3-LockBox
11-08-2007, 12:12 AM
Get those orders in for the next Flower Kings album, because Roine Stolt obviously reads fan blogs, and has been taking notes. No more flirting with other music styles, no more looks into the darker side of humanity, no more attempts at irony. Roine promised a return to form and he delivers. Finally, that long awaited follow-up to Space Revolver. Roine's got a list, and he's checking it twice.
I find this newest album to be a retread. To my ears, Love Is Only The Answer (the obligatory 20 minute plus epic here) is just Love Supreme warmed over. In fact the first track, One More Time, with its "Play that song just one more time" refrain, makes me think they're doing just that - playing that same old song again. Not that I dislike the old stuff; I thought that's what live albums were for.
I liked that The Flower Kings had eschewed the preachy, hippy sentiment (at least for an entire album) and was branching out over the course of the last two albums. But they must have read some of the fans bashing their lack of overt sentiment, because this album sounds exactly the way Roine said it would - "We wanted to make a real hardcore symphonic rock and prog album"; "Any fan of early 70's prog up until the first UK album should love this album". An album 'built to order' for "true" fans. I guess you can't fault the guy for being a business man.
Sounds like he was right on target...well, some people's target, not mine. Yes, there's superb musicianship dispensed throughout the album, every song has its intricate instrumental breaks, book-ended by sermonizing, yearning, utopian lyrics. Or as someone already put it, a very 'safe' TFK album. Like I said, tailor made; should fit some fans like a custom suit. I guess its not too bad, since its only a single disc, and the good thing about The Flower Kings, is that if you don't like an album of theirs, all you need do is wait another 14 or 15 months for the next one.
I find this newest album to be a retread. To my ears, Love Is Only The Answer (the obligatory 20 minute plus epic here) is just Love Supreme warmed over. In fact the first track, One More Time, with its "Play that song just one more time" refrain, makes me think they're doing just that - playing that same old song again. Not that I dislike the old stuff; I thought that's what live albums were for.
I liked that The Flower Kings had eschewed the preachy, hippy sentiment (at least for an entire album) and was branching out over the course of the last two albums. But they must have read some of the fans bashing their lack of overt sentiment, because this album sounds exactly the way Roine said it would - "We wanted to make a real hardcore symphonic rock and prog album"; "Any fan of early 70's prog up until the first UK album should love this album". An album 'built to order' for "true" fans. I guess you can't fault the guy for being a business man.
Sounds like he was right on target...well, some people's target, not mine. Yes, there's superb musicianship dispensed throughout the album, every song has its intricate instrumental breaks, book-ended by sermonizing, yearning, utopian lyrics. Or as someone already put it, a very 'safe' TFK album. Like I said, tailor made; should fit some fans like a custom suit. I guess its not too bad, since its only a single disc, and the good thing about The Flower Kings, is that if you don't like an album of theirs, all you need do is wait another 14 or 15 months for the next one.