My Flower Kings addiction

Some music takes time to 'grow on you.' The Flower Kings is that kind of band. They are so prolific. Roine Stolt says he works 12 - 18 hours a day, and it shows when you hear the output.

The frustrating thing is all that work ends up on CD largely unfiltered. You find some of the best prog being made today side-by-side with material better left on the master tapes. I can only imagine how popular TFK would be if somebody selected one CD of good material for every 2 CDs of music produced.

Still, it's nice the listener gets to decide what is "good". It takes patience to appreciate TFK. The first time I heard "Flower Power" I was pretty disappointed. After a couple of listens, I put it on the shelf for a couple months. Then it eventually made its way to the CD player in my truck. I found myself playing it more and more, and one day I realized this was a great CD. TFK requires an investment of time to get into, but it sure was worth it. Yeah, I hit the skip button on some tracks, but not many. Not anymore.

For the uninitiated, start with "Stardust We Are." It is fairly easy to get into, but it is a two-disc set, and it does have some filler. Don't try to listen to it all at once. Then try "Flower Power." If you like these two, you'll likely appreciate most everything else. The only one I haven't been able to get into is "The Rainmaker," and even that one has a couple of good tracks on it.

My current favorite TFK song is the epic "Garden of Dreams" - breathtaking stuff. The finale still gives me goosebumps even after playing it dozens of times.

Check out The Official Flower Kings Website for more information on this great band.