The Flower Kings

Introduction

The Flower Kings started as a solo project by Swedish guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Roine Stolt, who has been working in the industry since the late 70s.  He's done a lot of session work and played in the Swedish prog-band Kaipa - I've yet to hear them.  The album The Flower King was a solo album by Roine that was so successful that the band The Flower Kings was formed from the people playing on it.

I'd previously almost given up hope that I would discover any new greats in the world of progressive music, and then I heard the album The Flower King.  And I don't think I'm easily impressed.  I've tried groups like IQ and Dream Theater and got absolutely nowhere with them, but people rate them highly.  The music of The Flower Kings has a distinctive style, they're not just re-hashing classics by Yes or Genesis (you'll see why I mention these two later), and the players are all superb musicians.  They do purely instrumental tracks as well as songs, and the songs always get lengthy instrumental sections.  I have a few of their albums now and will be getting more.  One note of caution however is that the quality is not always consistent, the albums are often doubles and sides are typically 70 minutes long.  Someone needs to rein them in a bit and get them to concentrate on quality over quantity.

The Flower Kings are well worth seeing live as well.  I've seen them once and it was excellent.  Most of the set was taken up with an hour-long track that I didn't know but turned out to be immensely enjoyable.  Unfortunately this didn't leave much time for other material which seems an odd strategy when touring.

[ Album Cover ]

The Flower King
by Roine Stolte

Released 1994
Label: Inside Out
Catalogue: IOMCD 052

[ Reviewed August 2002 ]

Lineup:

Roine Stolt - guitars, keyboards, vocals
Hasse Bruniusson - drums 4,5,7,8 & percussion
Jaime Salazar - drums 1,2,6
Hasse Froberg - lead vocal 1,8
Ulf Wallander - soprano sax

Encouraged by a sample track on a magazine cover disk and rave reviews on the Internet I decided to give this album a try.  Walking to work in the morning, the first (title) track made a big impression as it burst out of my portable with such freshness.  It then became obvious that there was a lot going on throughout the whole album that would require repeated listening.  In the end it took me more listens than I thought it would, I almost wavered at one point but kept going to reap the rewards.

This does not sound like a guitarist's solo album.  It is definitely a team effort despite the fact that Stolt has written it all, sings most of the vocals and of course plays guitar.  (Oh and he painted the excellent cover art as well, don't you hate some people.) And can he play guitar, predominantly electric and also acoustic.  His style is hard to pin down because he plays in lots of different ways using lots of effects, but you will occasionally hear hints of Yes' Steve Howe.  The solos always have a point to them and don't stray into noodling territory, they are usually in short bursts shared with some keyboard action.

The overall album sound is of a tight-knit band working hard to follow an endless series of twists and turns.  It is Progressive in the truest sense of the word; at any one time someone is playing something interesting.  Your focus continually shifts between the guitarist, bass or keyboards, and the drummer is solidly inventive throughout.  For bass-playing comparisons think of Chris Squire.  The vocals are nicely sung, if a bit strange at times.  Both singers have good voices and the Swedish accents come through, so 'child' sounds like 'shild' and 'the' sounds like 'de'.

The music is very tuneful and has an uplifting feel to it on the whole and is more than a touch sentimental in places.  There are quite a few references to Jesus and the 'King of Kings' but these turn out to be the best parts.  Occasionally you will hear tiny sections that sound exactly like a keyboard or guitar sound from a Genesis or Yes album.  Typically they start or end a part of a track for just a few seconds, like little tributes to the masters of this sort of music.  Stolt hasn't based The Flower King on these older ideas.

This has now become one of my most played albums of all time.  Listening to it again I am once more stunned by how much music they fit in on one album.  Hard to choose standout tracks as they're all good but I'll have a go.  The title track is great for grabbing your attention and the theme is nicely repeated at the end of the album, The Pilgrim's Inn is a marvellous instrumental featuring alto sax with Stolt's guitar and some lovely drumming, and the 20-minute Humanizzimo is pretty emotional.  If I have a criticism of the album, it would be that sometimes the music can sound like a lot of excellent little sections strung together to make longer tracks.  It's a very minor point and really just goes to show the amazing number of musical ideas that Stolt has.  How he had anything left after this album is a mystery but he did.

Tracks:
1.The Flower King10:28
2.Dissonata9:57
3.The Magic Circus Of Zeb7:02
4.Close Your Eyes3:10
5.The Pilgrims Inn9:11
6.The Sounds Of Violence5:38
7.Humanizzimo20:55
8.Scanning The Greenhouse3:32
total time 70:31

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[ Album Cover ]

Back In The World Of Adventures
by The Flower Kings

Released 1995
Label: Inside Out
Catalogue: IOMCD 051

[ Reviewed August 2002 ]

Lineup:

Roine Stolt - guitars, keyboards, vocals
Michael Stolt - bass
Hasse Bruniusson - drums (track 10) & percussion
Jaime Salazar - drums
Tomas Bodin - keyboards

This is the second Flower Kings album that I bought and has a similar line-up to The Flower King with the notable inclusion of Stolt's brother Michael on bass guitar, and Tomas Bodin on keyboards.  The album is very similar to The Flower King, it's another long one with roughly the same mix of instrumentals and songs.  The playing is faultless and the addition of Michael Stolt and Tomas Bodin adds a lot to the mix.  Michael Stolt's bass playing is very very like Yes' Chris Squire, and this is especially evident on the first track.  It's a heavier piece that launches the album in fine style and allows plenty of room for the bass to move around in.  Also check out tracks 3 and 6 for some deep and raunchy bass.  Bodin plays well and uses a wide range of keyboards including the much-loved mellotron and Hammond organ.  Both of these give the music a nostalgic feel at times although Stolt's guitar sounds 100% contemporary.  For great keyboard work listen to the stunning Big Puzzle that has a hint of early Camel in it.

An interesting development on this album is the jazz-rock exploration that is the short Oblivion Road.  This works well for me though some people may find it a bit aimless.  Another track that stands out as being different from the rest is My Cosmic Lover.  I still can't make my mind up about this one, it certainly jarred on the first few listens.

To sum up, another excellent album much in the same vein as The Flower King.  In fact it could be treated as volume 2 as the style is so similar.  It has more of those little Yes and Genesis references, with great instrumental sections.  You could again say that it's a bit of a patchwork of themes roughly glued together but by now it's clear that's what Stolt does, take it or leave it.

Tracks:
1.World Of Adventures13:37
2.Atomic Price / Kaleidoscope6:02
3.Go West Judas7:40
4.Train To Nowhere3:45
5.Oblivion Road3:45
6.Theme For A Hero8:27
7.Temple Of The Snakes1:38
8.My Cosmic Lover6:40
9.The Wonder Wheel4:12
10.Big Puzzle13:35
total time 71:21

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Copyright Steve Bachini