Tag: The Flower Kings

The Flower Kings Release New Album Teaser on YouTube

My favorite progressive rock band The Flower Kings uploaded a trailer for their forthcoming album, which now has a name: “Banks of Eden”. During the 1 minute and 20 seconds preview we hear snippets of the new album. And I can tell you that I like what I am hearing so far!

The text below the YouTube movie gives away that the album will last for 55 minutes. That’s almost short for the Kings’ standards, considering that they released four double albums in the past and the single disc releases were always filled to the brim with music.

The album is scheduled for release on June 18th.


The Flower Kings – New Album Trailer for “Banks of Eden”

 

The Flower Kings Will Reunite in 2012, New Album and Tour on the Way

Photo by Per Nordin

The Flower King’s mailing list was buzzing for a few days already with rumors, with guitarist, writer and producer Roine Stolt steering away from acknowledging them. But last Friday the official news was out: The Flower Kings are reuniting in 2012 after a five year hiatus. A new album can be expected in June and a European tour will start around September. Their first re-union gig will be at the Sweden Rock Festival on June the 7th.

A quote on the new album, taken from the press release on the band’s website:

The yet unnamed album has a 23 min epic centerpiece and the material is all classic Flowerkings style with all the dreamy melodic & cinematic elements that the bands fans has come to love over the years, but also contain some heavier psychedelic music and some darker hi energy material.

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The Flower Kings’ New DVD Available for Pre-order

Great news for fans of The Flower Kings: the new DVD which has been announced a few months ago is now available for pre-order from Reingold Records.

The DVD has been titled “Tour Kaputt” and contains the live show that was recorded in 2007 at the Boerderij in Zoetermeer in The Netherlands. The show features drum maestro Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, Mr. Mister) and has a running time of 142 minutes.

Continue reading The Flower Kings’ New DVD Available for Pre-order

The Flower Kings to Release New DVD This Spring

Update April 26th, 2011: The release date of the new DVD has been mentioned to be May 23rd.

Update May 9th, 2011: The DVD and a double-CD can now be ordered from Reingold Records. Click here for more info.

A new DVD by The Flower Kings is currently in the works. The DVD has been dubbed an official bootleg and will feature the show that was recorded at De Boerderij in Zoetermeer (The Netherlands) on November 17th, 2007.

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CD Review: The Sum of Too Much Flower Kings

The Flower Kings – The Sum of No Evil (2007)

Yep, this record is definitely Flower Kings! The fantastic guitar playing, the great keyboard sounds, the magnificent bass chops, it’s all there!

There is only one problem: it’s too much. Far too much! At least in my humble opinion. One epic song I can handle, but not four. It’s just too much prog, too bombastic, arranged too death with yet another section added and another section, and another. Structure is totally lost at some places. It’s just too much.

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Finally 10,000 Tracks!

What to play when you reach the 10,000 mark? Why not play the track that you have played the most since you started scrobbling? That’s what I decided to do.

At the beginning of the evening I only had 12 tracks to go before I would reach the 10,000 tracks milestone. While I am typing this, the 10,000th track is playing:

The Flower Kings – Minor Giant Steps
[Preview/Play on GrooveShark] [Play with Spotify]

This song is the first track on the second disc from the double album “Paradox Hotel”. A magnificent progressive/symphonic rock album and in my opinion the best album that mastermind Roine Stolt and his partners in crime have recorded with The Flower Kings.

For the other 11 tracks I had Paul Simon‘s latest album in mind, which is called “Surprise”. I really, truly love this album. Paul Simon collaborated on this album with Brian Eno. Eno created the sonic landscapes that accompany the songs and co-wrote a couple of tracks. Simon/Eno is a combination made in heaven and I hope they will continue to collaborate on future albums.

Now what’s next on my playlist?

Let’s do the shuffle again…!

(Originally posted on my Last.fm journal)