose, but we'll get to that later.
Even nearing the end of this thread, I feel the need to just start over again with their discography. I've got a long weekend off, maybe I'll listen to all their albums within a few days, could be fun!
EDIT: Wow. Their albums really are long... Even though there aren't very many album, there is still 19,5 hours worth of studio material (excluding bonus tracks, including Roine's The Flower King) Maybe I won't make it in one weekend, haha
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EDIT: Wow. Their albums really are long... Even though there aren't very many album, there is still 19,5 hours worth of studio material (excluding bonus tracks, including Roine's The Flower King) Maybe I won't make it in one weekend, haha
I attempted a Musical Marathon of all the TFK albums in one day, once, but it ended up being over two. This included Roine's The Flower King, and all the bonus tracks from the albums that have them. And yes, including all of that, it's probably over 20 hours at this point. With 12 studio album (13 including Roine's solo), that's a TON of material. It always astounds me how much music they've made, recorded and released as a studio band! And to think, nearly every member of TFK, past and present, have had albums and projects (some with fellow TFK members) that are also very numerous, you have to wonder where their inspiration keeps on coming.
-Marc.
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You know, I'm quite enjoying The Sum of No Evil. With no deep knowledge/history with the band, little-to-no expectations, and simply listening for the sake of listening, it's quite enjoyable. One More Time was a nice start; Love is the Only Answer flowed smoothly for all 24 minutes, and I'm just wrapping up The Sum of No Reason... great guitar work.
Sometimes it's good to have absolutely zero expectations or predispositions. This might be a fourth purchase.
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Interesting. Well, I would never begrudge someone buying a Flower Kings record, even one of the two I am not overly wild about, so...cool, cool. :lol :biggrin:
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I loved "The Sum of No Evil" when it came out and I still put it near the top of the pack. "Banks of Eden" is great as well.
The thing I've noticed with their last few releases is there are no huge stand-out songs. Like Stardust We Are, or The Truth Will Set You Free, or I Am The Sun, etc. Sure, there are still plenty of long-form songs and the music is always great. But I don't think they've created a really stand-out track since UTF.
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While I only have one FK album atm (I will get more eventually), I've still found this thread really enjoyable to follow. It'd be cool if it's done with more bands in the future.
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Been listening alot to World of Adventures, Desolation Rose and Paradox Hotel these last couple of weeks thanks to you Kev and this thread. Have been meaning to check them out for quite a while now but never got around to it. Fantastic music, really looking forward to all the other albums!
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Glad to see you guys are enjoying this thread AND the band! :tup :tup
I'd be down for doing more of these, although I don't necessarily want to run them every time. Merely participating is often more fun. :lol :biggrin:
As for standout songs, I would agree that the last three albums don't have any one song I would call one of their absolute best - even the best songs from the last two albums would barely crack my TFK top 40, probably - but Paradox Hotel is loaded with standout song after standout song, IMO.
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While I only have one FK album atm (I will get more eventually), I've still found this thread really enjoyable to follow. It'd be cool if it's done with more bands in the future.
When this is done, I've been considering doing Zeppelin. I'm thinking that, like the Top 50 lists and Roulette's, maybe we start a cycle of people doing this. Bob did a great job with his (ELP, Yes and Genesis iirc), so there's no shortage of bands and big fans here on DTF to lead some discussions.
Maybe I'll make a post, see what the interest is, and then we see where it goes from there.
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While I only have one FK album atm (I will get more eventually), I've still found this thread really enjoyable to follow. It'd be cool if it's done with more bands in the future.
When this is done, I've been considering doing Zeppelin. I'm thinking that, like the Top 50 lists and Roulette's, maybe we start a cycle of people doing this. Bob did a great job with his (ELP, Yes and Genesis iirc), so there's no shortage of bands and big fans here on DTF to lead some discussions.
Maybe I'll make a post, see what the interest is, and then we see where it goes from there.
Rush would also be a good one to do this year since it is their 40th Anniversary!
-Marc.
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While I only have one FK album atm (I will get more eventually), I've still found this thread really enjoyable to follow. It'd be cool if it's done with more bands in the future.
When this is done, I've been considering doing Zeppelin. I'm thinking that, like the Top 50 lists and Roulette's, maybe we start a cycle of people doing this. Bob did a great job with his (ELP, Yes and Genesis iirc), so there's no shortage of bands and big fans here on DTF to lead some discussions.
Maybe I'll make a post, see what the interest is, and then we see where it goes from there.
Rush would also be a good one to do this year since it is their 40th Anniversary!
-Marc.
I'd do a Zappa one. Problem is that it won't be done until 2028
As for standout songs: Tower ONE is growing and growing, possibly their best under 20 minute epic, imo.
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That is hard to say, especially since what makes something epic is often so subjective. For instance, End on a High Note is less than 11 minutes, but I'd say it has an epic feel, while, on the flip side, Last Minute on Earth is a minute longer, but doesn't feel like an epic. Make sense?
Regardless, I do like Tower One a lot, especially from about the 4-minute mark till the end (I find the first few minutes a bit underwhelming).
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Just finished up Sum of No Evil. I get why some people wouldn't hold it in as high esteem as some of the earlier albums, but I found it to be very enjoyable. :tup
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And it's been a productive morning, as I have just finished listening to Banks of Eden. Very, very good stuff, a true return to form for the band!
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Good job, hef. :coolio
I should have the write-up for the most recent album up sometime today.
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Desolation Rose (2013)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/77/Desolation_Rose_album_cover.jpg)
Tomas Bodin - keyboards
Hasse Fröberg - vocals, guitars
Felix Lehrmann - drums
Jonas Reingold - bass guitar
Roine Stolt - vocals, guitars
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1. "Tower One"
2. "Sleeping Bones"
3. "Desolation Road"
4. "White Tuxedos"
5. "The Resurrected Judas"
6. "Silent Masses"
7. "Last Carnivore"
8. "Dark Fascist Skies"
9. "Blood Of Eden"
10. "Silent Graveyards"
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We now move to the band's 12 studio album, Desolation Rose, which is also their most recent album. I am still trying to wrap my head around what I really think of this record. On the one hand, it is another relatively short album, by their standards, sitting at right around an hour, and is easy to get through because it flows so well. On the other hand, it lacks anything I would call truly awesome, and even the songs I think are the best - Tower One and The Resurrected Judas - both have some sections I think are less than great and make me think, "Dang, if this part were better, this could have been an all-time great TFK classic!" However, both songs are still pretty great for the most part, even if there is a part of me that thinks, "This could have been even better," about both.
To touch on Froberg vocals, which I've admittedly been overly critical of at times, I've always found it amazing that on some albums, I love most of his vocals, and then on others, I find them a bit mediocre, almost to the point of annoying. Sadly, on Desolation Rose, it seems to tilt more towards the latter. I remember the first time I heard Desolation Road, and I was so happy to get a piano-driven TFK song again, and then he started singing and I was like, "Oh, crap." It doesn't help that his voice sounds kind of hoarse more often than not on this record. Not sure if that was by design, or if he is simply losing some of his voice as he gets older. Silent Masses is another good example, as I love the verses, but merely kind of like the chorus, where Froberg really sounds hoarse.
Aside from all of that, this is a record that is quite good. I love the creepy vibe of Sleeping Bones, all of that organ stuff at the end of Desolation Road is killer, that middle section of Tower One is crazy good ("I might have turned away from wonder..."), I love the acoustic work in Resurrected Judas as well as that killer instrumental section in the middle of the song, White Tuxedos sees the band effectively visiting some dark moods and lyrics once again, and the bonus CD is chock full of killer instrumentals, many of which sound like they would fitted in perfectly on some of the early TFK records. There is a lot to love about this record. It's just missing that extra spark or two that would tip the scales to make it great, IMO, but hey, it's their 12th studio album, released in their 19th year, and I suspect it is far better that most bands' 12th album or whatever albums they released in their 19th year.
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EPILOGUE
I have to say, this was a lot of fun, as it gave me the chance to run through the band's discography on my own again, and I was pleased to see that not only were some new fans gotten, but some who had gone a while without listening to them kind of jumped back on the TFK train and rediscovered some or all of the albums. That alone made this worth while. :)
Here's to more Flower Kings music in the future!! :tup :tup
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As I have done with most other TFK albums, I went ahead and mixed in the bonus tracks for this album as well, and the final running order I now listen to is pretty fantastic. I've included all the tracks, and kept most of the original album's tracks in their original order, just with the bonus tracks in between.
Tower ONE
Burning Spears
Lazy Monkey
The Wailing Wall
Dark Fascist Skies
Psalm 2013
Sleeping Bones
Desolation Road
White Tuxedos
Resurrected Judas
Silent Masses
Last Carnivore
Badbeats
Runaway Train
Interstellar Visitation
Blood Of Eden
Silent Graveyards
The Final ERA
I always felt like "The Final ERA" was the perfect way to end the album (also reflecting the capitalized three-letter word in "Tower ONE"), and it fit well with a crossfade after "Silent Graveyards" with the snare drum roll near the end of the track as the final instrumental comes in triumphantly! In the order, "White Tuxedos" and "Dark Fascist Skies" are switched, but as part of "Side 2", they bookend each other well considering in this order, the guitar solo in "White Tuxedos" is now a nod back to "Dark Fascist Skies". "Psalm 2013" also reprises "Burning Spears", which works well right after the ending of "Tower ONE" especially since it's title is taken from the lyrics of the opening epic. After all of that, everything else just sort of fell in to place and each side is about 20-24 minutes long, with each disc at about 45 minutes long. It's a great mix and I get to enjoy ALL 18 tracks of the album in an order that sounds more akin to classic TFK albums like SWA or UTF, with reprisals and recurring themes/motifs, as well as sprinkled instrumentals.
This album sunk in deeper for me a lot sooner than its predecessor, but I think having gotten used to their sound with a new drummer, I was more willing and able to dissect this album than BOE. I guess this sort of mirrors what had happened with PH/TSONE for me. I liked the former but it didn't really click for awhile, but the latter was an instant love! I hope that TFK's next album is another instant gem for me, and I eagerly await their work!
In the mean time, we know that Karmakanic (and The Tangent as well) have new albums in the pipeline, so I'm all excited for those albums coming in the next year or so.
-Marc.
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See, I don't feel the need to make a very good, well-flowing single album even longer. As excellent as the bonus tracks are, they are better listened to on their own, rather than in the context of the album.
Anyway, following all of this TFK listening, my updated ranking of the albums looks like this:
1. Paradox Hotel
2. Flower Power
3. Retropolis
4. Stardust We Are
5. Space Revolver
6. Back in the World of Adventures
7. Banks of Eden
8. Unfold the Future
9. Adam & Eve
10. Desolation Rose
11. The Rainmaker
12. The Sum of No Evil
I don't think it is a coincidence that my lowest ranked albums (the last four) are the ones with probably the least amount of Roine vocals, percentage wise.
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Oh, and for fun, I took a crack at listing my 20 favorite songs that are 10 minutes or more, and favorites under 10 minutes.
Favorites over 10 minutes
1. Garden of Dreams
2. I Am the Sun
3. Stardust We Are
4. End on a High Note
5. World of Adventures
6. Devil's Playground
7. Big Puzzle
8. Monsters and Men
9. Silent Inferno
10. There Is More to This World
11. Numbers
12. Circus Brimstone
13. Monster Within
14. Love Supreme
15. Minor Giant Steps
16. Retropolis
17. Deaf, Numb and Blind
18. Tower ONE
19. Driver's Seat
20. The Truth Will Set You Free
Favorites under 10 minutes
1. Blue Planet
2. What If God Is Alone?
3. Silent Sorrow
4. Self-Consuming Fire
5. The Road Back Home
6. Psycedelic Postcard
7. Ghost of the Red Cloud
8. The Man Who Walked with Kings
9. Stupid Girl
10. Different People
11. Lucy Had a Dream
12. Jealousy
13.The Judas Kiss
14. The Merry Go-Round
15. Pioneers of Aviation
16. Rhythm of the Sea
17. A King's Prayer
18. Life Will Kill You
19. Solitary Shell
20. The End of Innocence
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No one else has opinions on the newest album?? ???
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Trying to find a moment to properly listen to it, and write something about it. May take a few days. Love the album though. At the moment it's tied with Space Revolver for best single album.
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I will listen through it again in the next couple of days.
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Desolation Rose was actually my first experience with The Flower Kings. I enjoy most of the songs on this album but especially the three-track run of Sleeping Bones, Desolation Road and White Tuxedos. Last Carnivore and Dark Fascist Skies are also really neat, love the chorus of the latter. Overall a nice album that caught my attention and made me wanna explore their catalogue.
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I'm gonna have to agree, Kev, that Hasse sound pretty tired on this latest album. He almost sounds like he recorded the vocals while he was suffering from a cold or something like that.
It's a pretty good album, but I think it will probably end up somewhere in the bottom 1/3 of my rankings.
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OK, just finished Desolation Rose. All in all, very good album, but actually, probably my least favorite of the whole bunch. Highlights for me include Tower One, The Resurrected Judas, and The Silent Masses.
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One last bump to see if anyone has any more comments or insight on anything Flower Kings-related. :)
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Still have to listen to DR... and now that there are three more discog threads running, my music listening is being over-run by DTF!!! DR later today.
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Early impressions are that Desolation Rose is better than Banks of Eden. I assume that the name is a play on Bob Dylan's song Desolation Row.
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I think I'm with Ludwig. Tower ONE was awesome. A couple of the middle tracks were forgettable, but this left more of an impression on me than BoE. Not sure if it'll be purchase-worthy. Think I'll have a go with each one more time, and grab on of them as my fourth purchase from them.
Well, that's a wrap.
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Hey, that's my job to say that! ;) :biggrin:
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I can't find the normal Flower Kings thread, so this will have to go here:
Apparently there are two films on the bonus disc of The Sum of No Evil. How on earth are you supposed to get to them? I've tried both my DVD player and computer CD-Rom drive(s), and both just take me to the three audio tracks.
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I don't remember anything about those, and I even have the bonus CD version of that record, but that is not a CD that made the cut for me to have on display in my smaller CD rack now, so I'd have to dig it out of the many boxes I have of physical CDs, and that won't be happening, so perhaps someone else knows...
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I can't find the normal Flower Kings thread, so this will have to go here:
Apparently there are two films on the bonus disc of The Sum of No Evil. How on earth are you supposed to get to them? I've tried both my DVD player and computer CD-Rom drive(s), and both just take me to the three audio tracks.
If you use Windows, did you try opening the disc/disc-drive with the CD in it through Windows Explorer? That way you can actually view the files on the disc? You should be able to open the video files from there.
-Marc.
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I'll have to try it tomorrow now, but still, it shouldn't be this hard to get to them.