STARDUST WE ARE

I recently realised a likelihood for the enjoyment of the general sound of The Flower Kings and why they stood out to me above certain other retro prog bands, the reason being twofold. The most clear reason is still the fact that so many of their extended instrumental sections just go and take you on an absolute journey, being able to paint such vivid images throughout, providing a much needed, yet often forgotten aspect of songwriting, making all sections of the music engaging, rather than just bankimg on the good parts. The second reason is a far more personal one, the extremely positive, happy melodies reminding me of the pantomimes I used to be taken to as a kid, resulting in some kind of connection that I only recently realised. That said, I find Stardust We Are to be lacking in a lot of areas that made me appreciate the first 2 Flower Kings albums. The most prevalent issue is the lack of restraint displayed here, the album length being a challenge even when considering some of my favourite albums, such as Swans' To Be Kind, let alone what essentially feels like 2 hours of relatively safe prog rock. There is a real lack of variety to be found here, the cheesy qualities innately part of the genre being made an aspect of everything here, extremely dramatic sections that devolve into wild soloing, without any of the excellent writing that backed up past albums, not to mention an overbearing amount of ballads. While less of an issue, I also find the sequencing to be problematic as well, the back half loaded with far too many of the more commercial tracks with the far more proggy elements finding themselves on loaded up at the front, further contributing to this album being an extremely difficult one for me to be able to sit through, despite having certain moments which are downright incredible.

The album starts off with both an extremely strong, yet problematic song, as In The Eyes Of The World is my choice for greatest song on the album by a landslide, having an incredible energy to it and just having a lot more rock focus compared to everything else here, and while starting an album off with your best song is always something I find ill advised, as it means that there's going to be no greater point on the album than this very first piece, it's an especially egregious issue when the album goes for over 2 hours. Another part of the album that I find pretty interesting is the abundance of circus/carnival imagery throughout, all the way down to song titles, unfortunately rarely translating into the actual music. Most of the rest of side one is composed of a few slow paced songs that go on for far too long, sometimes having great elements to them, other times, such as with Just This Once, everything feels wasted. The excess and issue with sequencing is really highlighted in the stretch of music from Poor Mr. Rain's Ordinary Guitar to Circus Brimston though, all of these songs being entirely intrumental and essentially sounding like one extended solo. The one positive from this is that if you ignore the first 2 tracks and just focus on Circus Brimstone, then you've got something great, as the demented, off kilter rhythms and riffs used here are absolutely exquisite and once again bring in the more engaging side of the band. The more excessive side to this album is most clearly demonstrated in side 1's closing track, Compassion, starting of as a passionate, breathtaking song that then halfway through, completely fades out before coming back in sounding quite different, and once again, more soloing.

After the fairly mediocre first side, I was pleasantly surprised by the second side, starting off with a stunningly majestic interlude before the main portion of it started. This is far more commercial than the first side, with songs like Different People being reminiscient of SIlent Sorrow and My Cosmic Lover, although leaning more towards the sappy, painfully cheesy My Cosmic Lover. The lack of distinct change in tone throughout the album surely contributes immensely to the tedium of a lot of this album, all the songs being extremely whimsical in nature, making everything sound like one gigantic fantasy world, except with considerably less of the wonder that made Back In The World Of Adventures engaging despite its flaws. What's more is that by having more than one or two tracks of this nature simply to give a break before the more proggy songs, this in itself manages to become even more tiring than if they just decided to make a full 2 hours of nothing but insane instrumental work. This side is somewhat salvaged by the final, 25 minute epic however, as it manages to evoke the same kind of mystical qualities of the previous material here, but is actually able to move throughout what feels like an entire world constructed without simply devolving into pointlessness. This title track basically has all the main elements that a prog fan could ask for, long, sweeping passages of music, a decent progression throughout complete with an impressive display of technicality, a while lot of passion, but even this song isn't free of problems, as it feels almost too safe for its own good, utilising all the features of beloved prog epics without really doing anything too interesting with it, but it's definitely still a highly enjoyable song despite it being quite middle of the road in terms of ideas.

On the whole, I feel that at the very least, if this were half the length and only contained the good material here, that this would be an all around solid, albeit safe prog rock album. As it stands, this is the weakest of the 3 Flower Kings albums I've listened to so far for the excessive nature of it reaching painful levels throughout, it's always going to be a challenge for a 2 hour album to remain interesting, much less of symphonic prog of this variety, where even the beloved double albums of the genre such as The Lamb Dies Down On Broadway and Tales Of Topographic Oceans can test my patience. This album was fairly disappointing even despite my initial concerns with it, but I still can't deny that it contains a handful of absolutely standout moments that save the album from being outright bad, although just barely.

Best songs: In The Eyes of the World, Circus Brimstone, Stardust We Are

Weakest songs: Just This Once, The Man Who Walked With Kings, Different People

Verdict: Excessive to a fault, embodying all of the worst traits of prog rock within one album. The only thing that saves it is that a bit over 40 minutes of this is exceptional music, which would be a far bigger compliment if not for the fact that this is over 2 hours long.