THE FADING GHOSTS OF TWILIGHT

In some ways I'm surprised at the other ratings for "The Fading Ghosts Of Twilight", and in some ways I'm not. Some reviews seem to use the unmet expectation of this being another Flower Kings album as a strike against it (and then of course others seem to use any elements of Flower Kings similarity against it as well, but I digress).

To expect NO similarity to The Flower Kings would be unrealistic. Even something as different as Roine Stolt's "Wall Street Voodoo" has his personality indelibly infused within the music ? albeit in much more subtle ways than is on display here.

And that may be part of the problem people are having with this album. It bears enough resemblance to a Flower Kings album to engender disappointment.

Based on Roine's comments from various places on the web it began as more of a singer-songwriter-with-acoustic-guitar type affair and then grew from there. As a result, at it's core it features strong, well-defined melodies. Then, at appropriate times throughout the album, these melodies lead into crescendos and somewhat more bombastic instrumental sections that grow logically and yet emotionally from the more basic and subtle seeds of the quieter sections.

So there are moments that hint at both the melodic and bombastic nature of a Flower Kings album. But it would be a mistake to expect one. This is a much more subtle affair requiring a bit more patience and a resetting of expectations.

Now I've rambled on and on about how this is NOT a Flower Kings album and mentioning the band I did NOT want to mention over and over again. The point is The Fading Ghosts Of Twilight must be taken on it's own terms.

And in my opinion those are great terms: subtle, quiet, melodic, emotional, moody, powerful. Brilliant!