UNFOLD THE FUTURE

Edit : from 3 2/3 stars to 4 1/3 stars ... This is a great album, especially when I just skip the tracks I do not enjoy a lot. I have realized the album grew on me after my 10th listen. Some of the songs might not be great but they don't bother me much thanks to the great coherence and recurring themes on both discs. As a result,this album is almost as good as Stardust We Are.

This is in my opinion the band at its artistic peak. In this double-album, you hear extremely creative, virtuosic, and experimental music. This album has also the best rhythms (bass+guitar) from the Flower Kings. MY problem with it is that the album have some filler (or weak material). Putting that aside, this is an excellent album with 2 major epics in it.

CD1 : The first CD begins with a terrific 30+ minute epic. The song has everything a prog fan craves : coherence, melodies, instrumental sections, a great overture (You have to hear the first 5 minutes, they are phenomenal!!), and 70s feel. However, the big chorus irks me a bit and the song just feels too long for me, but I know most enjoy it more. Monkey business is hard rocker. Christianopel is an avant-garde strange jam that is not very interesting unless you are a fan of King Crimson. Black and White is an amazing short epic. The musicianship in this track is very good, and its bass guitar lines are mindblowing. If you could compare this track to another flower kings song, I think Rumble Fish Twist could be it. Silent Inferno is not silent at all; it is a very heavy symphonic track that goes through many different tempos, moods, and genres of music. Also, it's vocal melodies plus that strange dreamy guitar riff at minute 3 are magical. The navigator and Vox Humana are soft melodic pieces. Vox Humana contains some of the best melodies of the first epic of the album.

1. The Truth Will Set You Free (8/10) 2. Monkey Business (5/10) 3. Black And White (9/10) 4. Christianopel (5.5/10) 5. Silent Inferno (9/10) 6. The Navigator (6/10) 7. Vox Humana (6.5/10)

CD 2 : The album begins with a great uptempo hard rock track which contains a pretty mellow section. Fast Lane is forgettable fast-paced rock. Grand old World plays the same marimba riff from the epic and uses atmospheric musical arrangements to create a [b] beautiful [/b] laid back track. Soul Vortex is an instrumental jam with eerie keyboards and percussion. Rolling the dice is a rock song with some excellent guitar riffs and Daniel shines here. The Devil's Danceschool is a structureless jam that has great saxophone playing and impressive rhythms (the bass guitar goes wild before the song finishes) Man Overboard is good in terms of melodies, lyrical content, and emotion. Solitary Shell is another melodic short song with gorgeous piano playing.

How would the album finish? With another BIG epic of course!! While this epic may sound a bit playful in the middle, the song itself is very dark, and heavy at moments. It begins with a great spacey overture which leads to loud guitar riffs and moog synthesizers. After that, the listener can relax for a little bit with the gorgous vocal harmonies (the verses), and get floored again with the powerful guitar driven chorus. After the last chorus, the music halts. The listener knows that something will happen and it does. A very distorted and loud electric guitar that seems unusual for this band appears and plays such a sinister riff that would blow away any heavy-metal riff. As for now, it stands as my one of my favorite guitar riffs of all times. I did not listen to the lyrics of this song, but I can hear that a playful happy mood is trying to break off the devilish guitars, it does not succeed and the loud guitar dominates for yet another minute. The playful playing tries again and dominates for two minutes. After the playful music fades, the rocking side of the Flowers play for over 4 minutes until the saxophone solo ends. The rest of the music brings back the gorgeous vocal harmonies from the beginning of the track and ends with a worthy finale with the best chorus ever done by the Flower Kings as well as one of their best guitar solos.

Too Late for Tomatoes is a bonus track. It is a jazzy jam with outstanding playing from the band.

1. Genie In A Bottle (8.5/10) 2. Fast Lane (4.5/10) 3. Grand Old World (10/10) 4. Soul Vortex (6/10) 5. Rollin The Dice (8.5/10) 6. The Devils Danceschool (7.5/10) 7. Man Overboard (8/10) 8. Solitary Shell (6/10) 9. Devils Playground (10/10) 10. Too Late For Tomatos* (8.5/10)

My Rating : B+