ADAM & EVE

I think Adam & Eve is the beginning of what may be a grand success. I loved the strong material on Unfold The Future, such as Silent Inferno, Genie In a Bottle, and Devil's Playground, but songs like Vox Humana bored me to tears, and while the Truth Will Set You Free has it's moments, it doesn't make my top 25 Flower Kings songs. Road to Sanctuary and World Without a Heart are classic Rainmaker numbers, but the rest of the record was uneven at best. Space Revolver and Stardust We Are is the standard by which I measure the new albums, and after finding the last 2 studio efforts disappointing, I am thrilled with Adam & Eve. This may be the best constructed TFK disc yet. Love Supreme sets the theme for the record, and then each song builds on what came before until the title track kicks it up severel notches. By the way, the words to Adam and Eve are the funniest things Roine has written since I am the Sun Part 2. Anyhow, from Adam and Eve on, this record just smokes. This is definately one of the bands most consistant efforts, perhaps the most consistant since Retropolis, and Daniel Gildenlow sounds as if he's been with the group forever. Furthermore the rhythm section of Jonas and Zotan continues to impress me with each new effort. I think the only think I would have liked more is to hear more of Roine's voice, he has a tonal quality that fits the music better than any of the others, but then he writes the songs, so that's no great surprise. This isn't the Flower Kings best work, but it's definately one of the better ones, and from a group with their talent and sense of adventure, that's a great album in anyone's book.

One last note. You cannot possibly listen to any Flower Kings record once or twice and absorb it. It took me a good month to really get into Garden of Dreams, and none of their records will really impress with a casual listen. When you've heard Adam and Eve 10 or more times, you're probably starting to get it. Enjoy!