Author Topic: Flower Kings Official Thread  (Read 230933 times)

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #770 on: May 08, 2013, 10:56:56 PM »

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.

I think you are overestimating the draw of all of them in the U.S.  Neither TFK nor Neal as a solo artist draw well at all here in the States (Roine has said in the past that TFK often loses money when they tour here), and Portnoy probably isn't gonna bring in anyone who wouldn't have gone to the show anyway. 

Offline ariich

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #771 on: May 09, 2013, 02:14:25 AM »
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).
This is almost my exact ranking, I think I'd probably just swap the top 2 around. :tup

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Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #772 on: May 09, 2013, 07:26:08 AM »

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.

I think you are overestimating the draw of all of them in the U.S.  Neither TFK nor Neal as a solo artist draw well at all here in the States (Roine has said in the past that TFK often loses money when they tour here), and Portnoy probably isn't gonna bring in anyone who wouldn't have gone to the show anyway.


Yeah, unfortunately, they don't draw many fans in the US.  The most I've seen at any of the 4 shows I've seen them at was when I saw them a the Three Rivers Prog Festival in Pittsburgh a few years back.  When I've seen them as the only band or with a local opener in smaller venues the crowds have been in the 50 to 75 range, tops

Offline bobs23

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #773 on: May 09, 2013, 07:49:59 AM »
At the LA show on Tuesday I would be surprised if there were 400 people there. It's a real shame, as both bands kicked some major ass. The Transatlantic encore was a nice treat.

Offline Nick

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #774 on: May 09, 2013, 08:00:22 AM »
At the LA show on Tuesday I would be surprised if there were 400 people there. It's a real shame, as both bands kicked some major ass. The Transatlantic encore was a nice treat.

On one hand they deserve more, but really, they pull far better than most prog-rock bands who actually try and make a go of things in the states.

Oh, and Hasse is awesome! After TFK show Friday night he basically just hung around with fans all Friday night, Saturday, and Saturday night before leaving for the Philly show Sunday.

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Offline ColdFireYYZ

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #775 on: May 09, 2013, 02:06:25 PM »

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.

I think you are overestimating the draw of all of them in the U.S.  Neither TFK nor Neal as a solo artist draw well at all here in the States (Roine has said in the past that TFK often loses money when they tour here), and Portnoy probably isn't gonna bring in anyone who wouldn't have gone to the show anyway.
Wow, I know they don't draw huge crowds, but I thought they'd at least break even. Its pretty sad that a band like them has to lose money to play here.

Offline ColdFireYYZ

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #776 on: May 09, 2013, 02:08:39 PM »
At the LA show on Tuesday I would be surprised if there were 400 people there. It's a real shame, as both bands kicked some major ass. The Transatlantic encore was a nice treat.

On one hand they deserve more, but really, they pull far better than most prog-rock bands who actually try and make a go of things in the states.

Oh, and Hasse is awesome! After TFK show Friday night he basically just hung around with fans all Friday night, Saturday, and Saturday night before leaving for the Philly show Sunday.


I'm pretty sure I saw you a few times last weekend!

I met Hasse at the signing table and thanked him for a great show, but I didn't talk to him anywhere else. I saw him walking outside the theater but I felt a little funny approaching him.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2013, 02:14:37 PM by ColdFireYYZ »

Offline darkshade

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #777 on: June 09, 2013, 11:39:06 AM »
I've probably said this before, but I'll say it again, The Flower King has to be one of the best prog albums made since 1980. It's such a fun record, and some of Roine's most powerful performances.

Also, I don't know if it's been mentioned here, but Roine announced on his Facebook recently:
"Next week - a Mellotron from early 70's arrives @ Casa Stolt. More vintage to come then......btw. The TFK album is recorded on real reel to reel tape machine. Release Oct 2013."

!!!  :omg:

Offline Orbert

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #778 on: June 09, 2013, 01:59:41 PM »
I watched Disc Two of Meet the Flower Kings (DVD) a couple of times over the past few days.  Man, those guys are amazing.  I know the albums aren't wall-to-wall epics like that, but still, putting together and playing all those long, complex tunes is incredible.

I have mixed feelings about the concert footage being broken up by the "behind the scenes" stuff.  Usually I just want to play the concert and immerse myself.  But with The Flower Kings, I usually need a break after each song anyway.

Offline The Letter M

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #779 on: June 24, 2013, 07:04:11 PM »
Saw this at the TFK message boards:

Quote
Directly from Roine:

The Symphonic piece is just waiting - still asleep - morphing but as time goes - things may get better.
Or hopefully I realize it is crap before I release it………...or maybe it's genius.

Time is what I need - I've been woking solid for more than a year.

Future plan: TFK new album first - then TA album - then AoM DVD editing & mix - then TFK reissues (Vinyls) then TFK DVD from Banks Of Eden 2012 & NealMorse/TFK tour 2013.

Then……maybe Sympho piece …or new AoM, once Steve Hackett release our singer from Genesis bondage.
Then maybe …….wait , we're well into 2014.

Let's hope we're all alive.

Roine.

TFK ON VINYL!!! I don't even OWN a vinyl player and I WANT these... if the finished products look beautiful, like great colored vinyl and beautiful gatefold jackets, then I am SOLD. Of course, all the Double CDs will likely end up being Quadruple LPs...so it'll get pricey, but I WILL SAVE MY PENNIES IF I HAVE TO!

Also, more DVDs and live stuff, and of course, new TFK and TA next year. MAN... Roine's been busy and will continue to do so through 2014!

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #780 on: June 24, 2013, 09:34:14 PM »
I don't even own a record player, but if Flower Power gets released on vinyl, I am buying it.

Offline darkshade

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #781 on: June 25, 2013, 08:27:53 AM »
I'm curious about thatsymphonic piece. It's NOT on the new TFK album but something else? Either way I'm excited

Offline The Letter M

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #782 on: June 25, 2013, 05:52:38 PM »
I'm curious about thatsymphonic piece. It's NOT on the new TFK album but something else? Either way I'm excited

IIRC, he's been working on that for YEARS... I think since the Paradox Hotel days. He's had a lot of projects come and go since then, like 3rd World Electric and Agents Of Mercy, so it's been on the back burner for a very long time.

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Offline Nihil-Morari

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #783 on: June 27, 2013, 01:42:25 AM »
I'd love me some TFK vinyl. Just as I'm starting to complete my CD discography of them. Oh well...  :)
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #784 on: July 14, 2013, 06:04:35 PM »
Check out this instrumental, previously unreleased track from 2005 (the band put it up on facebook):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UaZIFmQg5VA


Offline Orbert

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #785 on: July 14, 2013, 08:38:16 PM »
Cool stuff! :tup

I like the goofy vocals.  Roine has cited Zappa as an influence, and you can really hear it.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #786 on: August 21, 2013, 08:02:50 AM »
Sounds like the new TFK record will be called Desolation Rose and is due out in late October.  wOOt!!

Offline darkshade

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #787 on: August 24, 2013, 08:02:22 PM »
Oh yea!!! I'm more excited to see the cover art and if it will top Banks of Eden, which I felt was the best art out of all the TFK albums.

Offline SomeoneLikeHim

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #788 on: September 11, 2013, 04:44:30 AM »
NEWS : THE FLOWER KINGS – reveal release of new studio album ‘Desolation Rose’ late October.

Swedish progressive-rock royalty The Flower Kings have had a busy year since regrouping in 2012 for the ‘Banks Of Eden’ album, and with a new creative vigour the band are following that with the fantastic new album ‘Desolation Rose’ due out on 28th October 2013.
The artwork, once again created by Silas Toball, can be viewed above and the band had this to say about the forthcoming release:

"Being somewhat of a political statement, the epic theme of "Desolation Rose" is a logical step in a time where perpetual war, famine, environmental threats, religious conflicts dominate the media and our minds. This is a time to wake up and the music on this album takes you on a journey where you are forced to questions what the mainstream media feed us and to rethink your whole world view on all of the above. This is in many ways a typical Flower Kings album but we have also taken it into another realm where we do take chances and where you may struggle to get into the music - or the lyrics - but trust me when I say that you will be rewarded, as this may be our most involved, important and interesting album ever. "(Roine)

The track-listing for the album is as follows:
1 Tower ONE 13:39
2 Sleeping Bones 04:16
3 Desolation Road 04:00
4 White Tuxedos 06:30
5 The Resurrected Judas 08:24
6 Silent Masses 06:17
7 Last Carnivore 04:22
8 Dark Fascist Skies 06:05
9 Blood Of Eden 03:12
10 Silent Graveyards 02:52

Earlier this year, The Flower Kings embarked on a very special tour alongside Neal Morse & Mike Portnoy to celebrate InsideOutMusic’s 20th Anniversary, playing to sold out crowds across Europe and the US.

Look out for more information and videos in the coming weeks!
Pre Sale start soon at The Flower Kings web shop:
www.flowerkings.se


For more information visit:
www.flowerkings.se
https://www.facebook.com/TheFlowerKings
https://www.reverbnation.com/theflowerkings
https://www.myspace.com/cosmiclodge

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Offline Orbert

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #789 on: September 11, 2013, 08:49:18 AM »
Yeah, Baybay!!  :tup

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #790 on: September 11, 2013, 11:17:32 AM »
Wow, their 2nd consecutive studio album that is under 60 minutes (not counting bonus tracks)!  Interesting.

Offline Orbert

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #791 on: September 11, 2013, 11:23:36 AM »
I didn't even notice that.  I saw some longer songs and some shorter ones.  But with The Flower Kings, even though they can crank out a lot of music, it's still about quality over quantity, and they haven't let me down yet.

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #792 on: September 11, 2013, 01:56:40 PM »
I was kind of surprised by the track lengths, but I'm always down for some new stuff from these guys.  Hope they tour in my area again.

Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #793 on: September 11, 2013, 01:59:06 PM »
Cover art is really nice.

Offline SomeoneLikeHim

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #794 on: September 11, 2013, 02:01:06 PM »
Cover art is really nice.
I agree, still not the best cover for a prog album coming out in october. ;D
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Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #795 on: September 11, 2013, 02:02:34 PM »
Um, I'm drawing a blank here. Which cover are you referring to?

Offline Mindflux

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #796 on: September 11, 2013, 02:04:17 PM »
Um, I'm drawing a blank here. Which cover are you referring to?

The one a few posts up?

Offline SomeoneLikeHim

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #797 on: September 11, 2013, 02:06:18 PM »
Um, I'm drawing a blank here. Which cover are you referring to?
The new Ayreon album! :metal
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Offline pain of occupation

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #798 on: September 11, 2013, 02:08:02 PM »
..I saw some one longer songs and some shorter ones.  But with The Flower Kings, even though they can crank out a lot of music, it's still about quality over quantity, and they haven't let me down yet.

noticed the same. I got some lofty expectations for this one.

Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #799 on: September 11, 2013, 02:42:22 PM »
Um, I'm drawing a blank here. Which cover are you referring to?

The one a few posts up?

...no.

Um, I'm drawing a blank here. Which cover are you referring to?
The new Ayreon album! :metal

Oh, duh. :lol

Offline The Letter M

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #800 on: September 12, 2013, 04:30:08 PM »
I was kind of surprised by the track lengths, but I'm always down for some new stuff from these guys.  Hope they tour in my area again.

The track lengths are interesting, and they haven't had this many varied lengths since their first two proper albums (BITWOA and Retropolis), but there's only one 10+ minute song, and again, the longest track on the album opens it.

I cannot wait to hear this, although I never really fully connected with BOE when it came out - then again, I didn't fully connect with PH when it came out, but TSONE was an instant love for me. I guess I'll be spinning BOE in October in preparing for the next album, DR.

-Marc.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #801 on: September 13, 2013, 08:28:12 AM »
I didn't even notice that.  I saw some longer songs and some shorter ones.  But with The Flower Kings, even though they can crank out a lot of music, it's still about quality over quantity, and they haven't let me down yet.

They haven't let me down yet either, in the sense of releasing an album that was a major disappointment, but it is interesting to note that since I became a fan in the latter part of 2000, they have only released two albums that I loved to death fairly immediately on release:

The Rainmaker: liked it when it came out, but definitely came off as not as good as everything else prior to it.
Unfold the Future: was pretty nutty over this when it came out, although I now probably only love about half of it.
Adam & Eve: was somewhat of a disappointment; it grew on me a lot over time, and now I like it a lot.
Paradox Hotel: loved it when it came out; still love it. My 2nd favorite.
The Sum on No Evil: was majorly underwhelmed by this; still am. It is solid, but by far their least impressive record to date.
Banks of Eden: thought it was very good upon release, but, aside from when I first got it, never really went through a stage where I couldn't stop listening to it.  Very good effort, but still lacking that little extra something.

Here's hoping this new one is an ass-kicker. :hat

Offline Orbert

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #802 on: September 13, 2013, 09:09:00 AM »
I came to The Flower Kings relatively recently (via Transatlantic), and because they have so much music out there, I really haven't gotten to know the individual albums, let alone songs, very intimately.  I tend to pick an album, put it on, and let it go.  Really, to me, it all sounds great.  If I dig more into it, I'm sure I'd find songs I like more than others, and albums I like more than others, and some I like less than others as well.

But honestly, right now, I think "I'll put on some Flower Kings" and do exactly that, and I'm good with it.  They haven't let me down yet.

Offline Mosh

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #803 on: September 13, 2013, 09:23:41 AM »
I came to The Flower Kings relatively recently (via Transatlantic), and because they have so much music out there, I really haven't gotten to know the individual albums, let alone songs, very intimately.  I tend to pick an album, put it on, and let it go.  Really, to me, it all sounds great.  If I dig more into it, I'm sure I'd find songs I like more than others, and albums I like more than others, and some I like less than others as well.

But honestly, right now, I think "I'll put on some Flower Kings" and do exactly that, and I'm good with it.  They haven't let me down yet.
That's actually why I can't really get into these guys. It's all good, but I can't get to know any of their stuff, the same way I've gotten to know albums by the classic prog albums.
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Offline The Letter M

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread
« Reply #804 on: September 13, 2013, 11:18:10 AM »
To me, TFK have always been a band who makes ALBUMS, not songs. I mean, sure, yes they make songs, they have tracks on their albums, but the experience of the album is so much greater taken as a whole rather than as songs. This doesn't mean they don't have great SONGS, although usually those happen to be their epics like "Stardust We Are", "The Truth Will Set You Free" or "Love Is The Only Answer". But they have some songs that stick out, particularly ones from Paradox Hotel, which was a more song-based album anyway.

TFK's albums are just better taken as wholes, and even though nearly half of their albums are double-CD length, they're still amazing taken as a whole. Like what you guys said, I doubt I could name songs and tracks off many of their albums, but they haven't made an album I truly disliked. Sure, there are some like The Rainmaker or Adam & Eve that I didn't really get INTO, but there's still some great moments on those albums (both, oddly, are single albums).

They're a different beast than, say, Spock's Beard, who write albums full of songs, where you can listen to them out of context from the album, but more or less, with TFK, there's just something better about the songs when listened to in context of the whole album. I don't know what it is, but they're like a REALLY good deli sandwich - with all the right ingredients, as good as some of them may be individually, they're SO MUCH TASTIER when taken all together in ONE BITE. And when you FINISH that sandwich, it is just SO satisfying, especially the double albums (which, I guess if we're talking subs, they'd be the foot-longs).

Bands like Dream Theater or Spock's Beard or Marillion make albums full of songs that aren't (typically) needed to be heard all in one go, and I like that about THOSE bands. They're more like chips, in regards to lunch foods, albeit different flavors of chips. But you know what you're usually getting each time you get a new bag of chips, and as a whole, the bag is great! You may get one or two chips that aren't as good as the rest, but you know they're all good, just more or less the same across the board.

Then we get a band like Transatlantic, which, just happens to be a full meal of sandwich AND chips, and you just can't help but want more even though you're stuffed by the end of it.

-Marc.
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