SPACE REVOLVER

I only recently purchased this cd, having already got most of their other material. So, how does this compare? Well, it is heavier in parts than you would expect, but, overall, typical Flower Kings in content. The opener, 'I Am The Sun part 1' is tremendous, classic FK, with superb melodies, moods, and atmospheres. One of the best on the album. They are certainly the best 'epic' band I have heard since Yes. It starts off as an up tempo song, with excellent vocals and guitar work. The second part slows right down and provides a nice contrasting atmosphere, slowing down to an almost hesitant stop. Track two, 'Dream On Dreamer' is almost a continuation of the opener, gentle and flowing, becoming more likeable the more you listen to it. Rumble Fish Twist' is another classic, one of their wonderful instrumental efforts. Again, it starts in fast paced style, almost King Crimsonish in tone, before turning to a haunting, slow, 70's style pace to finish. The actual final keyboard note is, for me, brilliant, and conjures all sorts of images, mainly of the astronomical kind, inside my head. 'Monster Within' I found, at first, somewhat disappointing. This is quite a heavy track, and you have to give it a lot of attention to uncover some of the melody in this. A solid effort, but not one of my favourites on display here. Then comes the type of song that the Flower Kings do very well, the light-hearted 'Chicken Farmers Song', crammed full with Yes-style harmonies and melodies. Nice guitar work here too. Brilliant! 'Underdog' is another ok track, bringing, to my mind anyway, a marching army, searching for freedom through sacrifice. Not an original theme, and the song is not the best one they have done, but certainly it is far above filler. The guitar is again heavy here, and leads the song to an end over a radio or tv voice discussing pizza! Very strange. 'You Don't Know What You've Got' is a short Hasse Froberg penned song. Not as good as 'Magic Pie' indeed, it almost sounds like a radio friendly soul type of song. Not bad though. One of those songs were he proves he doesn't always have to sound like Jon Anderson. 'Slave To Money' is probably my least favourite on the album, being again a heavy, ( to my mind a too heavy) affair, with the melody somewhat hidden beneath the guitar and keyboards. Ok, but nothing more. 'A King's Prayer' is a return to form, with nice harmonies, though a tad melancholy for my liking. Finally, comes part 2 of 'I Am The Sun', which, if put together with part one, as it was written, seamlessly continues that track. Being split, however, makes it probably more effective, and it is an excellent way of ending the album. The closest album to it, in the FK catalogue, would be 'Stardust We Are' both in tone and instrumentation. This is not quite as diverse as that, however, but it is still worth having. Far better than their first two discs.