Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

Roland113 wrote: Biff Tannen wrote: infandous wrote:   Yeah, it seems there are some collaborators who like to down vote the Flower Kings albums.   Yep.  I never liked that collaborators ratings and reviews carry more weight than the regular members here, as all it takes is some of them to really love or not love a band to influence the overall ratings of said band's albums.  That is why I never take the ratings or the Top 100 thing seriously at all.  It can be a useful guide, but as a definitive ranking of prog albums, absolutely not.  Eh, there are two sides to that.  The additional weight that collaborators are granted can prevent a lot of abuse by people with little time and multiple e-mail addresses.  This way, you at least know that when a rating drops from a bad collaborator rating, that they probably have listened to it and genuinely don't like it as opposed to someone trying to manipulate the ratings unfairly.

True, although Dean analyzed some album ratings in another thread (can't recall which one) and pretty much proved that the "piling on" theory is false (or at least that it doesn't affect an albums overall rating in any real way).

lazland wrote: I put Flower Power on earlier for the first time in quite a while. Really didn't enjoy it at all, aside from passages in the epic opus.  Previous reviews comparing it to Stardust We Are are wide of the mark to my ears.

I agree.....Flower Power is a much better album

Seriously though, I'm not sure about these comparisons you refer to.  I would always say, that as whole albums, Stardust We Are is better than Flower Power.  However, for me, Garden Of Dreams (the entire thing) is my absolute favorite Flower Kings "song" (suite, might be more accurate).  The title track of Stardust is not far behind though.

I'm generally of the opinion that the second CD of Flower Power is pretty much my least favorite disk of music by them (though Adam & Eve swaps that place with it depending on my mood).

^ I agree. Ive read some reviews for TFK albums on PA, and Ive read a lot where the reviewer rants about his dislike about the band and what they do, yet say nothing about the album they are reviewing in particular. Ive seen it for more than one TFK album.

Exactly.

the ratings do seem to skew low for TFK.  what i'm really in disbelief about is the vitriol against TFK here.  i mean, there really wouldn't be 'modern prog' with out them.  at least show some respect.  not to mention the fact that prog for the last decade as integrated too much metal.  i was listening to a prog podcast and it was all metal...not prog.  and it was all complete crap.  most of of it is.  just rehashed riffs with the same late 80s production.  do folks really like this stuff?  with TFK, at least there's some interesting stuff there.  nods to the past an future and a vision.  the rest just all sounds the same to me.  even riverside and steven wilson and opeth.  sorry.  dare i say, dream theater too.  can you imagine how great new prog and new music in general would be if it was produced and mastered a la Trick of the Tale, for instance.  warm drums and keys.  up front guitars and phat bass that reveals the notes being played.?

Ive always said Dream Theater mix prog and metal quite well; and Liquid Tension Experiment by extension. I find Riverside do this well too. Opeth are just really heavy, not much metal going on, at least since their 3rd or 4th album. Symphony X used to combine classical and classic heavy metal (Dio/Judas Priest) with DT-esque prog-metal, but now they're a thrash metal band. Porcupine Tree are not metal either, and I could never get into Pain of Salvation, Fates Warning, or Queensryche (PoS -  I don't know why, and FW and QR are too 80s for me, though I like one FW album).

All other prog metal acts, imo, are more metal than they are prog, or are just lacking in the writing/compositional department. Many of them have singers that are not to my taste. I like when non-metal prog bands get heavy, I mean, even some of the 70s bands got heavy too.

This is coming from an ex-metalhead.

**EDIT** I feel many people forgot, or don't even know, the history of TFK, that they (along with Spock's Beard) are a big reason why prog rock survived into the new millennium. Sure, Dream Theater and Fates Warning helped too, but they are popular for different reasons. You don't have to like them, but if other bands and albums can get at least decent ratings for historical importance, why can't TFK?


Edited by darkshade - May 01 2012 at 15:49

And I have dug out the Rush MP3's from Signals onwards - just to give them a hearing - Biff may have pricked my conscience a teensy bit...perhaps they have a few gems in amongst that plethora of 5 minute tracks....

Two of my favorite bands, Riverside and Pain of Salvation, are labeled progressive metal but they encompass much more into their music than just prog metal tendencies.I'm just now starting to like Opeth and they are similar in that regard too. Their freshness in exploring music probably explains why these bands are more popular.  Why The Flower Kings are not as highly regarded as these modern bands eludes me because TFK have been doing this too; since Roine Stolt's solo album, The Flower King in 1994. Too me, TFK are the progressive in the best sense possible, they explore music.  It never really made sense to me as to why they are called clones of the 70's because if their uniqueness. 

Edited by Garden of Dreams - May 01 2012 at 18:51

Garden of Dreams wrote: Two of my favorite bands, Riverside and Pain of Salvation, are labeled progressive metal but they encompass much more into their music than just prog metal tendencies.I'm just now starting to like Opeth and they are similar in that regard too. Their freshness in exploring music probably explains why these bands are more popular.  Why The Flower Kings are not as highly regarded as these modern bands eludes me because TFK have been doing this too; since Roine Stolt's solo album, The Flower King in 1994. Too me, TFK are the progressive in the best sense possible, they explore music.  It never really made sense to me as to why they are called clones of the 70's because if their uniqueness.

nice post Roland.  i am fluent in Kobian, Klingon and the Sugar Ros language