The Flower Kings "Waiting For Miracles" - new double album - 8 November 2019

[aith01]

I actually think Erik Hammarström would have been a great choice as well, he was in the band briefly already for a tour but never got to record an album. His new solo album Glödhet Rytmisk Svärta is fantastic.

I was unaware that Erik had a solo album out. Sounds really interesting! Thanks for the heads up!

Really enjoyed Erik's work with Brighteye Brison, whose Believers & Deceivers was one of the finest symphonic rock albums to ever come out of Sweden, IMO. I still listen to that one.

Ditto, but I have to say I also really liked Mirko's playing on the tour and I'm excited to hear what he brings to the album. Apparently we shouldn't get attached to any one particular TFK drummer, lol.

Well, I haven't seen or heard him play but I'm still excited to hear Mirko on the new album.

Zoltan was probably my favorite drummer in TFK, but all of them have been top notch.

[Poisoned Youth]

^^ Zoltan was my favorite as well, but was a big fan of the Jaime Salazar/Hasse Bruniusson combo.

[moecurlythanu]

^^ Zoltan was my favorite as well, but was a big fan of the Jaime Salazar/Hasse Bruniusson combo.

+1

[aith01]

^^ Zoltan was my favorite as well, but was a big fan of the Jaime Salazar/Hasse Bruniusson combo.

Oh, for sure. Jaime and Hasse were off the chain.

[yesstiles]

I love Roine's singing. Hasse is good in small doses and certain songs. But I wish Roine sang more.


I don't hear cheese in Tomas' playing. Tomas was vital to TFK's best album Flower Power, and if you listen to Tomas' solo albums you can hear that he's a very capable songwriter himself.

[LeFrog]

I love Roine's singing. Hasse is good in small doses and certain songs. But I wish Roine sang more.

I haven't looked at it closely but I think Roine has always been the main vocalist in TFK.
Roine definitely sang the most on early albums, then Hasse's presence increased to reach roughly half of the vocals on certain albums, but I can't think of a TFK album where he sings more than Roine.
The only album where Roine sings significantly less than usual is probably Adam & Eve because the lead vocals are split evenly between 3 lead vocalists (Gildenlöw being the third).

[aith01]

I haven't looked at it closely but I think Roine has always been the main vocalist in TFK.
Roine definitely sang the most on early albums, then Hasse's presence increased to reach roughly half of the vocals on certain albums, but I can't think of a TFK album where he sings more than Roine.
The only album where Roine sings significantly less than usual is probably Adam & Eve because the lead vocals are split evenly between 3 lead vocalists (Gildenlöw being the third).

Not sure at what point it happened, but there was a definite shift toward Hasse handling more of the vocal duties than Roine. It might be a 51%-49% split at times, but it's there.

[mozo-pg]

Wow! I'm in. This is almost like a Yes thread in rapid postings.

[Plasmatopia]

Wow! I'm in. This is almost like a Yes thread in rapid postings.

This thread just needs a few "it isn't the Flower Kings without blahblahblah" posts to qualify.

[LeFrog]

This thread just needs a few "it isn't the Flower Kings without blahblahblah" posts to qualify.

"No Tomas no Flower Kings" vs "Tomas Bodin ruined The Flower Kings"

[3LockBox]

I would be very pleased to like the new FK album.

[Garden Dreamer]

I'm in, of course! They haven't made an album in 25 years that's disappointed me yet, and that's quite an accomplishment considering other favorite bands like Yes and Rush have released albums that I can't listen to. They've covered a lot of bases from epic tunes to short poppy tunes to instrumental weirdness, all flavored with prog twists, lots of different styles and moods, occasional sax player and weird percussion, a bunch of different drummers... but the one thing that's been consistent for me is the sound quality/production of the albums. Granted I am no audiophile but I don't hear wild swings in sound from album to album like in Topographic Oceans to Relayer to Going for the One to Tormato. Always nice separation of the instruments without the clangor of Clockwork Angels. November can't come soon enough!

[zeprogmeister]

Roine and his double albums He is a maximalist. I am usually ready to move on to something different after about 45-50 minutes.

[thedunno]

I hope the return to a 90ies sound also includes a fair dose of jazz rock too. I really miss those jazzy parts. They seem to have been surgically removed frpm Adam and Eve onwards.

Anyway, good that there is a new Flower Kings coming our way.

[Poisoned Youth]

I hope the return to a 90ies sound also includes a fair dose of jazz rock too. I really miss those jazzy parts. They seem to have been surgically removed frpm Adam and Eve onwards.

Anyway, good that there is a new Flower Kings coming our way.

Agreed. If you listen to many of those 90s works and Hydrophonia, there was a lot more groove in the rhythm section and space to play, relax, allowing some space in the compositions. I’d argue the songs were more melodious back then, with simple hooks and leads.

When Rainmaker came out, this was the first thing I noticed was missing. But on UtF, some of this came back, but with a different feel with Zoltan on the drums. But since then, this “Magic” imo has been fleeting.

I remember back in the day Roine expressing a bit of tongue-in-cheek frustration at the fans who criticized the band when they got “too jazzy” or “too quirky”. Rainmaker was a bit of a reaction to that. Then they got criticized for not being jazzy, so out cam UtF, which was criticized for being too jazzy again.

I have no proof of this, but feel that Roine capitulated to the fans (or subsets of them) on a variety of occasions. This affected the music that would come for the next 10 years. That music would squarely fall into a “formula”, where fans knew what to expect. I often felt that Wall Street Voodoo was Roine’s personal “return to form”, heavier on blues, jazz, rock, and roots music - similar to the 90s works, without as much symphonic embellishments.

[LeFrog]

I have no proof of this, but feel that Roine capitulated to the fans (or subsets of them) on a variety of occasions.

There are definite proofs of this in interviews around the release of Adam & Eve where he clearly stated that the jazz in UTF was too difficult for some listeners, and that he would not go there again, hence the safer A&E.

This attitude turned against him when he set out to make what he thought would be the ultimate prog record with The Sum Of No Evil and people just went "meh, just another TFK album". I'm pretty sure his disappointment caused the hiatus that followed.

[aith01]

Ironically, The Sum of No Evil was my favorite TFK album. I was never as keen on their stuff pre-Space Revolver as the stuff that came after.

That being said, I wouldn’t mind another album in the vein of Retropolis. But I’m game for whatever they feel like doing, to be honest. It’s just nice to hear these guys still making stuff, even if it never reaches the heights of 20-25 years ago.

[Poisoned Youth]

I dunno. While my curiosity is piqued and I’ll buy the new album, The idea of “cool these guys are still making stuff” doesn’t do much for me. I want it to be good, not just an exercise. Neal Morse and some of these other proliferators have the same problem. I keep buying because they do have “hits” amongst the misses.

Sum of No Evil is my favorite TFK album post UtF, because I did feel it was successful in catering to both the “Church of Your Heart” crowd and the “Retropolis” crowd.

[Splicer]

So no more Tomas Bodin? Hate to see that. He was such an integral part of this group throughout the years. Still, I'm glad to see new TFK material

I've always said that his composition and arrangement skill was what fleshed out the sound of their music. A shame. The last album that was called Roine Stolt's Flower Kings was OK - it had moments. However, it didn't have that spark.

[Splicer]

This attitude turned against him when he set out to make what he thought would be the ultimate prog record with The Sum Of No Evil and people just went "meh, just another TFK album". I'm pretty sure his disappointment caused the hiatus that followed.

Bodin's solo record after Sum contained more than one song that had musical themes that were reflected in the FK album. It seems he wanted the record to have a more thematic flow and it was left on the cutting room floor. I'm thinking his instincts were the better ones.

[Steve983]

This attitude turned against him when he set out to make what he thought would be the ultimate prog record with The Sum Of No Evil and people just went "meh, just another TFK album". I'm pretty sure his disappointment caused the hiatus that followed.

Yep, I thought The Sum of No Evil is a great album but kind of TFK by numbers. I became bored with them at this point and hardly play their albums anymore. I'm really not sure what they can do to rekindle my interest - can they come up with anything new that people will like when we all have such different hopes or expectations?

[yesstiles]

Yep, I thought The Sum of No Evil is a great album but kind of TFK by numbers. I became bored with them at this point and hardly play their albums anymore. I'm really not sure what they can do to rekindle my interest - can they come up with anything new that people will like when we all have such different hopes or expectations?

I would be thrilled if the released something again as wonderful as "Love Is The Only Answer."

[Smörgåsbord]

Every album is TFK by numbers... They stick to a successful formula as they should. Just the fact that a Flower Kings song is almost immediately recognisable is not a common tree in the big sympho forest.

[SRS]

since we don't have song running times I was going to suggest a game where we try to guess which one(s) is the epic? But somebody asked Roine on FB this question:

Q: Are there any epic’s from about 20 minutes?

RS: It is more like a song-cycle - Call it an epic - 'big song' divided into segments - variation of themes coming up thru the album - intended to be heard as one piece ...... you'll understand once you get it.

That sure sounds promising as it brings to mind Desolation Rose and Garden of Dreams. But also may suggest that the second CD (with 5 songs) is not full length. Fact that it is 2 LP instead of 3 also suggests this.

[aith01]

I dunno. While my curiosity is piqued and I’ll buy the new album, The idea of “cool these guys are still making stuff” doesn’t do much for me. I want it to be good, not just an exercise. Neal Morse and some of these other proliferators have the same problem. I keep buying because they do have “hits” amongst the misses.

Sure, I get that. I want it to be good too. I just don't think it will equal or surpass those records from their "classic" period because of all the nostalgic value they have. Would love to be proven wrong though.

However, for whatever reason, I've grown much more tired of Neal Morse's formula than of Roine's. I tried The Similitude of a Dream but just couldn't make it more than a few songs before I had to stop. Not saying it's bad or inferior; it just feels exhausting to me. That's the problem I've had with everything he's done since Testimony probably.

Roine, even when he's not firing on all cylinders, still usually comes up with stuff that appeals to me. The Manifesto album, while not overall "great", had some great songs on it still (IMO).

Sum of No Evil is my favorite TFK album post UtF, because I did feel it was successful in catering to both the “Church of Your Heart” crowd and the “Retropolis” crowd.

UtF is my second favorite by TFK. The scope is pretty ambitious, and I love the heavy jazz undercurrent throughout most of the two discs. I feel like it showed the band's true potential to push the envelope and create something different; it doesn't really sound quite like anything else I've ever heard.