Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

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 CCVP wrote:

 Roland113 wrote:

Here's an old friend, I was just thinking about posting to this thread this morning . . . and welcome CCVP.

Your post segues into my thought this morning.  It seems that Retropolis is one of the lower rated Flower Kings albums.  Any thoughts as to why?

Personally, I enjoy it a lot . . . er, at least I enjoyed it a lot this morning (my favorite Flower Kings al;bums tend to vary frequently).  I find that starting an album off with ten or fifteen minutes of a brilliant instrumental to be a gutsy mood.  In all honesty, it was the first CD that I had picked up by them and spawned my fascination with the Flower Kings.

So I ask you all, how do you feel about Retropolis (the album) and why?

Well, i do'nt have any specific reason. Some some reason Retropolis never clicked in me. Even though i have the album, sometimes it just feels like a waste of money because i rarelly listen it and when I listen it seems boring. I never understood quite why. Maybe because it seems like a worse Back in the World of Adventures, but . . . . i dont know. . . .

But to be quite frank here, I think that MOST Flower Kings albums are underrated. Look at Unfold the Future, Stardust We Are, Paradox Hotel and try to realise what an enormous effort it was to come up with such albums. Think about the wonderful songs they have. 

Hell, I seriously think that many reviewrs don't give enough thought to their reviews. Most of them just seem too hasty opinions. I mean, i usually take months and months to listen a single album and, in  the end, I like most of them. I took over a year to get into Gentle Giant, but now they are one of my favourite bands. When I think about the effort I make to appreciate music and the amount of 1 and 2 stars reviews given to new albums in this site I can only think that people don't really try. That becomes obvious when you look at TMV's The Bedlam Goliath (which is a great album), Ayreon's Y (which i have chosen as the album of the year) and even Opeth's Watershed: all underrated. 

The same happens with most progressive metal, retro-prog and neo-prog albums. Maybe it is a local sport to bash things you don't know well (or that you don't want to know well), but still,  i do my best to be fair to the bands and the albums I know. The problem is that some albums, like Retropolis, just don't click.

I can relate to your thoughts on Retropolis.  I feel much the same about Adam and Eve.  It's a good enough album I guess, but there's nothing on it that really grabs me.  If I'm going to listen to something by The Flower Kings, there seem to be so many options that I prefer.  

Ironically, I think you're spot on with your thoughts on their albums being underrated, I think all three that you single out are some of their best albums.  Every time I listen to "Paradox Hotel" I seem to find some song that had gone unnoticed until now.  "Stardust We Are" was the album that my wife and I listened to on the way back and forth from LaMaze class for a month, it's a fantastically relaxing album.  "Unfold the Future" was my most recent purchase (and the last studio album that I needed).  It's got a great jazzy feel and Jonas Reingold shows that he is one of the best modern prog bassists going these days.

I too am amazed that they don't have any higher ranked albums.

I'm hoping to see them again next year, maybe a Transatlantic / Flower Kings double billing...I can dream, can't I?  (Howard, if you're reading this, soungs like a great line up for 3RP 2010. . . I'm just sayin')