There is definitely some magic missing in recent TFK albums. The stretch from TFK->BITWOA->Retropolis->SWA->FP->SR->TR->UtF is basically unmatched by any other prog band or artist, especially the pre-Jonas run of albums, much as I enjoy Jonas' contributions when he joined.
I think the last two albums have been fairly good, and IMO, better than the two albums that came before (Banks Of Eden and Desolation Rose). With their upcoming album, the band will have released three albums in a row with the same line-up, a feat that hasn't happened in the band before, AFAIK, even though their first four albums share roughly the same line-up (their debut didn't feature Hasse, and he was only a guest on Retropolis and not yet a full-time member until Stardust We Are). It'll be interesting to hear what a TFK line-up with three albums in a row will sound like! Guess they won't be like Yes anymore.
I like Waiting For Miracles. It wasn't their best, but it was enjoyable and probably middle-of-the-pack TFK for me, but Islands really stepped it up a bit for me. I guess we will find out how By Royal Decree goes in about 9 weeks!
-Marc.
I agree that the last few albums have been better (I include MoaA) than the two post-hiatus albums, but I wouldn't rank them higher than anything released before 2004, except for TSoNE, and maybe Paradox Hotel.
Funny enough, I really enjoy TSONE and PH, the latter being a Top 3 TFK album for me. I think it's just that those album have sat with me longer, and they came out not long after I became a fan of the band (back in 2005, PH was their first new album after I became a fan, though it wasn't an immediate favorite like TSONE would be the following year in 2007). After their first hiatus, I wasn't too thrilled with BOE and only liked DR slightly more than BOE. After their second hiatus, WFM kind of thrilled me a bit, but Islands really got me back into the band, and I have since gone back to WFM and appreciated it a bit more.
S-Tier:
Stardust We Are
Unfold The Future
Paradox Hotel
A-Tier:
Back In The World Of Adventures
Retropolis
Flower Power
Space Revolver
The Sum Of No Evil
Islands
(The Flower King)
B-Tier:
The Rainmaker
Desolation Rose
Waiting For Miracles
C-Tier:
Adam & Eve
Banks Of Eden
(Manifesto Of An Alchemist)
Of course, the majority of their albums are A or above for me, and while I put A&E and BOE in C-Tier, they're not AWFUL by any means, I just never really got into them all that much and rarely reach for them when I've got a TFK itch to scratch. I also am a bit influenced by the expanded tracklistings I've made for some of those albums where I've included bonus tracks and mixed them into the running order to my own personal liking (which I've posted here before many times). I'm kind of glad these last couple of albums haven't gone the Bonus Tracks route like BOE and DR did, and are giving us complete albums with all of the songs (even if these double albums are a bit shorter than they used to be like SWA, FP, UTF, and PH). I guess that's the difference between a 2LP and 3LP album on vinyl.
-Marc.