BY ROYAL DECREE

So, just to be up front here, I am pretty new to the TFK train and have been making an effort to take the entire catalog all in. Given that there are some 15 studio albums, many of them 75 to 90 minutes and even longer, this has been a somewhat monumental task. I have taken all of them in order at least once to get a sense of the band's progression, and have listened to most of them more than once. I have also spent quite a bit of time reading the reviews for the albums as well, and wow what a mixed bag. Rightly so, this band garners considerable respect from the prog community, and yet there is a lot of love/hate responses to their ongoing evolution, which to me seems a bit fanatical. Admittedly, TFK does a lot of experimentation with different styles so not every song, or every album in its entirety, is going to appeal to everyone but overall in my opinion the diversity and evolution is a big part of their appeal.

For the record, I really enjoy well constructed epics and TFK has plenty of them, but the last three albums have deviated from this pattern pretty substantially. They have instead been constructed of mostly shorter songs, although still fairly lengthy in comparison to standard radio fare, and this seems to be a source of disappointment for many long time fans of the band. However, within this framework there is much room for experimentation and diversity. Admittedly, some of it is quite prog oriented, but other pieces not so much, and yet there is generally enough complexity to compensate for this.

While I clearly am not as qualified to review this band as many long time fans, being as I have enjoyed the recent release 'By Royal Decree', I am feeling up to the challenge of offering a new fan's perspective on this latest release. To start off the album cover is gorgeous and builds up anticipation for the music that it accompanies. This is a big plus for me as I have to say I really hate some of their album art, although the music in the albums is still great. So here is my take on music...

The Great Pretender: This is a great opening track that is diverse in musical ideas and tempos, and nice trading off of vocal duties. Enjoy the theatrical flavor of the hell and high water section of the song which is followed by a nice guitar solo, and then finishes with an enjoyable synth conclusion. A nice start! (9/10)

World Gone Crazy: Starts with a gradual build up, a quick riff or two, into a vocal section, at 3:30 breaks into a nother enjoyable synth section. Not overly prog, more rock, lyrics very apropos for our day. Ends with a repeat of the short opening riff. (7/10)

Blinded: Opens with somewhat eerie build up, becomes more upbeat, some semi jazzy guitar and instrumentation in a nice instrumental section in the middle. Around 5:30 builds back into the more ominous tone highlighting synths once again, ends with the jazzy flavor fading away. (8/10)

A Million Stars: A kind of spacey sounding ballad with lots of little tweaky synth sounds filtered through out, just a very pretty song. At 4:15 it sounds like the song is over, but changes to an even slower tempo and plays out to its conclusion. The first four minutes would make for a nice single. I always ponder if some portion of a prog album could be released to attract attention to widen the prog fan base; this could be it for this album. One of my favorite tracks on this album, but have to take a point away for the somewhat repetitive lyrics, but a small complaint really.... (9/10)

The Soldier: A pretty straight forward lyric oriented piece until it hits the 3:00 minute mark and a nice instrumental sections lifts it up, closes with more lyrics. Nice but nothing particularly new here (7/10)

The Darkness In You: I am a sucker for prog ballads and this is another good one. Has a nice slow musical atmosphere, nice backing harmonies to the primary vocals, nice closing blues guitar and piano. Another favorite for me (9/10)

We Can Make It Work: This one has a kind of Beatles vibe, 70's type sound, happy and upbeat. Quite a contrast to the previous track in mood and tempo. Short, fun, simple, and optimistic. Again, not particularly prog but enjoyable nonetheless (8/10)

Peacock on Parade: Related to the cover art? Perhaps. Starts with a nice instrumental build up. In fact, except for a very short lyrical interlude remains an instrumental throughout with musical duties shared by the various members of the band. Pleasant enough but nothing strikingly memorable either (7/10)

Revolution: This starts with a minstrel type vibe, upbeat and catchy, immediately draws you in. The vocal immediately makes me think of Jon Anderson in tone and style, especially at the outset of the vocals. This gradually fades away. Around the 4:00 mark, the Million Stars music and lyrics are reprized, but go up tempo and more dramatic. I really like this technique as it ties things together. It would have been quite doable to put the Million Stars track and this one together and had a nice suite, and a mini epic. Interesting that they did not choose to do this. (9/10)

Time the Great Healer: This one is for the first three minutes is very vocal oriented with a soft under side of straight forward musical accompaniment. After this it picks up with an array of synth and guitar, more unusual synth gyrations, and closes with repeat of the vocals over the more uptempo musicianship. Second half of the song saves this one, overall not bad. (8/10)

Letter: A very short prog pop type offering. Didn't particularly like this the first time I heard it but it has grown on me as a nice interlude. It may be just me but for some reason when I first heard this song, even though they are quite different from one another, it reminded me straight away of 'Don't Go' from the Yes album Magnification. In any event, I'll call it a keeper. (8/10)

Evolution: The first complete instrumental track. A mid tempo piece with nice synth and keyboard foundation with enjoyable bass and lead guitar over. (8/10)

Silent Ways: Starts slow and low, acoustic oriented ballad, nice vocal, around 3:00 starts to build up a bit in intensity, electric guitar eventually comes in. Again, not particularly prog, but I like it. (8/10)

Moth: A mournful sounding song, piano based, another ballad. At 2:45 there is a pause and the piece begins to come back and pick up some depth and gentle intensity and choir like vocals to close it out. (7/10)

The Big Funk: After the last two very calm ballads, this one starts slow but gradually builds up a bit with some good guitar and synth interplay. About halfway through the tempo picks up a bit more, but never fully takes off. (7/10)

Open Your Heart: A bit more uptempo ballad with some pleasant synth and keyboard under layment, a little restrained guitar interplay especially at the end, mostly vocal oriented. (7/10)

Shrine: A very short piano instrumental. What is there not to like about this? (8/10)

Funeral Pyres: Starts with some guitar with a bit of power in it. Been waiting for this after a sequence of more ballad type pieces. Lots of things going on this one with tempo and instrument changes, one of the more prog oriented efforts. Nice build up to the end. A decent closer for the album (9/10)

So what are my take aways for 'By Royal Decree'? First of all, this comes across as a very accessible effort with a satisfying degree of complexity and prog sensibilities. That being said, there are portions that are not particularly prog-centric, but still seem to fit anyway. All in all, while not rating any song as perfect 10 although some are very close, there is nothing bad in the entire 94 minutes of music. It's a lot to absorb but worth the effort.

I can see where long time fans of TFK will miss the longer epics and wilder experimentation of past albums, but this work certainly has its merits also. It can definitely expose the band to new listeners for sure as it wouldn't be a bad place to start their catalog. That being said, I would be the first to admit that it is not necessarily a direct representation of their past work, but what would be given its grand scope and volume?

Most prog oriented songs if you want to focus on those are 'the Great Pretender', 'Blinded', 'A Million Stars', 'Darkness in You', 'Revolution', 'Time the Great Healer', and 'Funeral Pyres'.

Log time fans given to their older style may not agree, but I am going with 4 star score, not for how it compares to their past work, but on its own merits, especially from a new fan's perspective.