BACK IN THE WORLD OF ADVENTURES

If you took all that was great from '70's symphonic prog (minus the jazz influenced parts) and distilled it down to one album, you would have the essence of the first (or second, depending on how you count) release by The Flower Kings, Back In The World Of Adventures.

It's great. When I first started listening to this, I heard echoes of every great prog moment from the '70's. And yet the band is original in it's own way. This is the kind of prog I want to hear made today.

Let me tell you this to show you how much I love this album. On my way to work, when I need inspiration, I will play World of Adventure folllowed by either My Cosmic Lover or Go West Judas. On my way home, when I need to wind down, I will play Big Puzzle followed by just about any other track (except for World of Adventure which I played earlier.) I promise you that this album is so good that I have a listening routine down for it.

I'd tell you about the high and low points of this album, but it's nearly all high points. I don't like Temple of Snakes very much, and Wonder Wheel is just average. Theme for a Hero is the most inspiring instrumental, closely followed by Atomic Prince / Kaleidoscope. The two epics, World of Adventure and Big Puzzle, are both excellent, and I tend to prefer one over another depending upon my mood. Of the shorter songs, Go West Judas leans toward heavy rock, My Cosmic Lover leans towards pop and Train to Nowhere references the singer / songwriter tradition. All of them are excellent.

Anyhow, I can't praise this album enough. It's one of the highlights of symphonic progressive rock post 1990, at once totally true to it's roots and also exploring new ground. 5 stars all the way.