Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

I got zero albums for Christmas.........but I never do because no one knows what to get me.  I could give a list, I suppose, but I usually get all the easy to find stuff before Christmas for myself so I don't want to have to give instructions along with the list.  I just buy them for myself the rest of the year.  So you guys are lucky to get any.

I'm still sad to say that Banks is not my favorite album of the year, and far from my favorite Flower Kings album.  Maybe in a year or two it will grow on me more (like A&E did, even though it's still my least favorite of theirs), but for now I'm just finding it mostly a big disappointment.........and I've been a huge fan of this band since 1999.  Oh well, hopefully the next one will do it for me more.

I actually haven't heard all that many 2012 releases, so I'm not sure what I would call my favorite of the year (have to look at what I have).  Right now, Beardfish's "Destined Solitaire" is the best prog album I've heard in 10 years at least.  Absolutely love it.  Mammoth is very good as well.  Have to get the latest one ASAP.

I haven't got many 2012 albums to be honest, but of those I have Banks of Eden is easily my album of the year.  So count me in with Tom and Darkshade on this .

Whilst Porcupine Tree's Octane Twisted is well worthy of mention (the DVD on the special edition I have is great ) the new ones by Marillion and Big Big Train are the only studio albums that come remotely close to BOE.

Roj M30 wrote: I haven't got many 2012 albums to be honest, but of those I have Banks of Eden is easily my album of the year.  So count me in with Tom and Darkshade on this . Whilst Porcupine Tree's Octane Twisted is well worthy of mention (the DVD on the special edition I have is great ) the new ones by Marillion and Big Big Train are the only studio albums that come remotely close to BOE.

man, from zero activity to a billion posts!  the thread is back!

Roland113 wrote: infandous wrote: I got zero albums for Christmas.........but I never do because no one knows what to get me.  I could give a list, I suppose, but I usually get all the easy to find stuff before Christmas for myself so I don't want to have to give instructions along with the list.  I just buy them for myself the rest of the year.  So you guys are lucky to get any. I'm still sad to say that Banks is not my favorite album of the year, and far from my favorite Flower Kings album.  Maybe in a year or two it will grow on me more (like A&E did, even though it's still my least favorite of theirs), but for now I'm just finding it mostly a big disappointment.........and I've been a huge fan of this band since 1999.  Oh well, hopefully the next one will do it for me more. I actually haven't heard all that many 2012 releases, so I'm not sure what I would call my favorite of the year (have to look at what I have).  Right now, Beardfish's "Destined Solitaire" is the best prog album I've heard in 10 years at least.  Absolutely love it.  Mammoth is very good as well.  Have to get the latest one ASAP. See, I got Destined Solitaire for Christmas and really didn't care for it on my first listen, I'm obviously going to have to give it a few more listens (without the child in the car) but on my first go, I really was unimpressed.  The first half sounded mostly like the weird fills / sections that they do without balancing it out with the melodic sections. I love Sleeping in Traffic, especially part one, mostly for the inclusions of odd sections in something that is mostly melodic.  To me, so far, Destined Solitaire is the opposite, the inclusion of melodic sections in something that is mostly chaotic. I'm hoping that further listens will help me appreciate it cause I hate wasting money / presents on something I don't like.

Funny how tastes vary, yet we still like a lot of the same stuff.  My first Beardfish was Sleeping in Traffic Part 1, back when it was released.  It was okay, but I didn't bother to explore their stuff further.  Then about 3 years later I got Part 2, and liked it more, but still not excited by the band.  Someone gave me their copy of The Sane Day (their second album) and I like that one even more.  So recently I picked up Destined Solitaire and Mammoth, both of which I love (though DS is my favorite of them all).  I went back and listened to the two Sleeping in Traffic albums again, and Part 1 is still my least favorite Beardfish, though it's a decent album.  Part 2 I like more than I did the first few times I heard it.

So basically, I've had the exact opposite reaction that you did.  I guess I'm not as impressed or excited by purely melodic stuff............though I have a hard time believing that since there are quite a few album I love that have little in the way of quirky or complex stuff.......some that are not even prog, of course.  Anyway, that's my take on it.  Give me the "mostly chaotic" stuff any day   (though I wouldn't call it chaotic at all, personally).

Haha and a big whoo-whoo from a decidedly damp but reasonably warm Swinton, Manchester, North West England.

Destined Solitaire came out in 2009, Mammoth 2011, , first album 2002.

darkshade wrote: Destined Solitaire came out in 2009, Mammoth 2011, , first album 2002. @Craig - Zappa's new album is called "Finer Moments". Just came out a couple of weeks ago.

zumacraig wrote: @Barney-i like the kaipa you got.  i only have Notes.  i need to get more.  @infandous-thanks for the info.  the TFK one i was thinking of was betchawannadancestupid.  circus brimstone is way out of print unfortunately.  as for beardfish, their sound kind of changed a bit after their first two albums and the got signed.  i'd love to see them on some sort of swedish prog tour.  they were the tangent for a while, weren't they? speaking of tangent, the dudes who were in and recently left have an album coming out in the spring on inside/out.  they are called maschist or something.  i'm excited about that.

Yeah, skip the betchawanna album.  It's interesting, but I haven't listened to it in probably 7 or 8 years.  It's a curio, at best.  Most of the jams are taken out of actual songs, so it's a bit weird in that regard, as the songs themselves are missing (though a couple of the jams were just that, standalone jams).  I doubt it's available either, anyway.  Of course, I think I have that one ripped on my PC, so I could probably find a way to send it to you if you want.

@Roj,