Post by thesal on Aug 2, 2012 22:02:40 GMT -5
Ok guys, this is my first review of an album so here we go...
After a Brief 5 year hiatus, the Flower Kings are back and better than ever with Banks of Eden. For those of you who have never heard the Flower Kings before, I highly recommend any of their albums. Some of the Flower Kings previous works had songs on the album as "fillers", but with Banks of Eden, you'll find none of these.
The album starts of with the 25 minute epic "Numbers". Numbers is my favorite song of the album. The song opens with powerful drum rolls and then though the abyss, the guitar then the band. Then, the band gets soft, and then comes back up again. What amazed me about this song was the dynamic versatility, as the band can become as powerful as a steam engine, and then they are as harmless as a bunny (couldn't think of anything else to use for soft sorry). But then the band falls back into the backbone of the songs as the vocalists sound the best they ever have. Small hints of whats to come is played by the band in the background. Then the guitarist, Roine Stolt, takes over, and controls the tune for a little while, still changing dynamic. Then the music stops and all you here is the vocalist speaking, and then the steam engine starts rolling again. The Band members come from different musical background and you can hear that throughout the song, but even with that Chaos, there is order, and it never gets boring. I could go on forever about Numbers, but we need to move on.
The second track on Banks of Eden is "For the Love of Gold". This track is only 7 minutes, and has another power opening only to drop down and get softer again. This song is very good with the guitars fills never getting in the way. The keyboard player does a nice job with that "full" sound to this song. The guitar solo that follows is genius, and eveyrtime i listen to it, i can't help but get chills. Then the guitar and Keyboard come together for a while, and then the keys have a brief solo. That was my only complaint about this song. that Keyboard solo needed to be longer. After the solo, the band comes back together, and the bells in the back are a nice touch. The guitar fades, and the keys come out into the light.
The third song is "Pandemonium". The songs has a nice opening of keys guitar and drums, but reminded me a little of U.K. The guitar and keys then exchange some riffs, and then the band drops down and the vocals come in with some effect sounding similar to a robot. The effect comes back a couple of times during the song. After that happens a couple of times, there is a guitar solo. The guitar solos on this album are truly impressive (sorry about focusing a bit more on the guitar, I'm a guitarist). After he is done, the band goes into like a bass groove until the end.
The Forth track is "For Those About to Drown". It is a softer opening, but builds a little intensity, after that it drops again to having the vocals in the lime light. Yet again it builds, and for some reason, the drums come though best on this track, I'm not sure why, but it is great to hear what he is doing. Yet another guitar solo before the end of the song. The melody come back with the keys taking a small solo, and then the song is over.
The final track is "Rising the Imperial". Soft opening, so beautiful, you can close your eyes and picture yourself where hes describing. The piano in the background is quite soothing, while the guitar's volume swells makes it Pink Floyd-ish. Again, it picks up dynamic a little when the guitar starts soloing, and the band layers over the solo which is impressive to hear. Interesting about this track is once it picks up intensity, it does not drop again. At the end, it refers back to Numbers with bells in the back giving it a at ease tone. The end is how an ending should be to an amazing album. Jaw-dropping, and Awesome.
Hope you guys enjoyed the review. If you all want me to, I'll do the Bonus disk too.
Thanks,
TheSal
Score: 8.5/10
After a Brief 5 year hiatus, the Flower Kings are back and better than ever with Banks of Eden. For those of you who have never heard the Flower Kings before, I highly recommend any of their albums. Some of the Flower Kings previous works had songs on the album as "fillers", but with Banks of Eden, you'll find none of these.
The album starts of with the 25 minute epic "Numbers". Numbers is my favorite song of the album. The song opens with powerful drum rolls and then though the abyss, the guitar then the band. Then, the band gets soft, and then comes back up again. What amazed me about this song was the dynamic versatility, as the band can become as powerful as a steam engine, and then they are as harmless as a bunny (couldn't think of anything else to use for soft sorry). But then the band falls back into the backbone of the songs as the vocalists sound the best they ever have. Small hints of whats to come is played by the band in the background. Then the guitarist, Roine Stolt, takes over, and controls the tune for a little while, still changing dynamic. Then the music stops and all you here is the vocalist speaking, and then the steam engine starts rolling again. The Band members come from different musical background and you can hear that throughout the song, but even with that Chaos, there is order, and it never gets boring. I could go on forever about Numbers, but we need to move on.
The second track on Banks of Eden is "For the Love of Gold". This track is only 7 minutes, and has another power opening only to drop down and get softer again. This song is very good with the guitars fills never getting in the way. The keyboard player does a nice job with that "full" sound to this song. The guitar solo that follows is genius, and eveyrtime i listen to it, i can't help but get chills. Then the guitar and Keyboard come together for a while, and then the keys have a brief solo. That was my only complaint about this song. that Keyboard solo needed to be longer. After the solo, the band comes back together, and the bells in the back are a nice touch. The guitar fades, and the keys come out into the light.
The third song is "Pandemonium". The songs has a nice opening of keys guitar and drums, but reminded me a little of U.K. The guitar and keys then exchange some riffs, and then the band drops down and the vocals come in with some effect sounding similar to a robot. The effect comes back a couple of times during the song. After that happens a couple of times, there is a guitar solo. The guitar solos on this album are truly impressive (sorry about focusing a bit more on the guitar, I'm a guitarist). After he is done, the band goes into like a bass groove until the end.
The Forth track is "For Those About to Drown". It is a softer opening, but builds a little intensity, after that it drops again to having the vocals in the lime light. Yet again it builds, and for some reason, the drums come though best on this track, I'm not sure why, but it is great to hear what he is doing. Yet another guitar solo before the end of the song. The melody come back with the keys taking a small solo, and then the song is over.
The final track is "Rising the Imperial". Soft opening, so beautiful, you can close your eyes and picture yourself where hes describing. The piano in the background is quite soothing, while the guitar's volume swells makes it Pink Floyd-ish. Again, it picks up dynamic a little when the guitar starts soloing, and the band layers over the solo which is impressive to hear. Interesting about this track is once it picks up intensity, it does not drop again. At the end, it refers back to Numbers with bells in the back giving it a at ease tone. The end is how an ending should be to an amazing album. Jaw-dropping, and Awesome.
Hope you guys enjoyed the review. If you all want me to, I'll do the Bonus disk too.
Thanks,
TheSal
Score: 8.5/10
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