THE FLOWER KINGS "Unfold the Future"
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Topic: THE FLOWER KINGS "Unfold the Future"
Posted By: diddy
Subject: THE FLOWER KINGS "Unfold the Future"
Date Posted: April 14 2004 at 11:39
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Hi... I realised that we really never talked about 'The Flower Kings'...but I hope that will change. I really love this Band and especiall |
Replies:
Posted By: Alexander
Date Posted: April 14 2004 at 16:14
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This album is not all that bad. I dig the epic tracks & the instrumental jams. ------------- On A Dilemmia Between What I Need & What I Just Want 
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Posted By: Dan Bobrowski
Date Posted: April 14 2004 at 16:42
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I love the instrumentals too. Christianopel builds slowly and has some great moments. TFK is guilty of too much filler, songs which don't really say anything. I really like their epics (10 or minute long tunes) because they seem to excel at excess. |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: April 15 2004 at 02:58
| I love the bombastic parts of this album Diddy.My problem with Flower Kings is the opposite one ie they don't 'go for it' enough.However this has a good balance between the bombast and the 'jazzier' side of their music and for me is better than&n |
Posted By: The Prognaut
Date Posted: April 26 2004 at 14:46
Their best album so far   ------------- break the circle reset my head wake the sleepwalker and i'll wake the dead |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 08:27
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Yes a great album. I like the "filler" personally as it gets a bit jazzy and experimenal then. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Ed_The_Dead
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 08:45
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I'll have to try them some time soon... But Shadow Gallery comes 1st! (Tyranny is awsome!) Is this really the best of their work? ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/ed_the_dead/?chartstyle=asimpleblue5"> 
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 08:49
If you think that Tyranny is awesome, you should RUN to your store and get Room V LIMITED EDITION ... I created a thread about it. EDIT: Regarding Unfold the Future: Love it, great album. I prefer Space Revolver, but I really like the jazzy approach of UtF. Too bad that Adam & Eve is so bad compared to UtF. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to: 
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Ed_The_Dead wrote:
Posted By: Ed_The_Dead
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 09:00
The problem is I can't get any Shadow Gallery here in Poland... I'll get it via Amazon, as i did with O.S.I. and Ayreon... ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/ed_the_dead/?chartstyle=asimpleblue5">
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Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 09:02
But you are fortunate that you live in Europe ... the limited edition was released in Europe only. See my thread about the album to see what's special about the limited edition ... ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 09:03
I would say Space Revolver too! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Ed_The_Dead
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 09:09
I've seen it allready ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/ed_the_dead/?chartstyle=asimpleblue5">
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Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 09:53
 What's this? A post about my favorite album, by my favorite band?Unfold The Future is such a subtly brilliant album. Between the three epics, the many short, beautifully crafted songs, the improvised jam sessions teeming with energy and creativity, and the song off-shoots that reference other songs while maintaining an identity of their own, it all fits together like one "big puzzle".  I find it strange that people label the parts they don't enjoy "filler", but that definition varies from person to person. I don't see a single moment of filler... everything is as it should be, and they *did* have several minutes left over on the discs, even after taking the BEAUTIFUL bonus track on the special edition into account. So it's not like they were just trying to fill them up.  Yeah... this might be my favorite album of all time...  ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: The Hemulen
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 10:01
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I adore this album. Not only was it my first ever foray into post-70's
prog, but it also contains some of symphonic prog's finest moments (The
epics that bookend the album and Silent Inferno especially). The filler
is, as has been said elsewhere, a lot better than most of TFK filler as
it's of a jazzier vein. I really hope they return to the jazziness of
this album on their next release as Adam and Eve was a big
disappointment. There are also a hell of a lot of decent songs which
are neither epics nor filler, namely: - Black and White - Genie in a Bottle - Fast Lane And, of course: - Man Overboard Great album, great band! |
Posted By: silvertree
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 10:17
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I think I've got all of the Flower Kings' albums but taking a step back, so to speak, I think Adam & Eve is their weakest. I'm not crazy about Unfold the Future but I love the epics like some of you ! My favourite is Space Revolver. Lots of fans think The Rainmaker was weak but I like it a lot. |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 10:20
City Of Angels was the first Flower Kings track that I heard (downloaded). That track was so awesome, I couldn't believe it. The vocal arrangements, the chord progressions, ... ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 10:25
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Funny story... when writing for Transatlantic's debut album,
Roine Stolt submitted a demo called My Cruel World. The first
half is mostly similar to the final My New World track, but the second
half is what would eventually become Genie In A Bottle...
lyrically, Roine's demo was very dark... here's my best
transcription of it: The place she called home was high on a hill, way up in a big house under the trees Days in the sun she's seen by the river, reading a book, feeding her dreams Longing for ways to open her mind up reveal all the mysteries, travel within Now she's a loner, now she's a stoner, no one can touch her ... He was the boy, the pride of his mother, stainless and shining, all heaven sent But then the country calls for a soldier and he went off to a foreign land When he returned so much had changed he lost his innocence, nothing's the same My cruel world's spinning around Keep it dark, we're goin' down My cruel world at the end of the day Person chained to a private hell She had a need for total expression Cry out for freedom, born to be wild He took some pride in serving his country Went off to war no more than a child Dreamer's Dream would hail him a hero World turned against him, victim as well My cruel world's spinning around Keep it dark, we're goin' down My cruel world at the end of the day Person chained to a private hell Now he's a loner, now he's a stoner, no one can touch him ... Morning found them asleep in the park Gripped in the minefields of the darkest Water, crystalline, cover the skin The stoner the loner the child within Bent and broken, they'll soon learn to crawl Now they can tell when the snow will fall But Christmas Day in the Underworld There's still no room for all the unheard Fuel injected now standing tall Ten white horses at the door Take him down for another ride Put me asleep on the other side Frozen images driftin away Winter heart set his dreams to play Maybe the river will carry you home Home to the place where you're no more alone "All I need is another dream All I need is some self esteem Can you take me, now can you take me this time?" ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 10:28
City Of Angels is a beautiful song from a beautiful album! I thought I was the only Flowerhead who enjoyed Rainmaker as much as I do... ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 11:26
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I resurrected this thread, especially for you Manoverbored! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 11:27
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And I love you for it, Snowblow Dog.
------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 11:29
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------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: ulver982
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 12:48
| The Rainmaker is also one of my favorite TFK albums. It took me awhile to enjoy Unfold the Future, but now I love it. |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 12:50
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Come to think of it ... Retropolis is great, too. In fact, I don't know any bad FK album except Adam & Eve, and even that has it's amazing moments. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 12:53
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Yeah, I wouldn't call Adam & Eve bad... if it were any other band, I'd be in total shock at how great it was... But have no fear! Adam & Eve material played live is GORGEOUS... ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: MorgothSunshine
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 13:40
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"Unfold the future" is not abad album, but probably if they collapsed all the material in only one CD it would have been better. Anyway I prefear "The rainmaker" ------------- For every truth even the contrary is true... 
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Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 14:04
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I couldn't imagine Unfold as a single CD... the three epics are
perfect as-is, and they'd take up the majority of that CD... and
there are so many other wonderful songs, it would be a shame to part
with them.
------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: King of Loss
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 14:09
Really? That's a first. I'm not an avid fan of "Rainmaker", one of the worst Flower Kings album IMO. |
Posted By: SonicTemple
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 16:39
Unfold the Future is definately one of my top FK albums, along with Space Revolver and Adam & Eve......I think A & E is really underrated by FK fans....it took me awhile to really get into it but now I find it to be the most unique and original work produced by TFK.......The Rainmaker is a good album, it actually has some of my favorite FK songs on it. However, it does consist of some pretty poor ones aswell.....City of Angels is a great tune except for the awful keyboard intro ------------- Fire Woman, your to blame! |
Posted By: TheProgtologist
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 17:13
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I love The Flower Kings and Unfold the Future is one of their best,but my favorite is Space Revolver and Retropolis(that was the first FK album I ever heard) -------------  |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 17:15
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Again we agree (on Space Revolver). BTW: Do you know Extol (See my current avatar)? ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/release-polls/pa" rel="nofollow - Release Polls Listened to:
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Posted By: Sir Hogweed
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 19:18
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By the time of the early 90's I really thought prog was completely dead. It lasted until 2000 when an old progbandmate made me aware of a current revival. The Flower Kings was one of the names he came up with so I tried Retropolis. I did not like it immediately, but that proved to be a very good sign (like my first encounter with early Genesis, 'The Lamb'). After a few listens the music really started grabbing me. The following years I really enjoyed exploring the huge amount of musical output they produced since 1994. Yes, there is a filler-issue on almost every album but I would not hold it against them since every CD is filled up to the max (including the 3 double ones). If they omitted these, their albums would probably receive higher ratings as a whole, but usually I like these added explorations into other areas. IMHO
Their latest, Adam and Eve, turned out to be a dissapointment initially, but it keeps growing with every listen. I think The Rainmaker is my least favorite. |
Posted By: felona
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 19:45
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I like TFK very much ... although I have to admit I find some of the double albums a challenge to get through in one sitting. I find the music makes me smile, its happy and even when the lyrics are dark they are illumimated by the clear light of Roine's voice. The Garden of Dreams on Flower Power is probably one of my favourites (of the longer tracks) I haven't seen anyone yet mention the exquisite artwork that always accompanies their releases ... this (for me) is an inextricable part of the whole experience .. ------------- I was never really sure what I was waiting for. When the moment came I was looking away ...... The Church "After Everything Now This" |
.. what do you reckon?Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 19:53
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I enjoy the artwork a great deal... my favorite covers are Back
In The World Of Adventures, Retropolis, Flower Power, Space Revolver,
Rainmaker, Unfold The Future, and Adam & Eve (which I've got a
full-sized wall poster of)... ...in short, I like 'em all but Stardust We Are.  ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: felona
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 20:00
yeah, the detail on Adam & Eve is amazing ... perhaps a key to understanding album ? .... ------------- I was never really sure what I was waiting for. When the moment came I was looking away ...... The Church "After Everything Now This" |
Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 20:02
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Hmm... ya never know.
It's taken me nearly a year, but I've grown to really enjoy that
album... and live, the tracks came across exceedingly sexy.
------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: felona
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 20:08
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I've not heard any of that album played live ... did you hear it at one of their concerts *jealous gleam in eye* ------------- I was never really sure what I was waiting for. When the moment came I was looking away ...... The Church "After Everything Now This" |
Posted By: felona
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 20:09
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Have you got the "dance" album betchawannadancestoopid? I was wondering about getting it ... ------------- I was never really sure what I was waiting for. When the moment came I was looking away ...... The Church "After Everything Now This" |
Posted By: TheProgtologist
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 20:17
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I have that cd.If you don't like improvisational music and "noodling" don't get it.I enjoy it though. ------------- |
Posted By: TheProgtologist
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 20:18
Never heard of them Mike.Should I check them out? ------------- |
Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 20:20
Yeah... at the New Jersey show, they played just about everything, I think they only skipped Timelines, Driver's Seat, and A Vampire's View, though I think they've played all three live at some point, I know I've got bootlegs of some of 'em... betchawanna is GREAT, if you like improv stuff. Very free-form, very crazy, VERY inspired. I love it. ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: TheProgtologist
Date Posted: July 03 2005 at 20:32
BTW felona,Betchawannadancestoopid isn't really a dance album,it is an album of live improvisation music. ------------- |
Posted By: Retrovertigo
Date Posted: July 04 2005 at 01:04
| I have not heard this band yet, I'm going to start with Back in the World of Adventures eventually. |
Posted By: BiGi
Date Posted: July 04 2005 at 03:43
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I'll just say this: when Adam & Eve came out, I was relieved to see they did not follow in the same direction they took with Unfold the future
I was greatly disappointed by the 2002 double album, especially after masterpieces like Rainmaker and most of all Space Revolver... I would save The truth will set you free, Black and white, Silent Inferno and Genie in a bottle, but I find the instrumental tracks simply UNBEARABLE...and also Devil's Playground isn't so much of an epic track, especially compared to the first and to Love supreme and Driver's seat which came after! All this IMHO, obviously! ------------- A flower? 
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Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: July 04 2005 at 11:46
Obviously.  ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: Spanish
Date Posted: July 04 2005 at 14:18
| for me the best prog album in the new century along with Remedy Lane |