Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

Harry Hood wrote: A lot of people like to downplay Roine's contributions to the band. But I'm here to say that a Transatlantic without Roine is a Transatlantic that I would not listen to.

hear hear. It's not Transatlantic without Roine. Neal's contributions are always the ones discussed.


Edited by darkshade - August 15 2011 at 01:33

Harry Hood wrote: So right now I'm listening to The Whirlwind. Except with an interesting twist,I'm only listening to the tracks Roine wrote. The tracklist goes like this: A Man Can Feel Out of The Night Evermore Pieces of Heaven Spinning Lenny Johnson It actually makes for a really amazing listening experience. A lot of the stuff Roine contributes to Transatlantic seems to be informed by things he's done recently, and it really shows here. A Man Can Feel oozes with Agents influence. You can practically hear Nad Sylvan in the vocal harmonies (even though it's really just Neal going off the same demos). Overall it's an incredibly solid half-hour of music. A lot of people like to downplay Roine's contributions to the band. But I'm here to say that a Transatlantic without Roine is a Transatlantic that I would not listen to.

Ok, now this intrigues me, Congratulations, you've just occupied the next half hour of my life.

I don't really notice Roine getting "downplayed" in TA, to be honest.  It's undeniably true that Neal brings in the most material for them to work from, but I think especially with the Whirlwind that Neal is not really the dominant factor.  That album strikes me as quite a nice collaboration.  Neal himself says that the end result is quite different from his 20 or so minute demo that he presented to the band.  In any case, I love the Roine stuff as well, but I just think that other than the first TA album, they sound like nice blend of all the parts.......well, mostly of Roine and Neal, but I think the arrangements are where you hear Portnoy's influence the most, with Trewavas being the one with the least noticeable input.  So yeah, agree that it wouldn't be TA without Roine for sure.

Still need to get that Karmakanic album, and we've got Agents in the near future as well.  Haven't heard any more talk about a FK reunion, not sure if that is bad or good.................


Edited by infandous - August 17 2011 at 09:57

M27Barney wrote: I may have to get some karmakanic stuff, I have none!

I recommend getting their last album "Who's The Boss In The Factory?". It's the one that got me into them, and I still consider it their best so far.

SMPT:e -  the Roine Stolt Mixes is such a fantastic listen for any Stolt/TFK fan. It's practically a completely different album. The songs themselves are mostly identical structurally, but all the little aesthetic changes really grab your attention. The guitar is generally a lot more up in the front of the mix. Lots of little solo bits sprinkled throughout that were excluded from the Mouser mix. He also dubbed in guitar parts to match Neal's big keyboard solos, and added vocal harmonies that were originally just overdubbed Neals. Aside from a lot of those more obvious changes, he does a lot of really subtle things as well to the levels and such that make the whole album much more presentable.

darkshade wrote: M27Barney wrote: I may have to get some karmakanic stuff, I have none! I recommend getting their last album "Who's The Boss In The Factory?". It's the one that got me into them, and I still consider it their best so far.

Barney,

Yes, you need to get some Karmakanic, I agree with Darkshade, start with "Who's the Boss"

Do this now.

Tom

darkshade wrote: Harry Hood wrote: SMPT:e -  the Roine Stolt Mixes is such a fantastic listen for any Stolt/TFK fan. It's practically a completely different album. The songs themselves are mostly identical structurally, but all the little aesthetic changes really grab your attention. The guitar is generally a lot more up in the front of the mix. Lots of little solo bits sprinkled throughout that were excluded from the Mouser mix. He also dubbed in guitar parts to match Neal's big keyboard solos, and added vocal harmonies that were originally just overdubbed Neals. Aside from a lot of those more obvious changes, he does a lot of really subtle things as well to the levels and such that make the whole album much more presentable. I honestly would love to hear a Bridge Across Forever Stolt mix, but at this point that will likely never happen. Really makes you wonder what might have been though. Would've been cool if that came out for the 10 year anniversary this year.

Roine was asked about that on TFK Yahoo group not too long ago, and his response was that that first TA album was the only one he did a mix for.  The others he thought the mix was good, so he didn't bother doing one.  I would agree though, that the second album should have gotten his treatment for sure.  Whirlwind I think is a great mix, so I'm not really sure what he would do differently or if it would be possible to make it sound better, even for Roine.

Just spent about 7 hours in flight........Listened to Karmakanic IAPW........and I am just so-so about it. Starts off pretty good with 1969 then kinda gets lost. I don't know how to describe it maybe more pop driven than what I was expecting.

Still haven't picked up In A Perfect World yet.  Hope to do that soon.

Listened to Adam & Eve recently, still just can't get into most of it (bought it when it came out and have been trying ever since).  Still my overall least favorite FK album, though I like a few tracks (both instrumentals are awesome, for instance......but both are too short).  Also listening to Space Revolver, still a consistently great album (well, except for You Don't Know What You've Got, which is lightweight with terribly cheesy lyrics, but is only 2 minutes long so doesn't really spoil the album for me).

infandous wrote: Still haven't picked up In A Perfect World yet.  Hope to do that soon. Listened to Adam & Eve recently, still just can't get into most of it (bought it when it came out and have been trying ever since).  Still my overall least favorite FK album, though I like a few tracks (both instrumentals are awesome, for instance......but both are too short).  Also listening to Space Revolver, still a consistently great album (well, except for You Don't Know What You've Got, which is lightweight with terribly cheesy lyrics, but is only 2 minutes long so doesn't really spoil the album for me).