Flower Kings new album - "Banks Of Eden"

Well, for Roine, the reason is money.  He doesn't have enough of it to do 5.1 mixes, because the demand would be pretty low.  Personally, I know several people that would love the 5.1, but out of all the flower kings fans I know, they are a fairly small minority.  Flower Kings fans themselves, are also a small minority, compared to say Porcupine Tree fans.

I've heard some 5.1 stuff on other peoples equipment (I have no 5.1 setup), and it was cool, but frankly I prefer stereo.  Just the way I'm used to hearing music I guess

Well, I'll take your word for it dennis.  I'm not against 5.1, of course, and probably if the Flower Kings did release 5.1 stuff that would force me to get a 5.1 system 

I'm troubled by the announcement that the Flower Kings are "mixing it up" with "darker metal passages" on this album.  To me, that's always where the Flower Kings go wrong.  The darkness and aggression of metal are a tired cliche of modern music.  I have always looked to the Flower Kings to transcend the adolescent male ego and search for truth and beauty in their music.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge metal fan, but when it comes to progressive rock, I just think that the weakest moments of the genre are when the artists pose as metal wanna-be's.  More progressive power comes out of a mellotron than a distorted guitar.

dennismoore wrote: infandous wrote: Well, for Roine, the reason is money.  He doesn't have enough of it to do 5.1 mixes, because the demand would be pretty low.  Personally, I know several people that would love the 5.1, but out of all the flower kings fans I know, they are a fairly small minority.  Flower Kings fans themselves, are also a small minority, compared to say Porcupine Tree fans. I've heard some 5.1 stuff on other peoples equipment (I have no 5.1 setup), and it was cool, but frankly I prefer stereo.  Just the way I'm used to hearing music I guess   Yes, I know that Roine finances his own stuff.  That is too bad.  TFK need 5.1 more than any band I can think of as TFK pack in so many instruments and tracks into their music. 2.0 simply does not provide enough "headspace".   I am not a 5.1 snob and I am certainly not rich, but I did fight to budget for an ok 5.1 system the results were beyond belief good. As good an improvement over stereo than stereo was from mono.  But the key is to have stuff re-mixed in 5.1.  2.0 upmixing to 5.1 done via amateur enthusiasts or stereo receiver automation is pretty much useless.   Stuff I have in 5.1 that puts to shame the original stero mix:   ELP - Brain Salad Surgery - 5.1 mix DVD-Audio.  You wanna see God?  Get this. Porcupine Tree - In Abstentia. It opens up PT like they are a whole new band Elton John - Captain Fantastic - May be one of the greatest 5.1 mixes ever.  5.1 redefines this masterpiece recording and lets all the many recorded instruments actaully breath Pink Floyd - Dark Side & Wish You Were Here - You wanna see God again?  Ok check these two out RUSH - Farewell To Kings - Another revelation.  5.1 puts stereo to shame. Nektar - Remember The Future - Again the music opens up to a whole new level, must be heard to be appreciated. Jethro Tull - Aqualung.  new 5.1 mix elevates this recording to the true masterpiece is always was but was held back by stereo and the low fidelity of 1971.  What Steven Wilson & technology did here is a true miracle. oh... YES - Fragile.  Simply must be heard in 5.1 SACD or the DVD-Audio is was released in.   All the great prog needs to be remixed into 5.1.  Virtually all prog has so many tracks & instruments, the standard stereo field does not provide sonic space for it all.  Engineers must use a lot of compression and other tricks to squeeze it all in.

I'm excited to hear how it will sound, it seems the band is trying a few new things on Banks of Eden. I'm also really excited to hear this new drummer, he sounded awesome of the couple of Youtube videos I saw.

I like the samples.