THE SUM OF NO EVIL

As a diehard fan of The Flower Kings, I don't mind saying that this is by far their most disappointing release to date. Following up a masterpiece like "Paradox Hotel" with this was a big letdown.

I see that a lot of fans are pretty keen on it, and I can understand why, as it is prog to the max, but, to me, that is the biggest problem with it...it is too much prog and not enough everything else. If you look at many of TFK's other records, they are pretty diverse and experimental, but "The Sum of No Evil" comes across to me like they wanted to write a record of nothing but prog tunes. In theory, that would have worked just great, but the songs themselves seem to just meander along aimlessly at times, and the melodies, which are usually something they excel at, are not very strong or memorable.

Overall, it is a good CD, worthy of the 3 stars I am giving it, but this band is capable of so much more. Hopefully, when they go back to making new music, they will have a nice little comeback from this slight hiccup.