Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

Roland113 wrote: My list, it's on page 56, but here's a copy of it. The Flower King - Humanizzimo Back in the World of Adventures - Big Puzzle Retropolis - Flora Majora Stardust We Are - Just this Once Flower Power - IKEA by Night Space Revolver - I Am The Sun Rainmaker - Serious Dreamers Unfold The Future - Grand Old World Adam and Eve - Adam and Eve Paradox Hotel - End on a High Note (with Minor Giant Steps a very close second) Sum of No Evil - One More Time Yeah, I was curious about the insert, why is the woman on a commode?

Dennis, as I've mentioned before Roine is not a Christian.  Or, that's what he always says anyway.  He pulls a lot of material from there though, obviously, though he claims to be more of a spiritual humanist.  Or something.

Still, I've seen others complain about his Christian lyrics, particularly on The Flower King album.  Personally, I've never really gotten the impression that he was doing any "preaching", just stating his views.  Same with Neal Morse (though I much prefer Roine's views to Neal's, for the most part).

zumacraig wrote: infandous wrote: The Flower King- Dissonata BitWoA- Big Puzzle Retropolis- The Road Back Home Stardust We Are- Stardust We Are Flower Power- Garden of Dreams (my favorite thing by the Flower Kings ever, all of it) Space Revolver- I Am The Sun Rainmaker- Road To Sanctuary Unfold The Future- Devil's Playground Adam and Eve- A Vampire's View Paradox Hotel- Touch My Heaven (really, there are a few I could have picked though) Sum of No Evil- Sum Of No Reason nice list.  Vampire View is a bold choice i also don't see neal or roine as preachy.  roine is just a hippy who believes in universal compassion.  neal is woefully and naive theology and doesn't have half the finesse of roine when it comes to integrating 'spirituality' into lyrics.  he doesn't preach though.  he just has lazy theology.  the man can write a melody like no other though

Well, it's the only decent song on the whole album, so I had to pick it

Seriously though, it really is my favorite from that album, and I love the vocals.  I didn't like the Roine/Hasse live version as much, though it was still good and more Roine vocals is always a good thing.

I agree about Roine and Neal though, obviously.

infandous wrote: Dennis, as I've mentioned before Roine is not a Christian.  Or, that's what he always says anyway.  He pulls a lot of material from there though, obviously, though he claims to be more of a spiritual humanist.  Or something.

Ok, dude, believe it or not with a full time job and a toddler running around the house, I actually do not have a photographic memory.  But I do recall you saying that now about Roine.  The last thing I wanna do is offend anybody, so I will go back to my post and edit that part out.

Whatever his thing is the last 2 FK records seem much more biblical and preachy to me and since I pay good $$$, unlike the masses who seem to DL the stuff gratis, it does annoy me to no end.  Perhaps the preachy-ness is me being over-sensitive in light of all the right wing extremists who want to make a Christian Fundamentalist Dictatorship with laws based on the Bible, here in the USA.  I was raised Roman Catholic and I actually went through a born-again Christian phase, but what is happening here in USA is just plain wrong(obviously my opinion). So yes I perhaps am a bit hyper-sensitive to the whole Christian preaching thing while major candidates like Rick Santorum are running for President saying it is not about the oil companies or bad economy, it is because we have left God. Well "Rick Santorum" you may have left God but do speak for yourself. My beliefs are my own and so are everybody else's, they should not be in our Government or more importantly in the CDs I buy!

While I am ranting, some here won't remember Cat Stevens, he was a Top Billboard beloved American artist, when he was doing secular songs.  He converted to Islam and our government actually branded him a terrorist(falsely), yet a secular singer like Neal Morse goes spiritual and puts out several records and tours(uh yeah, "Testimony" is pretty much 100% preaching, can't get around that one..)  Neal becomes a hero who is simply standing up for his values. Well that is the same exact thing Cat Stevens did. How many Americans applaud Cat Stevens now? That is hypocrisy, to say the least.

For people who don't understand this, look at it this way. Imagine Neal Morse had converted to Judaism or Islam and said & did all that he has done and is doing to promote his faith.  What would the reaction be???

Ok, end of rant. 

P.S. infandous, something good has come of this already, you made me google Roine and I learned something I did not know about him that has made him my new favorite hero, musically or otherwise.  I found an interview with him and this is an excerpt.



PS: Did the events of 9/11/01 in any way effect your experiences here in the US?

RS: Well I was in NYC just a few days before the strike .....can I be uneffected???? It was VERY unreal !!! Terror effects us all, it is scary. I think a much bigger problem is that you are all about to vote for a VERY dangerous man :GWB..... Anyone who takes the time to investigate the Bush family will find that there is a VERY shady path. Grandpa did banking business with Adolf Hitler while his son was in US army fighting the Japanese ...!!! The Bush family have done business with Arab countries and the Saudis and ....Bin Laden family for some time !!!! (Did you know that the only airplane that left US on 9/12 was the one that flew Bin Laden family to Saudi Arabia after a business meeting in Washington on 9/11? ......scary isn't it ?)
Besides, George W Bush has people that run the weapon & missile industry in his own staff.....so a war means they will make money ......scratch your back you'll scratch mine ...I guess. A fear is all about money and unfortunately the Bush clan has all the support from ALL (right wing)Texas oil companies and the right wing US Christian fundamentalists. They'll do anything for money ...a deal with terrorists, Mafia or Satan if needed.
Young American men die each week in Iraq, to protect what??? The American majority? I don't think so ....no, unfortunately just the minority at the top, the ones that make and have always made money walking over dead bodies .
So if your question is: Do I fear the Arab terrorists? ....Well I do in a way , but I'm much more scared of the American business legion terror that is silent and elegant. I encourage anyone to investigate what CIA have achieved over the years : Vietnam,Patrice Lumumba, Chile, etc.

taken from:

http://progsheet1.hypermart.net/roine2.html

Ok, so I actually did a little searching and my initial list of 'Favorite Songs from Each Album' was on page 82.  Here is what I had initially posted:

Edited by Roland113 - April 10 2012 at 07:20

Hey, not much difference 

Dennis, I agree about all you say.  I just don't see Neal as "preaching" at all (well, okay, here and there he does get a bit preachy, but it's usually in service to the concept of an album).  Roine, I really don't see the "preachy" except when it comes to his hippy idealism.  But however you feel about it is your business, so I can't really argue the point, since I agree with all your reasons for feeling that way.  Just know that the LAST thing Roine would want to see would be a theocracy ruling any country, regardless of what religion it is based on.

Oh yeah, based on an interview I read with Neal, on some sort of Christian web site, he does have pretty radical beliefs for a Christian and doesn't seem to keen on the "organized" part of religion.  I'm not sure what to make of that since he is part of a church, but he seemed to being saying that scripture and a relationship with God was what was important, not which denomination or church you were part of.  Anyway, just an observation that could be totally wrong.


Edited by infandous - April 10 2012 at 07:54

as far as this forum goes, i feel like its our own little forum within a forum.  glad i was able to jump in around page 160!.  we gotta hit 200 before BoE!

yea flower kings are pretty awesome

zumacraig wrote: as far as this forum goes, i feel like its our own little forum within a forum.  glad i was able to jump in around page 160!.  we gotta hit 200 before BoE! i think what dennis is saying is that neal, jon anderson, roine etc. sound a bit preachy...

First, I want to agree with zuma about this FK thread.  Zuma stole my thoughts exactly.  This thread is like a forum within a forum and there is a level of peace here that is noticeable.  So I want to sincerely thank all of you guys who came here before me and have welcomed me and have put up with me and my shenanigans here.

About the preaching thing, again zuma summed it up best.  I noticed it with Jon on his solo tour with Rick,
this is just my opinion but Jon changed greatly from his universal love & peace message which I love in YES, to a more direct all I can describe as "preaching" in his solo works. I won't belabor the point, as I don't wanna offend those here that welcome that in either Jon's or another artist's work.  Just a simple kudos to zuma for being so observant & understanding.

My aversion to "preaching" I won't get into much out of respect for those who may relish it here. But I don't wish to come off as anti-religion so I guess I do need to say that my problem lies with a certain "moral majority" who elected a "Great Christian Uniter", chosen by God(the late Billy Grahm's word's) And 2 terms later..  oh about one million dead Iragi women & children, thousands of dead US servicemen and tens of thousands of US veterans crippled not to mention 4 dollar gas... Well yeah, I am now more of a "show me don't tell me" guy when it comes to Religion.  I simply don't wanna hear the words anymore.  Why not show it in one's actions?

I do not wanna start anything so if you disagree please know I will not argue with you.  I do not wish to mention this again.  I do think I needed to explain myself as I have mentioned the "preachy" thing a few times now. So now people can understand where I am coming from.  One final thing about me.  I am also a US Veteran(just say I served underneath the world's oceans) and I am as proud of my service & country as anybody I have met.  I am just not proud, of some of America's so called leaders and the zealots who put them in power. 

to infandous & zuma & Roland & darkshade & Nov & everybody else, you guys are great and I enjoy being around here.

Special thanks to infandous, because after googling Roine, I look at the last 2 FK CDs differently(obviously my perception and not that TFK did anything wrong or needed changing) and I think I will revisit those two some more, which means more Flower Kings for me.

Cheers to everybody here!




Edited by dennismoore - April 11 2012 at 18:30

DM-