Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

zumacraig wrote: infandous wrote: zumacraig wrote: I've been listening to BoE.  I really like it, the more I listen to it.  Numbers has some cool parts that just kill me.  Also, Felix just fits in.  He has a tighter, dryer sound than Zoltan.  He nails it too.   Not much of a WW fan.  Female vox just don't do it for me in that context. Aren't some of those dudes in Wobbler?  Those albums were okay. Well, honestly BoE, along with A&E, is the FK album that I just can't hold my attention on for long.  I find Numbers to be almost interminably boring.  Felix IS good though......I think he's kind of like if Zoltan and Salazar were fused into one drummer.  The rest of BoE is a little better, and I like Pandemonium and Rising the Imperial pretty well.  Again though, the album as a whole just looses my attention more than any other FK album (except, as I mentioned, A&E). I've been listening to Unfold, and the difference is just astonishing.  The music on Unfold just holds my attention completely and never lets go.  Just all around better compositions and playing for my tastes. Fascinating.  I find Numbers to be captivating from beginning to end.  UtF is kind of a chore for me, but I'm getting there.  I've been listening to lots of Grateful Dead too.  Talk about interminably boring...in a good way  We should be getting more info on Desolation Rose very soon.  Maybe even this week.

Yeah, I always listen to the GD from time to time.  Have loved them since I saw them twice in Vegas back in 1993 (and again in Pittsburgh in 1995).  However, there are some live tapes I've heard from them that fit the "interminably boring" tag quite well   Overall though, they were a band never to be bested in the improv arena.


UTF IS a chore...........which was what eventually made it top my list of best FK albums.  It took me almost a whole year to really get my head around the whole thing.  The musical density of it is pretty amazing once you've finally absorbed it all.  That they were able to put that all together inside of a year is pretty impressive as well (and with a new drummer who had to learn Garden Of Dreams and Stardust We Are (in it's entirety) for live shows).

One thing I thought was good about Banks was its length.  I go back and forth with weather or not Roine needs to edit FK albums down or not (the 2CD albums are a LOT to take in, and pretty much impossible for me to sit and listen to in their entirety),  but I think an hour is probably about the max any album should be.  And double albums, if they are considered absolutely necessary, should be made in such a way that each CD would be a great stand alone album.......so you can listen to them at different times without losing anything.

Having said that, I really love most FK albums just the way they are (even the nearly 3 hours of Unfold).  But I am kind of hoping that Roine keeps with the 50 - 60 minute range for album lengths from now on.

zumacraig wrote: Infandous, Pitt 95 was my last show. Rain! I saw many shows from late 80s to the end and I never saw more naked people than at that show. Good times. UtF has been some work, but it's paying off. My wife loves Vox Humana...who knew! The rest is quite masterful in its length, repetition of theme, etc.

Huh, we must have mentioned to each other before that we were both at that show, but I totally forgot.  Cool.  Lots of Rain songs in that show, yeah............I called it "Bob Weir and friends" at the time, as he and his songs seemed to dominate the set list (though a few days later, it became pretty clear why that was).

Yeah, UTF is their peak, musically, IMO.  Not quite my favorite FK album, but the one I consider their best.

http://www.progrockmag.com/news/the-prog-collective-premiere-shining-diamonds/

Nov wrote: NEVER HEARD THIS BEFORE!! A previously unreleased TFK track from 2005  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaZIFmQg5VA Very nice!

It's on the Harvest fan club CD (2005), so technically is HAS been released before.......I've had the CD for years now   I guess it's not really from a "general" release though.

I've been messing with the order of BoE.  I know Infandous likes Numbers at the end.

infandous wrote: Nov wrote: NEVER HEARD THIS BEFORE!! A previously unreleased TFK track from 2005  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaZIFmQg5VA Very nice!   It's on the Harvest fan club CD (2005), so technically is HAS been released before.......I've had the CD for years now   I guess it's not really from a "general" release though.

Pulled this out for a listen today............the song at the youtube link is actually titled "Harvest Times" (plural).  Small difference, but I thought I should mention it as a diehard fan

It kind of reminds me of Opeth's Heritage cover.  

I like the cover. Not as much as BoE, but still better than most of TFK's other album covers.

Gorgeous cover, total classic vintage prog artwork that will look especially wonderful on vinyl!