FLOWER POWER

One thing is that they're everything I like about prog, melodic, impressive and mature.

Not just a bunch off fake jazz musicians trying to play stupid and meaninless odd rhythyms to try and impress.

This album proves it.

Not their best in my opinion, but still one enjoyable album.

The one down side about this album is that it is near 2 and a half hours, which is longer than most films, and can seem quite tiring, but besides that, the strongness of the material just seems to carry it well. At least they didn't do a Prince (3 disc cd, woo, who does he think he is, Final Fantasy games)

This also made one of the longest songs ever, the epic and bombastic Garden Of Dreams, which is just under an hour long, almost half the album.

You can argue which side is better, but I do go in favour of the first, but really do like the second as well.

These guys also suffer from the Supertramp syndrome, where they have 2 lead singers and you favour a voice more than the other. I do like Roines voice, but when it comes down to it, Hasse has the superior vocals.

CD 1

Garden Of Dreams (1-18)

1. Dawn - Nice proggy intro. 8/10

2. Simple Song - Very beautiful. Great atmosphere. 10/10

3. Business Vamp - Love the quite dark turns this song takes. The instrumental sections are amazing. 9/10

4. All You Can Save - Quite Steely Dan melodies. Amazing guitar solo. 9/10

5. Attack Of The Monster Briefcase - Phenomanal instrumental. 10/10

6. Mr. Hope Goes To Wall Street - I feel sorry for this Mr. Hope, he is always in their songs. Crazy instrumental work. 9/10

7.Did I Tell You - Very low fi. The instrumental sections are very beautiful. 9/10

8. Garden Of Dreams - Hasse's vocals are just amazing. What an amazing build up. 10/10

9. Don't Let The d'Evil In - What a rocking song. Great chorus. Very kick ass. Has quite a Fire Garden era Steve Vai vibe to it. 10/10

10. Love Is The Word - The intro sounds like Cradle Of Filth. Such a cool song. Very proggy. Love the layered vocals. 10/10

11. There's No Such Light - Beautiful instrumental work. One of Roine's best vocal performances. 10/10

12. The Mean Machine - The operatic vocals sound like that guy from the Go Compare adverts. Weird collection of noises. 9/10

13. Dungeons Of The Deep - This is basically the End Of Days soundtrack. 10/10

14. Indian Summer - Piano work is beautiful. The arrangement is just spectacular. 10/10

15. Sunny Lane - Quite trancy. The melodies again are very Steely Dan. 10/10

16. Gardens Revisted - Some great guitar work. 8/10

17. Shadowland - Some amazing proggy arrangements and mellotron work. 9/10

18. The Final Deal - A great ending to one amazing piece of music. What an epic. 9/10

19. Captain Capstan - Increasing circus music. Quite cool. 9/10

20. IKEA By Night - Only 5 seconds, but pretty cool. 10/10

21. Astral Dog - Beautiful improv guitar work. Roine is one amazing guitarist. 9/10

CD 2

1. Deaf, Numb & Blind - A magical journey of a song. Amazing instrumental work and discourse between the instruments. 8/10

2. Stupid Girl - Reminds me of a Megadeth slow song. Very poppy, but amazing. Great chours. Love the ending. 10/10

3. Corruption - Again, very cheesy, but effective. 9/10

4. Power Of Kindness - Very Genesis. Reminds me of chruch organ pieces. 9/10

5. Psycedlic Postcard - Love the effects on Roine's voice. Just a great piece of prog with amazing instrumental work.

6. Hudson River Sirens Call 1998 - Almost like a collection of ambient noise. Quite nice. The female operatic vocals just sound stupid. 7/10

7. Magic Pie - Incredibly cheesy. The lyrics are quite stupid. The vocals and melodies are amazing. It sounds like a cheesy Extreme song. 9/10

8. Painter - The chord sequence is the same as Spice Girl's Too Much. The vocal harmonies are amazing. Great chorus. 9/10

9. Calling Home - Vocals are amazing. This is a bit too plain, and usually the Kings would make something a little more instresting. 7/10

10. Afterlife - A nice wee instrumental to end a pretty amazing album. 8/10

CONCLUSION: Not their best, but still an amazing album.

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