First Flower King Remasters Out Today

[progmatist]

Do you think a High Res download of Invention of Knowledge 2023 will be made available there?

My guess would be yes. Every recent FK album has been available as a Hi-Res download on release day. Releasing a Hi-Res version from the start is a less daunting task than re-releasing the back catalog. Particularly considering much of the back catalog was produced using older digital technology.

[Soc Prof]

I appreciate you letting us know. Been hoping for this!

I'm glad to help out other fans. I always check Qobuz every Friday evening when they post new releases for the week. I'll keep checking the Flower Kings listing to see any other remasters show up in hi res.

HDtracks and Highresaudio both seem to have stopped adding Flower Kings remasters for some reason.

[progmatist]

HDtracks and Highresaudio both seem to have stopped adding Flower Kings remasters for some reason.

That may be more a function of InsideOUt Music. The catalog of all artists they've made available on HDTracks has always been incomplete.

[Soc Prof]

I downloaded Stardust We Are from Qobuz last night. It looks like several tracks are missing. The metadata is also messed up because Audirvana lists all of the tracks as 0:00 in length with 0 bit depth and 0 sampling rate. The downloader app is definitely still buggy.

Yes, I hear the popping noise during quiet passages.

[Soc Prof]

PS: It looks like the download is less glitchy if you choose FLAC instead of WAV. "Different People" failed to download properly, but I was able to download it as an individual track and add it to the folder.

[SRS]

Yes, I hear the popping noise during quiet passages.

Thanks for the confirmation - although not unexpected I thought perhaps the long delay in this download release meant they may have listened to feedback and redone it.

[Soc Prof]

Thanks for the confirmation - although not unexpected I thought perhaps the long delay in this download release meant they may have listened to feedback and redone it.

IIRC, Roine shared on social media that the noise on the analog tapes was not fixable. He eventually switched to digital recording as some of the album liner notes mention Emagic software.

[Mota]

IIRC, Roine shared on social media that the noise on the analog tapes was not fixable. He eventually switched to digital recording as some of the album liner notes mention Emagic software.

Those aren't problems on the analog tapes though, it's digital artifacting. Very similar to the issues we used to get ripping 128KB MP3 files 20 years ago from a CD, you'd get these weird pops and clicks as well if your software didn't work right. A double pass rip of the recording would often help, and the issue largely disappeared when technology improved. So it appears the issue occurred when transferring the analog tapes to digital to do the remix/remaster.

I ended up buying the original CD of Stardust We Are to avoid the whole issue. My copy of Sum of No Evil arrived yesterday, so I have finally completed my Flower Kings collection! Super happy about it.

Strangely, I still haven't listened to my copy of By Royal Decree yet, I was so obsessed with listening to everything in order as they re-released that I never got to the most recent album.

[Soc Prof]

^^^^^

Thanks for the insights.

[aith01]

I ended up buying the original CD of Stardust We Are to avoid the whole issue. My copy of Sum of No Evil arrived yesterday, so I have finally completed my Flower Kings collection! Super happy about it.

Strangely, I still haven't listened to my copy of By Royal Decree yet, I was so obsessed with listening to everything in order as they re-released that I never got to the most recent album.

The TFK catalog is one worth completing, IMO, so I'm glad you've got them all now.

And if you haven't heard By Royal Decree yet, you are in for a treat. I think it's really good!

[yesstiles]

My 3-LP of Flower Power states that only “Astral Dog” has been remixed.

[Mota]

As I've been buying all of the remasters, I've given the entire Flower Kings discography a listen. For most of the "new" albums in the last 10 years, it's been my first listen. I had good knowledge of Unfold the Future, Stardust We Are and Flower Power, but very little for the new stuff.

With the Sum of No Evil, I was not really impressed. The entire listen seemed to go by in the background, and none of the songs really stood out to me. I'm not sure about the remix/remaster quality because I hadn't heard the original very many times. Sometimes more dense pieces of music require more listens before "clicking", so I won't give up on it.
Then I went to Banks of Eden, and it felt more like a Flower Kings album to me. Catchy songs and great musicianship working hand in hand.
Desolation Rose was SUPER dark, it felt like one of their more unique albums to me. They were definitely in a different head space when recording this album. I really enjoyed that one as well.
Today I finished Waiting for Miracles which I had purchased the CD about a year ago, but was waiting to get through all of the remasters. The Bridge and Ascending to the Stars was very symphonic and majestic and another very different arrangement by the band. I definitely appreciate how more than 20 years later, they are still inspired with their songwriting. Once again, these songs were memorable and I'm already getting excited to give them another listen.
Two more albums to go which are first time listens, I've really enjoyed myself going through the discography of a long-time favorite band that I may have lost track of until these re-issues started.

[dmh84]

Lucky man—Islands and By Royal Decree are my favorites since Sum!

[The Czar]

Lucky man—Islands and By Royal Decree are my favorites since Sum!

I was just going to suggest listening to these!

[The Czar]

I'm looking forward to the new one in September

[Plasmatopia]

As I've been buying all of the remasters, I've given the entire Flower Kings discography a listen. For most of the "new" albums in the last 10 years, it's been my first listen. I had good knowledge of Unfold the Future, Stardust We Are and Flower Power, but very little for the new stuff.

With the Sum of No Evil, I was not really impressed. The entire listen seemed to go by in the background, and none of the songs really stood out to me. I'm not sure about the remix/remaster quality because I hadn't heard the original very many times. Sometimes more dense pieces of music require more listens before "clicking", so I won't give up on it.
Then I went to Banks of Eden, and it felt more like a Flower Kings album to me. Catchy songs and great musicianship working hand in hand.
Desolation Rose was SUPER dark, it felt like one of their more unique albums to me. They were definitely in a different head space when recording this album. I really enjoyed that one as well.
Today I finished Waiting for Miracles which I had purchased the CD about a year ago, but was waiting to get through all of the remasters. The Bridge and Ascending to the Stars was very symphonic and majestic and another very different arrangement by the band. I definitely appreciate how more than 20 years later, they are still inspired with their songwriting. Once again, these songs were memorable and I'm already getting excited to give them another listen.
Two more albums to go which are first time listens, I've really enjoyed myself going through the discography of a long-time favorite band that I may have lost track of until these re-issues started.

Nice to see someone giving these a spin. I finally got around to ordering the new one and the remaster of The Sum Of No Evil which should be interesting.

[Mota]

As I've been buying all of the remasters, I've given the entire Flower Kings discography a listen. For most of the "new" albums in the last 10 years, it's been my first listen. I had good knowledge of Unfold the Future, Stardust We Are and Flower Power, but very little for the new stuff.

With the Sum of No Evil, I was not really impressed. The entire listen seemed to go by in the background, and none of the songs really stood out to me. I'm not sure about the remix/remaster quality because I hadn't heard the original very many times. Sometimes more dense pieces of music require more listens before "clicking", so I won't give up on it.
Then I went to Banks of Eden, and it felt more like a Flower Kings album to me. Catchy songs and great musicianship working hand in hand.
Desolation Rose was SUPER dark, it felt like one of their more unique albums to me. They were definitely in a different head space when recording this album. I really enjoyed that one as well.
Today I finished Waiting for Miracles which I had purchased the CD about a year ago, but was waiting to get through all of the remasters. The Bridge and Ascending to the Stars was very symphonic and majestic and another very different arrangement by the band. I definitely appreciate how more than 20 years later, they are still inspired with their songwriting. Once again, these songs were memorable and I'm already getting excited to give them another listen.
Two more albums to go which are first time listens, I've really enjoyed myself going through the discography of a long-time favorite band that I may have lost track of until these re-issues started.

Well I officially finished the listening marathon!

Islands didn't really do anything for me. Perhaps that it was recorded by members independently, it just didn't have the same inspiration that some of their other albums had.
By Royal Decree was a great listen. I really heard a lot of confidence in the playing, and the production values really kicked it up to the next level. I definitely noticed the trend towards shorter songs in the last few albums, perhaps because streaming sites pay per song and not per minute? What's the point of someone listening to a 25 minute song and you get paid $0.007 or whatever. You can listen to an entire pop album in that time!
And this morning I listened to Look At you Now, which is my favorite of the more recent albums. I loved the extra voices , really brings something else to the music. Once again shorter songs, but a bit more memorable. The production and mix were definitely the best of TFK's catalog.
Now it makes me want to go back to the start and listen again!

[Splicer]

Just listened to "The Truth Will Set You Free" from the 2022 remaster again and paid attention. I don't understand what the hell this is. Different takes of all the parts? So basically a completely different version of the song than appeared on the original album. Maybe I should listen to this a few more times but right now after a couple of listens this is just terrible. It's got no energy at all. It's missing some of the little layered flourishes on keys and guitar. It's missing some of the tension and release that the original had. It's missing that absolutely gorgeous bridge around 16:20 mark. I understand that Roine is a tinkerer, but when there's nothing wrong with something, don't go back and screw it up just to be different.

[JKL2000]

Although I’d be interested to hear these “alternate versions,” this makes me really glad I bought those two box sets if they are more the “definitive” editions than these new versions. And of course I still have the original CDs, which is maybe all one really needs.

[Splicer]

Although I’d be interested to hear these “alternate versions,” this makes me really glad I bought those two box sets if they are more the “definitive” editions than these new versions. And of course I still have the original CDs, which is maybe all one really needs.

Fortunately I still have my original CD. However, the original mix is still available on Amazon Music if I so choose to listen that way.

[The Czar]

Just listened to "The Truth Will Set You Free" from the 2022 remaster again and paid attention. I don't understand what the hell this is. Different takes of all the parts? So basically a completely different version of the song than appeared on the original album. Maybe I should listen to this a few more times but right now after a couple of listens this is just terrible. It's got no energy at all. It's missing some of the little layered flourishes on keys and guitar. It's missing some of the tension and release that the original had. It's missing that absolutely gorgeous bridge around 16:20 mark. I understand that Roine is a tinkerer, but when there's nothing wrong with something, don't go back and screw it up just to be different.

Can you give examples of where there are differences? Because I want to compare the new version to the box set version. Times would be helpful... Especially since it's such a long track. what are sections that be changed. I really like the new version so I want to do an a and b comparison.

[Splicer]

Can you give examples of where there are differences? Because I want to compare the new version to the box set version. Times would be helpful... Especially since it's such a long track. what are sections that be changed. I really like the new version so I want to do an a and b comparison.

Legit asking. How much time do I have to complete this assignment?

[The Czar]

Legit asking. How much time do I have to complete this assignment?

In your own time, no hurry. If there are things that absolutely stand out, that would be enough to focus on.

[progmatist]

Fortunately I still have my original CD. However, the original mix is still available on Amazon Music if I so choose to listen that way.

Fortunately I have the vinyl version of UtF released years ago. Containing the unaltered songs, with improved sound. The only drawback being Truth had to be split between two sides.

[yesstiles]

Fortunately I have the vinyl version of UtF released years ago. Containing the unaltered songs, with improved sound. The only drawback being Truth had to be split between two sides.

That earlier LP set does not feature all unaltered songs. It also has remixes, including a remix of “The Truth Will Set You Free.”