SCANNING THE GREENHOUSE

Of course, there will be one "unreleased" track : "The Flower King" (premonitory title...), recorded for the first time in 1994 on a solo effort from Roine. I have mixed feelings to the new life brought to this number. It sounds harder than the original and it is obvious when you listen to it, to understand that TFK project must have been in Roine's mind for a very long time : it is 100% in-line with TFK production : good guitar break, some spacey sounds, crystal-clear and very melodious vocals. You can't get more TFK as that, right ?

The original version was more symphonic. The finale was also better (no useless sounds at the end as it is the case on this compilation). All in all, I prefer the original.

I really do not understand that "Pipes of Peace" sits on a compilation. I might understand that some short tracks serve as links or intros on original studio albums, but on a sort of "Best Of", there are quite useless, IMO.

It is very welcome that "Compassion" has been shortened by these useless four last minutes that we could find on "Stardust". As I mentioned in my review of the the original track, it should have stopped at 4'45". I can only be glad of this editing.

Same applies to "Stardust We Are, Part 3". This shorter revisitation is a good idea as well. I was not an absolute fan of the lenghty twenty-five minutes of the original song.

The opening number of this compilation, "In The Eyes of the World" was one of the very good numbers of Stardust and its inclusion is nothing but normal.

The other numbers, two from "Retro" and one from "World" cannot be discussed either although "Big Puzzle" was one of my favorite song of their debut album.

This compilation is a good one, even if a few mistakes have taken place. If you are new to TFK, I can only recommend you to discover this record. It will give you a good overview of their style and prevent you to some lenghty improvisations that might be boring to your ears. Four stars.

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