DESOLATION ROSE

I love early Flower Kings but I love their new, harder, more serious sound more. In fact, Banks of Edan is one of my favorite albums. Naturally I had high expectations and I was no let down with Desolation. It features more focused writing than Banks of Edan. Some lyrics are repeated in other songs. This gives the album a sense of whole, instead of individual songs. The sound is also darker than previous albums. Again, I like this. The first disc is amazing. Each song shows how talented this band is. For me the highlight is Desolation Road. Pretty much the title track, this song links a concept spread out through other songs. Plus it has an amazing keyboard solo.

All in all, this is great effort by the Flower Kings. Fans will love it too. If you didn't like the sound of Banks of Edan, it is still worth it. The second disk returns to the classic Flower Kings sound. There is something here for everyone.

9/10. A few tracks don't grab my attention but the album is everything you would expect from the Kings.