THE FLOWER KINGS

While, Love Is The Only Answer is the longest song here, it is hardly the best. It's a bit too diverse and lacking in focus for my tastes, and despite my usual desire for longer pieces, I find myself tiring of this one at about the fifteen minute mark. The best song here is the title track. Heavy and dark, with the usual Flower Kings moments of lightness, this is one of the band's best.

And while the bonus disk is nice to have for completionists, the songs are not up to par with the main disk, but not bad.

The I Am The Sun Epics make great bookends to the album, but I really enjoy the middle of the album, with the trio of songs, the jazzy jam Rumble Fish Twist, the heavy Monster Within, and the lighter but intriguing Chicken Farmer Song. Even A King's Prayer a song that doesn't hold my interest where it appears on other albums, works pretty well here.

While I enjoy many of these songs in their original form on the original albums, here, they get quite tedious and boring to my ears. It is because these are some of the most "accessable" tracks from The Flower Kings' albums, and therefore, some of the least progressive and exciting.

While there are some good prog moments on this set, they are few and far between. And those of you looking for the Genesis cover, Cinema Show, for most of the track, it sounds like it could have been on one of those dreadful Phil Collins led atrocities. It does liven up about two thirds of the way through, but for me, it does not save the song.

The liner notes, bad English and all, are entertaining.

"Stardust we are" is one of the most remarkable works of the modern era of symphonic rock. Like many other The Flower Kings albums also this one is highly underrated. There is no reason to give low rating to a double album only for some fillers on it and it's distinction of quality. Not by such extension. I didn't expect that "Stardust we are" will be full of perfect songs. On such an album there is also place for some fan material. I would say the album would get definitive better acclaim if the lower-quality tracks had found just on the bonus disc. But I understand the way of selection and I'm glad to enjoy such extended work of The Flower Kings. Maybe except of the horrible "Church of your Heart" and "Different People". Well no album is perfect...

The whole year there was no album which i heard so many times as "Stardust we are" So many ideas, such variety and this extension allow listening on a long period of time. Like many other works of the band this album is inconsistent, so we can almost play it on random mode, what i wouldn't recommend at all. Such structure of record is also part of their convention and i got used to it.

You will find here rocking and catchy moments as on the first track "In the eyes of the world" which brings listener into present on the whole album circus mood. After every powerful song you will be calmed with beautiful instrumental work, mostly a bit shorter as "A room with a view" or pleasing "If 28". Unexpected "power explosions" present on every album of the group make also here remarkable points of the composition. Intro of "Just this Once" or "Merrygoround" as examples, attract our attention. The most outstanding work is the title track with lush lyrics and amazing instrumental passages. The ultimate epic of The Flower Kings, the classic one. Highly recommended songs are: "Just this Once", "End of Innocence" and the tiltle epic. The classic album of The Flower Kings definitely deserves five stars.

I particularly enjoy Retropolis, the title track (obviously), a fantastic instrumental, one of the best the band has ever performed. And The Judas Kiss is great,far superior to the live recording released a few years later. And the aforementioned The Road Back Home moves me. Because to me the road back home does lead to seventies prog.

The tracklist was always a controvertial point on all TFK´s live appearances and this is no exception. First of all the CDs are a bit shorter (for TFK´s standards, of course). They could have included at least another half hour of music in total. And there are always the case where you wish some song was included and some other discarded. Well, overall I liked the repertoire, and it could not be otherwise, since they were playing primarily stuff from their first 3 albums, all masterpieces. Plus there is a solo keyboard piece from Bodin on Disc 2 (very nice, with a good guitar solo by Stolt in the second part)) and an instrumental Kaipa song (Stolt´s former band in the 70´s) called Nothing New Under The Sun (actually the translation for its original swedish title, Inget nytt under Solen). And, surprise!, a very good version of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, the Genesis classic.

As expected, the performances are simply terrific. They faithfully reproduce the intricated, long tunes with ease and even add some improvisations here and ther (like the jazzy segment on the extended version of The Judas Kiss). The chemistry between those guys is something unique. 24 carat symphonic prog. Although recorded in different places, the tracks are very well recorded and put together giving the impression of being all done on the same show . When you hear them playing one can understand why they have such reputation. Those guys are unbelievable! Pure music and magic! On the dowside, I really wish they had performed the whole Stardust We Are epic like they did on their brilliant DVD Meet The Flower Kings. The track The Sounds Of Violence seem to be a little out of place here and a bit too heavy compared to its studio version But those are just personal opinions. And I loved the inclusion of the song The Flower King.

Alive On Planet Earth is the kind of live album every fan of the band has to have. An important document of their most prolific and inventive phase, the final proof of the unique chemistry those guys had when playing together on a stage. Final rating: 4 to 4,5 stars. Highly recommended

The best song to my ears is Elaine where the excellect bass playing of Jonas Reingold carries the song along. The rest, there are some nice sections in most of the songs, you just sometimes have to wait for them. So don't go out of your way for this one, but if you find it at a good price, it's worth it.

If this review sounds wishy-washy, sorry. This disk sometimes sounds good, but not great, and sometimes just fails to catch my interest.

That isn't to say there are no good songs on the album. It is worth hearing, just for Hit Me With A Hit, Pioneers In Aviation, The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson and Paradox Hotel.

But there is just too much filler for me to highly recommend the album.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

The live recording of The Flower King intrigues me. On the surface, it has little to add that other recordings of the song haven't given, but the solo section, for some reason, always brings to my mind Zappa's band. And that's a good thing.

I like the remainder of the album, but the rest of the songs never seem to hold my interest like the first few. This collection is worth picking up if you can find it. But don't go too far out of your way.

The epics here are beautiful, but I happen to favor the first, World Of Adventure. It's quite possibly the best introduction to a band since 21st Century Schizoid Man. The album isn't perfect. Parts of Theme For a Hero venture into elevator music territory, but when songs get too light, the band seems to know it and doesn't stay in that territory.

This is a fine listen, and worth a solid four stars.