Adam & Eve

The Flower Kings | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Inside Out U.S.
• ASIN: B0002F1COG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,353 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

If there was a prize for most ambitious and, at the same time, the most versatile band on the prog rock scene, then The Flower Kings would surely be the front runner for it. Since their 1994 debut, Roine Stolt "The Flower King" the Swedish progressive rockers have released a new album almost every year, often even in the form of a double CD with extended playing times and different styles. With "Adam & Eve", the band present their latest work, which more than ever represents an overflowing interface of progressive rock, melodic rock, blues, and jazz.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Meets The Flower Kings Standard, August 5, 2004

By 

Jason Bachand (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adam & Eve (Audio CD)

It's tough being a progressive rock band. You find a style, stick with it, and the fans begin complaining that you're becoming stale - "try doing something different," they whine. So, you experiment a little on your next album, and lo and behold, the fans complain "What happened to the trademark sound? Why can't they make an album like the ones they did before?"

Well, little ever changes, and even before the release of Adam and Eve, the eighth studio release from The Flower Kings, the so-called fans were already griping it was "more of the same." Just a year ago many were calling the previous studio album, "Unfold The Future," too experimental for it's heavy jazz fusion influences. What do they want?

I approached this album expecting a lot: great melodies, killer musicianship, powerful uplifting lyrics - in short, all of the things I expect from The Flower Kings. On every count, I was rewarded and then some. Roine Stolt's beautiful sense of melody is right in place, the virtuoso playing of Zoltan Csorsz and Jonas Reingold (the best rhythm section in rock today) continued to astound, and the lyrics were more articulate and poignant than even before.

Does it sound like most other Flower Kings albums? Of course. The Flower Kings have developed a superior product, a unique and inspiring sound that is at once majestic and compelling, and they continue to deliver, after 10 years of recording, at the same high level that they always have.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Neither their best or worst, yet showing their most promise, November 19, 2004

By 

x_bruce (Oak Park, ILLINOIS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adam & Eve (Audio CD)

The Flower Kings deliver another very good album. It seems to be more stripped down than their previous album, Unfold the Future, a slightly more varied album that showed a jazzier side and better singing than several other Flower King albums, note better doesn't mean prior albums were poorly sung; they weren't. In fact, the only thing that I missed on Unfold the Future was Roine's lead vocals. He seems to be happy to be the composer, guitarist and one of three lead vocalists these days.

Adam and Eve is a somewhat Jazzy, slightly more improvised or at least, more group oriented grooved sounding, particularly on guitar solos. The rhythm section brings a more sophisticated backing that was missing from albums prior to "Unfold the Future"

The Kings have a formula. So does rock music, for that matter symphonic music has some of the most rigid formulas, and as usual there are moments of symphonic progressive rock on this album. In some ways it's more interesting as it's not quite as bombastic as some other FK releases which is a good thing as well. Change and perfecting of a band's sound are two very different things to attempt yet that's what Adam and Eve sounds like on the long tracks.

As new personnel are added the possibility of TFK are massive and in this respect some might have hoped for more than this somewhat cautious CD. Still, songs like "Love Supreme" proove the band's still got their chops and sound down. Where the over dramatic "Vampires View" may be a bit campy at times it is also wonderfully moody and showing the paring down that is heard throughout Adam and Eve. TFK go a bit more neo than prog and a bit more metal than prior but it's the jazzy rhythm section that anchors solos that sometimes seemed out of place on prior TFK albums.

Perhaps the band will stick together, not do 101 side projects and put out a release that is indicative of their stellar capabilities, thus the 4 star review.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 21st century progressive rock, February 15, 2006

By 

Kevin M. Reinwald (St. Louis, MO, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adam & Eve (Audio CD)

Of all of the new prog rock bands that have hit the scene over the last 15 years, The Flower Kings are one of the few that are actually progressive. Their influences (Genesis, Frank Zappa, Yes, Pink Floyd, etc.) are detectable at times, but they have managed to carve out their own sound without sounding derivative.

"Adam and Eve," the band's 8th studio album, is another tremendous effort, although reviews from fans have been rather mixed. I attribute this to expectations many have as a result of their tremendous back catalog. If this were their debut record, I believe most would gush all over it, but being their 8th, it is inevitable to compare it to their past masterworks like "Flower Power," "Stardust We Are" and "Unfold the Future," all of which are adored by most of the band's fanbase.

For my money, this is probably one of my three least favorite TFK studio albums, but that doesn't prevent it from being a great album. "Timelines," "Driver's Seat," and "Love Supreme" show off the extraordinary songwriting talents of band leader Roine Stolt. There is not a weak track on this record. And, as is the case with every TFK record, it flows seamlessly.

This isn't the first record I would recommend to someone wanting to get into this band, but for the already-converted, it is a must-have.