Flower Kings Official Thread

[SwedishGoose]

New dates in Canada added

https://www.facebook.com/100000996741078/posts/1914662971910242/

[The Letter M]

Pre-orders are live for Roine Stolt's The Flower King - Manfiesto Of An Alchemist.
https://roinestoltstheflowerking.lnk.to/Manifesto

According to the track times of the CD on the InsideOut store, the album will be 69:21 long. The InsideOut store also has an exclusive vinyl option as well.

I'm still going to wait on pre-ordering this, at least until samples begin to come out, or even reviews. There don't seem to be any major CD exclusives anywhere (special packaging, signed postcards, etc.) so I am not in a rush to order this, especially with all of the other new studio and live albums coming out this fall.

-Marc.

[Fritzinger]

Pre-orders are live for Roine Stolt's The Flower King - Manfiesto Of An Alchemist.
https://roinestoltstheflowerking.lnk.to/Manifesto

According to the track times of the CD on the InsideOut store, the album will be 69:21 long. The InsideOut store also has an exclusive vinyl option as well.

I'm still going to wait on pre-ordering this, at least until samples begin to come out, or even reviews. There don't seem to be any major CD exclusives anywhere (special packaging, signed postcards, etc.) so I am not in a rush to order this, especially with all of the other new studio and live albums coming out this fall.

-Marc.

I have found the track lengths of this one:
--SPOILERS--

Disc 1 Side 1
01. Rainsong (01:27)
02. Lost America (09:50)
03. Ze Pawns (08:27)
Disc 1 Side 2
01. High Road (12:32)
02. Rio Grande (07:50)
Disc 2 Side 1
01. Next to a Hurricane (04:25)
02. The Alchemist (06:57)
03. Baby Angels (03:48)
Disc 2 Side 2
01. Six Thirty Wake-Up (04:17)
02. The Spell Of Money (09:48)

[The Letter M]

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=8CtjFiJt6yw&list=OLAK5uy_k47vPie6mKnRTqHTy_fsP3Q2pMMbXpfKs

First full song preview is up! Listening now...

-Marc..

[Fritzinger]

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=8CtjFiJt6yw&list=OLAK5uy_k47vPie6mKnRTqHTy_fsP3Q2pMMbXpfKs

First full song preview is up! Listening now...

-Marc..

Please share your thoughts 

[KevShmev]

I listened early and liked it.  Sounds very much like the Flower Kings and much more interesting than anything from the album with Anderson or the Sea Within record.  Hearing Roine on lead vocals again was pretty sweet. 

[The Letter M]

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=8CtjFiJt6yw&list=OLAK5uy_k47vPie6mKnRTqHTy_fsP3Q2pMMbXpfKs

First full song preview is up! Listening now...

-Marc..

Please share your thoughts 

I was getting ready for work this morning when I was listening to it, but I'm giving it another go right now, and I'd have to say, I'm a little impressed. My expectations for this project are low given Roine's output with Anderson/Stolt and Sea Within, but like Kev said, this is a very-TFK-sounding song, and I think having Jonas and even Froberg with him helps, as well as the obvious Roine vocals.

The opening is VERY different than what I expect from Roine's music, very percussive with those 16th-note attacks in the drums and bass, and the verse is very groovy. I miss the sounds of Tomas' keys, but the use of organ here and there really helps elevate this a bit. It might take some time for me to absorb everything about this song, but I'm a bit more hopeful for this whole thing now. I want to pre-order, but I may wait a little while (after some more paychecks and bills paid off) - I hope between this album and the upcoming tours that Roine feels more energized and will begin to make his own music again, and not just settle on collaborations that produce mixed results. It's a shame that this is coming out so soon after The Sea Within, which may now feel like he's abandoning it in favor or TFK-flavored music again, but I wouldn't blame him - it's hard to tour on an album without the main vocalist aboard (Daniel Gildenlow).

-Marc.

[DTA]

From just one listen, there were some good moments, but didn't really do much for me. There was nothing that made me want to relisten to it. I think I'm off the Roine-train unfortunately.

[RoeDent]

Listening to Garden of Dreams again, and I'm beginning to think my favourite section, in terms of where it is and the subsequent effect it has, is actually the second of the three main instrumental passages, covering The Mean Machine and Dungeons of the Deep. It's a breather in what is a masterfully-arranged suite. Then it's not a sudden swing back into activity, as you have the piano solo of Indian Summer slowly bringing us back up from the depths, and the very gradual buildup of that section before we have another lengthy prog freakout in Sunny Lane.

Also, the choir bit in Dungeons of the Deep gives me goosebumps.

[KevShmev]

Yep, that is great stuff.  It's like you wander off into no-man's land, almost like you are lost, before finding yourself again. 

For my money, the whole suite is the best thing they've ever done, and I can name a part I love to death from practically all 18 tracks, although Business Vamp remains my favorite single TFK song ever. 

[Bentower]

Aaah yes, The Garden of Dreams! The Flower Kings at their epic best. Such a gorgeous and effortlessly flowing piece. Having just listened to it following Lost America it's obviously in a different league sonically as well.
Also, it makes for a wonderfully suitable soundtrack for shrooming, being that it's varied, highly emotional and psychedelic af.

[KevShmev]

Aaah yes, The Garden of Dreams! The Flower Kings at their epic best. Such a gorgeous and effortlessly flowing piece. Having just listened to it following Lost America it's obviously in a different league sonically as well.
Also, it makes for a wonderfully suitable and soundtrack for shrooming, being that it's varied, highly emotional and psychedelic af.

 

[RoeDent]

The only thing that causes a problem for me is that Garden of Dreams is such a vast piece of music that requires a lot of concentration...then you have a further 80 minutes of music on the Flower Power album afterwards. And there are some amazing songs on Disc 2. Painter is without doubt one of my favourite tracks. But I'm finding I can never listen to the whole album in one session. It's too much.

[KevShmev]

Well yeah, pretty much every TFK double album is impossible to listen to in one setting.  They are so loooooong. 

On the one hand, I think Garden of Dreams would have been released as a studio album by itself, but on the other hand, the second disc does have some great stuff.  Tacking Astral Dog on to the end of the first disc still seems so weird.

[RoeDent]

Yup. That is a strange one.

Flower Power was the first full album I listened to on the day I got the Kingdom of Colours box. When I did it then, I broke it into three parts. 1. Garden of Dreams, 2. Captain Capstan thru Psychedelic Postcard, 3. the rest of disc 2. It still took up the entire evening though, probably close to 3 hours factoring in the breaks.

[KevShmev]

Yep, you pretty much have to dedicate a whole evening to it if you want to listen to the whole album. 

[RoeDent]

This podcast just came out, with an extended Roine Stolt interview, including picking their top 5 Flower Kings songs: https://progreport.com/podcast-prog-report-top-5-flower-kings-songs/

Something really significant that came from it, and it's painting a not-particularly-good picture of the label InsideOut for me personally, is how they chose to go with the band name Roine Stolt's The Flower King for the new Manifesto of an Alchemist album. It was IO that decided to split albums by Spock's Beard and The Sea Within into two discs even though they could easily fit on one. I'm beginning to feel the rot of Big Business (aka Sony) has started to seep into what is one of prog's biggest labels. Just a few decisions where I feel InsideOut of pre-Sony times would have made better ones.

[KevShmev]

That was a mostly good listen, and I say "mostly'" because I had it on while doing other things and zoned out a bit at times.  Not surprised to hear Roine say that he thinks Stardust We Are is their best album. 

[KevShmev]

Still not sure about this Lost America song from the upcoming album (just listened to it for the second time), as it kind of just plods along while not having any real hook.  Should be interesting to see what the whole new album sounds like. 

[DTA]

Still not sure about this Lost America song from the upcoming album (just listened to it for the second time), as it kind of just plods along while not having any real hook.  Should be interesting to see what the whole new album sounds like.

It didn't grab me at all unfortunately. I'm still going to get the album, but it will probably go the way of The Sea Within and not receive much play outside of a few initial listens. The only good thing this man has released in the past few years is the Kaipa DaCapo album.

[KevShmev]

Still not sure about this Lost America song from the upcoming album (just listened to it for the second time), as it kind of just plods along while not having any real hook.  Should be interesting to see what the whole new album sounds like.

It didn't grab me at all unfortunately. I'm still going to get the album, but it will probably go the way of The Sea Within and not receive much play outside of a few initial listens. The only good thing this man has released in the past few years is the Kaipa DaCapo album.

Listening to that podcast the other day got me on to a Flower Kings kick the last few days and it really is stunning how amazing those early Flower Kings records are.  Don't get me wrong, I like all of their albums to some degree, and 2006's Paradox Hotel remains one of my favorites, but I think it's clear that 1995-2000 was the Flower Kings sweet spot. Roine's creativity and writing was at its peak and those first five albums are all nothing short of magnificent, and it almost seems unfair to expect him to peak like that again. 

[DTA]

Still not sure about this Lost America song from the upcoming album (just listened to it for the second time), as it kind of just plods along while not having any real hook.  Should be interesting to see what the whole new album sounds like.

It didn't grab me at all unfortunately. I'm still going to get the album, but it will probably go the way of The Sea Within and not receive much play outside of a few initial listens. The only good thing this man has released in the past few years is the Kaipa DaCapo album.

Listening to that podcast the other day got me on to a Flower Kings kick the last few days and it really is stunning how amazing those early Flower Kings records are.  Don't get me wrong, I like all of their albums to some degree, and 2006's Paradox Hotel remains one of my favorites, but I think it's clear that 1995-2000 was the Flower Kings sweet spot. Roine's creativity and writing was at its peak and those first five albums are all nothing short of magnificent, and it almost seems unfair to expect him to peak like that again.

I agree. The albums from The Flower King through Space Revolver just have such a unique vibe. The production was bright and cheerful, the drums big and expansive, and the melodies and arrangements were extremely catchy yet also complex. The Rainmaker definitely brought a darker vibe, which as much as I love, ended the positive nature of the band's music that I loved so much. Just something as simple as the majestic verses of Slave To Money was so refreshing to hear. UTF is also excellent, but I don't like how "tight" the music sounded from a production standpoint. Gone are the big expansive drums and keyboard sounds for a smaller, more compact jazzier sound. Roine has been unable to recreate that huge sound since.

I think there is greatness in every FK album, though The Sum Of No Evil is the worst of the bunch imo. Too much meandering and the songs are just too long. I actually think Desolation Rose is really good and it was only 5 years ago so maybe I'm being too harsh on him. Speaking of which, how are the Agents of Mercy albums? It's the only project of his that I've yet to hear a note of.

[KevShmev]

I only heard the first Agents of Mercy record, which had a really short shelf life for me since the singer made me want to rip my ears off. 

The Rainmaker is definitely one of their three least best albums (I would now rank it slightly ahead of The Sum of No Evil and Desolation Rose), but I still like it quite a bit.  It has a feel and vibe unlike any other FK record, and that is cool to visit every once in a while. 

Unfold the Future is really good from a totality standpoint, but it is so damn long that I feel like I need to take a half day off work to listen to it.   Fortunately, it does have a few songs I like enough to listen to on their own here and there - Silent Inferno, Fast Lane, Man Overboard, Solitary Shell and Devil's Playground. I still like Genie in a Bottle, but not nearly as much as I used to.  Roine said on FB that The Truth... will get played on the upcoming tour and all I could think of was, "What a waste of 30 minutes."  It's not a bad song, but it's so long and so plodding.

[DTA]

Ooooh, yeah that singer is tough to put up with. The music behind sounded pretty good, but the vocals are probably too much.

I can already guess that Roine is going to do a "best-of" type setlist for the upcoming tour. He's already mentioned Stardust We Are, and that combined with The Truth is already an hour of music. I love those songs (SWA is probably my fav FK song overall), but they do eat up a chunk of setlist time and have been represented live already so much it seems like a waste.

I'm also guessing In The Eyes Of The World, There Is More To This World, The Flower King, an edited I Am The Sun (not doing the entirety of Parts 1 & 2 is easily their lamest live decision aside from cutting out portions of Garden of Dreams) and maybe Last Minute On Earth will make appearances. Great songs, but I always get disappointed when bands do the "obvious" choices. I'd kill to hear Silent Sorrow, The Judas Kiss, Theme For A Hero, The End Of Innocence, Monster Within, Slave To Money, and Calling Home represented.

[KevShmev]

I agree with most of that.  With so many great songs, doing so many long epics doesn't leave much room for a lot of other songs.  I am lucky in that the only time I saw them (late '06), they gave us this killer set list:

Paradox Hotel
Hit Me with a Hit
Psycedelic Postcard
Hudson River Sirens Call 1998
Jealousy
What If God Is Alone?
Just This Once
Pioneers of Aviation
Touch My Heaven
Mommy, Leave the Light On
End of a High Note
World of Adventures
Silent Sorrow
I Am the Sun

Life Will Kill You
Ghost of the Red Cloud
The Flower King

Getting Silent Sorrow and Ghost of the Red Cloud, two of my favorites, made my night.

[SwedishGoose]

Will see them twice in december in Stockholm and Malmö.

Only seen them once before, way back in 1996, when they gave us this setlist:

Atomic Prince
The Magic Circus of Zeb
Big Puzzle
The Sounds of Violence
Train to Nowhere
Den skrattande grevinnan
Inget nytt under solen
The Flower King
Go West Judas
Humanizzimo

[KevShmev]

Man, I would have loved to have seen them back when Big Puzzle was a regular part of the set list.  That's a top 3 FK song for me now.

[DTA]

I agree with most of that.  With so many great songs, doing so many long epics doesn't leave much room for a lot of other songs.  I am lucky in that the only time I saw them (late '06), they gave us this killer set list:

Paradox Hotel
Hit Me with a Hit
Psycedelic Postcard
Hudson River Sirens Call 1998
Jealousy
What If God Is Alone?
Just This Once
Pioneers of Aviation
Touch My Heaven
Mommy, Leave the Light On
End of a High Note
World of Adventures
Silent Sorrow
I Am the Sun

Life Will Kill You
Ghost of the Red Cloud
The Flower King

Getting Silent Sorrow and Ghost of the Red Cloud, two of my favorites, made my night.

I saw them on that tour too, but I honestly have zero recollection of the show. I also saw them at Nearfest and a small NJ show in 2002 (or 2003?)  that I remember clearly, but the 2006 show is a complete blur. That is a really cool setlist though. I love that they went so heavy on Paradox Hotel for the tour as it's a great album.

[DTA]

Will see them twice in december in Stockholm and Malmö.

Only seen them once before, way back in 1996, when they gave us this setlist:

Atomic Prince
The Magic Circus of Zeb
Big Puzzle
The Sounds of Violence
Train to Nowhere
Den skrattande grevinnan
Inget nytt under solen
The Flower King
Go West Judas
Humanizzimo

Wow... I always thought Go West Judas would be a killer live track and it's never made an appearance in the past 20+ years.

[KevShmev]

I saw them on that tour too, but I honestly have zero recollection of the show. I also saw them at Nearfest and a small NJ show in 2002 (or 2003?)  that I remember clearly, but the 2006 show is a complete blur. That is a really cool setlist though. I love that they went so heavy on Paradox Hotel for the tour as it's a great album.

Agreed.  The greedy part of me wanted Self-Consuming Fire and Lucy Had a Dream as well, but given how many PH songs they were already playing, I was more than happy. 

I always thought Go West Judas would be a killer live track and it's never made an appearance in the past 20+ years.

It took me years to really warm up to that song, but I really like it now.  It manages to rock while still having some cool proggy elements; a very natural live song.

[DTA]

The setlist from their Sao Paulo show is up. Looks exactly like what I expected them to play. I guess it's their first show in awhile, but I can't help but get disappointed when I see the same old predictable choices. And I'll never understand why this man does not want to play the end of IATS Pt. 1 or the beginning of IATS Pt. 2, which is easily the best part of the entire album. 

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-flower-kings/2018/carioca-club-sao-paulo-brazil-6397ee37.html

[KevShmev]

Based on what Roine said on FB, that set list looks about what I expected. It was nice to see something from Paradox Hotel (What If God Is Alone?) played.

Regarding I Am the Sun, I've never gotten the deal with not playing the second half of Part 1 or the first half of Part 2, but it is what it is. Sometimes shortened versions of long songs just catch on live and the artist always leaves it that way.

[DTA]

Based on what Roine said on FB, that set list looks about what I expected. It was nice to see something from Paradox Hotel (What If God Is Alone?) played.

Regarding I Am the Sun, I've never gotten the deal with not playing the second half of Part 1 or the first half of Part 2, but it is what it is. Sometimes shortened versions of long songs just catch on live and the artist always leaves it that way.

What If God Is Alone? is great. It seems to be the only song from that album that ever got any sort of live play after the tour. I think End On A High Note would also be a cool song to return.

I'd give anything to hear a full I Am The Sun. I made a FK-epic-only playlist for work that I listened to this week and I think IATS has actually surpassed SWA as my favorite epic of theirs. The "I'm in the middle, now see what I've done" part may be his greatest melody ever. The result of my listening is that Roine was unparalleled with writing epics in TFK. They are all (with the exception of Monsters & Men) very high quality and unique (which I can't say for Neal's epics even though as a whole, Neal's entire output is stronger) and have incredibly memorable melodies throughout.

[KevShmev]

I have to push back on the Monsters and Men comment, since I think that is pretty excellent. 

Focusing on the epics that are 15 minutes plus, the only ones I really never listen to anymore are Love Is the Only Answer and The Truth Will Set You Free. Both are good songs, but if I am going to dedicate that much time to a long epic, it had better be great, and neither fits the bill, for me anyway.

I agree that I Am the Sun (when taking the two parts together as one song) is better than Stardust We Are. Its close, but I Am the Sun just has that little extra something. 

As for Neal, I can't think of one long epic of his that I would give the Love is the Only Answer/The Truth treatment. All of them are more than great enough to justify me dedicating that much time to listening.

[DTA]

Monsters & Men and Love Is The Only Answer meander a bit too much for their own good and (to me) lack the high points all the other epics have. Love... has a stronger chorus melody and stays with me longer so that one tends to get a pass and listened to regularly. But after listening to M&M a few times this past week, it still does absolutely nothing for me and does not surprise me that it was never played live. The Truth is a really awesome song, but I definitely have listened to it too much in the past to want to sit through it again so I'll agree with you there. I've listened to IATS and SWA (and Humanizzimo, Garden of Dreams, Love Supreme, etc) a ton too but never get tired of them for whatever reason like I do with Truth.

I feel like Neal went through a weird super-long epic period that produced some songs that feel like they simultaneously go on forever and go nowhere. So Many Roads, World Without End, and Alive Again mainly. I honestly have no desire to ever hear them again. Seeds of Gold from that same time period is a total anomaly and is one of the best things he ever did. All his other epics either solo or with SB are superb and well worth the time but those three are such a chore.