Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

Some great songs are mentioned on this page like Church of your Heart and Serious Dreamers !

Edited by progrules - July 28 2009 at 04:03

progrules wrote: Some great songs are mentioned on this page like Church of your Heart and Serious Dreamers ! But nobody ever mentions the two Judas songs: Judas Kiss and Go West Judas which are both more than excellent to me. Is this because it's about traitor Judas or are they just not considered great ??         ^ I should say last page because we're on page 28 !!

Both Judas songs are great, and I especially enjoy the Alive On Planet Earth version of Judas Kiss (15 minutes long!).

Last night, a friend asked me to play him some Flower Kings (he hadn't heard any).  So naturally I chose Just This Once (probably my second favorite FK song).  I realized it is pretty much everything I love about the band condensed into just under 8 minutes.  It's got quirkyness, jazziness, a fantastic guitar solo, great vocals and lyrics by Stolt, lovely melodies, and a slowed down symphonic beauty of an ending.

I didn't have time to play him an epic, which I would have preferred, so I'll save that for next time.  He thought the song was "weird", and because of that said "I see why you like this band"

He played bass in my college prog band, and helped with the writing of our "magnum opus"......a 10 mintue energetic piece with 5 sections.   He also wrote a very cool bass driven prog song of his own (the only song he ever wrote actually) while in that band.  He now plays for an 80's and 90's top 40 cover band and makes more money doing that than I do at my computer programming job

He got tired of playing "difficult" music.  However, he has said he wouldn't mind laying down bass for some of my originals (and he IS a fantastic bass player, even if he is a lazy one )

Anyway, he seemed to like the kings.  He does still enjoy listening to "difficult" music, even if he isn't all that interested in playing it (he likes Dream Theater and Tool).

The Quiet One wrote: You must know that I'm not big fan of those 2 albums that the Judas songs are in, so they won't get any love from me...

What a strange comment.

That's like saying you don't like, I dunno, "Fading Lights" coz of the album it's on.

Those 2 tracks are fabulous in their own right (as are the albums I might add).

So there!

The Quiet One wrote: Nov wrote: The Quiet One wrote: You must know that I'm not big fan of those 2 albums that the Judas songs are in, so they won't get any love from me... What a strange comment. That's like saying you don't like, I dunno, "Fading Lights" coz of the album it's on. Those 2 tracks are fabulous in their own right (as are the albums I might add). So there! Didn't understand the (bolded) statement. What I said was, I'm not a big fan of those 2 albums(all songs count) so you won't expect much love from me on any song. And btw, I love We Can't Dance. So there!

The bolded statement was trying to draw a parallel with the idea that you don't like the Judas songs coz of the albums that they're on despite the fact that they are great tracks.

So, to me it's like saying that someone doesn't like "Fading Lights" coz he hates the whole album despite the fact that FL is a great track.

So, let me get this right........

You're a Flower Kings fan but you don't like the albums "World of Adventures" or "Retropolis" and so therefore you don't like these tracks:

Back In The World of Adventures
Atomic Prince / Kaleidoscope
Go West Judas
Theme For A Hero
Big Puzzle
Retropolis
There Is More To This World
The Judas Kiss
Flora Majora
The Road Back Home

etc

These, in my honest opinion, are quintessential Flower Kings tracks and you're saying that you don't like any of them coz of the album they're on?

I really can't get my head around that.

Roland113 wrote: ^  I wouldn't sweat it too much Nov, Pablo's on record for not liking The Flower King's earlier material. Personally, I like Retropolis, though World of Adventures is one of the harder ones for me to get in to.  Of the listed songs, "Flora Majora" is my favorite.

Nov wrote: The Quiet One wrote: Nov wrote: The Quiet One wrote: You must know that I'm not big fan of those 2 albums that the Judas songs are in, so they won't get any love from me... What a strange comment. That's like saying you don't like, I dunno, "Fading Lights" coz of the album it's on. Those 2 tracks are fabulous in their own right (as are the albums I might add). So there! Didn't understand the (bolded) statement. What I said was, I'm not a big fan of those 2 albums(all songs count) so you won't expect much love from me on any song. And btw, I love We Can't Dance. So there! The bolded statement was trying to draw a parallel with the idea that you don't like the Judas songs coz of the albums that they're on despite the fact that they are great tracks. So, to me it's like saying that someone doesn't like "Fading Lights" coz he hates the whole album despite the fact that FL is a great track. So, let me get this right........ You're a Flower Kings fan but you don't like the albums "World of Adventures" or "Retropolis" and so therefore you don't like these tracks: Back In The World of Adventures Atomic Prince / Kaleidoscope Go West Judas Theme For A Hero Big Puzzle Retropolis There Is More To This World The Judas Kiss Flora Majora The Road Back Home etc These, in my honest opinion, are quintessential Flower Kings tracks and you're saying that you don't like any of them coz of the album they're on? I really can't get my head around that.

infandous wrote: progrules wrote: Some great songs are mentioned on this page like Church of your Heart and Serious Dreamers ! But nobody ever mentions the two Judas songs: Judas Kiss and Go West Judas which are both more than excellent to me. Is this because it's about traitor Judas or are they just not considered great ??         ^ I should say last page because we're on page 28 !! Both Judas songs are great, and I especially enjoy the Alive On Planet Earth version of Judas Kiss (15 minutes long!).

progrules wrote: Roland113 wrote: ^  I wouldn't sweat it too much Nov, Pablo's on record for not liking The Flower King's earlier material. Personally, I like Retropolis, though World of Adventures is one of the harder ones for me to get in to.  Of the listed songs, "Flora Majora" is my favorite.   REALLY ??? You like that song more than the titletrack Retropolis and Big Puzzle ?? Can't believe it ! (though Flora Majora is truly a great track as well)

Absolutely, and don't get me wrong, the other songs that you mention are each great in their own right, but "Flora Majora" has such a nice groove to it, especially Roine's solo towards the end of the track. 

Roland113 wrote: I went from not having ever heard of The Flower Kings to having their entire discography over the course of a year and a half (I shudder to think of how much money I spent on music last year).  The last couple of CD's that I picked up from them (Flower Power, The Flower King, Back in the World of Adventures and Unfold the Future) kind of blended in with the other CD's for me.  I've had Flower Power for almost a year now and it's only started to grow on me over the past two months.  I have a feeling that the same thing will eventually happen with the other three.  I was a bit overloaded.  Maybe I'll give it a few spins after my concert next weekend (IQ, Phideaux, It Bites, SIngularity, King's X . . . yeah, I'm pretty excited).

I sort of did the same thing with The Flower Kings.  Listened to them each 3 to 5 times (some more) and than moved on to other things.  I really enjoyed listening to the Flower Kings albums and think highly of all of them, but with all of the music out there, it has been kind of my M.O. to purchase, listen a few times, and then move on to the next purchases.  However, I do try to go back from time to time to revisit bands and albums, and reading this appreciation thread has inspired me to revisit the Flower Kings again.  So far, I have listened to Adam & Eve, Back to the World of Adventures, and the first CD from Flower Power.  CD number 2 is on deck in the car. 

Nov wrote: The Quiet One wrote: Nov wrote: The Quiet One wrote: You must know that I'm not big fan of those 2 albums that the Judas songs are in, so they won't get any love from me... What a strange comment. That's like saying you don't like, I dunno, "Fading Lights" coz of the album it's on. Those 2 tracks are fabulous in their own right (as are the albums I might add). So there! Didn't understand the (bolded) statement. What I said was, I'm not a big fan of those 2 albums(all songs count) so you won't expect much love from me on any song. And btw, I love We Can't Dance. So there! The bolded statement was trying to draw a parallel with the idea that you don't like the Judas songs coz of the albums that they're on despite the fact that they are great tracks. So, to me it's like saying that someone doesn't like "Fading Lights" coz he hates the whole album despite the fact that FL is a great track. So, let me get this right........ You're a Flower Kings fan but you don't like the albums "World of Adventures" or "Retropolis" and so therefore you don't like these tracks: Back In The World of Adventures Atomic Prince / Kaleidoscope Go West Judas Theme For A Hero Big Puzzle Retropolis There Is More To This World The Judas Kiss Flora Majora The Road Back Home etc These, in my honest opinion, are quintessential Flower Kings tracks and you're saying that you don't like any of them coz of the album they're on? I really can't get my head around that.

Yes, I'm also a big Yes fan and don't enjoy listening to Close to the Edge for the most part, does that mean I consider it a bad album? No, I think it's essential for any Prog collection, and would be one of my first Prog recomendations to anyone, still I don't find much to enjoy, while on the other hand Tales From Topographic Oceans, The Yes Album, Time and a Word, Yes, Fragile, Relayer, those are some of my favorites Prog albums, and would only recomend Fragile, Relayer and The Yes Album for beginers.

What I mean is, is not  that I consider those albums by TFK bad, they just didn't click me as a whole. Neither do I like the overall sound compared to the more flexible and jazzy albums with Jonas Reingold. I mean yeah, Big Puzzle and Retropolis are some great songs, but the rest while being of high level of composition and musicianship like any of the stuff with Jonas, it just doesn't do it for me, and it's not because "the album they're in" like you think.