Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

dennismoore wrote: Ok, thanks, I take My Chicken Farmer song seriously since all the bashing it has received around  here...  I think that if prog bands would "lighten up" a bit more and do songs like Chicken Farmer, prog would be a lot more popular and that would serve us all.  Tales by YES is one of my top 3 YES records, but every song doesn't need to be a 30 minute opus! And yes, the new FK album cover is great, much better then naked women with monkeys.  I wonder who thought of that idea???

Bashing?  I don't think there has been any bashing.  At least, all I said was that it's not one of my favorite FK songs, but that it's still a decent song.  I also don't think that more songs like that would make prog anymore popular.  Let's face it, the middle guitar solo would cause all, or nearly all, typical music listeners to tune out.

Having said all that, I agree totally that every song doesn't need to be a 30 minute opus.........my favorite FK song is 60 minutes

Guys, can a Flower Kings album, for once, have at least a 4 star rating on this site???



3.99 | 229 ratings | 42 reviews | 25% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

Somebody write a 5 star review!!!


Edited by darkshade - March 14 2012 at 13:05

What Ive also found baffling, is Roine's solo albums have better ratings, as do Transatlantic, Neal Morse, Spock's Beard, Agents of Mercy, and The Tangent; yet TFK have just as good albums as all those acts, some even better.

I don't really care either about the ratings, but I couldn't help notice BITWOA was .01 stars away from 4 stars. It sucks because I think a lot of TFK haters gave bad ratings and reviews earlier in this site's history, that by the time AOM or The Whirlwind came around, those haters had dropped off, since they get good ratings, as does Neal.

Also, I agree that Steven Wilson's new one is highly overrated, maybe the most overrated prog album of the last 5 years or so. Maybe 10 years.

darkshade wrote: What Ive also found baffling, is Roine's solo albums have better ratings, as do Transatlantic, Neal Morse, Spock's Beard, Agents of Mercy, and The Tangent; yet TFK have just as good albums as all those acts, some even better. I don't really care either about the ratings, but I couldn't help notice BITWOA was .01 stars away from 4 stars. It sucks because I think a lot of TFK haters gave bad ratings and reviews earlier in this site's history, that by the time AOM or The Whirlwind came around, those haters had dropped off, since they get good ratings, as does Neal. Also, I agree that Steven Wilson's new one is highly overrated, maybe the most overrated prog album of the last 5 years or so. Maybe 10 years.

Well, as I said, the haters haven't dropped off, they just never bothered to listen to the other projects of FK members, since they don't like FK.  Most of the low rating are collaborators, whose ratings get more weight than normal members.

infandous wrote: darkshade wrote: What Ive also found baffling, is Roine's solo albums have better ratings, as do Transatlantic, Neal Morse, Spock's Beard, Agents of Mercy, and The Tangent; yet TFK have just as good albums as all those acts, some even better. I don't really care either about the ratings, but I couldn't help notice BITWOA was .01 stars away from 4 stars. It sucks because I think a lot of TFK haters gave bad ratings and reviews earlier in this site's history, that by the time AOM or The Whirlwind came around, those haters had dropped off, since they get good ratings, as does Neal. Also, I agree that Steven Wilson's new one is highly overrated, maybe the most overrated prog album of the last 5 years or so. Maybe 10 years. Well, as I said, the haters haven't dropped off, they just never bothered to listen to the other projects of FK members, since they don't like FK.  Most of the low rating are collaborators, whose ratings get more weight than normal members.

As if on queue, I posted 3rd World Electric's album in the recommended instrumental prog thread.

zumacraig wrote: trying to be a completist with FK and related projects would be a nightmare.

You're telling me. That's what I'm doing right now. In the last year and a half or so, Ive gathered up these albums:

Transatlantic - The Whirlwind
Transatlantic - SMPTe
Transatlantic - Bridge Across Forever
Transatlantic - Whirld Tour 2010
Roine Stolt - The Flower King
The Flower Kings - Back In The World of Adventures
The Flower Kings - Retropolis
The Flower Kings - Stardust We Are
The Flower Kings - Flower Power
The Flower Kings - Space Revolver
The Flower Kings - The Rainmaker
The Flower Kings - Unfold The Future
The Flower Kings - Adam & Eve
The Flower Kings - Paradox Hotel
The Flower Kings - The Sum Of No Evil
Karmakanic - Entering The Spectra
Karmakanic - Wheel Of Life
Karmakanic - Who's The Boss In The Factory?
Karmakanic - In A Perfect World
Agents Of Mercy - The Black Forest
Neal Morse - ?
Tomas Bodin - I AM
3rd World Electric - Kilimanjaro Secret Brew
The Tangent - The Music That Died Alone
The Tangent - The World That We Drive Through
The Tangent - A Place In The Queue
The Tangent - Not As Good As The Book
The Tangent - Down and Out In Paris and London
The Tangent - COMM

I think I'm halfway done

I forgot about Pain of Salvation being related. and I didnt mention other Neal Morse albums since the other ones don't feature any TFK members.

infandous wrote: dennismoore wrote: Ok, thanks, I take My Chicken Farmer song seriously since all the bashing it has received around  here...  I think that if prog bands would "lighten up" a bit more and do songs like Chicken Farmer, prog would be a lot more popular and that would serve us all.  Tales by YES is one of my top 3 YES records, but every song doesn't need to be a 30 minute opus! Bashing?  I don't think there has been any bashing.  At least, all I said was that it's not one of my favorite FK songs, but that it's still a decent song.  I also don't think that more songs like that would make prog anymore popular.  Let's face it, the middle guitar solo would cause all, or nearly all, typical music listeners to tune out. Having said all that, I agree totally that every song doesn't need to be a 30 minute opus.........my favorite FK song is 60 minutes

It is currently Chicken Farmer Song time.

darkshade wrote: You guys are STILL talking about Chicken Farmer Song?  As someone who listens to a lot of jazz, when the band get's jazzy, it's not very atonal to my ears. They don't get too 'free' in their playing. It usually reminds me of post-bop, but really adventurous post-bop, like it wants to go in the free jazz direction, but never quite makes it. OR they go in the more fusion direction (Jonas bumpin the bass while Tomas is playing a synth line, etc.)

Hi darkshade,

Please do remember, this thread was highjacked(by me) and has been re-established as:

The New(and improved) Chicken Farmer Song Thread - Please see prior pages for details.

As far as the millions of atonal jazz intervals, I referred to, I was just having some fun with infandous.
Though I do prefer the more classical edge to a prog band a la ELP & YES, I do really enjoy TFK, but their jazzy/fusion side sounds like every other jazz/fusion band like Return to Forever, and I have heard that stuff already, in spades.  I admire the jazz side of TFK but it just doesn't strike me as original.  But yes, people could say the same thing about the classical ideas that a band like ELP kinda recycled, so I know this is all just me.

I am probably the only one here in this thread that prefers Roine's brother on bass to Jonas.  I never cared for that
hundreds of notes in the high register jazz stuff that Jonas does(a la Jaco Pastorius).  I like the bass to kick me in the gut and move me across the floor a bit, like the bass in:

Genesis   - bass very deep and powerful
YES - Pure Groovin low end satisfaction!
TFK Chicken Farmer Song - Awesome deep bass! (Yes I know that is Jonas playin)
Renaissance - That bass really gives that band some stones!
The Who - John E. makes little doubt that the bass has the LOW end well covered
ELP - Check out the bass in Tarkus - Eruption or A Time And A Place
and perhaps the best example:
Geddy Lee:  Play "In The End" on a good stereo and dig the bass.