ADAM & EVE

This latest album from one of Sweden's finest prog ensembles.I'm pleased to report that this maintains the very high standards of earlier releases.It's nothing new stylistically but the power of the band shines through while the music is well constructed.Best track is appropriately the title track 'Adam and Eve'.Drummer Zoltan Csorsz drives the music impressively here and throughout the entire album.For me the best prog release of the year so far with the added bonus of a great cover!

The Flower Kings, a band wich tends to have a strange mixture of awfully awesome songs and poor filler material. At times brilliant and sometimes boring, no the Flower Kings are not easy. But because most of their tunes are very good and interesting I also bought their new release "Adam & Eve". And what can I say? Well, I was surprised, affirmatively surprised. Almost no boring filler material on this one, no double album. And the best thing about the new release, Daniel Gildenlöw, mastermind of "Pain of Salvation" seems to be a kind of official member now. That's what Jonas Reingold said to me in a chat. Furthermore Daniel is not listed as guest (He's listet among the other guys) and appears on the band photo in the booklet, evidence enough for me. If you read my review for Pain of Salvation's "Entropia" you will know what I think about him as a singer. I thnink Daniel has one of the best voices of the whole prog genre. And the fact that his voice is featured on this release is reason enough for me to buy this record.

The disc is clutched to it's maximum, 77 minutes of partly outstanding music. The opener "Love Supreme" is an almost 20 minutes epic featuring all three singers, Stolt, Gildenlöw and Frödberg. It's a typical Flower Kings epic containing awesome solos and some odd parts. But in general the jazzy parts wich could be heard on "Unfold the Future" are almost non-existent on "Adam & Eve", it seems as if you get more guitar solos and heavier parts instead. I liked the jazz-parts on the last output but I also like the new kind of sound and the solos wich are featured now. The second song "Cosmic Circus" is one of those songs I don't like this much. It's a short one and isn't really bad or beyond all bearing but it's the kind of Flower Kings sound I personally don't like. "Babylon" is a short instrumental written by Tomas Bodin. It is a short and nice one and builds up a kind of eagerness. Not without legal cause because the next song "A vampires View" really blew me away. It's one of the best songs I heard lately. Not very usual for the Flower Kings. Daniel Gildenlöw sings the whole song and what can I say? I simply love this voice, Daniel is a great singer and there's no better voice to represent the character of a vampire. The song creates a great atmosphere and if you close the eyes it might cause goose bumps. Jonas Reingold nails a great performance here as well as Daniel of course. In the end the whole song gets more odd with some awesome instrumental parts and solos, awesome indeed, maybe the best Flower Kings song since a long time, also due to Gildenlöw. "Days gone by" is a short piano solo by Tomas Bodin, it really reminds me of "The ballerina is not getting closer" from his solo release "Pinup Guru", nice one but rather short. The title track also seems to break new ground, at least in the beginning. The song is much heavier than earlier tunes. The singing seems different, Daniel again performs some great lines. After the long instrumental part wich again is typical for the Flower Kings it gets more mellow just to end like it started. An awesome song again with some Gildenlöw vocals, watch out for his screams, quite high for a male voice, cool. Ok, "Starlight Man", the second song I don't like. It's again one of those FK songs wich don't hurt but, I don't know, are rather boring. But again, just 3 minutes fortunately. "Timelines" is a typical Flower Kings song featuring some great atmosphere and beautiful guitar solos. The second 19 minute epic "Drivers Seat" is another highlight of the album. It's typical FK with Roines beautiful guitar solos. But it also features some Bodin-parts reminding me of his quite experimental solo album "Pinup Guru". Again, Gildenlöw's vocals assign a highlight of this song. I also think that the main melody-line is really nice. "The blade of cain" is a 5 minute instrumental and closes the album perfectly, nice guitar solos here, it reminds me of the "Unfold the Future" bonus track "too late for tomatoes" wich I really love. It features a short and muted vocal reprise but can still be described as an instrumental. One thing I have to mention is Zoltan Csörsz's drumming and Jonas Reingold's bass. The two friends seem to get better and better with every record, awesome performances. The percussion work is not as present as on "Unfold the Future" but still audible and still more than other bands have to offer.

So "Adam & Eve" is a bit different, mainly due to Daniel Gildenlöw and the missing jazzy parts but still remains typical. I think that this album is not as good as "Unfold the Future" but still one of the better ones. "A vampires view" is an awesome song with a terrific vocal performance and atmosphere, a true highlight. I think that it is no fault to purchase this record if you like other Flower Kings stuff. If you don't liked the Flower Kings because of the boring filler material this record may please you, almost no fillers this time. So "Adam & Eve" is another good album from this great band. The step to feature more of Daniel Gildenlöw was the best thing they could do, I hope I will see him live with the band in October now as he is an official member. 3.5 Stars

This might be an album with controversy. Last week, I got messages in my mobile phone from my prog friends Rizal (visiting Hong Kong) and Koni. Rizal had a great complaints of this album as it has lost the "soul" of TFK while Koni is the other way round: love the album at first spin. So I got confused and curious to know more. I got Rizal's cd with me and I spin it . oh boy .. I love the album at first spin! Then I spin it four times in its entirety, and this is my view in details:

What a fantastic track "Love Supreme" is! Yeah . it has all ingredients of prog music: dynamic, complex, shifting tempos. I love this track at first spin of the CD. Couple of reasons on why I love it: first, the accompanying music - dynamic, ambient, atmospheric with tight bass guitar - is unique the Flower Kings music. Second, the drumming is dominant and varies widely across musical segments with multi-beats. Third, the use of instruments to lead some segments are dominant but balance between guitars and keyboards. All of the above factors have summed up to en excellent musical composition of this track. As I walk through my journey into this epic track of approx 20 minutes I don't feel any sense of inconsistency in this composition as I finally aware that I'm in the 16th minute of this track and I don't feel bored to wait another 4 minutes to conclude the track. Is it the kind of Yes' "Close to The Edge"? Dunno exactly .. but that's what I feel, this track is really excellent and very enjoyable. This track has the climax enjoyment as well, which happens at minutes 17 onwards. Fabulous! Amazing! Great work, Mr. Stolt!

"Cosmic Circus" is a relatively short track with its music flows naturally, great drumming and keyboard. I enjoy the drumming and voice singing of this track. It continues to the next short instrumental track "Babylon" which is keyboard based with tight bass line, soft lead guitar play during interlude.

"A Vampire View", as the title implies, starts with a night conditioning of the music followed by a monologue in vampire's style (?). When the music enters, it's so nice and flows as usual TFK music and then goes back to opening style. This kind of style is like an opera act - but may make you bored as the music sometime goes silent. I don't have any problem with it. Even, I enjoy it as I watch "Van Helsing" movie. Again, I find the drumming, piano and lead guitar are excellent. I like the last 2 minutes part of this track where electric guitar and keyboard take the lead. Wonderful composition!

"Adam and Eve" really rocks!! I love it very much! It's prog, it's complex, and ... it's fantastic. It has a punchy keyboard playing and dazzling bass guitar (WOW! Excellent bass guitarring, Jonas! Thank you for creating this nice piece of music). For me this track still has the soul of TFK music. Again the last part of this song is a climax that gives ultimate enjoyment for rockers. "Timeliness" is another rocking track!

I don't wanna go track by track of this album as the rest of the tracks are all excellent tracks! It has another epic track "Drivers Seat" and excellent concluding track "The Blade of Cain". "Driver's Seat" is a track that you may need to put attention to. It's uplifting, powerful, complex and wonderful. Again, I have noticed the drumming is so dynamic in this track, great bass line. This is the kind of prog music that I really love and you may too, I guess. You have no reason for not loving this album, really!

My recommendation is: BUY this CD! Even, you won't regret by having "Love Supreme" and "Driver's Seat" alone that you like listening to. But, don't worry .. at least I can guarantee there are 5 other tracks that are worth enjoying. For me, all tracks are excellent and I enjoy listening to it in its entirety. This album is a masterpiece and it will be with the passage of time. Rating 4.75 / 5 - Gatot Widayanto, Indonesia.

Another stunning FLOWER KINGS album to come from the gang out at the Cosmic Lodge. I will admit that I am a big fan of these guys and think that they are still one of the premiere prog bands going around. I really think folks are way way too critical and have unrealistic expectations on TFK's which I don't share the same opinion generally speaking. Opening track "Love Supreme" is a 20 mins epic beauty with some fantastic song writing and musicianship bubbling over. On "Adam & Eve" the regular cast of musicians are present with the addition of a new vocalist Daniel Glidenlow (PAIN OF SALVATION) who brings a new look and feel (and sound dimension) to the band. As you might expect the music is ever changing and flowing with symphonic grandeur and positive colour throughout. STOLT's guitar playing is excellent as is BODIN's keyboard work offering some fantastic musical excursions. Overall a very strong album from the FLOWER KINGS and an album I am playing the heck out of these days.

I listened to this album so many times I lost track, and you know why? Because this is The FLOWER KINGS, one of the most captivating and entrancing progressive rock bands in the world; let me rephrase that, consistently one of the best bands in the world. Every year they release another unrivaled masterpiece and "Adam & Eve" is no exception. I must admit I was a little disappointed at first because I expected another double album set to enjoy. I am very spoiled, previous releases have been amazing double discs sets.

The cover art of this album is as striking as it is thought provoking. The evidence is apparent on the cover for all to see, the bite out of the forbidden fruit is glowing and it literally links the sinful couple together. Adam looks as though he has been on a steady diet of steroids, a modern day Neanderthal, while the beautiful and delicate Eve looks borderline anorexic. They take themes from the old and new for this interesting musical adventure. The age-old dark and evil vampire makes his presence known in "A Vampires View" and "The Blade of Cain" is a page out of the TFK musical bible as only they can tell the story.

This album is a little more structured and even keeled than what you would expect, yet the musicianship is outstanding. Those wonderful YES influences are still intact, which makes me a very happy listener. The mixture of rock, jazz and fusion is beyond compare, quite unlike anything anyone else is doing these days. Besides life long special guest Hasse Bruniusson, the band has added yet another spectacular and welcome addition to the fold, the amazing vocalist from PAIN OF SALVATION, Daniel Glidenlöw. I must say, Roine STOLT is getting wiser and craftier with each passing year, making his band better every time they set foot in the studio.

What can I say? The FLOWER KINGS have done it again; they have released one of the best albums of the year. I would be willing to bet the next project ends up being a two or three album set, and why not? At the rate this band records it is entirely possible. There is no doubt they are enjoying a creative peak and riding the crest of that wave, and I see no end to it, which is good news for all of us prog heads.

Rating: 4.75/5

After the very courageous and experimental UNFOLD THE FUTURE fans were wondering what the follow-up will sound like. And depending which side of the band, the more progressive or the melodic one, they favour their expectations were different. I love very much the previous one, which was a fully progressive album and of course if one would have expected something similar coming up, one must be definitely disappointed by ADAM & EVE. But hey one moment, it's not that a bad one, disregarding the really awful artwork. I would say the album is very versatile and contains quite a lot of different stuff.

Some typical melodic lengthy epic songs like the very YESsy , but not that much convincing Love Supreme and Driver's Seat, of which I prefer the latter one, as well some quite heavy ones like the Little Rocky Horror Picture Show, A Vampire's View with a great expressionistic Daniel Gildenlöw on vocals or the title song. Unfortunately there are as well some songs, which are really not offering anything new and therefore sounding a bit boring, like Cosmic Circus (seams these terms are Roine's favourite ones for song titles) and Starlight Man, the worst one of the album, I would say. Then there is a quite short instrumental Babylon by Tomas Bodin which is a very nice one with a fantastic melody. but nothing special in fact. Days Gone By with its piano sound is in some way quite a nice bridge between the most progressive and heavy tracks of the album. Timelines cannot keep the promises made by the rather "crimsy" progressive beginning and is becoming very shallow and boring during its further course. And finally there is the last song The Blade Of Cain which is a quite good bombastic one with some nice tension in the beginning. About the performance of all musicians there isn't anything to criticize, they are playing perfectly as usually. As well production is excellent like always. The nicest surprise of this album for me was the welcome of Daniel Gildenlöw as a permanent group member. I love what he's doing together with the other guys of P O S. Welcome as a king, Daniel and keep on pleasing us with your brilliant music now even in two bands!

As a summary ADAM & EVE is for sure not another UNFOLD THE FUTURE, but as well not a really bad album. Highlights are of course A vampire's view and the title song which are both quite different from anything they did before and the long one Driver's Seat which offers the usual beloved TFK-sound. The rest of the songs are rather mediocre I've got to say. It's a good but probably not an essential one in general. Good for 3 stars!

This is a hard review to write because its a good album, great musicians vocalists and composition (silly lyrics but I suppose that is acceptable). The biggest problem with it, however is that it is not terribly interesting. For something so long and seemingly ambitious they dont tread any new ground. When I browse my albums it never catches my eye, I only play it now just because I feel obligated since I payed for it.

The highlight of the album would be the title track, it manages to not tread to deeply into lameness and I adore the singing. The Biggest musical problems with the album are the length, and the occaisonal dip into annoying lyrics.

Id suggest it for the prog buffs out there who want to diversify into more modern things, but not really for newcomers.

When I was browsing through Best Buy (American chain of electronics stores) yesterday, I wasn't expecting to find anything Prog related that was something I was looking for (Besides Rush, Yes, and Pink Floyd). Then I browse through the F's and find this album. Now, I've been interested in the Flower Kings in a long time, and I must say that this album is kind of a let down to their previous albums. After you get past the risque cover art, and finally put the album in the player, you are whisked into another world.

The opening track, the first Suite on the album Love Supreme, sounds a little too poppy for my taste, but I really got into it. Roine Stolt is a very good guitarist, weaving together great melody and solos into the tight mix. I should also give credit to the other members of the band, they all did a good job on the album (Although I didn't really like Gildenlow, it's listenable). Other stand out tracks include the heavy-metal Adam and Eve, with heavy guitars and raunchy vocals, Driver's Seat, the second suite, and The Blade of Cain.

The downfall to this album comes in two forms, lyrics that are sub-par, and partly on Daniel Gildenlow. I can tolerate his stuff with Pain of Salvation, but he doesn't really fit with the Flower Kings. The lyrics are all around too poppy, and some songs could have used a lot of lyrical refinement.

Overall, it is an okay album. It's not one I'd recommend to someone who wants to get into the Flower Kings, but it was a sufficient effort. Let's hope the next one will be better.

Oh my god what's all the fuss about it?!?!Well , except on a few circumstances during the development of their style,where they found their own way (especially regarding of their personal tunes such as "The Melting Pot" inside "Retropolis" for instance, or considering a few tracks of their debut album), in the last years the band of Roine Stolte has often composed some derivative concept albums like the present one, paying sometimes the tribute to Genesis and Yes. I think that their recent production, lacking of imagination and powerful creative music harmony, has affected the opinion of ther old fans about the future of the band!!Roine Stolte has lost his way to compose according to his remarkable talent, unfortunately by dissipating his energy and ideas within a lot of strange music projects (think of the recent stuff by Kaipa and Transatlantic,but also his participation to various tributes); and this is to me a disappointing situation, because since the issue of "The Rainmaker" their poor music ideas begin to emerge!! Talking about their good use of the digital guitar processor,as well as a few solos at the keyboards, there's not anything else to add...Steve Hackett performed the same style in the early seventies,without using such technology, but demonstrating another different cleverness in his music approach.Perhaps Roine Stolte is able to compose something closer to Frank Zappa, but the music improvisation inside the present album is weak and uninspiring ...that's my idea about the whole music project by Stolte and the recent F.K..

3.7 stars

This is an underrated album, but still not one of the Flower Kings' best moments. Daniel Gildenlöw proves to be a very good vocalist here. This album is very different from Unfold The Future and Rainmaker. It sacrifices some of the jams and jazzy elements to create a tighter, more song oriented album.

Adam and Eve : 8/10 : begins the album, and it is one of the highlights of the album. It takes many listens to fully understand it, and at first listen, it may seem poppy. It is not poppy at all, just melodic. The themes are very memorable, and you may find yourself singing to them. The mood is very happy making this song very enjoyable to listen to. It sounds like the band misses the 70s, so this song sounds like a tribute to the 70s feel. The highlights for me in the song is on minute 6, when a strong Yes-like bass riff appears and is followed by a yes-like slide guitar that sounds really beautiful. The other highlight is its climax!!!

Cosmic Circus 9/10 : This is a very short pop song with a very strong melody, I love it.

3. Babylon 7/10 : This sounds like a short song from Stardust we are. It sounds beautiful and reminds me of late 70s Genesis.

4. A Vampires View 10/10 : The highlight of the album. This song is dominated by Daniel Gildenlow's haunting vocals. A vampire's view contains what I would say one of the best choruses I ever heard in Rock. The music reminds me of Peter Gabriel's most terrifying songs like 'prisoner' or 'darkness'. The second half is a great instrumental section followed by that unforgettable 'Im back' scream. This song does not sound like Flower Kings at all, but it is in my opinion one of their best songs. 5. Days Gone By : This is not a song, just part of Vampire's view. It contains diabolical laughs, and a moody piano.

6. Adam & Eve 5/10 : this track is a but uninspired. It contains good bass work and drumming. However, it recycles the 'I Am the Sun' riffs and has no memorable melodies or themes. The lyrics are kind of fun though.

7. Starlight Man 6/10 : A mainstream Flower King pop number. Not bad, though the chorus is a bit too sugary for me.

8. Timelines 7/10 : A very good song that shows influences of many 70s bands, especially King Crimson. The song Starts heavy and is interrupted by a Jack Johnson-like acoustic moment. The rest of the song is solid FK.

9. Drivers Seat 6/10 : The other epic of the album, It sounds more like their previous albums. The musicianship is good here, and there are plenty of guitar solos to enjoy, but they have done better epics as this one has some jamming that sounds like it was done to make this longer than it should and the vocal parts are very uninspired.

10. The Blade Of Cain 8.5/10 : Starting with great a keyboard riff, and masterful chord progressions, it is followed by one of Roine's mellowest and prettiest guitar solos he has ever played. It finally ends with some of Love Supreme's Themes restated.

If you are tired of neo-prog and want to hear prog that sounds like the 70s prog, this is for you. I recommend this album.

My grade : B-

Adam & Eve, what to say about this Flower Kings record? Simply the best. Love Supreme begins and it turns me on, a great song in all the ways. A Vampire's View it's a Roger Waters way of interpretate the song it's amazing. An amzing album, a great surprise.

Yawn.

The Flower Kings are really the kings...the kings of unexpected behavior. With such jamming potential and savoir-faire at hand, you could expect a hook here and there....barely.

The problem(s) with the FK is that they wander around, looking for a way to renew and explore (Unfold the Future) but on the good side, to keep a certain dose of entertainment (Space Revolver). Adam and Eve is giving you a lot of wandering and few moments of well- thought gelled material. This sounds like an attempt to reach for the good old times, but at the same time, you seem to assist to a long jam with (lame) songwriting.

Another deception from this band, not only on record, but also in concert. Their attempt to create ambience at the Capitole de Québec was blocked only by one thing: Adam and Eve material. The concert started to rise when they played I Am the Sun after a painful hour of their latest material. Once again, the lack interest in this record is showing.

This record couldn't simply retain my attention from the first listen to the 10th one. Roine Stolt is proving that perhaps giving it all away in so many projects is increasing the probability of an uninspired record.

This tastes nothing but re-heated sympho rock mixed with the same old FK optimistic sauce.

This, along with The Rainmaker, seems to be the album that divides the fans. Some love it, some hate it. Well, I left this one till the end to buy, and I have to say, I love it! This band just get better and better. 'Love Supreme' and 'Driver's Seat' are typical, classic FK tracks, very Yes influenced, with plenty of interesting instrumentation. Of course, what really does it is Stolt's Howe-like guitar work, and Froberg's Anderson-like vocals. Two excellent songs that stand along side anything the band has produced before. 'Cosmic Circus' has a ridiculously catchy whistling keyboard effect running throughout it, a nice melody and excellent singing, leading into 'Babylon', a superb Bodin composed instrumental. I love both of these. I suspect Bodin is very underrated as a player, he is actually very good and very professional. 'A Vampire's View' is another good track, with Gildenlow hamming it up in the best theatrical tradition. The story itself, about a vampire as told by that vampire, is well written - let's not forget that this band is not writing in its first language, something that should not be overlooked when the critics come calling. Lyrically the band is better than many English, or English speaking bands, eg: Yes. I love the chorus on this one too, again, very catchy. I have to say here that the production on this album is wonderful. Most FK albums are, but this one has a certain something that makes the whole package very good indeed. 'Days Gone By' is another supreme Bodin piece, which seamlessly follows on from 'Vampire' and shows Bodin's tremendous ability on the piano. It has, indeed, a feeling of days gone by. I could imagine this being played in Paris in the 19th century. The title track is another class piece, a little heavier but with the usual strong melody. Lyrically, I love this one too, being a modern take on, well, the Adam And Eve mythos. Another good chorus here. 'Starlight Man' is a shorter piece, with nice acoustic guitar, and Anderson style vocals from Hasse in the chorus. Roine sounds particularly good singing the verse here, this type of song obviously suits him. Again, it has a melody that will linger in the mind. 'Timelines' is quite a heavy piece again, though the chorus, as usual, is melodic. Could be my least favourite track here, but I do like it, and tomorrow it may be one of my faves! 'Driver's Seat' I have already mentioned, and the album concludes with 'The Blade Of Cain' a good guitar led instrumental, that ends with lines from 'Love Supreme' being reprised. Wonderful stuff! I have no hesitation in rating this album highly, and in fact, would say it is my third favourite FK album, only Flower Power and Unfold The Future edging it out. The cover, also, is superb, maybe my fave FK cover. All in all a wonderful album that will become, in years to come, a classic. If you are hesitating over getting it, don't. Get it now!

It took me a lot of time to figure out why Adam & Eve is my least favourite Flower King album. Even Rainmaker, with all its faults, seem to be more attractive to me than this one. Most of my friends who dig FK music think the same, but they also can't really explain it. So I put the album aside for some time and now I heard it all again to have a better view. What puzzled me is the fact that there are really many songs here that I really like and think they are par to FK's better work.

Love Supreme and Drivers Seat, for instance, are fine epics. Starlight man ios one great tune. The problem, I now understand, is the inclusion of the three songs that spoils the overall harmony of the entire album: Vampire View, Days gone By, Adam & Eve. The first is probably FK's worst song ever. Many reviewers here say it is a humorous joke. A Joke? Maybe, but not a funny one and too long for its own good. It would be ok if it was just a filler on one of the band's double CDs, it would be a forgotten tune lost among many other tracks. Days Gone By sounds like a sequel to the same tune and goes to Adam & EWve, another song that is not one of their best offerings. These three tracks break down the album continuity and, being in the very middle of the CD, seem to divide it in two. So if you want to hear the best of it, you'll have to skip those.

Now I can say I like Adam & Eve. After all, the three bad ones represent just 18 minutes in a 70+ CD. So the best stuff is a majority here. It's only a pity it took me so long to find out what was wrong with it. They should be more careful with the tracks sequence. Aside from that a good, if not essential, album.

If you have been through some of my earlier TFK reviews, you know that at times this band can really enjoy me (but at the same time being irritating for my ears as well).

When I listen to the opener, I can only be charmed. This is one of my fave TFK track ever. On par with (chronologically) "World of Adventures" and "Big Puzzle" from their debut album, "There is More to This World" from "Retropolis", "In the Eyes of the World" and "Church of Your Heart" from "Stardust" and "The Truth Will Set You Free" from "Unfold The Future".

"Love Supreme" is extremely melodic, enormously emotional and brilliantly interpreted (both vocal and instrumental parts). It is the absolute highlight of this album. When TFK plays at this level, I am really impressed. Even if such a song is of course fully remininscent of Yes during their glory days. But as I have said while talking about "The Truth...", Yes doesn't write these type of songs any longer and I am very pleased that a band like TFK is there to remind me my teenager days (like IQ did with "Harvest Of Souls"). This is really a wonderful track.

After such a masterpiece, it is of course difficult to write about the other songs. "Cosmic Circus" is a very nice little piece of music. Simple, quiet, very accessible while the instrumental "Babylon" is also pleasant.

The second long song ("Vampire's View") reminds me Floyd (Gilmour period), especially during the chorus. The finale being more in the Crimson vein : tortured, scary (which is normal with such a title), noisy and almost experimental. This is another very interesting track, I should say.

A short piano break "Days Gone By" to get rid of our fear and here we go for the title track. "Adam & Eve" is on the heavy side of TFK repertoire. Funny lyrics about how our ancestors (at least if you believe in this story...).

"Adam was handsome but somewhat bizarre, he looked at himslef like some kind of pornstar. Eve was confused, but did she shine on, boy! She made him fly high until the urge was gone".

This song is again very much Yes oriented, but this aspect of TFK has always pleased me, so...The good moments are prolonged with "Starlight Man". A simple and delicate song like... "Wonderous Stories". Vocals are fully Anderson oriented. I understand that the similarity might be irritating.

"Timelines" is somewhat more difficult to approach. The Crimson influence reached it and is mixed with superb vocal harmonies. Another good song though. Well, actually there is no weak track so far.

Things get a little more complicated with the second longest song of this album (over eighteen minutes). Truely complex and a bit noisy at times. Just give it a few spin and you will be able to discover that it holds some good moments as well. It is my least favourite track of this album. A bit too long to be fully interesting (especially the middle part).

The closing "Blade Of Cain" is a powerful piece of music which features all the grandeur of the FK great musicianship (during the first half at least). A very pleasant way to close this very good album. In my top five of TFK ones, no doubt.

For nostalgic persons as I am, Yes (through this album) and Genesis (through "Dark Matter") were kind of a ressurected in 2004. Don't get me wrong. These albums were of course derivative work from these giants I love so much (some even call this re- gressive but I hate this word even if I have used once).

Four stars.

In the Progarchives forum I discovered a topic about TFK in which the best album was asked for. Interesting question because they never made a real bad album and hardly ever a perfect masterpiece. So I had to think about that for a while. But one of the questions asked in the topic was why this album (Adam & Eve) had no votes. Quite some contenders answered that question and so did I. My answer was (like most) that this album contains two masterpiece epics and that's all, at least where the really positive comments are concerned. The other songs are hardly worthwhile, just Timelines and The Blade of Cain are ok. The other tracks are really too poor for TFK standard.

What about the epics ? Well there is hardly anything better to be found in their entire history than these two songs. I said it often in the other TFK reviews, they are so good in the epical department. And they once again prove it with these two. Great symphonic compositions I listened two innumerable times and it never bores.

So that's a huge distinction between the positive and the negative aspects of the album. In no other album they made was it this big. But still I would recommend it to TFK fans because the two epics belong in your collection ! 4 stars because of that but it's actually 3.5.

3.5 stars. In the liner notes Roine says "A special gratitude goes to Joni Mitchell and her masterpiece "Travelogue" that inspired me tremendously during late sleepless morning hours during this recording, no music has touched me so profoundly in 30 years!!! ". There is also a picture in the liner notes of the ocean with the words "We are stardust, we are golden and we got to get ourselves back to garden Joni Mitchell 1969" on it. Hasse is given a greater role vocally on this one and Daniel Gildenlow who debut on "Unfold The Future" is also given a greater vocal role singing lead on two tracks.This is an album that for me is easy to like. It's accessible with lots of mellotron and organ. And tszirmay's favourite bass player is huge on this one. I mean he's all over it with major deep bass grooves. Certainly this is far, far less jazzy than their previous one but they also throw some curves with "A Vampires View" and "Adam & Eve" both of which I find difficult to get into. So a mixed bag here.

"Love Supreme" has a unique sounding intro before Jonas delivers some heavy bass lines the rest of the way. Cool sounding guitar 4 minutes in followed by mellotron. A nice uplifting section 7 minutes in and the drum / guitar section 9 minutes in is outstanding. Roine sings after 12 minutes and then delivers some soaring and scorching guitar melodies after 16 minues. Fantastic tune ! "Cosmic Circus" is about uplifting as a FLOWER KING song can get. The bass and drums simply shine. The mellotron is a nice touch. "Babylon" is a GENESIS-flavoured instrumental thanks mainly to Bodin. The synths, mellotron and Roine's Hackett inspired opening guitar is priceless. One of my favourite tracks. "A Vampires View" features Gildenow on vocals and he gets quite theatrical on this one. Almost speaking the words. A full sound arrives 2 minutes in as Daniel sings bringing PAIN OF SALVATION to mind right away. The contrast continues. It gets nice and heavy after 7 minutes as organ and drums dominate as the bass throbs. "Days Gone By" is a very short piano driven tune with an outburst of crazy vocals. "Adam & Eve" again features Gildenow on vocals. This is the heaviest song on here. It opens with mellotron and piano before it becomes bombastic quickly including heavy slabs of bass. The vocals are great. Scorching guitar comes and goes. Organ before 3 minutes as an incredible instrumental section follows. Amazing passage that ends with a calm. A great finish to this one as well.

"Starlight Man" features Roine on vocals and it opens with guitar as light drums and bass lead the way. "Timelines" is another favourite of mine. It opens much like an ANEKDOTEN song with plenty of bass and drums. Very aggressive before it settles down a minute in when the vocals and strummed guitar arrive. The mellotron is very ANEKDOTEN-like as well and it sounds awesome. It comes and goes. A nice long, relaxing instrumental section ends 5 minutes in as vocals return. It takes off again 6 1/2 minutes in. "Drivers Seat" is classic FLOWER KINGS. A feel good track that lasts almost 19 minutes. I love the bass as the guitar plays on. Vocals 2 1/2 minutes in. It then gets jazzy before some sizzling guitar takes the spotlight. Roine's on voclas 6 minutes in. Odd-metered drumming and some ripping guitar after 8 minutes that goes on and on. Nice. The song stops 11 minutes in and then rebuilds to a full sound 12 1/2 minutes in. A wondrous section 2 minutes later followed a minute after that by the guitar / bass melody from earlier. What a ride ! "The Blade Of Cain" might be my favourite song of all. It has this uplifting, heavenly sound that is quite spacey. The guitar that follows is so beautiful. The waves of sound really bring IONA to mind. I just get lost in this wonderful track. Words are sung and shouted with emotion and passion late, like "love supreme the master's hand and love !" The perfect way to end this very inspiring album.

A better album than it's given credit for but not quite 4 stars. The two big negatives are "A Vampires View" and the length of this album at over 79 minutes.

A good album, but if it was 10 or 20 minutes shorter it would be much better

It is always hard to make a decent follow up album after an amazing album, and with the Flower Kings the story was not different. After the incredible masterpiece that was Unfold the Future, Roine Stolt and associates decided to once again join forces with Daniel Gildenlöw in order to come up with another album as good as Unfold the Future was.

However, the final results in Adam & Eve were not as satisfying as they were in their previous album and that is because this album feels way too long. Well, its true that their last album with Gildenlöw was almost twice as long as Adam & Eve, but then every song was good and the album flowed much better than this one. Also, there are lots of parts in many songs here that, in my opinion, are unnecessary and sound like they are fillers. That can be clearly seen in the songs Adam & Eve and Drivers Seat and if those songs and some others were shorten, the album would flow and sound much better. Another thing that shows that the album should be shorten somehow is that the album, halfway to the end, seemingly gets uninspired and the songs start sounding rather generic.

Also in Adam & Eve, the album, Gildenlöw sings much more than in Unfold the Future and, instead of just singing backing vocals or just some small sessions of some songs, he sings the main vocals in a bunch of songs, like Vampires View, Adam & Eve, but that is as far as his influence goes, because this album sounds exactly like a Flower Kings album.

The highlights go to Love Supreme, Cosmic Circus & Babylon, Vampires View & Days Gone By and the first 11 minutes of Drivers Seat.

Grade and Final Thoughts

This album is a very good one, but just like some other Flower kings albums, it is way too long. If this album was a bit smaller, it could have been much better and, for that, i believe it deserves the 3 stars grade

''Roine was handsome, but somewhat bizzare, he looked at himself like some kind of progstar''

After the amazing Unfold the Future, which followed the same eclectic style since 2000 with Space Revolver, The Flower Kings with Adam & Eve return to the more straight-forward Symphonic Prog, like they did in their early days, without the jazzy leanings from Ulf's sax and Jonas' fretless bass which was characteristic from their classic albums like the already mentinoed Space Revolver and Unfold the Future.

Obviously this was a great dissapointment for TFK fans waiting something better or at least in the same style of Unfold the Future. I luckily, didn't know Unfold the Future before I knew this one, or at least didn't want something similar to Space Revolver which I had before.

This album as Space Revolver, contains 10 songs, which make the album with more chances of being consistent like Space Revolver was/is. Fortunately this album is also consistent, one of the things I love so much about this album, as well as Space Revolver. Don't get me wrong, Space Revolver, despite the consistency similarity, is barely similar to Adam & Eve. Now to the songs:

The album opens up with the typical epic opener, Love Supreme.(Just in case, this has nothing to do with Love Supreme by John Coltrane, nor the version of McLaughlin and Santana). Love Supreme does have some similarity to The Truth Will Set You Free because of the percussion intro and some melodies, but like I said earlier, the jazzy influences making so characteristic that epic, isn't here. Love Supreme has overall a very acoustic feel almost all throughout the song, with, like always, a excellent composition and musicianship. To say the least, a very smooth, yet highly entertaining epic, and of course, a grandiose opener, which sets the whole mood the album will follow.

The album follows the acoustic mood with Cosmic Circus, a melodic soft tune that flows perfectly with the previous big epic, just like Dream on Dreamer does with I Am The Sun Part 1.

Follows up a short but great symphonic instrumental called Babylon, with some nice moog and a very cheerful melody.

Obviously Roine Stolt knows how to ''build'' a album, not letting a certain mood dominate the album, so Roine & Co. delivers the haunting and powerful, A Vampires View with Daniel Gildenlöw from Pain of Salvation, on lead vocals suiting very well the haunting mood. As very well others said before me, it's a quite unique tune for The Flower Kings' catalogue, not the best tune on the album, however unique.

To follow the haunting mood Roine puts on a typical instrumental-passage of the same kind, lead by a dramatic piano, called Days Gone By, which will open the next haunting and powerful tune which is the title tracl. Adam & Eve(the song) features a very similar metal-esque riff to I Am The Sun Part 1, though by no means this song follows the same symphonic path I Am The Sun does. Still Adam & Eve stands alone as a killer Heavy Progger, with great guitar and moog solos, making a great enjoyable tune. Also this song is the last of the 'haunting' or at least dark trilogy, started by A Vampires View.

After 3 sombre and powerful tunes, Roine delivers another up-lifting sophisticated pop tune ala Cosmic Circus called Starlight Man, with the acoustic feel again. I find it highly enjoyable every now and then, with a great bass playing and a decent guitar solo to keep my attention, as well as the catchy up-lifting melody.

Roine moves on to Prog territory once again with Timelines, which starts powerfully and somewhat dissonant. Which then moves brilliantly to a soft piece lead by the acoustic guitar, extremely catchy and by no means pop. For what the song lasts, I have to say that the song develops gently and brilliant, with some mellotron here and there, some Fripp guitar-cliches, also some very bluesy organ followed by a great guitar solo, in which the song will end up fierceful as the begining. Definitely my favorite track of the album, and one of the bests from here as well.

As you may notice, this album is missing quite the Symphonic epicness as they used to have in their first albums. Well Driver's Seat gives you 18 minutes of it. With a tremendous vast of mood changes, which pittily some don't flow well, but overall it's stunning, with classic symphonic moog, Squire-alike bass playing, and once again excellent guitar.

To end the album, they wrote The Blade of Cain, a excellent instrumental, with a lot of energy emitted by the powerful melodies created by the organ and guitar. However the song finishes acoustic, and finally ending with the sound of wind.

Adam & Eve is definitely a odd album for The Flower Kings, since it shows The Flower Kings' darkest attempts as well as softest, which in the following, Paradox Hotel, these will be neutralised, not heading to too haunty-esque nor too soft.

Adam & Eve has, IMO, the same amount of great material as Space Revolver, so if you're looking for a consistent album like Space Revolver, this is one of them. Of course, the great material from Space Revolver definitely beats the great material from here, but nonethless this album is excellent.

Another admirable album from The Flower Kings, although again I must say it has several weaker moments, Adam & Eve can be initially difficult to get through, as I feel is the case with all of their albums. The initial lengthy track is the greatest on here (and one of the band's best), and afterwards there's much to look forward to.

"Love Supreme" This nearly twenty minute piece is the crowning achievement of the album. The guitar and synthesizer parts blend seamlessly, and the vocals are phenomenal, mainly over a 9/4 time signature. Midway through, the song adopts a sinister feel, adapting the main vocal theme over minor chords. The music drops off to bring in a country-like bit with slide and acoustic guitar, and Roine Stolt delivering one of his best vocal performances. All in all, this is one of The Flower Kings best songs; it's an inexplicably uplifting and dense atmosphere of sounds that somehow manages to stay light.

"Cosmic Circus" Despite the laughable title, this is an excellent short song, with whistling synthesizer and a very memorable melody.

"Babylon" One of my favorite short instrumentals of all time, Tomas Bodin stands out once more as a brilliant keyboardist, providing washes of Mellotron and a grand synthesizer lead.

"A Vampire's View" I doubt I'll ever like this one. It's grimly theatric, which makes it sounds a bit ludicrous. The music doesn't flow very well (it's all a bit random), and the guest vocalist (from Pain of Salvation) would have been a great addition had he not been so dramatic. On the other hand, Bodin's organ work is quite good.

"Adam & Eve" The title track begins with gorgeous Mellotron and synthesizer from Bodin, but it explodes into what is the heaviest song on the album. The instrumentalists do a great job throughout, even if the singing and lyrics do very little for me. Jonas Reingold lets it rip on a killer bass solo that just has to be heard.

"Starlight Man" Stolt's grandfatherly voice sings this gentle song over acoustic guitar and great bass courtesy of Reingold.

"Timelines" This one has a menacing introduction with a lot of wild sounds thrown in. Soon it's just Stolt and an acoustic guitar again. It's largely a forgettable song because it's so hard to follow.

"Driver's Seat" The second epic begins gallantly enough, with a great opening theme and loud Mellotron. It's not quite as strong as the amazing first track, but it's still good, full of interesting bits and some tight transitions. There's a complete cutoff in the middle that gives way to more music, something I've rarely appreciated. Some may appreciate it more, however.

"The Blade of Cain" The final track consists of lovely organ notes plunking in the backdrop, as stellar electric guitar and fretless bass work alongside each other. Over atmospheric sections, the words of "Love Supreme" are revisited, making this a most excellent way to end a most excellent album.

I've just lost lenghty review here due to log problems I've surprisingly had these minutes. So shortly: This is typical TFK album, so it means that they're maintaining their quality which means that they will be for most of people right under 4 stars (as most of their albums). Long album that fits right into

4(-) category, as good one, but not full of exceptional pieces (most of their albums aren't that way), but offers good deal of interesting songs, two of epic proportions, jazz fillings into empty spaces and overall quite good mood that shines from this album. Nice cover art and I was fortunate enough to get bonus disc that offers another experience in similar tone/ style, again, nothing that steps out of row. However, TFK are able to do this on every album they release, so it's more like surprise that they're so good-above god for so long.

I remember borrowing this album from a friend just a month after its release for no other reason than to see if the band have progressed from what I've heard on Space Revolver.

Unfortunately (for me) this album is being true to The Flower Kings tradition and therefore features a rehash of an uneven set of tracks were some are good while others are forgettable but non is really that progressive. I think that recruiting Daniel Gildenlöw was a failed idea since his vocals don't fit the bands overall sound and makes Adam & Eve seem even more dark and pretentious, that is if the title isn't pretentious enough on its own.

I'm definitely a much bigger fan of Pain Of Salvation's music and in a way this album can be considered a lite version of a Pain Of Salvation-album which lacks both instrumentally and composition-wise in comparison to their regular output.

This is once again an album that I can't really hate and although I totally agree with Sean Trane and his reviews of The Flower Kings catalog I'll still give it a good but non-essential rating. Having said that I doubt that there is any reason for me to hear any more titles from this band's rapidly expanding discography.

**** star songs: Love Supreme (19:50) Cosmic Circus (3:00) Babylon (2:41) Days Gone By (1:10) Adam & Eve (7:50) Drivers Seat (18:22) The Blade Of Cain (5:00)

*** star songs: A Vampires View (8:50) Starlight Man (3:30) Timelines (7:40)

The second of my trawl through my Flower Kings albums for review, this is a release from 2004.

As with all of the band's releases, the one thing you can expect is an album packed with extremely accomplished musicanship.

Adam & Eve opens with a fantastic epic track, Love Supreme, clocking in at over 19 minutes long. It never once loses the listener's attention. Stolt's voice has, to me, never sounded better, and there is a glorious mix of guitars and, especially, bass from Reingold. As with much of their best symphonic works, the track is deeply reminiscent of Yes' glory days, and, again, this is very much meant as a compliment. The mellotron passages are amongst the best you will hear. Epic in scope and execution, this is a highly pleasing start.

Cosmic Circus is a lovely melodic short three minute song, with again some nice mellotron and keyboard work backed by acoustic guitar. I find this a deeply uplifting song, the sort you would play when you really need a fillip from life's worries.

Babylon is even shorter at under three minutes, this is another uplifting track, but presented as an instrumental. The keyboard playing by Bodin really is beautiful, and is accompanied by some lovely acoustic guitar work. Not all accomplished symphonic rock has to be epic in length, and this is definitely no filler.

A Vampire's View comes in at just under nine minutes, and this is my least favourite track on the album. Brooding and, unfortunately, sounding lyrically and vocally like something you would expect to see & hear in a London West End musical theatre production, there are, nonetheless, some redeeming features, especially again the keyboard waves that feature during the chorus. This track, though, is simply far too melodramatic to work very effectively.

Days Gone By clocks in at a mere 1:14 minutes long, and, thankfully, brings a lighter tone to the album again with a very solid and pleasant piano solo. Yes, it's a filler, but it is a good one.

The title track itself is next. This is a far harder and darker affair, but, thankfully, it doesn't fall into the same melodramatic trap as A Vampire's View. Whilst much of what preceded this track is recognisably symphonic, this track most certainly moves into Heavy prog territory, and Reingold simply takes the breath away with the most fantastic bass line. The sort of track that will turn even the most sceptical heavy prog person into that particular sub-genre.

Starlight Man reverts to the more gentle feel of the album, and really should have been a hit single for the band if there were any justice and musical taste in the world. I love Stolt's sunny vocals on this track, and he is backed by yet another incredible bass guitar melody by Reingold. A fantastic track.

Timelines opening passage takes us back to a very dark and menacing place, with wild keyboards, guitars, drums, and bass all competing manically for control. However, very quickly, it reverts to a Stolt lyric backed by acoustic guitar. Midway through, there is a lovely, almost jammy and jazzy instrumental passage with organ & guitar competing with each other. The song then becomes far more manic again. This is not a bad piece of music, quite the opposite, but it is very disjointed, almost like a jigsaw puzzle being put together, and I think a bit more coherence in the musical themes would have helped.

Drivers Seat is the second epic track on the album, and this one clocks in at 18 and a half minutes. Firmly placing the album back into grandiose symphonic prog, the track has many mood changes, and is, to my mind, right up there with the finest of the many epic tracks the band has produced. Some have criticised it for being somewhat bitty, but certainly, to me, it flows far better than the predecessor track. Think Yes in the Fragile era, updated to 2004, and you will be somewhere near the mark. I must also say, following on from that, that Squire himself rarely sounded better than Reingold does here. The man is an incredible bassist. At 11 minutes in, the track comes to a complete halt before slowly building up to its closing phases. Incredibly, it works, as the whimsical guitar gives way to the main event. The final instrumental to close the track is as good as you will ever hear in the entire genre.

The album closes with The Blade of Cain. A wonderful atmospheric track, and a great way to close a very strong album. There really is some lovely and haunting guitar work on this piece of music.

This is an album which is very highly recommended. The album avoids falling into the trap that the band sometimes fall into, that of making an album that is simply too long and sometimes meandering to hold the attention. With the exception of A Vampire's View, there is not a weak and forgettable track included, and I have no hesitation in awarding it a very strong four stars.

If, like me, you are a relative newcomer to The Flower Kings, you will not regret buying this and persevering with it in order to realise that we are dealing with one of the all time great prog acts.

When The Flower Kings were suggested to me a few years ago, I wasn't expecting such a cheesy sounding band. Roine Stolt is definitely a respectable musician with lots of integrity regarding the progressive rock genre and I always try to follow what he does if not only for the sake of knowing what such a great guitarist has in the projects.

However, this album is just boring and random. There are a few nice melodies here and there, but most of the music just sounds uninspired, which is quite a pity for a story line as ambitious as this (apparently based on the tale of Adam & Eve with a few experimental touches, like... vampires). I guess I just don't get it, and I've over the years decided that symphonic prog isn't really my jam. However, my guitar instructor who adores vintage symphonic prog absolutely adores this album and band, so I'm sure many other people would too.

This all seems like vintage symphonic progressive rock with a few modern touches. If that is you're "thing", then you might as well check this album out.

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.

"Adam & Eve" is the 8th full-length studio album by Swedish progressive rock act The Flower Kings. The album was released through InsideOut Music in August 2004. The 7- piece lineup features Daniel Gildenlöw of Pain of Salvation as a permanent member of the band. Gildenlöw had made guest appearances on both "Unfold The Future (2002)" and the live album "Meet The Flower Kings (2003)".

As usual with a Flower Kings album, "Adam & Eve" is filled to the brim with music. 10 tracks distributed over a 79:15 minutes long playing time. This time around it´s only a one disc album though (The Flower Kings have released several double disc albums). The music style is symphonic progressive rock with strong 70s progressive rock and hard rock leanings (even jazz rock/fusion at times). As such no surprise considering that it´s the style the band have played since the beginning. It´s safe to say that "Adam & Eve" isn´t a revolution of the band´s signature sound. With The Flower Kings that is of less importance though, as they always deliver quality releases.

"Adam & Eve" opens with the 19:50 minutes long mastodont of a track "Love Supreme". A track featuring a very uplifting mood, and almost needless to say, a complex structure and many different sections. Vintage synths/keyboards, soaring guitar solos, harmony vocals and adventurous rythmic playing are some of the signature elements of the band´s music and all those are used on this album too. Some tracks are uplifting like "Love Supreme" while others like "A Vampires View" are slightly darker sounding.

Quality wise there´s little to put a finger on. The sound production is powerful, organic and detailed, the musicianship is excellent and the songwriting reeks of class. However I still don´t feel "Adam & Eve" is among the band´s strongest releases. Some of the tracks (including the 18:22 minutes long "Drivers Seat") are just too "standard" for The Flower Kings and some don´t leave enough impact. The three standout tracks to me are "Love Supreme", "A Vampires View" and the title track. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

I wasn't the only one to be extremely disappointed with the last Flower Kings CD, as although they have some excellent ideas and are superb musicians, there was the feeling that the effect would have been much better if there had been someone to cut the CD from a double to a single. So it was with a little trepidation that I put this in the player. I certainly didn't expect to be playing the most consistent album since Roine's own 'The Flower King' album which started this all off. The first song, ''Love Supreme'', is twenty minutes long, but stays interesting throughout. It is packed full of Yes references, but is much more than just a copied style as The Flower Kings' manage to make it very much their own.

Shorter songs intersperse the longer ones, and even though there is another song that is over eighteen minutes in length there is never a feeling that they have outstayed their welcome. ''Vampires View'' at nine minutes is a delight, a gothic dark number with sinister overtones that certainly never feels as if it comes from Scandinavia as it the sort of eclectic number that surely could only be English. If you have investigated this band before but have been put off by the sense of self interest and 'aren't we clever', then rest assured that this is an outstanding return to form with strong songs and musicianship throughout. A must for all progheads.

Originally appeared in Feedback #80, Sept 2004

After the marvellous "Unfold the Future", I was eagerly waiting for its follow-up back in 2004.

Nevertheless, although I enjoyed "Adam & Eve" (and I still do today), I was inevitably disappointed when I heard it. A good chunk of the power and incredible progressive-jazz fusion force of their previous album was gone in favour of more short and conventional tunes, more rock and American folk influenced and too much forgettable songs like the insipid Cosmic Circus, the directly weak Starlight Man and the boring pseudo-blues Timelines.

Of course, there is also room for epics here but Love Supreme is not The Truth Will Set You Free, and Driver's Seat is also not The Devil's Playground.

Nevertheless, the musicianship is excellent as expected. The traditional Flower King's song with the crazy Bodin's keyboards is back, and so are the great Reingold's bass lines and the inimitable style of Stolt on guitars.

In addition, "Adam & Eve" is also the only The Flower King's album to have Daniel Gildenlow as official member of the band, and his style and personality is evident in the very well interpreted A Vampire's View, and the hard rocking title song, one of the two highlights of the album.

So if you like symphonic prog, you will surely enjoy "Adam & Eve", because even one of the worst The Flower King's albums is still good, but definitely not the right place to start if you are a newcomer.

Best Tracks: Love Supreme (decent epic with Yes influences and some American folk melodies), Babylon (a beautiful instrumental), A Vampire's View (dark, even horrific song with an incredible singing by Gildenlow) and Adam & Eve (maybe the most Gildenlow's influenced song of the album)

My Rating: ***

Well, would you Adam 'n' Eve it! It's another Flower Kings studio album, but this time the cover art seems rather different in style from what we're used to seeing from the group. Don't let that fool you, though: to a large extent this is Flower Kings business as usual... which is kind of the problem with this release.

You see, if you'd been listening to the Kings' career chronologically up to this point you've already had a LOT of Flower Kings business as usual to digest - not simply because of the number of albums they released, but because of the sheer length of those albums, with the band frequently stuffing CDs to their time limits or putting out double CD albums of comfortably more than 2 hours long. This is very well-trod ground, and this time around it's feeling like Stolt and crew are going through the motions.

Possibly this was deliberate. The Rainmaker, which I thought was excellent, took a somewhat more moody and subdued atmosphere than we're used to hearing from the band and presented that in conjunction with an approach which still hit on some interesting sounds but didn't seem to be going out of its way to cram as many different ideas into the pot as possible (which earlier Kings releases had tended to). They followed that up with Unfold the Future, which was a return to a more traditional format for them but ended up going somewhat deeper than usual into their jazz fusion flirtations - that was less to my taste, but at least with the latter aspect something new was being tried, though to my ears away from the jazzier sections it seemed to be Flower Kings-by-numbers.

Still, perhaps even this departure was too much for some fans. Adam and Even seems like a studied exercise in mostly presenting the least musically challenging parts of the band's musical palette. Oh sure, sure, Love Supreme and Driver's Seat are epic in length, but in terms of what's actually musically presented in that length you're largely looking at the Kings' well-worn brand of early Yes combined with the odd mild gospel influence. It's all competently done, but where's the humour, where's the sense of surprise, where's the band who'd add a good dose of Zappa to their retro-prog gumbo to give it some more spice?

A further issue is presented with the approach to vocals. The harmony vocals are fine - it's the lead vocals that are the issue. being more prominently featured and with the band doing more bits where multiple lead vocalists each have bits on a song, which often ends up feeling more jarring than effective. The best vocals here are from Pain of Salvation's Daniel Gildenlöw, but this is its own problem - they're just good enough that you're left wishing that they'd just let him do all the leads and have Hasse and Roine concentrate on the harmonies.

On the whole, Adam and Eve is a title which should really suggest new beginnings, but on here the Flower Kings largely deliver the same-old-same-old. To be fair, "more of the same" was probably fine if you'd been keeping up with the Flower Kings to this point, and it is somewhat interesting to hear a return of some of the Christian themes of the original The Flower King album (the Roine Stolt solo release that catalysed the foundation of the group). Still, the gang did a lot of the stuff they do here fresher and with more surprises and flair on their 1990s albums, so I wouldn't cite Adam and Eve as a place to start exploring their work. Three and a half stars.