Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

darkshade wrote: TheWatcho wrote: I know Flower Kings, have listened to a couple of songs, but I didn't liked it at all. Where should I begin? I think I'm going to give a new try to these guys. The most popular album to start with is Space Revolver, it's got a little bit of everything that TFK had done up until that point. It's a consistent album, lots of great songs, and it's the kind of album where, if you don't like it, you're probably not going to like anything else by them. It has some of their best songs like "I Am The Sun", "Rumble Fish Twist" and "Monster Within". It also has Dennis' favorite TFK song, "The Chicken Farmer Song". I also think The Sum Of No Evil is a good one to start with. There's no filler tracks, and every song kicks ass. Great melodies throughout, a little heavy at times, and rockin' moments throughout, with a little jazz-fusion sprinkled here and there. Every song stands out on this one. These next 2 albums are double albums, around 2 1/2 hours of music each. My personal favorite is Unfold the Future, and is in my opinion, their best album. It has 2 mammoth epics "The Truth Will Set You Free" and "The Devil's Playground", both of which are two of the best epics from any band. The album also has a large slant towards jazz music, which I really like. There's also beautiful moments like "Solitary Shell" which always gives me goosebumps, and great prog tunes like "Fast Lane" and "Silent Inferno". Another good starter might be Stardust We Are, which also has "In The Eyes of the World" and the title track, the latter is seen by many as the band's greatest piece of music (I don't, but it's top 10 TFK material for sure). SWA is a classic TFK album, with a lot of great moments, but it's a long, long album, you might want to hold off on this until you get a little more familiar with the band. All their albums have some of the band's best material, but I think those 4 albums I mentioned are good for TFK newbies. They're the first 4 albums I got by the band, and it worked for me! Enjoy!

I would recommend not starting with The Sum of No Evil (mostly good, but never really great), but I do agree with starting with Space Revolver, which is awesome from start to finish.  

For those who would like to see more details of the album cover and booklet design of "Banks of Eden", here are a few tidbits.

A few of those images can also be obtained as posters here.

Amazon, pah.  Still bloody waiting.

In reference to Roine's lyrics, I'd have to say I'm in agreement that he does seem to be recycling themes a bit too much........which is also my only criticism of Morse.  Roine is apparently not a Christian, but seems to like the positive themes (and some negative ones) gleaned from it.  I say enough is enough.

I've been listening to the first Agents album, and it's interesting to note that those themes are not really prevalent on that album.  It's much more down to earth, lyrically.  I'm actually enjoying more than I ever did when it came out (or anytime since really).  Probably because all the expectations and disappointments are in the past and I'm just listening to it as a stand alone album.  I still like the other two better, but that first one is really a pretty good album when taken out of the context of Roine's usual symphonic template.  Anyway, the main thing though is the lyrics, which seem to avoid a lot of his cliché's.  I'm a little disappointed to hear the new one doesn't.

Anyway, off to Nearfest tomorrow, where I will be finally getting the new album.  I'll report back in a week or so.

Banks of Eden is f**king great, don't get me wrong (I plan to review it soon). However, I miss happy Flower Kings a little bit.

I have had BOE sat near my player for 2 days...unopened...i have this thing about playing long awaited albums...you are only going to get to hear it for the first time once! its a magical moment. However i was slightly disappointed with TSONE hence the reticence of playing it...i know i'm going to have to tackle it soon...but i love the anticipation too!.....and now the Clockwork Angels by Rush is sat in the queue !

M27Barney wrote: DaveyByTheSea wrote: I have had BOE sat near my player for 2 days...unopened...i have this thing about playing long awaited albums...you are only going to get to hear it for the first time once! its a magical moment. However i was slightly disappointed with TSONE hence the reticence of playing it...i know i'm going to have to tackle it soon...but i love the anticipation too!.....and now the Clockwork Angels by Rush is sat in the queue ! Thats a bit like doing the Euro lottery when it's gazzillions and no-body has claimed the booty when it's known that just 1 ticket in britain has won-it...you keep the ticket - fantisizing about what you'd do with the money if that ticket is yours... just like schroedingers cat - once you check....reality kicks in....

So apparently TFK will be returning to the studio this fall for the follow up to Banks of Eden!

Also, Jordan Rudess listened to Banks of Eden last night, as he said on his facebook, and said he really liked it.

Hmm, putting this one in perspective I don't like it as much now. I expect their follow up (wow, that was really fast!) to be better.