Author Topic: Flower Kings Official Thread  (Read 230852 times)

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #280 on: June 07, 2010, 11:13:07 PM »
1. "Garden of Dreams" (Flower Power)

Could number 1 be anything but “Garden of Dreams?”  I think not.  It is a shame that this band is not more popular, as this song deserves to be frequently be mentioned in the same breath as other prog classics like “Close to the Edge,” “Supper’s Ready,” “Thick as a Brick,” “2112” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” but such is life.  Fans of the band know what an incredible achievement this entire 18-part, nearly one hour long, song is. 

The opening symphonic prog leanings of “Dawn” immediately led you know that you are in for something special, and the opening vocal section in “Simple Song” is very catchy, and immediately sucks the listener in. 

Up next is arguably the highlight of the entire song: “Business Vamp.”  I adore Tomas Bodin’s keyboard sounds during the first half of the song, all of which is instrumental.  It gives off a vibe like you are watching a movie set in futuristic times.  And when the vocal melodies kick in, it is like heaven.  The chorus to “Business Vamp” is quite possibly my favorite chorus in the entire TFK cannon. 

“All You Can Save” is also one of the best parts of the entire song, and the solo by Roine that closes it is top-notch.  The next two songs, both instrumentals, are dynamite, and both feature those futuristic-sounding keyboards first referred to back on “Business Vamp.”  The mellowness of both “Did I Tell You” and the title section of the song are both very nice amongst the rocking numbers that bookend them.

“Don’t Let the Devil In” is a straight-forward rocker, yet it still has tons of that quirkiness and fun that is so prevalent in the band’s sound.  Quirkiness abounds, too, in “Love Is the Word,” leading into “There’s No Such Night,” with features some spectacular harp samples, along with tremendously melodic vocals, which are spine-chilling in their delivery and timing, amongst the music which makes you feel like you are floating on the clouds.

Many find the next three parts to be not as essential as the rest, but I think “The Mean Machine,” “Dungeon of the Deep” and “Indian Summer” all adds ton of character to the overall package, and is 10 plus minutes of laid back, trippy goodness that lets you swim in the ecstasy of the overall song before they bring it all home with the final four parts.

The three instrumentals “Sunny Lane,” “Gardens Revisited” and “Shadowland” all provide a tremendous build-up to final climax, finally heard in “The Final Deal.”  The final part of the song features some of the finest vocals to ever come out of Roine Stolt’s mouth; the line, “We fight for freedom, sunlight, and all-time bright,” is easily one of my five favorite single vocal lines ever.  And the choir harmonies in the background help give the final movement an even more grandiose feel that it would have already had without it.  We, the listeners, are left exhausted at this point, wondering if what we really just heard was written and performed by humans, as the song gently ends with a fadeout replete with warm keyboards, many different voices, and some perfectly placed guitar and percussion fills.

This is, simply put, not only the perfect Flower Kings song, but one of the most perfect pieces of music ever written by man.  I know I laid the hyperbole on pretty thick here at times, but I think that speaks volumes about how much I adore this entire song.  It is musical perfection.

Offline cthrubuoy

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #281 on: June 08, 2010, 04:45:30 AM »
Number 2 would be my number 1, but only because I haven't given myself an hour to listen to Garden of Dreams yet. But seeing as it's your number 1, I'll make the time.
Good list, and thank you for introducing me to this awesome band :)

Offline ariich

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #282 on: June 08, 2010, 09:52:38 AM »
Great stuff Kev! And yeah, no surprises about your number 1 really :lol Totally agree with you about Don't Let the Devil In, what an awesomely rocking bit of music!

I'm still putting my top 50 together, but I'll hopefully be good to start by the weekend.

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #283 on: June 08, 2010, 01:23:25 PM »

Good list, and thank you for introducing me to this awesome band :)

Thanks, and no problem!  I always love seeing this band get new fans! :tup :tup

I'm still putting my top 50 together, but I'll hopefully be good to start by the weekend.

Cool. :coolio

Offline dedSurroun

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #284 on: June 08, 2010, 03:30:19 PM »
4. "Devil's Playground" (Unfold the Future)

On the flip side, this song flat-out rocks for much of the way.  The main riff is in a dead heat with "Monster Within" for nastiest TFK riff ever, and the section that kicks in just shy of the 10:30 is so evil, you gotta love it, when it veers from it slightly and then kicks back in (at the 11:39 mark), that is a great dynamic shift.  They could have formed an entire instrumental section around that part of the song, and I would have been thrilled to death with it.  And the ending...too good for words.  I have never been shy about saying that I am not a big fan of Gildenlow's singing, but he nails the end of this song perfectly, and the instrumental outro is perfect, with Roine's lead guitar shining, and Jonas Reingold's bass carving out all kinds of awesomeness.
:tdwn

I'll give you a pass for a lot of other songs on this list, but to place this as high as #4? Wow. Sorry! Not a good choice. It's one of their weakest epics/song.

Other than that, a good list. Naturally, I disagree with a lot but it was a great read - good job!
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Offline ariich

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #285 on: June 08, 2010, 03:49:37 PM »
I also wouldn't place it as high as Kev did, but it has some great stuff in it!

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Offline MetalManiac666

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #286 on: June 08, 2010, 07:19:56 PM »
"Garden of Dreams" truly is a masterpiece.  It might be my favorite prog epic ever!

Offline cthrubuoy

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #287 on: June 09, 2010, 02:04:30 AM »
I checked it out last night.
I was not dissapointed.

Now I have to find another spare hour to listen to it again!

Offline The Letter M

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #288 on: June 09, 2010, 08:38:15 AM »
Very nice list, Kev! I was looking at your list as a whole, and noticed a couple of things:
-You had no songs from The Sum Of No Evil whatsoever... was this a conscious effort? Or do you truly not like ANY song from that album?
-Every album you did represent in the Top 50 had songs in the Top 10 except Adam & Eve and The Rainmaker, which, to many fans, are their weaker albums, particularly being 1-disc albums surrounded by such greater albums (two being 2-disc albums).
-In just sheer number of songs, Paradox Hotel had the most in your Top 50, with 11 out of the album's 19 songs.
-In ratio to an album's total length, the most-included album here is Retropolis, with 7/11 songs (57:39/69:16) at 83% of the album. The least-included album is The Rainmaker at 18% (13:54/76:52). Here's the complete list of percentage of albums, most to least:
Retropolis - 83%
Space Revolver - 76%
Paradox Hotel - 71%
Stardust We Are - 61%
Flower Power - 61%
Unfold The Future - 60%
Adam & Eve - 58%
Back In The World Of Adventures - 42%
The Rainmaker - 18%
The Sum Of No Evil - 0%

-Marc.
« Last Edit: June 09, 2010, 09:30:21 AM by The Letter M »
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #289 on: June 09, 2010, 09:23:05 AM »
Wow, those are some interesting numbers.  Even I wouldn't have taken the time to figure all of that stuff out. ;)

I did not make a conscious effort to not include anything from TSONE; I just didn't feel any of the songs were good enough to make the top 50 (or the honorable mentions :p).  Except for the super boring "One More Time," I like all of the songs on that record, but I don't love any of them.

Interesting that 7 of the 10 albums had a song in the top 10; that was definitely not done on purpose.

Also, dedSurroun, "Devil's Playground" is awesome. :hat

Offline cthrubuoy

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #290 on: June 09, 2010, 09:23:53 AM »
Very nice list, Kev! I was looking at your list as a whole, and noticed a couple of things:
-You had no songs from The Sum Of No Evil whatsoever... was this a conscious effort? Or do you truly not like ANY song from that album?
-Every album you did represent in the Top 50 had songs in the Top 10 except Adam & Eve and The Rainmaker, which, to many fans, are their weaker albums, particularly being 1-disc albums surrounded by such greater albums (two being 2-disc albums).
-In just sheer number of songs, Paradox Hotel had the most in your Top 50, with 11 out of the albums 19 songs.
-In ratio to an album's total length, the most-included album here is Retropolis, with 7/11 songs (57:39/69:16) at 83% of the album. The least-included album is The Rainmaker at 18% (13:54/76:52). Here's the complete list of percentage of albums, most to least:
Retropolis - 83%
Space Revolver - 76%
Paradox Hotel - 71%
Stardust We Are - 61%
Flower Power - 61%
Unfold The Future - 60%
Adam & Eve - 58%
Back In The World Of Adventures - 42%
The Rainmaker - 18%
The Sum Of No Evil - 0%

-Marc.

That's quite interesting actually. Would be even more interesting if you could implement a weighting system for each song dependent on where it's placed in the top 50 and see where the albums then place. I'd do this, but I'm in work so it's a bit difficult

Offline The Letter M

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #291 on: June 09, 2010, 09:45:57 AM »
I'm not sure how to go about implementing a weighing system on this, so I'll leave that to you! :)

Also, adding the times of albums in your Top 50, you used 55.6549% (554:01 / 995:27, TSONE being 0% or 00:00/74:52) of the band's officially, regularly released, studio material in your Top 50, which is 9 hours, 14 minutes, 27 seconds of music... how many band's Top 50 songs would last over 9 hours?  :lol

I bet doing a Top 100 would take up the rest of the band's material, and maybe some of their rare, bonus-disc stuff as well... but that would be QUITE the daunting task to do.

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Offline cthrubuoy

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #292 on: June 09, 2010, 10:12:51 AM »
I'm not sure how to go about implementing a weighing system on this

I was thinking something simlpe like Number 1 gets 50 points, number 2 gets 49, etc

Offline The Letter M

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #293 on: June 09, 2010, 10:52:20 AM »
I'm not sure how to go about implementing a weighing system on this

I was thinking something simlpe like Number 1 gets 50 points, number 2 gets 49, etc

Oh, using that, then, here are the numbers (which are quite interesting compared to the other numbers I posted):
Paradox Hotel: 300 pts
Stardust We Are: 206 pts
Retropolis: 167 pts
Flower Power: 158 pts
Space Revovler: 149 pts
Unfold The Future: 129 pts
Back In The World Of Adventures: 89 pts
Adam & Eve:55 pts
The Raimkaker: 22 pts
The Sum Of No Evil: 0 pts

I guess with the sheer number of songs in the Top 50 from PH, it was bound to get weighted a lot, with 11/50 songs being from this album, it tops out at a hefty 300 points! It also helped that it had 5 songs in the top 20, meaning a quarter of the top 20 is music from PH!!! I wonder if it's Kev's favorite album  ;)

As one might predict, The Rainmaker and Adam & Eve are at the bottom, and the band's more popular albums are in the middle-to-high spots.

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #294 on: June 09, 2010, 11:56:10 AM »
Flower Power and Paradox Hotel are constantly fighting it out for the number 1 spot.

And actually, The Sum of No Evil as is at the bottom...where it should be. :biggrin:

Offline ariich

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50 countdown now going!)
« Reply #295 on: June 11, 2010, 05:29:21 PM »
Ok, so I think it's about time I make a start on my top 50! Expect some similarities to Kev's and some pretty major differences as well. :)

50. The Merrygoround (Stardust We Are)
While there isn’t necessarily anything particularly special about this song, I think it’s one that perfectly exemplifies The Flower Kings’ ability to write really nice, upbeat, happy tunes, which is something often avoided in prog music these days. The first half is catchy, fun music that always puts a smile on my face, and the second half is gorgeous and clearly Pink Floyd inspired. Excellent guitar solo as well.

49. The Navigator (Unfold the Future)
Starting a bit of a trend here, but again this is just a lovely tune. TFK are known for their monstrous epics, but they really are masters of the short simple songs too, and this is a great example. The keyboard sounds really give this song a soft atmosphere.

48. Cosmic Circus (Adam & Eve)
Bit of nice classic prog in this song. As with The Merrygoround, there’s nothing necessarily special about this song, but it has a nice, upbeat feel, and a catchy and memorable chorus. I think my like of it is also aided by the fact that it gets Adam & Eve back on track after a decent but slightly underwhelming opener. 

47. World of Adventures (Back in the World of Adventures)
What a fab way to kick off their first album (not including the original Roine Stolt one of course). This song has a bit of everything in it: pretty melodies, dramatic sections, great playing, nice vocal harmonies, and a bit of that quirkiness that has always been such an integral part of their sound. Classic prog in every sense. 

46. Just This Once (Stardust We Are)
Possibly a surprise entry this one, but I have a real soft spot for it. It’s a quirky song, that’s just… so Flower Kings! The first time I heard it was a bit “wtf” moment, particularly the intro, but I was new to TFK back then so didn’t really know what to expect. Now it’s an important part of one of my favourite ever albums.

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Offline KevShmev

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Interesting choices.

I like "The Navigator" a lot; it is like "Solitary Shell"'s brother, as they intentionally share the same vocal melody, but have different music.  I prefer SS, but TN is aces, too.

The beginning of "Just This Once" was a major WTF the first time I heard it, too. :lol  I still think it is a bit too out there, but the rest of the song is great.  That big guitar chord Roine hits when he starts singing the chorus after the second verse is so money.

I cannot listen to "Cosmic Circus" w/o thinking of how much Froberg sounds like Justin Hayward during the verses, especially when he sings the line, "...and forced the world to make some sense."

Offline cthrubuoy

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What's up with the Ping-Pong type sound at the start of a few albums?

Offline ariich

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It's just Retropolis and Paradox Hotel isn't it?

The beginning of "Just This Once" was a major WTF the first time I heard it, too. :lol  I still think it is a bit too out there, but the rest of the song is great.  That big guitar chord Roine hits when he starts singing the chorus after the second verse is so money.
Definitely! I also really like the jazzy clean guitar solo.

Quote
I cannot listen to "Cosmic Circus" w/o thinking of how much Froberg sounds like Justin Hayward during the verses, especially when he sings the line, "...and forced the world to make some sense."
:lol Hadn't noticed that, but I'll listen out for it next time I hear the song.

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Offline ariich

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Ok, next batch:

45. The Truth Will Set You Free (Unfold the Future)
This song tends to make me feel quite ambivalent. The open and close of the song are both wonderful, but it meanders a bit in between. In the first half of the song, the instrumental segments are excellent and the verses are great. The chorus is pleasant but a little underwhelming, and the big instrumental section later on just drags a little, although it’s rather made up for by the last few minutes of the song. It’s very good, but there’s a bit too much filler in it. Although the one thing I always notice when I hear it is how nice the bass work is throughout.

44. Rhythm Of The Sea (Retropolis)
A really nice song this one, it’s fairly short and simple but there’s a lot to like in it. The general mood is lovely, the chorus is great, and my favourite of all is the snyth lines that lead into the choruses.

43. Circus Brimstone (Stardust We Are)
And so to the first instrumental we come across in this listing! I love the way the first 2 minutes or so build up gradually but relentlessly, until finally the song really gets going. Lots of unsettling rhythms, excellent playing all round, and eerie melodies and keyboard sounds. And then suddenly without any jarring change, the track is full of pretty melodies. I think the song is slightly longer than it really needs to be, but the moods change enough that it never really gets boring. And who doesn’t love the bizarre quirky wtf moments in the middle of the song?

42. Chicken Farmer Song (Space Revolver)
What a fun little song this is! When it starts, the verses sound sweet but aren’t particularly exciting, but once the chorus kicks in, it turns into a really nice upbeat tune. That said, it probably wouldn’t rank so highly for me if it weren’t for the instrumental section with the guitar solo, which is just really groovy and… well, cool.

41. Last Minute On Earth (The Rainmaker)
I’ve always really liked this song, and I think it’s a great way to open the album. Nice riffs, catchy melodies, and fantastic vocals. Actually it really is the vocals that stand out for me in this song, they really give it a powerful feeling, particularly in the last chorus towards the end of the song. The very end is really weird, but I don’t really consider that part of the song.

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Offline Plasmastrike

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Ariich died. Nah just playing. Top 50 is just such a vast list to follow let alone construct, especially TFK. I like reading these descriptions from yall because I'm new to the band, and let's face it they have so much material to become familiar with.

Anyway, the point of my post.

Bavarian Skies. Weirdest song. Does anyone have any information behind this song?

Offline ariich

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:lol Oh damn, nobody responded so I thought I'd leave it a few days, and then I got busy with work and forgot! :facepalm: I'll do the next five tomorrow.

And regarding Bavarian Skies, it is a bizarre song, but I absolutely love its mellow eerie feel. Don't really know much about it though; Kev being the resident TFK expert may know something...

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Offline Plasmastrike

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Listening to Adam & Eve for the second time. This is much better than I remembered! Onto track three..

Offline KevShmev

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A&E is definitely a grower; it took me quite a while to really appreciate most of it.  

As for "Bavarian Skies," someone else asked that at one point in this thread and I gave an answer then.  It is somewhere in this thread. ;) :lol :biggrin:

Offline cthrubuoy

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I think my No.1 Flower Kings song is between 'Silent Sorrow' and 'I am the Sun Pt. 1'.

Offline Zydar

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Mini-bump

Is Space Revolver a good place for a TFK newbie to start?
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Offline The Letter M

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Mini-bump

Is Space Revolver a good place for a TFK newbie to start?

I would say YES! It was one of the first albums I bought, and it is often considered one of their best albums. It's the first album to feature current bassist Jonas Reingold and his playing is pretty phenomenal.

After Space Revolver, I would suggest Stardust We Are, but it's a 2-disc set and is a lot to digest, but if you're up to it, it's also a good album to get for a newbie. The first two albums are pretty good too, not to mention Roine Stolt's solo album, The Flower King, which is a precursor to the band. Stardust We Are is very symphonic but not entirely so. It's got some great songs and cool little interludes, as well as some fantastic playing and wonderful melodies... oh, and the title track is just so EPIC in every sense of the word.

I will also suggest Unfold The Future, which features then-new drummer Zoltan Csörsz, and his playing offers some great fast-paced jazz-fusion to the band as this album has a more improvisational sound in some areas, but also has some great epics and some great songs as well. Definitely one of my top 3 TFK albums!

-Marc.
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Offline KevShmev

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Is Space Revolver a good place for a TFK newbie to start?

Absolutely. :)

Offline Zydar

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Thanks guys :tup
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Offline Cyglade

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I recently got into this band by reading this thread and I've got to say that I think this band is incredible. My first album was Flower Power, then I moved on to Stardust We Are, Paradox Hotel, Space Revolver, and Adam & Eve in that order. I've yet to hear the other albums but I'm sure that they would be pretty awesome as well.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2010, 05:44:14 AM by Cyglade »

Offline KevShmev

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That is great to hear. :tup :tup

Keep us posted as to your progress on the other albums (when you get them). :)

Offline ZBomber

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So Quad just showed me Flower Power. Amazing record!

Offline Quadrochosis

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Yea it's deff a winner :metal
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Offline KevShmev

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So Quad just showed me Flower Power. Amazing record!

 :tup :tup

Offline The Letter M

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Re: The Flower Kings Official Thread (with Top 50s: KevShmev pg 6-9, ariich pg 9+)
« Reply #314 on: September 21, 2010, 12:28:13 AM »
So I just got Hasse Froberg & The Musical Companion's debut release, Future Past. It's an amazing journey that shows what Hasse can really do by himself, and much of it has that TFK flavor, but a lot of it really stands apart from his work with Roine and company.

Listening through the album once today made me realize that even though TFK haven't put out any new material in nearly 3 years, their members still have in them that signature TFK sound.

I'm looking forward to getting my pre-order of Agents Of Mercy's DramaRama in, and spinning that a lot... also on the horizon should be Tomas Bodin's/Eggs & Dogs' next album, He She It Is, the third part (following You Are and I Am before that)... oh, as well as the next Karmakanic record, which Jonas had said he'll start writing around year's end!

And as usual, Roine has a couple different projects down the pipeline, but I wouldn't mind seeing him do another Transatlantic album if Neal so wishes to play with them again so soon (I think scheduling would be easier next year with Mike not being committed to DT, although Pete has the Marillion Weekends to gear up for).

Back to my original point - anyone else here get the HFMC album yet? If not, I highly suggest it if you enjoy TFK. You can get it from Reingold Records, Jonas' own website/store.

-Marc.
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