Time to bump this thread. I only recently started listening to a bit of their material... the albums don't really quite get stuck in my head. Will take multiple listens.
But one this is for sure.... the song Paradox Hotel blew my mind from the first second. It's barely prog, but SOO good.
Paradox Hotel is a Top 3 TFK album for me, along with
Unfold The Future and
Stardust We Are.
It was mostly written acoustically, so the songs are very guitar oriented, and there's a lot more of the other members on this album in terms of writing contributions (where as the usual TFK album is nearly all Roine's material). There's a lot of variety on this album, too, which covers a LOT of ground for TFK, both old and (at the time) new. It's also special being that it's the only TFK album with drummer Marcus Liliequist, even though he appeared on Tomas Bodin's solo albums
I AM and
YOU ARE and Roine's solo album
Wall Street Voodoo. He provides solid drummer on an album that, as you say, is less proggy than their previous (and future) efforts, but the key to this album is the strength in the song writing, and not the proggy showmanship or chops (even though there's enough of that on the album).
It took me a LONG time to get into PH, being the band's first new album after I discovered them in 2005, but after years of listening, I grew to love and appreciate and fully enjoy the whole album.
-Marc.