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Thread: FEATURED CD: The Flower Kings - Stardust We Are

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    Moderator Poisoned Youth's Avatar
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    FEATURED CD: The Flower Kings - Stardust We Are

    Today's feature is from The Flower Kings, and one of their early notable releases "Stardust We Are", which is now nearly 20 years old, originally released in 1997. Given its stature in the TFK catalog among fans, do we dare call this album "a classic?"




    Review from Progarchives:

    This album has the same problem that almost every double CD studio album I know: it has some songs that havenīt enough quality, and it appears to be artificially elonged...

    The Flower Kings is a great band, no one canīt deny it. Roine Stolt is one of the best prog-minds from the 90īs. But he has this addiction to make too long albums, with some memorable songs, while other songs are just forgettable... I think that one album isnīt better if itīs longer. And "Stardust We Are" is a good example...

    Songs that donīt allow this album being a masterpiece in my opinion: Just This Once (just a little boring and without soul song...), Compassion (very boring and with some extra final minutes really forgettable...), Pipes of Piece (songs like this make this album a little repetitive, because here we can hear the Stardust We Are main melody again, like in the whole album...), The End Of Innocence (like Just This Once, a song that make nothing for me...) and Hotel Nirvana (another silly trasition song...)

    The rest of the record is pretty good, even excellent most of the time. But there are more things I miss in this album. First: Jonas Reingold, because Michael Stolt was a good bass player for the band, but Jonas Reingold is just an impressive player, one of the best Iīve heard! Second: more long songs, because I thing that itīs the best face of the Flowers. Third: more Hasse Frobergīs singing, because I prefer his voice than the Roine Stoltīs one.

    The last thing I must comment of this album, is that it's an improvement im comparision with "Back in the World of Adventures" and "Retropolis", although this albums were excellent. Despite the forgettable moments, Stolt managed to improve the songwriting, offering his first long epic, Stardust We Are, the great highlight of the album!

    Best songs: In the Eyes of the World (strong and dynamic opening... Powerful Salazar's drums here!) Church of Your Heart (a great keyboards work...), The Merrygoround (happy and very catchy song...), Don Of The Universe (beautiful guitar work...), Kingdom of Lies (commercial, but pretty enjoyable...) The Ghost of The Red Clowd (I just like it very much, I donīt know why. Itīs very evocative and you can really imagine this Ghost in the Clouds hearing the song...) and Stardust We Are (the epic of the album, with a memorable ending...).

    Conclusion: without some forgettable songs, wich spoil part of the beauty this album has, I would have given this album the highest rating... But sorry, I can't. It's too long, even boring sometimes, despite its outstanding moments. Nevertheless, this is an improvement from the two previous The Flower King's releases, a very important moment in this band's career, and a strongly recommended album for all the symphonic prog lovers of the planet!!!

    My rating: **** (The Crow)




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    Quote Originally Posted by Poisoned Youth View Post
    (...) do we dare call this album "a classic?"
    Of course.

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    Member rickawakeman's Avatar
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    We dare and dare you not to.

  4. #4
    Like all of the earlier FKs releases, this one is a combination of brilliance and filler. They could have easily made an era-defining prog release had they limited this to 1 CD of In the Eyes of the World, Church of Your Heart, Merrygoround and Stardust We Are, perhaps with Circus Brimstone or 1 or 2 other shorter tracks thrown in. I never listen to this whole thing, just select songs. But just on the strength of the title track, this is well worth having.

  5. #5
    Don't know what the consensus among diehard fans is (if there is one), but I recall this one being patchy at best. I ended up ripping a few tracks to enjoy separate from the filler, which were generally the instrumentals--"If 28," "Don of the Universe," "Circus Brimstone" and "Mr. Rain's Ordinary Guitar" are the titles I remember. The rest seemed overdramatic and bombastic, even by Flower Kings standards.

    Personal taste of course, and that was quite some time ago. Obviously I'm not their main audience, but I always feel a bit vindicated seeing so many fans agree that their albums would be better if shorter.

  6. #6
    I got this one at ProgDay the year they first performed (1997 or 1998, can't recall exactly which). It was a very impressive stab at replicating the big symphonic sound and I enjoyed it quite a bit. And good grief, were the CD packages colorful!!

    Over time TFK have become less my thing, but this and Space Revolver are probably the two I still enjoy from time to time.
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    Member thedunno's Avatar
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    I have a love/hate relationship with most of FKs music. This album is no exception.

    For me there is this huge difference in quality between the instrumental parts and tunes (which usually I love) and the singsong parts (which I do not love and sometimes even hate).
    The best example is probably the tune Stardust we Are. That singsong bit 'stardust we aaaaaarrreeee' I can not stand but the instrumental middle piece is perhaps the best bit of music they have ever done. Those instrumental bits make this album a keeper for me.

    I think over the years their singsong bits got better but the instrumental parts got less interesting.

  8. #8
    See, I have a different perspective. Yes, there are a lot of short "filler" tracks, but I feel they give some breathing room between the longer tracks. In many ways, SWA is a very luxurious album, taking its good ol time and not being in any rush to get the next musical idea. Personally, I think it is a classic.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by thedunno View Post
    For me there is this huge difference in quality between the instrumental parts and tunes (which usually I love) and the singsong parts (which I do not love and sometimes even hate).
    Well said--that's sort of what I was getting at too. I'd say the vocal parts are where they tend to go for the big cheesy dramaaaaaaaaa! that puts me off.

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    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spiral View Post
    Don't know what the consensus among diehard fans is (if there is one), but I recall this one being patchy at best. I ended up ripping a few tracks to enjoy separate from the filler, which were generally the instrumentals--"If 28," "Don of the Universe," "Circus Brimstone" and "Mr. Rain's Ordinary Guitar" are the titles I remember. The rest seemed overdramatic and bombastic, even by Flower Kings standards.
    Not sure I quite understand - the tracks you listed are ones you kept or considered filler?
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    Starbucks we are.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Plasmatopia View Post
    Not sure I quite understand - the tracks you listed are ones you kept or considered filler?
    Those were the ones I kept.... guess my phrasing wasn't very clear.

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    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post
    Starbucks we are.
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    I, for one, find no filler at all on the first disc. In fact it's tracks like 'The Man Who Walked With Kings' and 'Circus Brimstone' that are probably my favorites. And I love the fact that there is a lot of instrumental music. I always wished on later releases that they would do more instrumentals.

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    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spiral View Post
    Those were the ones I kept.... guess my phrasing wasn't very clear.
    Okay, that makes more sense - those were (to me) some of the better tracks you listed.
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    Sprawling, but excellent. The title track is one of my favorite songs, period.

  17. #17
    随缘 SRS's Avatar
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    Classic - one of my favorite albums of all time. I still remember exactly where I was driving the first time I played this in 2001 and heard the beginning of "In the Eyes of the World" . I had been out of the prog scene for a while and had just learned about these 'new' bands out there so I had bought this along with V, and Chronometree without hearing a note of any of them. I liked the others as well but Flower Kings really spoke to me and became my favorite band to this day. So this one is very special to me. Like TheLongshot I don't find any filler or throwaway songs on this and appreciate the short tracks to allow you to catch your breath between the bigger epics. I wouldn't change a thing on it. If you are going to listen to the whole thing it is a time commitment for sure (it is a triple album when put on vinyl) but a very rewarding journey in my opinion.

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    Moderator Poisoned Youth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bill g View Post
    I, for one, find no filler at all on the first disc. In fact it's tracks like 'The Man Who Walked With Kings' and 'Circus Brimstone' that are probably my favorites. And I love the fact that there is a lot of instrumental music. I always wished on later releases that they would do more instrumentals.
    I share this sentiment. I have always enjoyed their more instrumental moments and I like Roine's voice (sort of John Wetton with an accent). In fact, the song I like the least on disc one is the one "the other faction of TFK fans" tend to enjoy most (Church of Your Heart).

    Disc 2 does meander a bit, if only because it's over 70 minutes and closes with the 25 minute title track. That said, I can only think of a few songs I don't care for.

    But, I always listen to Disc 1 more often.
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  19. #19
    Hit a sweet spot for me. I never came to like any of the other FK albums nearly as much as this one. I kind of wore out the title track. But the absolute gem here is "The Man Who Walked with Kings." That's just an achingly beautiful piece of music.

  20. #20
    Member lazland's Avatar
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    I had it on at the weekend for the first time in a while, and enjoyed every single second. It remains, for me, one of the finest prog rock albums of the modern era, both intricate and moving.

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by lazland View Post
    I had it on at the weekend for the first time in a while, and enjoyed every single second. It remains, for me, one of the finest prog rock albums of the modern era, both intricate and moving.
    Yup, I'm a fanboy and every TFK album rates highly in my book. Just press "Play" and let it "unfold"... if you ask me during an instrumental part what song I'm listening to, I probably couldn't even tell you. It doesn't matter. It's unmistakedly TFK and I just let it wash over my ears and get a good feeling.
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  22. #22
    I borrowed this from someone a while back and only liked one track: "Circus Brimstone". I don't remember how many chances I gave it- probably not enough. I seem to remember that one vocalist sounded like John Wetton and the other Jon Anderson. If there weren't two vocalists on it then clearly my memory is failing me! The music sounded "proggy", but nothing really caught my ear as being particularly interesting, creative or exciting. That said, I'd be willing to give TFK another try.
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    Member Mikhael's Avatar
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    The FK's best, I think.
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    I still have a lot of love for this album and consider it the band’s classic. The title track ranks right up with my favorite all time prog epics by anyone, and I enjoy the rest of the album as well. Could it have been stronger if it was whittled down to a single disc? Maybe, but I think for the most part the whole thing holds up pretty well.

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    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    I got this one at ProgDay the year they first performed (1997 or 1998, can't recall exactly which). It was a very impressive stab at replicating the big symphonic sound and I enjoyed it quite a bit. .
    It was 1998, and is still one of my all-time favorite ProgDay moments. It had been so fricking hot all weekend, the festival was running late, but they broke into Stardust We Are just as the sun was setting, the air was cooler, I had a good buzz on with a group of friends I had just met the year before (and are still friends today), and it was simply a magical moment in time.

    Later I discovered there was some backstage drama with the band and ProgDay crew that I was blissfully unaware of at the time, but the performance remains one of my all-time favorites to this day.

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