Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

M27Barney wrote: I have just listened to "I A M" - not too bad on the first spin - especially part one which showcased some nice synth runs - I am a bit put off by the male vocalist who's sort of rasping puts me off a bit. In the last part it sounds like he's going to cry !! - not my cup of tea, but there is plenty of good guitar and keyboards, just a pity it isn't an instrumental CD as it would already be lined up for a 2nd spin. Mind you - who on this thread had Book of the Dead by K2 listed - I spun that after the Bodin. WHAT A BLOODY BRILLIANT CD !! - Allan Holdsworth on Guitar - is all his stuff as good as this because if it is i want to hear more !!!! This CD immediately took me back to the early eighties and the friday rock show playing bands like "AS ABOVE SO BELOW" - Let me tell you now - if you haven't got this CD - BUY IT IMMEDIATELY - also some lovely moog work by Ryo Okumoto - loads of Mellotron and only one poor track from five (the shortest one) - the opening track is AWESOME !!!

^ I second that last sentence. Nothing beats a good piece of music. Uuuhhhh ...    well, ... nothing ? ....

Edited by progrules - January 03 2010 at 02:21

Hey Henk, welcome back and Happy New Year to you.

So, I was looking at your list and noticed a bunch of tracks that I have but am really not too familiar with, so I made myself a playlist of them.  It's about six hours worth of music so who knows, I'll hope to find some new favorites on there.

I loved to see "Octovarium" in your top ten, I think that song doesn't get quite enough respect.

On the other end of the spectrum, I know I'm in the minority, but Transatlantic doesn't do a lot for me.  I don't know why but "The Whirlwind" went from one of the most anticipated releases of 09 to not even being on my iPod.  "Duel with the Devil" is the only epic of theirs that has any staying power with me and most consider that their weakest.  I'm one of the few, but I far prefer each of the member's main project rather than the "Supergroup". 

Speaking of Neal Morse epics, I noticed that there wasn't anything from ? or Snow?  In my mind, each of the releases is an epic from start to finish.  I also noticed that many of your favorites tend to be longer tracks.  Are those two points related?  I guess a better way to ask that question is do you consider either of those two albums to be among your favorites despite the lack of a defining epic single track?

Just curious, interesting list regardless and as I mentioned, I'll spend six hours tomorrow listening to favorites of yours that I'm not familiar with.

Tom

^ I'd say: check it out as fast as you can ... Unless you hate prog metal with a harder edge than DT. Other than that: what both bands have in common is high compositional quality though DT is better in this department. SX only made 2 top notch epics and those are my no's 1 and 11. V from year 2000 is great as a concept album though. Great band Symphony X.

Roland113 wrote: On the other end of the spectrum, I know I'm in the minority, but Transatlantic doesn't do a lot for me.  I don't know why but "The Whirlwind" went from one of the most anticipated releases of 09 to not even being on my iPod.  "Duel with the Devil" is the only epic of theirs that has any staying power with me and most consider that their weakest.  I'm one of the few, but I far prefer each of the member's main project rather than the "Supergroup".  Tom

The Quiet One wrote: Roland113 wrote: On the other end of the spectrum, I know I'm in the minority, but Transatlantic doesn't do a lot for me.  I don't know why but "The Whirlwind" went from one of the most anticipated releases of 09 to not even being on my iPod.  "Duel with the Devil" is the only epic of theirs that has any staying power with me and most consider that their weakest.  I'm one of the few, but I far prefer each of the member's main project rather than the "Supergroup".  Tom   Hey Tom,   I share your feeling on Transatlantic, though got to say I've enjoyed The Whirlwind, the only epic I loved and constantly listen to is All of the Above.   Not sure if it's me, but I think most people who had heard Spock's Beard and Neal Morse's solo stuff before listening to Transatlantic, barely find anything new. I, not sure if fortunately, hadn't heard them before, so I found All of the Above genius and still is, even though I know it's pretty much a typical Neal Morse composition.

Hey Pablo,

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one. 

And you may be on to something regarding what you've heard first.  My first Neal Morse CDs were Snow and V, I only picked up Transatlantic a month or so after those two.  When I first bought SMTP:e I loved it, and thought "All of the Above" was fantastic but it fell off of the face of the earth afterwards.  I've listened to it a total of 32 times in the past two and a half years compared to "Paradox Hotel" which I've listened to 51 times in it's double disk entirety.  For some reason, I prefer the original bands.  I kind of tried to stay relatively quiet on that front when the excitement of "The Whirlwind" was coming around.  I'm underwhelmed by the tour, if they were coming to Pittsburgh, I'd go see them, but they just don't move me enough to make the 300 mile journey to Philly.

Alright, so I'm off to go figure out my top 100 songs

Tom

Roland113 wrote: The Quiet One wrote: Roland113 wrote: On the other end of the spectrum, I know I'm in the minority, but Transatlantic doesn't do a lot for me.  I don't know why but "The Whirlwind" went from one of the most anticipated releases of 09 to not even being on my iPod.  "Duel with the Devil" is the only epic of theirs that has any staying power with me and most consider that their weakest.  I'm one of the few, but I far prefer each of the member's main project rather than the "Supergroup".  Tom   Hey Tom,   I share your feeling on Transatlantic, though got to say I've enjoyed The Whirlwind, the only epic I loved and constantly listen to is All of the Above.   Not sure if it's me, but I think most people who had heard Spock's Beard and Neal Morse's solo stuff before listening to Transatlantic, barely find anything new. I, not sure if fortunately, hadn't heard them before, so I found All of the Above genius and still is, even though I know it's pretty much a typical Neal Morse composition. Hey Pablo, Glad to hear that I'm not the only one.  And you may be on to something regarding what you've heard first.  My first Neal Morse CDs were Snow and V, I only picked up Transatlantic a month or so after those two.  When I first bought SMTP:e I loved it, and thought "All of the Above" was fantastic but it fell off of the face of the earth afterwards.  I've listened to it a total of 32 times in the past two and a half years compared to "Paradox Hotel" which I've listened to 51 times in it's double disk entirety.  For some reason, I prefer the original bands.  I kind of tried to stay relatively quiet on that front when the excitement of "The Whirlwind" was coming around.  I'm underwhelmed by the tour, if they were coming to Pittsburgh, I'd go see them, but they just don't move me enough to make the 300 mile journey to Philly. Alright, so I'm off to go figure out my top 100 songs Tom

Ok, I'm down to 200, I'll try and pare fifty off tomorrow then another 50 on Wednesday.  You may see a list this weekend.

The Quiet One wrote: Roland113 wrote: On the other end of the spectrum, I know I'm in the minority, but Transatlantic doesn't do a lot for me.  I don't know why but "The Whirlwind" went from one of the most anticipated releases of 09 to not even being on my iPod.  "Duel with the Devil" is the only epic of theirs that has any staying power with me and most consider that their weakest.  I'm one of the few, but I far prefer each of the member's main project rather than the "Supergroup".  Tom   Hey Tom,   I share your feeling on Transatlantic, though got to say I've enjoyed The Whirlwind, the only epic I loved and constantly listen to is All of the Above.   Not sure if it's me, but I think most people who had heard Spock's Beard and Neal Morse's solo stuff before listening to Transatlantic, barely find anything new. I, not sure if fortunately, hadn't heard them before, so I found All of the Above genius and still is, even though I know it's pretty much a typical Neal Morse composition.

progrules wrote: The Quiet One wrote: Roland113 wrote: On the other end of the spectrum, I know I'm in the minority, but Transatlantic doesn't do a lot for me.  I don't know why but "The Whirlwind" went from one of the most anticipated releases of 09 to not even being on my iPod.  "Duel with the Devil" is the only epic of theirs that has any staying power with me and most consider that their weakest.  I'm one of the few, but I far prefer each of the member's main project rather than the "Supergroup".  Tom   Hey Tom,   I share your feeling on Transatlantic, though got to say I've enjoyed The Whirlwind, the only epic I loved and constantly listen to is All of the Above.   Not sure if it's me, but I think most people who had heard Spock's Beard and Neal Morse's solo stuff before listening to Transatlantic, barely find anything new. I, not sure if fortunately, hadn't heard them before, so I found All of the Above genius and still is, even though I know it's pretty much a typical Neal Morse composition.   I'm almost completely with you here Pablo. In fact I'm a bit puzzled about the negative comments on the Whirlwind. In a way I can understand what they are saying but it also works on me a bit like people get blase and almost decadent about prog in the sense of they heard it all before and therefore can't appreciate the on itself great music anymore. It seems to me there's not much wrong with The Whirlwind but I hear negativism from all sorts of proggers everywhere (sorry Tom, no offense here). And of course everybody has his own opinion and feelings about a band or album. Still I wonder, if we can't appreciate a supergroup like Transatlantic anymore, where do we go and where does it end ...? A bit scary, right ? Well, maybe we are just being glutted here by too much great prog !

Hey Henk,

I think that every one of us has a certain belief that we know what is great music.  I'm not trying to sound personal just here, I'm just trying to make a point.  I think "Snow" is amazing and don't understand why you or anyone else doesn't like it.  Regardless, because you don't enjoy the CD doesn't translate to your inability to appreciate Neal Morse, it's just that that particular CD doesn't speak to you.

For me, "The Whirlwind" is much the same for me.  I don't really care for it, I don't hate the song / CD, it's just not compelling enough for me to continue listening to.  I think that making a jump from not liking one CD to inability to appreciate any supergroup is an unfair and giant leap.  It's not a matter of 'where does it end', it's just a matter of not liking a CD.  Everyone's opinion is equally valid on that front.

Tom

raindance wrote: The Whirlwind is the best release from '09 hands down. Can't stop playing the damn thing yet I almost gave up on it after five listens. It's certainly a grower & i'm still discovering it's beauty. Just like the classics of old!!!!   BTW,it was also voted the most popular release of '09 on another prog site!   Bring on 'The Whirld Tour'

You @ Manchester  on the 22nd May ?