The Flower Kings-Flower Power
(1999)
Disc One:
1.
a.
Dawn (1:34)
b.
Simple Song (1:49)
c.
Business Vamp (4:57)
d.
All You Can Save (5:01)
e.
Attack Of The Monster Briefcase (3:01)
f.
Mr. Hope Goes To Wall Street (1:49)
g.
Did I Tell You (3:47)
h.
i.
Don't Let The Devil In (3:11)
j.
Love Is The Word (2:50)
k.
There's No Such Night (2:42)
l.
The Mean Machine (2:34)
m.
Dungeon Of The Deep (4:39)
n.
Indian Summer (4:13)
o.
Sunny Lane (2:03)
p.
Gardens Revisited (3:22)
q.
Shadowland (5:02)
r.
The Final Deal (4:32)
2.
Captain Capstan (0:55)
3.
IKEA By Night (0:05)
4.
Astral Dog (8:00)
Disc Two:
1. Deaf, Numb
& Blind (11:09)
2. Stupid Girl
(6:49)
3. Corruption
(5:55)
4. Power Of
Kindness (4:25)
5. Psycedelic Postcard
(9:50
6.
7. Magic Pie (8:19)
8. Painter (6:45)
9. Calling Home
(11:00)
10. Afterlife
(4:34)
Musicians:
Roine Stolt - guitars, lead
voice, keyboards
Tomas Bodin - keyboards
Hasse Fröberg - lead and
backing voice
Michael Stolt - bass
Jaime Salazar - drums
Hasse Bruniusson -
percussion
The ghost of Genesis
is alive and well in The Flower Kings. But, that bold statement is only true
for part of this album - maybe only for those first opening notes, as there is
a definite Pink Floyd influence in there, too. Witness the guitar solo during
"All You Can Save" - no it doesn't sound like David Gilmour, but
contains the same soaring leads…the effect is the same.
I was sold on
this after the first five seconds (or thereabouts). Not because it sounds like
Genesis, Pink Floyd, 60's rock, etc., etc., all wrapped into one - but because
I think it is so damn good. Sure, a lot is played on an epic scale - the big
bold gestures, not just soaring guitar leads, but the keyboard leads, the
booming drums, the bass… this great, uplifting, energetic stuff. And then you
get shimmering, subtle pieces like "Garden Of Dreams" - which has
that show tune kinda feel about it And then there's
the moody atmospherics of "Dungeon Of The Deep," which in addition to
it's decidedly underwater feel, has operatic choral voices check in for a few
seconds. Close your eyes, though, and you're deep-sea diving, perhaps floating
around the remains of the Titanic… or perhaps a Spanish galleon, a Viking longship… Then…gentle piano notes float up from these
depths accompanied only by Stolt's quiet vocals on
"Indian Summer"…building with thunderous drum rolls and crashes,
swirling piano…
"The Mean
Machine" which precedes it will remind one of Pink Floyd's Dark
Side Of The Moon, "On The Run"
is what I'm thinking of here.
The first disc
consists mainly of the sidelong suite, "
Disc two
contains even more of this great stuff - "Stupid Girl" even has a
section that is very much like heavy jazz-rock, with some great leads by Stolt. In fact, if the band weren't so good at what they
do, this wouldn't come off as well. "Psycedelic
Postcard" can be downright weird in spots, and looking at the lyrics you
don't half wonder if Stolt wasn't smoking something
funny at the time he wrote it.
Maybe my
surprise is that this so unlike their brethren Anekdoten
and Landberk - who tend to paint their musiscapes with darker colours - like the album cover,
Flower Kings are bright greens, yellows, oranges, purples…psychedelic colours.
Does this make them better than Anekdoten or Landberk? No, just different.