Flower Kings Official Thread

[KevShmev]

With a new album by The Flower Kings coming out in the not too distant future, I figured now is as good a time as any to get back to my first-time TFK marathon.

I've just finished listening to The Sum of No Evil, and like pretty much all of their albums, this one left a good impression on me. The first song, "One More Time", didn't particularly stand out for the most part, but the instrumental section at the end was cool. "Love Is the Only Answer" has a lot of good moments; one of the best parts was around 2:25, where it gets kind of intense. It reminds me a little bit of the "Lay Down Your Life" movement from The Whirlwind. "Trading My Soul" was alright, though I think it could grow on me. "The Sum of No Reason" is my favorite song on the album. It has some odd lyrics here and there, but everything else is great from start to finish. "Flight 999 (Brimstone Air)" is a nice instrumental, and "Life in Motion" is a good closing track that feels adventurous.

Ten albums thus far in my marathon, and all of them are at least good! It'll be great to really get to know these albums, because I know for some of them, I'll probably end up loving them a lot.

Good to hear! They have so many albums, many of which are long, but it is a very rewarding journey if you have the time and the patience for it.   

It's still not close to being one of my favorite TFK records, but I like The Sum of No Evil a lot more than I did for a long time.  It's a good record to just turn on and let play.  There are no WOW songs, but it's all good, and the mix is just splendid.  This reminds me of something I recently said about the new DT album: not every album has to be the greatest ever or bad. Sometimes, a good album is a good album and that is fine.  The Sum of No Evil is neither great nor bad; it is a good album.  And that works just fine. 

[The Letter M]

justforkicks.de has put up pre-orders for  By Royal Decree, but sadly no track list has been posted. The album IS listed as being a 3LP and 2CD set, so it looks like we've got another double on our hands, and a lengthy one at that if it needs 3 LPs, presumably at least 100 minutes in length, though they could shortchange us at an 85-90 minute double CD and each side of vinyl be only 12-15 minutes in length on average.

https://justforkicks.de/shop/progressive/11926/by-royal-decree-ltd.-black-3lp-2cd-box-set

https://justforkicks.de/shop/progressive/11927/by-royal-decree-exclusive-jfk-edition-ltd.-yellow-3lp-2cd-box-set-postcard

https://justforkicks.de/shop/progressive/11925/by-royal-decree-ltd.-2cd-digipak

-Marc.

[ProfessorPeart]

The new HFMC album arrived today and I got a listen in to most of it. The thing that struck me is that Hasse seems to be losing his higher register. Seemed to struggle a bit and he has a noticeable amount of gravel in his voice that I don't remember. The album is good, just age seems to be catching up with him.

I like Hasse and and have never disliked his vocals. The thing I like about HFMC is that they tend to be the heavier cousin of TFK. Similar style but with some heavier sections/songs and soloing that is of the heavier variety.

[The Letter M]

New TFK single!
https://youtu.be/3IyGvwYhvTY

Preorders are up at lasercd-
https://www.lasercd.com/cd/royal-decree-2cd-digipak-preorder
https://www.lasercd.com/vinyl/royal-decree-3lp-black-vinylcd-preorder
https://www.lasercd.com/vinyl/royal-decree-3lp-trans-blue-vinylcd-preorder

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Ugh, why do their first singles nowadays always seem to start off with Hasse singing lead first?  Nothing for me is a bigger musical killjoy than getting that first new Flower Kings song and hearing his voice first instead of Roine's. 

Overall, not a bad song, but I can't say it was particularly exciting.  Some nice guitar and keyboard work, but the melodies all seemed pretty bland (no matter who was singing).  First impression.

[The Letter M]

CD1

1  The Great Pretender  00:06:55 

2  World Gone Crazy  00:05:04 

3  Blinded  00:07:45 

4  A Million Stars  00:07:11 

5  The Soldier  00:05:23 

6  The Darkness In You  00:05:13 

7  We Can Make It Work  00:02:48 

8  Peacock On Parade  00:05:15 

9  Revolution  00:05:59 

 

CD2

1  Time The Great Healer  00:06:12 

2  Letter  00:02:25 

3  Evolution  00:04:47 

4  Silent Ways  00:05:01 

5  Moth  00:04:31 

6  The Big Funk  00:04:39 

7  Open Your Heart  00:05:17 

8  Shrine  00:01:08 

9  Funeral Pyres  00:07:14



Looks like it's about 100 minutes, and no sign of a sidelong epic. I guess it just didn't happen this time. Ah well...

-Marc.

[HOF]

New single definitely sounded like it could have been on Islands. Not a ton to latch onto. Would say it’s fine but not much else to say about it.

[RoeDent]

Because Hasse's the best singer in the band. Roine's far far from terrible, but it's clear Hasse has the stronger voice of the two, capable of higher notes and whatnot.

[ProfessorPeart]

Because Hasse's the best singer in the band. Roine's far far from terrible, but it's clear Hasse has the stronger voice of the two, capable of higher notes and whatnot.

Agreed. I hated Roine when I first heard him in TA. I've loved Hasse from the moment I heard him. I've come around on Roine, but he's not Hasse. I've always been confused by the Hasse hate.

[DTA]

Feels like they're just releasing the same album over and over again. Roine has discovered his inner-Neal Morse

[darkshade]

I have a feeling this will be like recent TFK, Transatlantic and Neal Morse efforts, where each song bleeds into the next, creating a quasi-concept album / album long song feel, but each track is really their own song.

I will await album release, not checking out any singles, they don't give a good impression of the overall album anyway.

[DTwwbwMP]

I actually LOVED TGP and think it's one of their better songs in years!

[darkshade]

Feels like they're just releasing the same album over and over again. Roine has discovered his inner-Neal Morse

I'd argue the recent TFK albums have more diversity in sound than recent Neal albums, but I get it, compared to the first 10 TFK albums, the last 3-4 albums, as well as MoaA, all have a similar sound.

[HOF]

Because Hasse's the best singer in the band. Roine's far far from terrible, but it's clear Hasse has the stronger voice of the two, capable of higher notes and whatnot.

Agreed. I hated Roine when I first heard him in TA. I've loved Hasse from the moment I heard him. I've come around on Roine, but he's not Hasse. I've always been confused by the Hasse hate.

I've come to appreciate Roine's voice in more of a Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen kind of way. Not that I love either of them, more that there's a personality and expressiveness despite the technical limitations.

[KevShmev]

I've come to appreciate Roine's voice in more of a Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen kind of way. Not that I love either of them, more that there's a personality and expressiveness despite the technical limitations.

Well, it's not like Hasse is a technical marvel.  His voice has sounded strained and thin for a long time when he trying to take it too high, so his reach has always exceeded his grasp.  Roine is a better singer, not just because he has a better natural and pleasant sounding voice, but because he knows what he can and cannot do and never tries to do too much.

[Orbert]

I love Roine's voice.  It's got a very different color to it that I like.  It's not a great voice in the classic sense, but Roine is a great musician, and it comes through in his voice just as it comes through when he's playing.  Hasse is the better voice for sure, but Roine is The Flower King.  There can be only one.

[KevShmev]

Connor MacLeod reference FTW!!

[Orbert]

Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod

[HOF]

Duncan was the better MacLeod IMO.

[Zydar]

Duncan was the better MacLeod IMO.

And the better singer

[HOF]

Listening to Roine Stolt's The Flower King again. Man, it's a really amazing album. Up there with anything else by TFK I think.

It keeps ending and I keep starting over again.

[Fritzinger]

Yes, I think Humanizzimo is one of Roine's best compositions. The motives and melodies are just beautiful. The version on Meet The Flower Kings is the ultimate one for me though. It features the Reingold/Csörsz rhythm section, which (as you guys may know by now ) is by far the best rhythm section the band has ever had in my opinion.

[Zydar]

That title track is just amazing, perhaps my 2nd favourite TFK song after World Of Adventures.

Although I actually prefer the Road Back Home version, that was the first version I heard of it and am so used to it

[DTA]

Dissonata is one from The Flower King that gets ignored even though it's full of amazing parts. The whole album is pretty much full of exceptional songs. I think newer FK is really missing those instrumental tracks like Pilgrims Inn, Magic Circus of Zeb, Theme For A Hero, Atomic Prince, Circus Brimstone, etc where there's really strong themes that almost act as makeshift vocal parts.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, I think Dissonata might be my favorite Roine solo tune, although The Flower King and Humanizzimo are both tremendous as well.  That is a damn good record.  I'd love to see Roine do another solo album in that vein (one that is more guitar driven).

[HOF]

Got a copy of Roine Stolte’s Hydrophonia last week. Another great album that fits right in with the early TFK albums in terms of sound, style, production, etc., just without vocals. Definitely one that shouldn’t be missed by TFK fans.

It’s amazing how much music Roine put out from 1994 to about 2007 between his solo albums, TFK, and Transatlantic, not to mention things like The Tangent.

[KevShmev]

Little Cottage by the Sea is one of the best instrumentals Roine has ever written.  That is one gorgeous piece of music. 

[HOF]

Little Cottage by the Sea is one of the best instrumentals Roine has ever written.  That is one gorgeous piece of music. 

It is really great.

Two things that I really like about the album are the amount of saxophone and some of the cleaner guitar tones Roine solos with. Really like the clean solo on Wreck of HMS Nemesis and the sax on Nuclear Nemo.

Also, I think Jaime Salazar is still my favorite TFK drummer.

[darkshade]

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.

[The Letter M]

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.

[DTA]

Little Cottage by the Sea is one of the best instrumentals Roine has ever written.  That is one gorgeous piece of music. 

That whole album is full of beautiful moments, but Little Cottage is the best of them all. I've probably said it a few times in this thread but Hydrophonia is like a lost instrumental FK album (same with Bodin's An Ordinary Night) and if anyone is a fan of those 90's albums, then they owe it to themselves to check them out.

[KevShmev]

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.

It just goes to show you that songs are almost always more important than the players (when the difference in the latter is not significant).  Jonas is a beast of a bass player, yet doesn't play on any of the first four TFK albums, which are all among their best, IMO.  And Zoltan has been by far their best drummer, yet doesn't play on any of what I consider the best TFK records.  Heck, the drummer who played on Paradox Hotel is probably the least best one they've had, yet I think that is their best album.  Songwriting is where it's at. 

Little Cottage by the Sea is one of the best instrumentals Roine has ever written.  That is one gorgeous piece of music. 

That whole album is full of beautiful moments, but Little Cottage is the best of them all. I've probably said it a few times in this thread but Hydrophonia is like a lost instrumental FK album (same with Bodin's An Ordinary Night) and if anyone is a fan of those 90's albums, then they owe it to themselves to check them out.

I agree that fans should check those out, but I cannot call them lost TFK albums since too many key elements are missing.  Same thing with The Flower King.  Keyboards are too big a part of the TFK sound for me to say that an album that didn't feature a keyboard player is a real TFK album (sorry, but Roine, whose main instrument is guitar, playing the keys is not even close to the same thing as a regular keyboard player playing them), even if the style is somewhat similar to the one taken on by the band that became known as The Flower Kings a year later.

[darkshade]

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.

[The Letter M]

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.

[RoeDent]

Hmm...OK then...

S-tier:
Stardust We Are
Flower Power
Space Revolver

A-tier:
Back in the World of Adventures
Retropolis
Unfold the Future
Adam & Eve
Paradox Hotel

B-tier:
The Rainmaker
The Sum of No Evil
Banks of Eden
Waiting for Miracles

C-tier:
Desolation Rose
Islands