Flower Kings Official Thread

[KevShmev]

A Vampire's View doesn't seem to be a song that gets talked about a lot, but I like it a lot, which is saying something considering I am not a big Gildenlow fan.  I like the vibe of it a lot, and the solo piano piece at the end of it, Days Gone By, is absolutely gorgeous.

Still glad you are digging A&E, PC! Starlight Man is still the biggest tease ever (great lead guitar line, great verses, but terribly bland chorus), and the title track is a bit of a question mark for me, but the rest is great.  I agree that the payoff in Driver's Seat might not be their best (especially compared to the climaxes of their best epics like GoD, SWA and I Am the Sun), but as a whole, it is still a damn good song.  I like how all three singers sing lead at one point or another. 

And Tomas Bodin is definitely special.  He is hands down one of my favorite rock keyboard players ever.

[ronrule]

I love A&E, the title song, vampires view, Gildenlow (I think my favorite of his with TFK is Fast Lane though)...!

I often skip Love Supreme for some reason...that first set of melody/lyrics is just sounds so awkward to me. And I just love getting to that sugary acoustic 6/8 goodness of Cosmic Circus.

Starlight Man chorus is my cue for some obnoxious air bass playing.  Gotta love "you-KNEE-verse"!

[pain of occupation]

... I just love getting to that sugary acoustic 6/8 goodness of Cosmic Circus.

gotta love 6. most recent facebook status: Newstrum is obliged to like any song/section in 6/4 or 6/8. 


...New Strum = pain of occupation

also, im spinning cosmic circus as i type. 

[senecadawg2]

I just got Space Revolver and The Rainmaker. After a couple of listens, I'm really enjoying Space Revolver, and am now about to check out the other. How do these two albums compare to the rest of their discography?

[KevShmev]

Most agree that The Rainmaker sits near the bottom of the list, but it is still good.

Space Revolver is usually pretty highly-regarded.  I'd consider it their best single album, and probably their 3rd or 4th best overall. 

[kirksnosehair]

Kev is right.  The Rainmaker is often rated pretty low.  I happen to love that album, probably because it was my first from TFK - it's got some really cool tracks on it.

[pain of occupation]

ive been meaning to make Space Revolver the next TFK i get into, but i keep feeling daunted by the task for some reason. ive spun track one a shit ton, and think its deadly, but ive only heard bits and pieces of the rest of the album (not even sure ive checked out every track at least once yet).

[darkshade]

I like The Rainmaker. It has some of the band's best music on there. My least favorite is actually Retropolis. Of course, no TFK album is bad.

[darkshade]

I'm listening to Banks Of Eden, after exactly one month since the last time I listened to it (according to my last.fm), and it sounds just as fresh and exciting. I dare say I'm enjoying it even more now, since I'm more familiar with the music.

[darkshade]

How has BoE been holding up for you guys? How would you rank your favorite songs from it?

I'm just going to rank the main disc. I don't feel I've listened to the bonus disc enough.

Numbers
For The Love of Gold
For Those About To Drown
Rising The Imperial
Pandemonium

[KevShmev]

I still think it's great, but it isn't something I am listening to a lot, which might be a bad sign since I usually go nuts with listening to CDs by my favorite bands when they first come out, especially when I really like them.  For example, Clockwork Angels came out around the same time, and I have only listened to Banks of Eden a fraction of how much I've listened to Clockwork Angels.  And it's not like Clockwork Angels is still dominating my music time to where I can't fit TFK in; I can.  Banks of Eden simply isn't a CD that has grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go.

[pain of occupation]

ive been revisiting the new album recently. never did give it that much of a chance when it first came out, as i had quite a few other albums on the go getting in the way. For the Love of Gold has probably emerged for me as THE track of the album.

[Icebear]

So...

I'm about to see TFK live for the first time since 2007. It's outdoors, it's free and Jonas Reingold seems to be in a good mood. I predict awesomeness.  If they play Stardust We Are, I will confirm said awesomeness.

[darkshade]

I'm pretty sure they're going to play Stardust We Are, in part, or in full. They are playing the new material now, though, so I'm not sure what their set lists are like at this point.

[Icebear]

...and they did. Fun gig. Roine had a high fever and really had to push through. We got one song from Banks of Eden ("Numbers"), and a bunch of older songs (Last minute on earth, I am the sun, Paradox Hotel, Stardust, to name a few). Felix sounded great!

[kirksnosehair]

I think the new album has held up well.  Still too early for me to rank the tracks, but right now I think "Rising The Imperial" might be my favorite.

[pain of occupation]

i was just spinning the new album on the drive home...despite expecting huge things to come this year, being a huge fan of both beardfish and btbam, i think for the love of gold is gonna be stiff competition for song of the year.

[SomeoneLikeHim]

So I am going to see these guys in November but I'm really not familiar with them. I have a lot of listening to do

[Bongasti]

Same here! I thought it was about time for me to get familiar with these guys, so I got the tickets. I've only yet listened to their latest album, so which one would you guys recommend next?

[darkshade]

Same here! I thought it was about time for me to get familiar with these guys, so I got the tickets. I've only yet listened to their latest album, so which one would you guys recommend next?

Space Revolver.

It sums up most aspects of the band in one album, without being a 2 and a half hour double album. It has one of the band's greatest songs, "I Am The Sun", as well other greats like "Monster Within", "Chicken Farmer Song", "Slave To Money", and "Rumble Fish Twist".

If you're feeling adventurous, I'd say get Unfold the Future, it also has, arguably, the band's greatest epic, "The Truth Will Set You Free" and contains some of the rockiest, jazziest, and more experimental stuff the band has ever made. And it's 2 and a half hours long.

[KevShmev]

Same here! I thought it was about time for me to get familiar with these guys, so I got the tickets. I've only yet listened to their latest album, so which one would you guys recommend next?

If you want a single album, Space Revolver or Retropolis.

If you want to get crazy and get a double album, Flower Power, Paradox Hotel or Stardust We Are.

[darkshade]

He could honestly pick any album at random and it would probably be a great choice to start with (except The Rainmaker, while good, I don't think it's the best album to start with).

[The Letter M]

So, over 3 months later, how does BOE hold up for everyone?

I haven't given it much time since I got it, and have probably only really listened to it twice. It came out about the same time as Rush's new album so it got pushed to the back burner, and after being on a huge Rush kick for over 2 months, I geared up for the new Neal Morse (which pushed Marillion's new album to the other back burner), and now I am on a Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson kick... I *will* revisit Banks Of Eden sometime soon!

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

That pretty much sounds like me (big Rush phase for most of the summer, and then a PT/SW phase lately).  Looking at my iTunes, I haven't listened to anything from Banks of Eden on it since the middle of August, and I haven't listened to a lick of TFK in the car since then either.  Just not in the mood for them as of late, I guess.

[The Letter M]

That pretty much sounds like me (big Rush phase for most of the summer, and then a PT/SW phase lately).  Looking at my iTunes, I haven't listened to anything from Banks of Eden on it since the middle of August, and I haven't listened to a lick of TFK in the car since then either.  Just not in the mood for them as of late, I guess.

For me, TFK have always been a Spring/Summer band - their music just doesn't suit me for the Fall and Winter seasons as much as Spock's Beard/Neal Morse and Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson do, which have been the bands/artists I have been listening too as of late. Rush is always the Summer rock band I love to listen to, and since their last 3 studio albums have all been released in May, they ruled the summer.

I'm sure once news of new TA hits around the New Year, I'll dive back into some TFK and/or Roine Stolt goodness.

-Marc.

[SomeoneLikeHim]

God, Banks of Eden is SO good! I am so stoked for the concert in three weeks!

[jsem]

Time to bump this thread. I only recently started listening to a bit of their material... the albums don't really quite get stuck in my head. Will take multiple listens.

But one this is for sure.... the song Paradox Hotel blew my mind from the first second. It's barely prog, but SOO good.

[The Letter M]

Time to bump this thread. I only recently started listening to a bit of their material... the albums don't really quite get stuck in my head. Will take multiple listens.

But one this is for sure.... the song Paradox Hotel blew my mind from the first second. It's barely prog, but SOO good.

Paradox Hotel is a Top 3 TFK album for me, along with Unfold The Future and Stardust We Are.

It was mostly written acoustically, so the songs are very guitar oriented, and there's a lot more of the other members on this album in terms of writing contributions (where as the usual TFK album is nearly all Roine's material). There's a lot of variety on this album, too, which covers a LOT of ground for TFK, both old and (at the time) new. It's also special being that it's the only TFK album with drummer Marcus Liliequist, even though he appeared on Tomas Bodin's solo albums I AM and YOU ARE and Roine's solo album Wall Street Voodoo. He provides solid drummer on an album that, as you say, is less proggy than their previous (and future) efforts, but the key to this album is the strength in the song writing, and not the proggy showmanship or chops (even though there's enough of that on the album).

It took me a LONG time to get into PH, being the band's first new album after I discovered them in 2005, but after years of listening, I grew to love and appreciate and fully enjoy the whole album.

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

First day of rehearsals for the joint-tour with the Neal Morse Band!

Any predictions as to what their 90 minute set will be? I expect at least 3 songs from BOE, including "Numbers" and "Rising The Imperial".

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I'd be surprised if they played all of Numbers, since that would take up nearly 1/3 of their set list, but you never know.  Since they are likely to be playing in front of some people who have never seen them before, I think stuff like Stardust We Are Part 3 and some of The Truth Will Set You Free (which they love playing) are good bets.

[Mladen]

I think it's strange not to perform the centerpiece of the album you're promoting. It's not like I care, though. 

[kirksnosehair]

Been a few years since I've seen them.  Last time I saw them they were touring in support of The Sum of No Evil

And I ate dinner at a table right next to them before the show.


heh, I still have a picture from that





They were sitting behind us and there was this huge mirror on the back wall, so I snapped this shot.  After the show when they were signing my CD, Hasse says "you should have joined us for dinner at the restaurant"        

[kirksnosehair]

Yeah, that was 2007, I had front row seats:

[Lolzeez]

Listened to this band for the first time this week. Banks Of Eden is a good album but for some reason it was kinda unmemorable. The highlight for me was obviously Numbers and For The Love Of Gold. FTLOG has such amazing vocals and a sweet guitar solo. It's quite catchy. The rest? I don't remember much.

[SomeoneLikeHim]

That's exactly what I thought the first time I listened. Nothing really stood out. Trust me, it wil come.