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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1855 on: June 01, 2021, 03:41:30 PM »
I'll get to The Flower King at some point, but I'd rather go through the studio albums of The Flower Kings in order first just for consistency.

Good decision.  :tup :tup

Offline DTA

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1856 on: June 01, 2021, 03:50:16 PM »
I'll get to The Flower King at some point, but I'd rather go through the studio albums of The Flower Kings in order first just for consistency.

I also urge you to get Roine's solo album Hydrophonia and Tomas Bodin's An Ordinary Night... album at some point. They're both completely instrumental but fit right into that World Of Adventures/Retropolis era sound-wise.

Offline darkshade

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1857 on: June 01, 2021, 04:06:45 PM »
Agreed. Not trying to pressure anyone here, it's just that Roine's TFK IS TFK in everything but name and helps put in context those early TFK albums.

It's like going through Dream Theater's albums for the first time, and not listening to WDADU because JLB isn't there or if it had been released under Majesty as originally intended and IaW was DT's first album; except TFK is all classic TFK right off the bat, whereas WDADU had a different singer and vastly different production compared to what came later. TFK is consistent with BITWOA and Retropolis. It can also be argued that DT's writing chops hadn't matured yet whereas Roine had been in the music business for nearly 20 years by the time The Flower King came out.

Online The Letter M

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1858 on: June 01, 2021, 04:21:46 PM »
Agreed. Not trying to pressure anyone here, it's just that Roine's TFK IS TFK in everything but name and helps put in context those early TFK albums.

It's like going through Dream Theater's albums for the first time, and not listening to WDADU because JLB isn't there or if it had been released under Majesty as originally intended and IaW was DT's first album; except TFK is all classic TFK right off the bat, whereas WDADU had a different singer and vastly different production compared to what came later. TFK is consistent with BITWOA and Retropolis.

I feel this as well, and in fact, on my phone, I have Roine Stolt's The Flower King double-tagged as both Roine Stolt and The Flower Kings under "album artist" just so it'll appear in both TFK and RS under my artist scroll. Also, that opening title-track is just some of the best feel-good, positive TFK energy music you could ever want, and the band played it regularly through its first 20 years or so.

I'll get to The Flower King at some point, but I'd rather go through the studio albums of The Flower Kings in order first just for consistency.

I also urge you to get Roine's solo album Hydrophonia and Tomas Bodin's An Ordinary Night... album at some point. They're both completely instrumental but fit right into that World Of Adventures/Retropolis era sound-wise.

This a very slippery slope to get into. First it's The Flower Kings, then Roine's solo albums after The Flower Kings (like Hydrophonia), then it's solo albums by Tomas Bodin, then Jonas Reingold's Karmakanic, and then Hasse Froberg & Musical Companion. Not to mention early Tangent albums, the trio of Agents Of Mercy albums (though I would forgive you for not getting into them, listening to Nad Sylvan's voice is an acquired taste)... once you dive head first into the Flower Kings extended family tree, there's no going back. Heck, I even own the Hasse Bruniusson 2002 album Flying Food Circus, and the 2006 DVD Tour De Ville, the former of which features Roine Stolt on bass, guitars, keyboards, and co-producer of the album as well.

There's just SO much to explore once you start looking into the band and its various members. You may even find yourself getting into Pain Of Salvation once you get to the point of TFK where Daniel Gildenlow had joined the band, which goes back to the must-see/must-listen live album, Meet The Flower Kings, which features an impressive 7-member line-up, performing just six songs with a total length of over 150 minutes!

But I hope this doesn't overwhelm you. If anything, I hope it excites you, knowing there's a whole family tree of symphonic prog rock out there that you've yet to discover, with various branches involving its members working solo, and often times together on each other's albums. Heck, one-time TFK drummer Marcus Liliequist was only on *one* TFK studio album, but appeared on multiple TFK-related albums from Tomas Bodin, Karmakanic, and Roine Stolt, before, during, and after his time in The Flower Kings.

This thread has also prompted me to give Stolt's 1994 The Flower King a spin, and man, what a powerful opening song! That's a melody that'll sit in your ear for days!

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1859 on: June 01, 2021, 05:38:53 PM »
Look, I am a big fan of The Flower King album, and some of the songs are certainly in the classic TFK style, but it is very guitar-driven album, and it is missing 2/5 of who would comprise the main band on the first proper TFK album. Sorry, but Roine playing the keys is not the same as a world class guy like Tomas Bodin playing them.  Roine did an adequate job, but the keys do not stand out at all on most of the Flower King album.  With the Flower Kings, the keyboards are arguably as important as the guitar. 

Besides, Revenge319 has made it clear that he is going to listen to the albums in order, and is already working his way through, so I say let him enjoy the ride, while we welcome his thoughts without trying to have him change course midstream.  :)

Offline darkshade

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1860 on: June 01, 2021, 06:35:36 PM »
Look, I am a big fan of The Flower King album, and some of the songs are certainly in the classic TFK style, but it is very guitar-driven album, and it is missing 2/5 of who would comprise the main band on the first proper TFK album.

The only people left in the band from that early era are Roine and Hasse, so every album post-Flower Power or post-Rainmaker or post-Desolation Rose is missing 3/5 of that band, but we still call 'em The Flower Kings. For me, TFK is like King Crimson. Yes, it's a band, but it's really the guitarist's/leader's band when you get right down to it. Listening to many of Fripp's solo albums have that Crimson vibe.

If I'm not mistaken, those early albums (including TFK, BITWOA, and Retropolis) was all Roine and they're all guitar dominated compared to their albums after Retropolis, plus Roine played most, if not all, the bass parts, Hasse was only considered a guest musician until Stardust We Are, I think. Only Tomas Bodin's presence is the key difference between TFK and the first two albums, and in my opinion, it isn't THAT drastic of a shift. Losing Bodin after Desolation Rose impacted the sound more, to my ears. There is keyboard on TFK, it's not like there's no keyboards on that album. Roine just doesn't really do much soloing on the keys, instead we get more guitar solos.

Offline Dedalus

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1861 on: June 01, 2021, 07:48:19 PM »
I absolutely agree with everything darkshade and The Letter M have written.

And yes: The Flower King, BITWOA and Retropolis form a stylistic unit (The early FK sound).

Offline Ben_Jamin

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1862 on: June 01, 2021, 08:57:34 PM »
For me, Tomas Bodin was a part of The Flower Kings, in the same vein as Roine's Guitar and Vocals are a part of The Flower Kings sound. Jonas and his technical bass skills along with how he plays his grooves, are essential to that great jazz backing that I hear in the band, and most of the drummers shine in this band. A lot of fans do have their favorite drummer. Hasse's vocals add a bit of a rock flair to their sound, and some of their music requires that strong powerful voice at times, and he fulfills that role nicely, also it's a plus he has some composing and guitar playing skills.

The main members for me are Roine Stolt, Jonas Reingold, Hasse Froberg, and Tomas Bodin. And the band lost of a lot of it's tone and a certain quality that Tomas Bodin brought into the sound of The Flower Kings. Although, I did notice that it did start to get to Tomas Bodins head, because he started to have the part of the stage that was dead center, on a high rise, and you focused more on him.
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Offline Revenge319

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1863 on: June 02, 2021, 04:25:49 AM »
Interesting to hear people's thoughts regarding The Flower King. I still want to do all of the main studio albums first, but I'll definitely have to give The Flower King a listen after getting through the main discography. While I haven't heard the album yet, I think it would make sense to consider it separate from The Flower Kings' discography despite having a lot of similarities.

Anyway, I just finished listening to Stardust We Are. It's a bit hard to go into specifics, since it's a really big album and there's no way I could've fully absorbed it all with just one listen, but I definitely like this one. Some highlights for me were "Church of Your Heart", "Circus Brimstone", and "The Merrygoround". I'm sure given more repeated listens, I'll grow to enjoy this one a lot more than I already do. The title track especially seems like it'll really grow on me.
Well, next up is the one I've been anticipating the most: Flower Power. I try not to have high expectations, but I'm so interested in what the hour-long epic "Garden of Dreams" is gonna be like. And considering how much I love other massive epics I've heard like The Whirlwind and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, it's too easy for me to expect that this one will be about as great as those. I'll just have to find out soon enough!

Offline DTA

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1864 on: June 02, 2021, 04:40:07 AM »
Garden of Dreams is just stunning. I'm still amazed at how prolific Roine was back then, releasing 6 albums between 1995-2000 with 2 of them being doubles, and containing these amazing, majestic songs with some of the most beautiful melodies in the entire genre. I know they're both great, and Neal has certainly been more consistent over his career, but Roine at his peak (aka the mid/late 90's) was the best songwriter in prog history imo.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1865 on: June 02, 2021, 05:34:13 AM »


Anyway, I just finished listening to Stardust We Are. It's a bit hard to go into specifics, since it's a really big album and there's no way I could've fully absorbed it all with just one listen, but I definitely like this one. Some highlights for me were "Church of Your Heart", "Circus Brimstone", and "The Merrygoround". I'm sure given more repeated listens, I'll grow to enjoy this one a lot more than I already do. The title track especially seems like it'll really grow on me.
Well, next up is the one I've been anticipating the most: Flower Power. I try not to have high expectations, but I'm so interested in what the hour-long epic "Garden of Dreams" is gonna be like. And considering how much I love other massive epics I've heard like The Whirlwind and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, it's too easy for me to expect that this one will be about as great as those. I'll just have to find out soon enough!

 :tup :tup

Glad to hear you liked Stardust We Are right away.  That one took some time for me to really grasp, due to its length and sprawling nature, but it sure is rewarding once the whole thing connects.

Online The Letter M

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1866 on: June 03, 2021, 12:29:45 AM »
So I was just thinking that, once the current TFK lineup releases another album, it'll be the first time that any single lineup of the band has put out more than 2 consecutive albums (a trait they have shared with Yes up til now). Of course, this is on technicality since Fröberg was merely a guest on Retropolis and wasn't a full member until Stardust We Are.

That being the case, it's funny how every pair of albums almost features a single lineup (the exception being their 9th and 10th albums, Paradox Hotel and The Sum Of No Evil), with the caveat that Gildenlöw was merely a guest on UTF (which kind of contradicts my technicality regarding Fröberg and Retropolis earlier).

Anyways, getting to my point, if we pair the albums up, how would everyone feel about one versus the other?

Back In The World Of Adventures VS Retropolis
Stardust We Are VS Flower Power
Space Revolver VS The Rainmaker
Unfold The Future VS Adam & Eve
Paradox Hotel VS The Sum Of No Evil
Banks Of Eden VS Desolation Rose
Waiting For Miracles VS Islands

For me, I'd go Retropolis, SWA, SR, UTF, PH, DR, and Islands, but I'm curious to see how everyone else will go!

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Online Zydar

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1867 on: June 03, 2021, 12:38:10 AM »
Cool idea!

Back In The World of Adventures
Stardust We Are
Space Revolver
Unfold the Future
Paradox Hotel
Desolation Rose
Islands
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Offline DTA

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1868 on: June 03, 2021, 04:56:47 AM »
Oddly enough, the only really tough match-up for me is the SWA/FP one where I could go either way. The rest were pretty much no-brainers. UtF could potentially beat out A&E, but UtF can become tiresome to get through while A&E stays fresh throughout.

Retropolis
Stardust We Are
Space Revolver
Adam & Eve
Paradox Hotel
Desolation Rose
Islands


Offline KevShmev

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1869 on: June 03, 2021, 05:44:08 AM »
Back In The World Of Adventures VS Retropolis
Stardust We Are VS Flower Power
Space Revolver VS The Rainmaker
Unfold The Future VS Adam & Eve
Paradox Hotel VS The Sum Of No Evil
Banks Of Eden VS Desolation Rose
Waiting For Miracles VS Islands

Offline Fritzinger

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1870 on: June 03, 2021, 07:36:28 AM »
Back In The World Of Adventures VS Retropolis
Stardust We Are VS Flower Power
Space Revolver VS The Rainmaker
Unfold The Future VS Adam & Eve
Paradox Hotel VS The Sum Of No Evil
Banks Of Eden VS Desolation Rose
Waiting For Miracles VS Islands

I don't know the first two albums, SR and TR well enough to compare them. This discussion makes me want to check them out again though  :tup
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Offline Kyo

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1871 on: June 03, 2021, 08:19:38 AM »
Fröberg was merely a guest on Retropolis and wasn't a full member until Stardust We Are.

And on "Back in the World of Adventures" he wasn't featured at all! Funny, for some reason I wasn't aware of that, always thinking of him as one of the founding members - probably because I a) I only got these albums after Stardust and the live album and b) never really listened to them all that much. And after all, even on a regular TFK album it's perfectly normal to have long stretches where he's not heard at all, so the difference isn't really all that obvious.
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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1872 on: June 03, 2021, 09:05:56 AM »
I’m still missing about half of the TFK catalog (everything after UTF until Islands, and I also don’t have Flower Power), so I can’t really pick winners for most of these. I hadn’t realized the lineups had changed quite that frequently. Kind of makes me wonder if that’s a philosophical thing for Roine (kind of like how Fripp was always wanting to reconfigure KC every few albums) or what. Has he ever commented on the reasons for the frequent lineup changes?

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1873 on: June 03, 2021, 12:56:38 PM »
Back In The World Of Adventures VS Retropolis
Stardust We Are VS Flower Power
Space Revolver VS The Rainmaker
Unfold The Future VS Adam & Eve
Paradox Hotel VS The Sum Of No Evil
Banks Of Eden VS Desolation Rose
Waiting For Miracles VS Islands


I have to say I like all of The Flower Kings albums except "Islands" which I have no interest in ever hearing again.  I've never made it through the first disc.  I find it very boring, like the Lite Rock version of TFK.   When I need a fix of The Flower Kings it's going to be one of the first 10 albums.


Banks of Eden was pretty good, but I haven't really cared that much for anything they've released since.  Desolation Rose and Waiting For Miracles have their moments, but I doubt I'll ever listen to them again.  I don't reach for Banks of Eden very often either.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1874 on: June 03, 2021, 03:57:36 PM »
I’m still missing about half of the TFK catalog (everything after UTF until Islands, and I also don’t have Flower Power), so I can’t really pick winners for most of these. I hadn’t realized the lineups had changed quite that frequently. Kind of makes me wonder if that’s a philosophical thing for Roine (kind of like how Fripp was always wanting to reconfigure KC every few albums) or what. Has he ever commented on the reasons for the frequent lineup changes?

Aside from the bass player change after the 4th album, it feels like it was the drummer that was always changing, or sometimes you'd get an official 6th member for an album or something.  The core of Roine/Bodin/Reingold/Froberg was intact for eight straight albums (Space Revolver through Desolation Rose).

Offline darkshade

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1875 on: June 03, 2021, 05:28:08 PM »
Back In The World Of Adventures VS Retropolis
Stardust We Are VS Flower Power
Space Revolver VS The Rainmaker
Unfold The Future VS Adam & Eve
Paradox Hotel VS The Sum Of No Evil
Banks Of Eden VS Desolation Rose
Waiting For Miracles VS Islands

Offline Revenge319

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1876 on: June 04, 2021, 08:48:04 AM »
I have just finished listening to Flower Power. Now, this album is pretty different from the first three albums for me, because I do not like this album... I love this album. Yeah, I've only heard it once, but I can easily see this eventually being in my Top 10 favorite albums of all time. The best song is easily "Garden of Dreams", which is 59 minutes and basically none of it is wasted (there's this dark, ambient section that went on a bit longer than I liked, but it didn't really affect my enjoyment of the song). It's fascinating to me how a lot of these massive epics manage to be as long as they are, and not only are they really good, they're consistently really good from start to finish. I didn't pay much attention to the runtime while listening to Garden of Dreams, so I don't know for sure which movements are which, but if I recall correctly, some of my favorite movements were Garden of Dreams, Don't Let the d'Evil In, and The Final Deal. The whole song was really great, though, like I said. But what really makes me love this album is that after Garden of Dreams, they decided to make 12 other songs for the album, and a majority of these songs are close to or equally as great as Garden of Dreams. Some of my other favorite songs from the album are "Stupid Girl", "Power of Kindness", and "Magic Pie". Amazing album. I don't know if I'll hear another album by The Flower Kings that I'll enjoy more than this one, that's how much I like this after just one listen. But if it turns out that this band managed to make a better album after this one (and I would not doubt their ability to do so), I'm highly intrigued to hear how they outdid this one.

Offline darkshade

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1877 on: June 04, 2021, 08:57:24 AM »
Yes, Garden of Dreams is massive.

GoD is easily one of the best progressive rock epics of all time, certainly in the modern era. It is such an explosive journey, exactly what a great epic should be. GoD is a great example of how a long epic has a great final payoff, making the journey worth it in the end. That peak section near the end, "there's no such thing..." where you can even hear Roine's vocals straining to hit some rare high notes and he almost sounds angry. Gives me chills just thinking about it, and the music itself just brings me to tears. I love the closing track, as well, which works as a sort of coda for me, or if GoD was a short movie, it would be the music played during the credits. It's very reminiscent of a Frank Zappa solo track but with that Flower Kings touch.

Second disc is solid and has a lot of classic cuts, but has a lot of filler to me as well.

The next album Space Revolver is overall a better album (though a single disc) and hard to compare to FP. Plus, Jonas Reingold joins on the next album, which revolutionized their overall sound IMO. Jonas joining made them a complete band, too, whereas I think Roine was still handling a lot (or all?) the bass parts still on those first 4 TFK albums.

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1878 on: June 04, 2021, 09:26:24 AM »
I thought Michael Stolt played bass on the albums before Jonas joined?

Nice shoutout for Magic Pie there, that's one of my favourite from the second disc.
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Offline darkshade

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1879 on: June 04, 2021, 09:31:00 AM »
I thought Michael Stolt played bass on the albums before Jonas joined?

Nice shoutout for Magic Pie there, that's one of my favourite from the second disc.

Someone more informed on the matter might have to chime in, but I recall reading or hearing that Roine played many of the bass parts on the first 4 albums, if not all the bass parts, but Michael Stolt was the live bassist, so he was credited. Also, Roine tended to use pseudo names or aliases on the credits for those older albums.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1880 on: June 04, 2021, 10:15:16 AM »
I have just finished listening to Flower Power. Now, this album is pretty different from the first three albums for me, because I do not like this album... I love this album. Yeah, I've only heard it once, but I can easily see this eventually being in my Top 10 favorite albums of all time. The best song is easily "Garden of Dreams", which is 59 minutes and basically none of it is wasted (there's this dark, ambient section that went on a bit longer than I liked, but it didn't really affect my enjoyment of the song). It's fascinating to me how a lot of these massive epics manage to be as long as they are, and not only are they really good, they're consistently really good from start to finish. I didn't pay much attention to the runtime while listening to Garden of Dreams, so I don't know for sure which movements are which, but if I recall correctly, some of my favorite movements were Garden of Dreams, Don't Let the d'Evil In, and The Final Deal. The whole song was really great, though, like I said. But what really makes me love this album is that after Garden of Dreams, they decided to make 12 other songs for the album, and a majority of these songs are close to or equally as great as Garden of Dreams. Some of my other favorite songs from the album are "Stupid Girl", "Power of Kindness", and "Magic Pie". Amazing album. I don't know if I'll hear another album by The Flower Kings that I'll enjoy more than this one, that's how much I like this after just one listen. But if it turns out that this band managed to make a better album after this one (and I would not doubt their ability to do so), I'm highly intrigued to hear how they outdid this one.

Woohoo!

Whether it is one song, a suite or whatever we want to call it, Garden of Dreams still stands as the best collective piece of music they have ever done, IMO.  :hefdaddy :hefdaddy

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1881 on: June 04, 2021, 12:24:09 PM »
I like Garden of Dreams but I had to cut that long ambient stuff out.  1 or 2 minutes would have been better, it just drones on and on for too long.  I know a lot of people don't share this opinion but I always thought The Garden of Dreams could have done with a bit more editing.  Those are pretty minor gripes, though.  The payoff at the end of this one is good, but it just never really hit me on the same emotional level as something like "Stranger In Your Soul" (Transatlantic) or "At The End Of The Day" or "The Great Nothing" (Spock's Beard)

Offline Dedalus

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1882 on: June 04, 2021, 12:29:55 PM »
Back In The World Of Adventures VS Retropolis
Stardust We Are VS Flower Power
Space Revolver VS The Rainmaker
Unfold The Future VS Adam & Eve
Paradox Hotel VS The Sum Of No Evil
Banks Of Eden VS Desolation Rose
Waiting For Miracles VS Islands

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1883 on: June 04, 2021, 01:27:37 PM »
Can't recall if we did this, but as far as the double albums, Disc 1 or Disc 2?  I will leave off Waiting for Miracles since it is lopsided with Disc 2 being much shorter than Disc 1.

Stardust We Are Disc 1 vs Stardust We Are Disc 2
Flower Power Disc 1 vs Flower Power Disc 2
Unfold the Future Disc 1 vs Unfold the Future Disc 2
Paradox Hotel Disc 1 vs Paradox Hotel Disc 2
Islands Disc 1 vs Islands Disc 2

I will go with:

Stardust We Are Disc 2 - this was tough, as I adore that 20-minute instrumental run from Poor Mr. Rain's Ordinary Guitar to the intro of Compassion, but Disc 2 has what are now probably my three favorite songs from the album (Ghost of the Red Cloud, Stardust We Are, The End of Innoncence)
Flower Power Disc 1 - Disc 2 is very good, but Disc 1 has Garden of Dreams. 'Nuff said for me.
Unfold the Future Disc 2 - this was easy for me.  Devil's Playground is the far superior epic to The Truth..., and while Disc 1 has Silent Inferno, I listen to the other songs from Disc 2 way more than anything else from 1.
Paradox Hotel Disc 1 - another tough one, but I gave 1 the edge because a) it has more Roine singing, and b) that run from Lucy Had a Dream through End of a High Note is sublime.
Islands Disc 1 - highlights on both discs, but 2 seems to meander a bit at times, while 1 is mostly all good stuff.

Online The Letter M

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1884 on: June 04, 2021, 01:37:05 PM »
If I still listened to albums on CDs, I'd probably be able to decide, but almost all if my listening has been digital for the better part of the last decade, so I don't really distinguish where the 1st disc ends and the 2nd begins, unless it's super apparent. The albums just run together for me now as one long album, rather than 2 discs.

But if I had to pick....

Stardust We Are Disc 2
Flower Power Disc 1
Unfold the Future Disc 1
Paradox Hotel Disc 2
Islands Disc 2

-Marc.
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Offline darkshade

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1885 on: June 05, 2021, 08:34:35 AM »
^ Interesting, I find the 2nd disc of Islands to lose a lot of steam very early on, and sounds like the band ran out of original ideas until the last few songs.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1886 on: June 05, 2021, 08:39:03 AM »
I agree with that.  There are few tunes on Disc 2 of Islands I like a lot, Northern Lights being the most obvious standout, but Disc 1 seems to have more highs and is more consistent.

Offline darkshade

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1887 on: June 05, 2021, 02:41:25 PM »
I like the overall vibe on Islands, it's more laid back "pleasant-prog" I also feel like the entire album is in 7/8 when I'm thinking about the album.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1888 on: June 05, 2021, 08:15:11 PM »
I like the laid back vibe as well. Wasn't it Roine who said the album sounds different than normal because their parts were all recorded in isolation and the drums weren't mic'd like they normally would be? The low end definitely doesn't have the punch we normally get with a TFK record, and that is probably why the album has a more laid back feel.  I wouldn't want it that way every time, but nice to get one album like that, as it makes it unique in that regard.

Online The Letter M

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Re: Flower Kings Official Thread - v. Islands, Oct. 30
« Reply #1889 on: June 05, 2021, 08:56:17 PM »
^ Interesting, I find the 2nd disc of Islands to lose a lot of steam very early on, and sounds like the band ran out of original ideas until the last few songs.

I'll be honest, I haven't spun Islands in a little while, but it all sort of flows together for me, so it was really a coin-flip decision. I like a lot of both discs, and there are parts I like less on both, so it doesn't really make much of a difference to me. I could pick disc 2 today, and then disc 1 tomorrow, but like I said before, since nearly all of my listening is digital these days, the idea of separating the album by its physical constraints doesn't have much meaning to me unless it's baked in to the theme or concept of the album, which I don't really feel here (or on many of the TFK doubles really).

-Marc.
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