Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

Nov wrote: Roj M30 wrote: Don't worry good sir, I'll get there one way or another....... That's great news Roj - I was concerned that you were going to miss out on this amazing show. I've been playing Momentum the past week or so. Of course, it's Neal Morse on a stick and we've heard it all before but it's still great stuff and will be amazing to see live.

I've been warming up to Momentum recently as well. I was a little disappointed in it when it came out because it's so standard Neal Morse, but now that I've gotten over that, I've begun to really enjoy it. Strange though, is that didn't happen with Testimony 2; I liked that one immediately and still feel it's one of his best.

zumacraig wrote: Roland113 wrote: zumacraig wrote:    . . . he went on and on about their movement away from black metal.  i just walked away as he kept talking.  man, those opeth fans. I don't know why, but that made me giggle hysterically for a moment or two. ah, good.  i almost didn't post it because it wasn't really relavent.  you don't know the half of it in that store.  the owner is some right wing nut job and the people who work there are worse.  cheap books for the kids though.

The most obvious pronunciation wobbler is Roine's pronunciation of 'ch', ie: child becomes shild and church becomes shursh.  As Nov said, it's not a criticism, I find it endearing too. To write lyrics in a language that isn't your first language is pretty impressive as far as I'm concerned.  Roine's command of English is fabulous and a lot better than my Swedish.  I do know how to say thank you in Danish though .

TFK/Morse tickets now in hand and looking forward to the gig and to chewing the fat with Rob .  Nov, are you going to the London gig or both?  I really must get a couple of Neal's albums as I think that will definitely improve my appreciation of his band live.  Any recommendations as to what I should get?  I suppose Momentum is a definite as I presume his set will be drawn heavily from that.

And as for Opeth fans railing against their veering away from death metal, have to agree with them to be honest.  Much as I love Heritage a return to the likes of Ghost Reveries would be most welcome to me.   

Edited by Roj M30 - January 30 2013 at 07:53

Kati wrote: AND BEFORE THE FLOWER KINGS, THERE WAS THE FLOWER KING, QUALITY OF GREAT MOOZIK AS BRILLIANT AS EVER, STOLT ALWAYS BILLIANT SINCE THE BEGINNING AND HERE'S PROOF

I just consider that album to be the first Flower Kings album, as Roine does as well (though that wasn't his intention when he made it) . He formed the band simply to play stuff from that album, and other prog stuff he was writing (which became the first "official" Flower Kings album, Back in the World).  In fact, he has said that he didn't really think of the Flower Kings as a band unit until Stardust We Are (it was still a solo project with a backing band, in his view)!

Check out the 70's Kaipa albums with Stolt if you want to hear how great he always was.  I don't find them anywhere near as good as Stolt's 90's and later stuff, but it's still quality prog rock..........and interesting to hear that Roine had pretty much developed the style we all know and love in his teens!

infandous wrote: Rob, you reminded me what a great freaking song My New World is.  Certainly the best Flower Kings song played by TA (I say that because I get the feeling that Roine would have put it on a FK album if TA had not happened........similar to how Monster Within was supposed to be a TA track but Roine just couldn't wait and put it on Space Revolver instead). As to dub step, my only experience with it was a joke YouTube video my son played me of some guy telling his parents he found what he wanted to  do with his life and then proceeded to "sing" a basic dub step line (dub wub wub boosh!) over and over again as his parents look on in horror and disgust.  Something like that. I kind of feel like TFK's changed direction a bit with Banks.......making a stripped down, ultra clean type of album in the Karmakanic vein..........though I suppose it's really not that much of a change.  You guys all seem to like it a lot so I guess I'm in the minority here on feeling like it's nearly their worst album (though, as I've said before, not bad by any means).  Listening to the other albums I have confirmed that it's not just FK burnout, as I still love all the others to varying degrees. zumacraig.......maybe that's why I like Vampire's View so much, because it "breaks the flow" of an album that wasn't doing anything for me prior to that track...............

Here's a review for you all:

zumacraig wrote: Roland113 wrote: Here's a review for you all: http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=902763 Enjoy, great review man!  i actually like the vocoder on Pandemonium.  i  usually hate that stuff though.  nice that you discussed the artwork as well.  i love the cover.

Roland113 wrote: zumacraig wrote: Roland113 wrote: Here's a review for you all: http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=902763 Enjoy, great review man!  i actually like the vocoder on Pandemonium.  i  usually hate that stuff though.  nice that you discussed the artwork as well.  i love the cover.   Really, on the vocoder?  I wanted to give Mr. Bodin grief for the whole passage but tried to keep it tame :) Glad you enjoyed the review.

Awesome review Roland. I agree, that "... and then the numbers" section is beautiful and gives me chills every time. It's one of the best moments in TFK history. Screw it, it's one of the best moments in all of prog rock. Numbers has grown on me so much, I believe it's a top 3 TFK epic for me.The Bad Moon Rising chorus is also a highlight, and can easily get stuck in my head.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Craig:  sadly the novel has taken a back seat for a year or so, I keep thinking of new material but between the band and the writing that I'm doing for the site, I just don't have the time for everything artistic that I want to do and sadly, the novel is taking a back seat for the time being.