BACK IN THE WORLD OF ADVENTURES

An masterful debut from one of my favourite modern progressive rock bands. The Flower Kings are a progressive rock band with a clear 70s feel, yet are not copycats from the Prog Giants. Sure, they are influenced by them, but that doesn't make then uncreative. One of the elements that make me happiest about this album is the mood/tone of it. The Flower Kings's title represents their sound : pacific, beautiful, and uplifting. Roine Stolt(guitar, vocals) is the man behind the band, and he always composes the big majority of the music from the band. His guitar playing is art itself, and may remind listeners of Steve Howe. The Keyboard playing is essential to the band, the bass is loud and thundering, and the percussion is of high quality.

Two obvious highlights are the opener and closer of this album. 'World of Adventures' is a magical track full of joy ... and virtuosity! This song can really lift my mood whenever I feel down with its beauty. 'Big Puzzle' is a phenomenal epic and I am glad it is here to download. I may be biased because this is the first song I heard from The Flower Kings and the song that has drawn me into them. This song is full of brilliant melodies, and magical moments (one moment is similar to Close To The Edge's ambient section).

The Other two highlights of the album are the heavy 'Go West Judas' with heavy electric guitar riffs, screaming vocal lines, and church organ playing; and of course the goosebumps-inducing 8 minutes of beauty called "Theme For A Hero".

The rest of the tracks are good songs of various styles, from ambient jazz (oblivion Road), to mellow pop (Train to Nowhere), to ELP influenced material (Atomic Prince) to straightforward melodic rock/pop (My Cosmic Lover)

1. World Of Adventure (9/10) 2. Atomic Prince / Kaleidoscope (6.5/10) 3. Go West Judas (9/10) 4. Train To Nowhere (7.5/10) 5. Oblivion Road (5.5/10) 6. Theme For A Hero (8.5/10) 8. My Cosmic Lover (6/10) 9. The Wonder Wheel (7/10) 10. Big Puzzle (9.5/10)

My Rating : B+

Share this THE FLOWER KINGS review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Zitro
• Report this review (#45479)
• Buy THE FLOWER KINGS music online with PA partners
• Show all THE FLOWER KINGS MP3/Stream
• Go to THE FLOWER KINGS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Back in the World of Adventures page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for THE FLOWER KINGS related discussions