Page 1 of 5 12345 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 103

Thread: The Flower Kings - 2017 recap and look ahead to 2018

  1. #1
    随缘 SRS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    671

    The Flower Kings - 2017 recap and look ahead to 2018

    Happy New Year all!
    Time for the annual recap thread to go over what transpired in the World of Adventures and speculate on what is ahead in 2018.

    Here are the Flower Kings related releases that we saw in 2017 in the order they arrived to my mailbox:

    January
    Pain of Salvation - In the Passing Light of Day
    Perhaps the best PoS album ever. I really don't like to use the phrase 'return to form'. Although I didn't really care for the Road Salt albums I don't begrudge Daniel doing whatever his muse tells him. I just think he should have released them under a different project name or as solo albums and kept the Pain of Salvation name for his progressive metal material. Flower Kings members do this all the time and release all kinds of side projects when they want to explore different musical paths. Releasing those as PoS albums I think created some unnecessary confusion. But back to the new release. It is fantastic. "On a Tuesday", "Meaningless", "Full Throttle Tribe", "Reasons", and the final epic "The Passing Light of Day" are particular favorites but the whole album flows well and I usually listened to it start to end never skipping a track. Concept deals with his sickness and truthfully near death experience with a bizarre flesh eating bacteria which laid him up in the hospital unable to move or turn his body for over a month. The album channels that intensity of feeling with anger, hope, sadness, helplessness, fear, pain and love into a modern lyrical and musical masterpiece. The new band that makes up PoS and the addition of Ragnar Zolberg have really augmented the band. So happy I saw this live as well, never expected them to come anywhere near me but they did. Little did I know I would be seeing one of the last shows with Ragnar as yet again lineup changes hit the band with Ragnar out and Johan back in. The album was really the result of Daniel and Ragnar writing and creating it together so this may foretell another change of sound on the next album.

    May
    Nad Sylvan - The Bride Said No
    Nad Sylvan assembles an all star group for his latest solo offering. Roine guesting again on one track. And I think with this one he really now has a style and sound that is all his own. It was probably inevitable that this would mean a drift away from the sounds explored on Unifaun, Agents and The Widow. A little more of a slick sound here - The highlight for me is "What Have you Done" - the back to back solos by Steve Hackett & Gutrie Govan are perfectly composed and incredibly majestic. Also really like the bonus track "Black Sheep"

    July
    The Tangent - The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery
    Andy Tillison follows up the great Spark in the Aether album with a more somber offering on weighty issues like refugees, nationalism, tabloid press, anti-immigrant mentality, animal conservation and poaching, and also a very touching and personal song about a friendship breaking up. Closer in spirit to Sacre than to Aether but still like all Tangent albums it has its own unique flavor to it. The addition of Marie Eve de Gaultier adds a female voice for the first time. The album is a great listen that continues to reveal more with repeat visits - a blend of styles throwing in Jazz Fusion, Punk, electronica and of course great symphonic Prog rock. I really appreciated the thought and work that went into the thought provoking lyrics - Maybe the more controversial aspect of the album is that Andy decided to handle the drums himself. The Tangent has always had a stellar and pretty high profile drummer (Csörsz, Salazar, Burgess, Rickwood, Harrison, Ågren) - so the move was sort of surprising. I don't really know how it was done, I think he must have used a combination of real drums, electronic drums and perhaps some keyboard triggered or programmed drums. The technology has come a long way, to be clear it doesn't sound like ABWH, but there are parts it is noticeable and for me this detracted somewhat giving parts of some songs a sort of demo type feel. But that is just in some places and my only quibble.

    September
    HFMC - No Place Like Home - Live DVD and 2 CD set.
    Hasse Fröberg and Musical Companion - live dvd from 2016 concert. Performing mostly HFMC songs plus TFK songs "Life Will Kill You" and "Stardust We Are" part 3 (no "Magic Pie" unfortunately - maybe next time) The venue they played in looks cool and seems like an intimate show among friends. You can actually see Tomas Bodin and Michael Stolt among the crowd and they are briefly interviewed in the bonus section. Credit to the editor who mostly avoids the constant quick cutting between angles every 1-2 seconds that plagues so many live dvd's nowadays (Transatlantic I'm looking at you) this one holds shots a little longer, although I wouldn't mind if they did even more but this is an improvement. Fun show - HFMC is definitely a different animal from TFK and not always so proggy but moves quite easily between songs that are quality pure R&R, heavy metal, progressive metal, and some more folky and ballad type songs - quite an interesting mix. The song "Pages" deserves special mention sounding like a long lost 70's classic. "The Warmth of the Evening" is another standout - I'll probably listen to the cd's more often than I'll watch the concert dvd - sound mix is very good - not too raw but certainly has a great live feel.

    September
    Kaipa (HL) - Children of the Sounds
    The other version of Kaipa returns with original member Hans Lundin, joined with his now usual all-star lineup of Jonas, Morgan Ågren, Per Nilsson, Patrik Lundström and Aleena. It is very much in the vain of the 4 other Kaipa HL albums we have had post Stolt. The issue for me was the CD is completely brickwalled and a total ear destroyer. Some good music and of course excellent musicianship but after two listens where I had to turn the volume way way down to contend with it I threw in the towel. When I want a modern Kaipa fix I'll reach for Keyholder, Notes from the Past and a few songs from Mindrevolutions instead. It would be interesting if someone who had never heard Kaipa HL would listen to the albums in reverse chronological order, would they think the first 3 they heard were the best and become a little burned out on the sound by the time they got to Notes? No, I still think those first 3 have the strongest and best melodies and I guess I prefer Stolt's more soulful playing over Per's rather busy/shredding style. If they do another one I think it would help to have Jonas handle the production and mixing instead of Hans, change the sound up a little.

    October
    Kaipa (DC) - Live
    Document of the Then & Now tour- reuniting 3/4 of the classic lineup (minus Lundin) with the addition of Lalle Larsson on keys filling in for Max Lorentz who was injured when he was attacked on stage. Includes classics like "Skenet Bedrar", "Sist På Plan", "Korståg", "Total Förvirring". Being only a single disc there will be some of your favorites left off here and there is a lot more "Then" than "Now" on the cd. Only one song from the new album. I would have liked to hear live versions of "När Jag Var En Pojk", "Tonerna", and "Dårskapens Monotoni", but maybe they didn't want to do those without Max in the lineup. Anyway it is great to have this live release and I thank them for releasing it as I'll probably never get a chance to see them in person.

    November
    The Flower Kings - Unfold the Future (triple vinyl and CD 2017 remix/remaster)
    Always loved the artwork to this one so was happy to have the vinyl and large format. Was a little leery of the 'remix' portion of this - 3 songs getting pretty radically redone. (Truth, Black and White, and Devil's Playground) -the last time Stolt did remixes of early songs we got The Road Back Home and in nearly every case I preferred the original recording to the remix. I've only had a few listens to this one but so far the same holds true here. It should be noted that 3 other songs on this version are also remixes (Monkey Business, Vox Humana and Grand Old World) -as Stolt chose to use the versions on The Road Back Home as the starting point instead of the originals. The last two in particular have significant changes. The intro of "Grand Old World" is gone (the part that reprises the Truth theme in a different key) That may have made sense on the compilation album but not here where it is a double album that should reprise themes from earlier to make it cohesive. Why Roine made some of these changes I'll never understand. Lopping off 5 minutes from "Devil's Playground" including that beautiful interlude that also reprises parts of Truth! And also changing the opening and adding in that weird spoken voice thing "This is how you raise the Cain" before going into the monster riff. WTH! And in "Black & White" he didn't take the opportunity to remove that silly/questionable drop "Mama Mia that's a spicy meatball" instead it sounds even louder. The remastered portions fair much better. I'll need more time to listen - one of favorites "Genie in a Bottle" sounded better than ever but it seemed like in "Silent Inferno" Roine's guitar solo (maybe his best ever) seems strangely muffled and overpowered by the other instruments. But this is mostly in car listening so need to listen closer.

    <continued below>

  2. #2
    随缘 SRS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    671
    <continued from above>

    December
    The Flower Kings - A Kingdom of Colours - The Complete Collection from 1995 to 2002 - 10CD Box Set
    Contains TFK albums from BItWoA to UtF (it is the 2017 remix/remaster that is included) - I'm glad for any new TFK release to add to my collection. The booklet inside is really nicely done with a short interview with Roine talking about this era of the band. I really liked how they included ALL of the individual albums cover art and booklets with lyrics. As you page through this booklet (which is about as thick as a regular sized jewel CD case) all the individual album booklets are there just as they were in the original pressings. So you will get the entire BitWoA booklet and then turn the page and see the Retropolis cover and then that entire booklet with credits and lyrics is printed just as it was. Really cool to have everything in one big booklet. The box itself is high quality and the cd sleeves look great. Wish other bands would do this, I would jump at the chance to fill out my Marillion collection with something like this for instance. So if you have any interest in the Flower Kings but hadn't bought all the early albums yet do not hesitate, this is a great way to get them and the price is fantastic. It's only a limited run of 3000 (it includes a numbered certificate) so that current low price won't stay low too long when this runs out and you have to search ebay.

    But this being PE I have to offer some unsolicited advice as to how they should have made this box set even better!:
    1. This really should include The Flower King
    2. The cover art is lazy. It is just a collage of the various album covers all layered on top of each other. This should have had an original piece by Silas Toball or Ed Unitsky. That would have made this much more special looking.
    3. You have to include some un-released or bonus material for the hardcore fan. Many people buying this already have all these albums so throw them at least one disc containing some live stuff, unreleased songs, alternate takes, demos, the Japanese bonus tracks or something. It's just the right thing to do.
    Maybe some of these things will be done when the second volume of this collection is released.

    Other Guest Spots during the year:
    Nad Sylvan - RTfact - Life is Good - Guest vocals on I think one song and Steve Hackett - The Night Siren - singing backup on one song I think

    Tours:
    Kaipa da Capo European tour - Early 2017 Feb-March then again in the fall
    Steve Hackett w/ Nad
    TangeKanic - Europe and brief US tour.

    So what is up in 2018?

    The Sea Within - new supergroup with Stolt, Reingold, Gildenlöw, Tom Brislin and Marco Minnemann - this should be out in Spring - what in the world will this sound like is the big question - with this lineup of people all of whom write their own music and in plenty of different styles it should be quite interesting - The quote from Stolt tantalizes the ears "“There are elements of prog, but also pop, art-rock and many cinematic elements. I suppose the music comes from within our collective memories of all that we love as far as sounds, visions and poetry. We hope that discovering this band will be a journey for the open-minded prog fan - something as fresh and uncertain and unfolding as it is for us.”

    HFMC - New studio album would seem likely for 2018 since it has been awhile - but I haven't seen anything confirmed for sure from Hasse

    PoS - Maybe we will see a live album from the recent world tour - and they will probably start working on new album - but what will the lineup look like? Daniel recently posted a pic of him and Johan Hallgren having a jam session , along with original PoS drummer Johan Langell and original guitarist Daniel Magdič. ! Just some friends jamming, or Entropia 2 in the works? We will see. His comment on the post was "Damn, this sh!t is becoming heavy as f*ck! "

    The Tangent - We will get a live CD of the TangeKanic combined band tour from 2017. This should be out early in the year. Also Andy has a new project called The Kalman Filter that is already taking pre-orders to be out early 2018. Album will be named: Drink of the Wilderness. This seems like it will be a Tangerine Dream/ambient type solo album along the lines of Fog, Murk and Durch. Andy probably handling all instruments.

    Kaipa DC - Haven't seen any comments from Roine recently but he did say he had a great time making Dårskapens Monotoni and wanted to do another one. And keyboardist Max Lorentz posted that a new album was in the works for 2018 - if true this is great news, I loved this reunion album so glad to hear of another one.

    Kaipa HL - probably not another album so soon but Hans will instead release a 5-CD Box Hans Lundin - The solo years 1984-1989 - re-releasing 3 solo albums from that time along with 2 cd's of previously unreleased material including some Kaipa demos. Roine Stolt will be on some of these tracks. The fact that this is mid-80's material doesn't bode too well for what this will sound like though. Hopefully it isn't like Nattdjurstid. So have to see about this - could be good or could be something for completists only.

    Transatlantic - no word - doesn't seem likely this year

    Agents of Mercy - same - probably not now or ever again - which reminds me whatever happened to that Agents DVD Roine talked about some years back? I seem to remember they had filmed some show(s) and he was just needing to edit it and work on the sound. Maybe that will see release someday.

    Anderson / Stolt 2 - In the works but much seems to depend on when Jon has time to work on it - the quote from Stolt (spanish interview) : "We've been working since the spring of this year but Jon has been a little off doing his tour with YES so we'll continue working on it next year. In fact we already have material that sounds pretty good maybe 40 minutes approximately. A conceptual album again very alive and colorful." So just taking a guess here - maybe late 2018 but more likely 2019. This year instead should see the re-release of IoK in some special ltd edition that we thought would happen in 2017.

    Karmakanic - Well Jonas will be doing gigs with The Sea Within and also what looks like lots of gigs with Steve Hackett in 2018 as he follows in Roine's footsteps and takes up the bass/12 string position in Hackett's band. Great opportunity for Jonas! But probably means no new Karmakanic this year - except for the live TangeKanic.

    Tomas Bodin- well this is the worrying part - Tomas was going to help Moon Safari out with lead keys but had to pull out due to complications from tinnitus that would prevent him from touring. Remember he was also the keyboardist in Kaipa DC and had to withdraw from that as well 2 years ago. So this year saw no new music released (Barracuda Triangle, He She It Is, Crime of the Century, Swedish Family II - no news on any of them) No updates to his website in over 2 years.

    Moon Safari - 2018 should see the release of Himlabacken Vol. 2 - Simon Åkesson now back in the fold. Maybe Tomas will have a guest spot on the album, Jonas probably mixing or producing. And this looks like it will be a double cd.

    Felix Lehrmann - busy touring with big German acts Sarah Connor and also did the Gold Digger tour - a drummer showcase with John J.R. Robinson and Roland Peil.

    Lalle Larsson - Surprised there was no solo album in 2017 - maybe this year - Jonas on bass one would assume.

    Nad Sylvan - Already working on next solo album - no release date yet.

    and finally what about The Flower Kings ? - Maybe we will get the second boxset Kingdom of Colours 2 at the end of the year but new material? well in the same Spanish interview Stolt dropped this interesting tidbit:

    Q: Do you have new material for an upcoming album of The Flower Kings?

    Roine: Not really, but of course I have material that could be classified as "Music of The Flower Kings", so I reflect on the idea of ​​making a comeback of a new album by The Flower Kings for next year. More a solo album with featured guests than an album with the band. Eventually I would take him on tour too. Lately I've been thinking that it would be great to play the first album again and play those songs after 23 years!
    So could Roine perhaps be contemplating making a solo album follow up to The Flower King to serve as sort of a bookend finish to the whole TFK world? He seems very reluctant to do a full band Flower Kings album without Tomas so maybe this is his way of keeping TFK alive but not really making a Flower Kings (band-plural) album. Just a solo album with Hasse guesting and some other guests like he did on the one that started it all: The Flower King.
    What would fans think of this? We all hope for a healthy, happy, inspired Tomas Bodin and a full Flower Kings return but would this be the next best thing if that isn't possible? Or would you as a fan be OK with a Flower Kings album without Tomas Bodin? Seems unthinkable, but what if the replacement was Lalle Larsson or Tom Brislin?

    Anyway it sure seems like Roine has more than enough projects to keep him busy in 2018 and it sounds like we have a lot of music to look forward to.
    Did I miss any 2017 releases? anyone hear anything more about upcoming 2018 projects?

    Cheers!

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by SRS View Post
    Tours:
    Steve Hackett w/ Nad
    also w/ Jonas Reingold, iirc ?
    Calyx (Canterbury Scene) - http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr
    Legends In Their Own Lunchtime (blog) - https://canterburyscene.wordpress.com/
    My latest books : "Yes" (2017) - https://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/yes/ + "L'Ecole de Canterbury" (2016) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/lecoledecanterbury/ + "King Crimson" (2012/updated 2018) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/kingcrimson/
    Canterbury & prog interviews - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdf...IUPxUMA/videos

  4. #4
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    16,529
    Also, Hackett's tour continues into 2018, or resumes. Seeing him in February, I assume with Nad.

    Nice rundown, BTW. Oh, about the Flower Kings box, I actually think a lot of people who already have those albums appreciate that they didn't throw in one CD with some extras just to get them to buy the box.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Also, Hackett's tour continues into 2018, or resumes. Seeing him in February, I assume with Nad.

    Nice rundown, BTW. Oh, about the Flower Kings box, I actually think a lot of people who already have those albums appreciate that they didn't throw in one CD with some extras just to get them to buy the box.
    I feel this is what they did by releasing the cd version of the unfold the future remixes exclusively in this box set...

  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    1,902
    For a fan of The Flower Kings it feels like all the eggs are in The Sea Within basket.

    Better be good.
    The Prog Corner

  7. #7
    Great recap, thanks.
    You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...

  8. #8
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Frederick, MD
    Posts
    333
    Very upsetting to hear about Tomas Bodin. I love his solo stuff - probably even more than TFK's output. He's a super-talented guy.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by julioscissors View Post
    Very upsetting to hear about Tomas Bodin. I love his solo stuff - probably even more than TFK's output. He's a super-talented guy.
    I've been listening to this song on replay all week:


  10. #10
    Thank you for this comprehensive summary of all things Flower Kings. It does sound like Roine will be plenty busy in 2018. It is sad to that Tomas is having issues since he has always been so important to the band.

    Don

  11. #11
    I don't want a new Flower King-album without Tomas. He's a very important part of TFK for me...

  12. #12
    Is the Flower Kings website off line? I get "404 - page not found"
    You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...

  13. #13
    随缘 SRS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    671
    Quote Originally Posted by Garden Dreamer View Post
    Is the Flower Kings website off line? I get "404 - page not found"
    It's been offline for a little while now - something with the provider or moving it to a different provider or format, not sure. I miss it too - was a good place to go for lyrics and things like that.

    Got a few updates from FB and the mail group to share here

    - Box Set #2 will come a little sooner than we thought - like as soon as this Spring/Summer. Will include DR bonus disc as well as two others (probably Banks and Sum bonus discs) - no word on any additional or unreleased material.

    - The Sea Within - May release is planned! Touring may follow but not for sure.

    - Anderson/Stolt IoK - Ltd Edition Artbook - 5.1 mixes as well as hi resolution 24/96 mixes , assorted outtakes, scaled down, demos, Plus lots of images and photos from sessions and elsewhere - interviews with J & R.- Stories
    on Facebook Roine said "Ltd. Box with all the goodies you can ever ask for" - I had to laugh when someone replied "You might underestimate how much we can ask for"

    - And finally our hunch above seems to be correct in that he said he is considering a follow up to the Roine Stolt solo album "The Flower King" sort of as a sequel or bookend.

  14. #14
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    16,529
    Quote Originally Posted by SRS View Post
    Roine said "Ltd. Box with all the goodies you can ever ask for" - I had to laugh when someone replied "You might underestimate how much we can ask for"
    Does it come with the rest of the CDs for the Jon Anderson box?

  15. #15
    Sad to hear about Bodin's issues. The Flower Kings would not have been what they were without his contributions. Not even close.
    Last edited by Splicer; 03-11-2018 at 02:18 PM.
    Mongrel dog soils actor's feet

  16. #16
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Planet Lovetron
    Posts
    13,021
    Quote Originally Posted by Splicer View Post
    His contribution to The Flower Kings would not have been what they were without his contributions. Not even close.
    That is indisputable.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Splicer View Post
    Sad to hear about Bodin's issues. His contribution to The Flower Kings would not have been what they were without his contributions. Not even close.
    ^ This.

    I really hope Mr. Bodin is able to recover and get back to his regular life. He's such a talented musician, but also humble and good to his fans from what I witnessed.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by SRS View Post
    - The Sea Within - May release is planned! Touring may follow but not for sure.
    May is quite sure? May I ask where that information comes from?
    Really excited about that one
    Last edited by Zappyesque; 03-11-2018 at 08:05 AM.

  19. #19
    随缘 SRS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    671
    Quote Originally Posted by Zappyesque View Post
    May is quite sure? May I ask where that information comes from?
    Really excited about that one
    From Roine himself in the yahoo mail group - here is the entire quote:

    As you probably know, my main focus right now is finishing the “debut” album of THE SEA WITHIN -
    ( Tom Brislin-Daniel Gildenlow-Marco Minnemann-Jonas Reingold-Roine Stolt)
    Planned release May this year - on INSIDE OUT/Century Media/SONY - Touring may follow - but we don’t know yet.,
    Now I just looked this post up and it was from Jan 31 - so it is certainly possible it could have changed or be delayed but it's all we got to go on so far. Information seems pretty scarce and hard to find for this project.

    I am really excited for this one as well!

  20. #20
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    16,529
    There’s a FB page for The Sea Within, but not much info.

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by SRS View Post
    From Roine himself in the yahoo mail group - here is the entire quote:


    Now I just looked this post up and it was from Jan 31 - so it is certainly possible it could have changed or be delayed but it's all we got to go on so far. Information seems pretty scarce and hard to find for this project.

    I am really excited for this one as well!
    Thank you!
    Gonna See them at Loreley this Summer. So looking forward to that!

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    That is indisputable.
    Sorry. I never proofread. Fixed it.
    Mongrel dog soils actor's feet

  23. #23
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Planet Lovetron
    Posts
    13,021
    Quote Originally Posted by Splicer View Post
    Sorry. I never proofread. Fixed it.
    Quite alright. I was just havin' a little fun with you.

  24. #24
    随缘 SRS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    671
    Update from FB - Roine replied that The Sea Within will be out in June

  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by SRS View Post
    From Roine himself in the yahoo mail group - here is the entire quote:



    Now I just looked this post up and it was from Jan 31 - so it is certainly possible it could have changed or be delayed but it's all we got to go on so far. Information seems pretty scarce and hard to find for this project.

    I am really excited for this one as well!
    Is there any way of getting into this mailing group or is it quite private? Huge fan who loves FK news speaking here.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •