Author Topic: Flower Kings Official Thread  (Read 230912 times)

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Offline darkshade

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #735 on: February 22, 2013, 09:14:38 PM »
Listened to this band for the first time this week. Banks Of Eden is a good album but for some reason it was kinda unmemorable. The highlight for me was obviously Numbers and For The Love Of Gold. FTLOG has such amazing vocals and a sweet guitar solo. It's quite catchy. The rest? I don't remember much.

Most of the band's material doesn't hit you on first listen. The music demands, and rewards, repeated listens. The music itself is usually very dense compositionally, which is why I think the music doesn't hit you right off the bat; because you don't know where the music is going and/or you are expecting something else. I'm telling you, listen to Banks of Eden again and get back to me.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #736 on: February 23, 2013, 08:45:34 AM »
Review from the TFK yahoo mailing list:

It was a superb evening. Perhaps I had som wiches about songs, but I was satiesfied. Opening track was Numbers folloed by Cosmic Lover which was a positive surprise. I loved the way Jonas played the bass in the song. Roine´s guitarr solo on The Truth Will Set You Free was awesome. I was pure magick,I guess it must have been ten minutes long. Roine! You hit the right spot there, beautiful and expressive.
 
Neal played mostly from the new album Momentum and ended with a very long track World witout End. Lot from Questionmark and  Author of Confusion from One are songs from the concert, Also an excellent show with a tight band. I must say that the volume was a little bit to high.
 
Transatlantic with parts from Whirlwind with som errors in switching from one part to another, anyhow I enjoyed it.

Offline Lolzeez

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #737 on: February 23, 2013, 03:08:20 PM »
Listened to the album again. I think I'm starting to really dig it. Here are my rankings.

Numbers
For The Love Of Gold
For Those About To Drown
Illuminati
Rising The Imperial
LoLines
Pandemonium
Going Up
Fireghosts

I really enjoyed For Those About To Drown and the solo on Illuminati. So yeah. I guess I'm going somewhere. Now tell me,where do I go next?

Offline SomeoneLikeHim

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #738 on: February 23, 2013, 03:14:52 PM »
I haven't heard all that much either, but you need to listen to the song "Stardust We Are"! So beautiful :hefdaddy
"We can walk our road together, if our goals are all the same
We can run alone and free, if we pursue a different aim"

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #739 on: February 23, 2013, 11:04:07 PM »


I really enjoyed For Those About To Drown and the solo on Illuminati. So yeah. I guess I'm going somewhere. Now tell me,where do I go next?

If you want to dive into a single disc, go for Space Revolver; that is their best single CD, IMO.

If you want to be daring and dive headfirst into some of the double albums, you cannot go wrong with Paradox Hotel, Flower Power or Stardust We Are. 

And as always, I will recommend saving Adam and Eve, The Rainmaker and The Sum of No Evil till the end.  They are all good, but definitely the weakest links in their catalogue.

Offline darkshade

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #740 on: February 23, 2013, 11:46:59 PM »
I wish Illuminati was included in the main album, as the other three songs do feel like B-sides. But that opening song on the bonus disc is too strong to have been included there. I don't always listen to the bonus disc when I listen to BoE but when I listen to that song, I wish I did, if only for that song.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #741 on: February 24, 2013, 08:33:31 AM »
I don't agree with that.  I think all four songs are strong, and I think that overall the whole album, all nine songs and all, is very consistent.  It would be difficult for me to rank the songs in order of favorite to least favorite simply because they are all of about equal quality.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #742 on: April 04, 2013, 10:01:37 AM »
Spring is here, and so is a new TFK phase for yours truly!

Blasting Monster Within as we speak.  I love how crazy and evil this song is. :metal :metal

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #743 on: April 05, 2013, 03:14:19 PM »
Looks like the band is working on a new album and this is what Roine had to say about it yesterday:

Fact is -  working on this new album -
my gut feel is that those of you who liked the weirdness
interludes and the cinematic effects  and ambiences will find
this new album interesting.

I could be wrong - but it has some   superspacy stoner  droner  jams that resembles Santanas Caravanserai
and still  plenty of catchy, classic symph prog  and also somewhat  heavy 
riffy sections.
The names Black Sabbath and Dimmu Borgir  were both mentioned more than once in the strudio
but also Queen, Rush, James Bond   and albums like Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother.
That's our weird musical environment  -  but be aware that we are still in "construction mode" so
these are all blueprints  for  what's to come -  this album is still a shapeshifter - day by day.

It will however not be a double album - but if you like adventurous prog - and fearless genre  bending -
this may be it.

Roine.

 :tup :tup

Online The Letter M

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #744 on: April 05, 2013, 04:11:24 PM »
Fans who claimed BOE was "more of the same" will hopefully see this as a more experimental TFK. I hope they really pull out all the stops, broaden their scope, and release something that is totally out of left field, like UTF, following SR and TR, it was definitely quite a bit different, and not just because it was their longest album.

I'm looking forward to new TFK later this year or early next year!

New DT, TFK and TA all within 6 months of each other. AMAZING! :tup

-Marc.
ATTENTION - HAKEN FANS! The HAKEN SURVIVOR 2023 has begun! You can check it out in the Polls/Survivors Forum!!!

Offline darkshade

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #745 on: April 06, 2013, 10:39:59 AM »
@ Kev - thanks for posting that. Great insight from Roine.

@ Letter M - I don't know why people think BoE is "more of the same". Who's been saying that anyway?? Most people I see enjoy Boe. What album can you compare it to? It definitely has its own sound,  if anything it's more related to recent Roine/Jonas works (AoM, TA, Karmakanic) than the last 3-4 TFK albums as far as the overall sound goes. Besides that, though, I think it's a lot better than half of their albums.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #746 on: April 06, 2013, 11:45:51 AM »
I don't know if I would say it was more of the same, but it definitely had a lot of that classic TFK thing going on.  Overall, Banks of Eden is very consistent, and I can turn it on and enjoy everything on it, but it was their second CD in a row that failed to have a single song that made me think, "This is one of their best songs ever."  That is why I cannot call it one of their best when albums like Paradox Hotel, Stardust We Are and Retropolis are just as consistent, but also are filled with songs that DO make me think, "This is one of their best songs ever."

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #747 on: April 07, 2013, 11:27:06 PM »
Per Roine on FB earlier today:

Just finished tracking session at Fenix studio Sweden for a new Flower Kings album. For release early Oct. Progadelic Baby !

 :tup :tup

Offline adace

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #748 on: April 07, 2013, 11:49:04 PM »
Per Roine on FB earlier today:

Just finished tracking session at Fenix studio Sweden for a new Flower Kings album. For release early Oct. Progadelic Baby !

 :tup :tup
Damn, that's soon! Looking forward to it!

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #749 on: April 08, 2013, 10:07:32 AM »
Well, that is still six months away, so it's not that soon. ;)  But it should be interesting to see what they do next. Based on Roine's comments, I am hoping they get a little out there and experimental instead of going with the all-out prog like they did on the last two records.

Offline MoraWintersoul

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #750 on: April 08, 2013, 10:22:48 AM »
I am hoping they get a little out there and experimental instead of going with the all-out prog like they did on the last two records.
Gotta love how experimental and prog aren't synonyms anymore :lol

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type : mora : and delete the spaces for a surprise

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #751 on: April 08, 2013, 10:34:31 AM »
Maybe a better way to put it would be to say that I hope they get more experimental outside of the symphonic rock window. ;)

Offline ColdFireYYZ

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #752 on: April 09, 2013, 02:54:24 PM »
Studio report from Hasse, posted today:
https://www.myspace.com/hassefrobergandthemusicalcompanion/blog/546826858

I hope they play some new stuff when I see them next month. I like Banks of Eden, but it's nice to see them doing something different.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #753 on: April 09, 2013, 10:46:18 PM »
Hard not to get excited after reading that.  And I'm definitely glad to hear they are all contributing, as that ups the chances of it being a diverse CD. :tup :tup

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #754 on: April 10, 2013, 11:51:34 AM »
Even though it is not a real TFK album, Roine's The Flower King solo album needs more love.  Sure, the title track is great, and many rave over Humanizzimo (and both are great), but the songs I visit the most on that record are Dissonata, The Magic Circus of Zeb (Roine's best guitar song ever!!) and The Pilgrims Inn.

Offline darkshade

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #755 on: April 10, 2013, 12:32:14 PM »
Great update!

I like The Flower King. I certainly treat it like a Flower Kings album. I think it's second only to Back In The World as far as the pre-Stardust albums go, with Retropolis third.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #756 on: April 10, 2013, 12:35:09 PM »
I definitely like Retropolis more than BITWOA (Retropolis is a top 5 TFK record, in my book), but the latter is still very good and one helluva debut record.
 

Offline drew512

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #757 on: April 10, 2013, 12:47:06 PM »
Even though it is not a real TFK album, Roine's The Flower King solo album needs more love.  Sure, the title track is great, and many rave over Humanizzimo (and both are great), but the songs I visit the most on that record are Dissonata, The Magic Circus of Zeb (Roine's best guitar song ever!!) and The Pilgrims Inn.

Seconded. I absolutely adore this album.

Offline ColdFireYYZ

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #758 on: April 10, 2013, 01:36:57 PM »
Even though it is not a real TFK album, Roine's The Flower King solo album needs more love.  Sure, the title track is great, and many rave over Humanizzimo (and both are great), but the songs I visit the most on that record are Dissonata, The Magic Circus of Zeb (Roine's best guitar song ever!!) and The Pilgrims Inn.

Seconded. I absolutely adore this album.
I do too. There's a lot of great music on it.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #759 on: April 10, 2013, 02:11:23 PM »
I remember when I first got into that record; I played it non-stop literally for weeks!  I think it is one of Roine's best non-TFK records, along with the three Transatlantic records, Kaipa's Keyholder and the first Tangent album.

Online The Letter M

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #760 on: April 30, 2013, 11:55:03 AM »
So I'm sitting here listening to my mixed-together version of "I Am The Sun", at exactly 25:24 in length, and it got me wondering...how would you guys rank TFK's side-length epics? I'm only counting the ones that are between 18-27 minutes long, so no "Garden Of Dreams" or "The Truth Will Set You Free" (mostly because they would likely end up in the top of many fan's lists anyway).

These are the songs for consideration in the rankings:
Humanizzimo*
Stardust We Are
I Am The Sun
Devil's Playground
Love Supreme
Driver's Seat
Monsters & Men
Love Is The Only Answer
Numbers

*Technically a Roine Stolt solo album song, but TFK have played it live, and many fans still count The Flower King as the band's first album.

-Marc.
ATTENTION - HAKEN FANS! The HAKEN SURVIVOR 2023 has begun! You can check it out in the Polls/Survivors Forum!!!

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #761 on: April 30, 2013, 12:06:08 PM »
I think we've done this before, but I'll play again:

1. I Am the Sun
2. Stardust We Are
3. Devil's Playground
4. Monster and Men
5. Driver's Seat
6. Love Supreme
7. Numbers
8. Love Is the Only Answer

Humanizzimo is not a TFK song (kind of like how DT playing LTE songs in the past doesn't make them DT songs).

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #762 on: April 30, 2013, 01:35:47 PM »
Fans who claimed BOE was "more of the same" will hopefully see this as a more experimental TFK. I hope they really pull out all the stops, broaden their scope, and release something that is totally out of left field, like UTF, following SR and TR, it was definitely quite a bit different, and not just because it was their longest album.

I'm looking forward to new TFK later this year or early next year!

New DT, TFK and TA all within 6 months of each other. AMAZING! :tup

-Marc.


Honestly, for me, they could release BOE II and I'd be thrilled.  I've still got it in regular rotation. 

Offline ColdFireYYZ

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #763 on: May 07, 2013, 02:54:42 PM »
Did anyone else see them in Pennsylvania this weekend? I saw them on Friday night, and they were great despite Roine being sick. I'm not sure what was wrong (I'm assuming a bad cold or something) but he was apparently bed-ridden and didn't fly to the States until the morning of the show. For portions of the show, he sat in a chair playing, à la Robert Fripp. The rest of the guys were excellent and I believe Hasse covered some of his vocals. When Roine did sing, he sounded alright to me. Previously, I wasn't a big fan of Hasse's vocals all that much, but I loved his voice live. Tomas Bodin and Jonas Reingold were unsurprisingly awesome and a lot of fun to watch. The setlist was great, and  I know that the new album isn't seen as one of their best, but Numbers and Rising The Imperial were fantastic live.

The sound at the show was great, especially the drums. The were very clear and prominent in the mix and they didn't sound muddy at all. It was an all-around great show and it made me ever more excited for the next album!

On another note, I'm listening to Paradox Hotel right now for the first time. Monsters and Men is phenomenal!! I also picked up Unfold The Future, which I also didn't have. Now I just have to get Flower Power, Adam & Eve, and The Sum of No Evil to complete their studio album discography.

Online Orbert

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #764 on: May 07, 2013, 04:42:23 PM »
Wow.

I checked out DVD 1 of Meet the Flower Kings over the weekend, and I think my brain is still recovering.  I knew they had some long songs, but three songs on the entire disc (actually only two, with a break between "Garden of Dreams" part 1 and part 2)?

I have Blockbuster Online and basically my queue is loaded up with DVDs and Blu-rays of concert vids, whatever I can find.  I manage the queue online, but when they finally come, it's just the disc in a printed envelope, and half the time you can't read what's printed on it.  I was therefore unprepared for this.

Anyway, I have a new band to check out.  And apparently 22 pages of this thread to read as well.

Offline Mindflux

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #765 on: May 07, 2013, 07:36:30 PM »

Anyway, I have a new band to check out.  And apparently 22 pages of this thread to read as well.

I feel you. I picked up Roine Stolt's "The Flower King" due to some positive reviews on here (I think?) and now, I've got a LOT of TFK history to listen to and catch up on.

Offline yeshaberto

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #766 on: May 07, 2013, 10:26:29 PM »
Just finished their set here in LA, warming up for neal morse and both of us were blown away.  Great live band

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #767 on: May 08, 2013, 08:13:37 AM »
Whenever they come within reasonable driving distance of me, I go and see them.  Lucky for me, when they tour the New England area, I'm friends with the promoter who arranges the gigs, so I've had the chance to attend their pre-show sound check a few times and hang with the band before and after they go on stage.  They're a pretty cool group of dudes.

Offline ColdFireYYZ

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #768 on: May 08, 2013, 08:29:55 PM »
Just finished their set here in LA, warming up for neal morse and both of us were blown away.  Great live band
I was kind of surprised that they didn't add any more US dates, but I guess the Transatlantic recording sessions got in the way. I could imagine that the NM/TFK shows would sell well, especially with the addition of Portnoy.

Offline yeshaberto

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #769 on: May 08, 2013, 10:37:42 PM »
Unfortunately this one was barely half full