"It shines even brighter" as the chorus goes on the first song Love Supreme... This album is Roine Stolt's latest and one of his best albums so far (although not his best). Fortunately he didn't go for the gimmickry, but composed an album full of easy listening songs (so rare for progressive rock groups). Well in the latter half also he has some of the 'obligatory' gimmicky soloing. But it's only a very small portion of the 78 minute record and fortunately most of the guitar solos are melodic and poshly composed/improvised.

The strength of The Flower Kings has always been the singers and it hasn't changed. Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation) made one of his best vocal performances yet... I must admit that Hans Fröberg made me think that I was listening to IQ's latest album Dark Matter (he sounded similar to Peter Nicholls) when I listened to 'Days Gone By'. The songs are soft rock, so progressive metal fans may not be so pleased with this album. But I'd recommend them to broaden their view on music and experience also the softer side of it.

On the Flower Kings albums you'll notice that Daniel Gildenlöw's voice is really good, and it suits perfectly softer rock too. 'A Vampires View' features Gildenlöw's voice in the tradition of Pain of Salvation (it's one of the highlights on this album). Other highlights of this album are Driver Seat and the Blade of Cain to name a few. The quality on this album is quite even, so songs don't really stand out.

This album is at its best when you concentrate on listening, but it is also suited for background music. Nevertheless, I advice you to concentrate on the first listening, thus you'll get the most of it. Production on this album is top-notch, no complaints... Even after four listens this album hasn't lost its appeal. "It shines even brighter" as the chorus suggests once again in the end (the Blade of Cain).

Release date: 26.07.2004

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- MAGE (03.07.2004)

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LINE-UP:
Stolt, Roine: Guitars, Vocals and Keyboards Bodin, Tomas: Keyboards Fröberg, Hans: Voices Reingold, Jonas: Bass Csörsz, Zoltan: Drums and Percussion Gildenlöw, Daniel: Percussion and Voices Bruniusson, Hasse: Percussion
Producer:	Stolt, Roine
Mixing by:	Unavailable
Mastering by:	Unavailable

	TRACKLIST:
	01. Love Supreme 02. Cosmic Circus 03. Babylon 04. A Vampires View 05. Days Gone by 06. Adam & Eve 07. Starlight Man 08. Timelines 09. Drivers Seat 10. The Blade of Cain