ADAM & EVE

Ok, Adam & Eve by The Flower Kings, an album that divides even the hardcore fans of the band. For me though it's an excellent album and one of the best of their later works (an era I find . The first few minutes of the opening epic Love Supreme are the most derivative of any TFK epic, (you can't help but hear Yes) however the second half of the piece is pure Flower Kings and is fantastic.

You'd do well to find a more gorgeous couplet than the following combination of Cosmic Circus/Babylon. Tomas Bodin really gets to shine on the wonderful instrumental Babylon. I have to be in the mood for A Vampires View, a gothic theatrical piece which strongly features the pained vocals of Daniel Gildenlow, but next up Days Gone By is stunning. Its a wonderfully moody solo piano number and echoes a similar piece from one of Tomas' solo albums though I struggle to recall the title of that. The title track is great, but I love all the TFK "rockers" so no surprise there. Timelines and Starlight Man are for me the weaker points of the album, but still very decent. Drivers Seat, the penultimate track is amazing, end of story. This clocks in at close to 19 minutes and is for me one of TFK's best epics without a doubt. It's choc-full of gorgeous melodies and sublime contributions from the whole band. Its followed by the closing Blade of Cain, a sumptuous and dramatic instrumental with some mindbending guitar from Roine Stolt. The album would get 4.5 stars for me. And being me, I'd just have to round it up to 5.