The Flower King/ Spock's Beard

I like both The Beard and The Kings very much. I don't see how Beard can be described as "a simple rock band".

Edited by Snow Dog - June 12 2007 at 18:28

I just fixed  it!!

Edited by darksideof - June 12 2007 at 18:33

I think that SB are a fine band.  Some of the older stuff is too derivative and some of the latest stuff is weak, but overall many worthy tracks.

I love both bands. Voted for Spock's Beard mainly because of Neal Morse.

I voted for both being essential. Why are they essential? Well for me they are, and for anyone who looks for more modern progressive rock in their "musical-diet". First off, if you are having a hard time stomaching either band, start with Transatlantic, Morse's and Portnoy's side-project which features Roine Stolt (from TFK). The first album is very Beard-ish in that Morse did a LOT of the composing, but the second album (their better one IMO) was a lot better at getting each member's contributions mixed.

From there, it becomes easier to try and listen to TFK and SB, I think. The Morse-Era Beard is a mixed bag of a lot of the same, but each album has it's own feel and style, and while a lot of the band's critics slam what I think is one of their best albums, V, for being a rehash for their first four (and purported "better") albums, I think it's the culmination of their best works. I think their first four albums find the band getting their feet wet in different places, putting it together for their best album in V, and then doing the prog-thing of a Double Disc Concept album. Post-Morse finds the band finding their way again, and I think Octane still remains their best output since Neal left (especially the special edition with bonus tracks).

The Flower Kings, on the other hand, tend to make cohesive albums, usually conceptual, and usually hard to pick out single favorite tracks (unless they're epics like "Stardust We Are" or "The Truth Shall Set You Free"). Usually, for me, I listen to a TFK album straight through, and it's hard not to. They're layer their albums so much with shared musical themes and motives that each album is a single musical work in my eyes (and ears), and it almost makes them the polar opposite of what SB has done, which was make a lot of good smaller tracks that stand alone. Not that either of these treatments is better than the other, but they're both fitting for each band, and I can't see them switching roles (with the exception of SB's Snow, they usually stray from conceptual albums, but stick to epics and mini-epics).

They're both really good and productive, and I'm looking forward to each band's 10th album, which, for The Flower Kings, is coming out later this year, a 6-track single CD album entitled "The Sum of No Evil" with the obligatory 26-minute epic! I can't wait!

-Marc.

Edited by The Letter M - June 12 2007 at 21:29

They're both essentials to today's prog fan....they keep the flame of old-school prog alive, while adding their own elements and sounding fresh, if not 100% groundbreaking (in my case, I prefer perfectly crafted retro-music as TFK gives me than *-ADJECTIVES-* post/experimental rock, though there are other modern bands that give me almost the same musical pleasure, most in the art-rock category)....

Edited by The T - June 12 2007 at 22:07

I totally agree with the T, they are great for the Prog scene.

ok Thanks kids!!!
the major problem I have with them is that they through all kind of music and styles in one single song. I think that can be extremely boring some times.
If I want to listen to a Jazz record I put some miles of monk and If I want to listen to some rock I put some led zeppelin or the door something like that, but when you listen SB or TFK you don't know what to expect and some of music styles that I just mentioned can destroyed a great song that start so powefully well.
Can you imaging you listening to Starless and the middle of Fripp solo he all the sudden change his solo to some bossa nova jazz style I believe that would of destroyed the classic prog-song.

SB and The FK love doing that in my humble Opinion because I don't know all the music these bands had managed to realised.

Edited by darksideof - June 12 2007 at 22:55

They are both essential for the simple reason that they are really big in the modern tier of prog rock. To see how it progressive rock... progresses nowadays, you cannot omit Beard or Kings. I prefer Beard, but they're both essential.

Last option.