Stardust We Are is one of my favorites. The opener Eyes of the World was the first TFK song I heard, as it was a free song on ProgArchives back in 2005. I acquired the album at some point and listened to it once and didn't go back, this was during a period of time where my musical world was opening up, and I was just absorbing so much new music. Years later, this was one of the first albums I revisited when I was starting to get into the band more. I've always enjoyed the first disc, everything is great, it has awesome flow. 2nd disc is hit or miss, mostly hit though. However, I dislike 'Different People' so much, I skip it every time, I've given it plenty of chances. The title suite is fantastic, top 5 TFK track. I agree about the live version, the Meet The Flower Kings version is not as enjoyable as I'd hoped it would be when I first listened. Never seen them live. But as far as the album concerned, I can listen to this straight through (minus DP) as I did yesterday, and not feel like I want it to end soon, partially because the epic finale, but the music leading up is pleasant enough on the 2nd disc. This is contrary to the next album.
Flower Power. The mammoth Garden of Dreams is the definition of epic. If the album was just that first disc, is would be hands-down the best Flower Kings album, no album since has had a better single disc of music than this one. I heard this album after digging into other TFK albums and from the moment I first put on that first disc I knew this was going to be pretty good. I think GoD might be a tiny little bit too long, but the ending is just great, the payoff makes it all worth it. Then having that transition into the coda which is Astral Dog wraps everything up nicely into a little bow.
But then they had to make a second disc.
I don't hate the 2nd disc. I think there are fine tunes on there. The opener, Psychedelic Postcard which is a little weird. I really like Magic Pie's refrain. Calling Home is good. But it's too long. I basically treat them as two separate albums, even though there are quotes from the massive epic Garden of Dreams throughout the 2nd disc. But the second disc is just too long, even for the Flower Kings. As one disc, it's approaching the CD limit, and I think the first disc works really well as it's just over an hour or so. Some of the stuff like Stupid Girl, Corruption, and Power of Kindness is a very bland run of songs to me, early on in the disc, and could have been removed to make a tighter disc.
Looking forward to the next few albums, my personal favorite era of the band.