Jerry Ewing, the fearless and beloved leader of the world of prog, has just announced that what was TeamRock has become Louder. The rebranding comes as the various members of TeamRock fear that labels such as prog and metal have become too exclusive and narrowing for a younger generation of listeners.
To read the full explanation, go here. Regardless, we wish Ewing all the best, as always.
With vocalist Ralf Scheepers out the band, hell bent on joining Judas Priest, Gamma Ray guitarist (and former Helloween guitarist/lead vocalist) Kai Hansen decided to make a surprise, and welcome, return to the mic. The re-jigged German band found a renewed energy and spirit and their fourth album, 1995’s Land Of The Free, proved to […]
via Gamma Ray – Land Of The Free (Review) — HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD
Lee Speaks About Music… #67
— Read on leespeaksoutaboutmusic.wordpress.com/2018/03/26/lee-speaks-about-music-67/
A review The Flower Kings, UNFOLD THE FUTURE (2002; remastered and reissued, 2017). Tracks: The Truth Will Set You Free; Monkey Business; Black and White; Christianopel; Silent Inferno; The Navigator; Vox Humana; Genie in a Bottle; Fast Lane; Grand Old World; Soul Vortex; Rollin’ the Dice; The Devil’s Schooldance; Man Overboard; Solitary Shell; Devil’s Playground; and Too Late for Tomatos
Grade: A+. Glorious. Full. Enchanting. Mesmerizing.
As noted last week on progarchy.com, the Flower Kings released its first boxset, A KINGDOM OF COLOURS (Insideout Music), in very late 2017. Granted, we’re more than a bit late coming to the news, and I (Brad) only realized that the boxset had come out when seeing an advertisement for the forthcoming second boxset.
This set—a gorgeously packaged one at that—is part 1 of 2, re-releasing the band’s first official seven studio albums. Missing are any b-sides, extra tracks, live releases, and the album that started it all, Stolt’s 1994 solo album, THE FLOWER KING. But, these absences are certainly fine, as the boxset is what it is. The next set, according to Insideout, will have three full disks of new or previously unreleased material. Additionally and spectacularly, of those original albums re-released for A KINGDOM OF COLOURS, the final one, 2002’s UNFOLD THE FUTURE, has been completely remastered by the Flower King himself, Mr. Roine Stolt.
Continue reading “Highest Prog Fantasy: Unfold The Future by the Flower Kings”
by Stephen Klugewicz
Dear “The Gift”
An Ode to Bruce Springsteen
In a world of oaths forsaken,
In a time of prophets bought and sold,
To the faithful along the avenue
You offered a gift of the purest gold.
Politician declares, “So help me God,”
Priest proclaims, “Let no man put asunder.”
But your whispered sweet sounds,
Were a bond sealed with thunder.
At once a stranger and yet a friend,
At once young and always old,
Singing the silent song of our souls,
Like that between mute lovers in the cold.
Now years are dissolved into dust,
Into the wind, into the mist.
Meaning made deep by memory,
Like a lover long and tenderly kissed.
You might have gone forever home,
You might have instead quietly slept,
Leaving us alone, betrayed and broken.
But you proved the gift a promise kept.
You proved the gift a promise kept.
Claude Debussy’s “Afternoon of a Faun” delivers volumes of sensation. Languor, sensuality, euphoria, curiosity, an awareness of the exotic. You are flung back to your own childhood, your adolescence, all awash in new experiences, colors, sensations. 3,005 more words
via The Exoticism & Euphoria of Debussy’s “Afternoon of a Faun” — The Imaginative Conservative
Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess shared an update regarding the follow-up to 2016′s The Astonishing, telling Metal Wani: “I think that we’re interested to just put our heads together and find something that we feel is really representative of who we are. I think maybe a little bit on the heavier side, certainly nothing like…
via JORDAN RUDESS: New DREAM THEATER Album is “a Little Bit on the Heavier Side” — Prog Sphere
Well I guess I have to thank Tom Fowler for posting his own purchase of this latest box set of The Flower Kings in the Prog Rock Group on Facebook. To be perfectly honest nothing inside this box set is new to me at all, but there was a reason I purchased it, and what it contains again. More about that in a bit in the my introduction to The Flower Kings section of my review here.
Because this is a box set I have very much chosen to review and because it contains quite a few albums, I am merely going to go through the highlights of each album, rather than take on every individual track on them. But first I shall give you a bit of history of the band, and also tell you…
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The Flower Kings: THE KINGDOM OF COLOURS boxset (InsideOut, 2017).
Music: A
Physical Packaging: C/C+
Thanks to the great folks at LaserCD, my copy–no. 215 out 3000–of A KINGDOM OF COLOURS by the majestic FLOWER KINGS–arrived just this afternoon in the mail.
Strangely enough, despite a 20-year love of the band, I didn’t realize this boxset had even come out until I received the advertisement for the second boxset, KINGDOM OF COLOURS 2.
The box is constructed well and quite attractive. Inside, one finds the numbered certificate, a booklet, the first seven Flower King studio albums (no, The Flower King (1994), however), and an InsideOut advertisement. Each of the studio albums, it should be noted, is packed in a very thin cardboard sleeve.
Continue reading “The Truth Will Set You Free: Flower Kings, A KINGDOM OF COLOURS”
This is a new one for me, but is arguably one of the most important posts I’ve published. Manofmuchmetal.com is not a site that descends into politics or social commentary. In fact, apart from the occasional poor joke or two, I rarely veer too far away from a solid diet of hard rock and heavy […]
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