Customer Reviews

The Flower Kings: Instant Delivery

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Having grown up on Genesis and Rush (with a healthy helping of Kansas / Jethro Tull) during the late 70's and early 80's, Marillion (ably supported in my collection by Simple Minds, Big Country, Waterboys and U2) in the Mid 80's and King's X / Dream Theater in the 90's, the mid to late 90's were a time of "resurgence of "Prog Rock" with Spock's Beard and these guys, The Flower Kings.

This is the Double Live DVD / CD Set from their Tilburg/Holland show on April 19th, 2006 in support of the "Paradox Hotel" Double CD.
The band ... Roine Stolt (Vocals, Guitar), Hasse Froberg, (Guitar, Vocals, Percussion), Marcus Liliequist (Drums), Jonas Reingold (bass, guitar, bass pedals), Tomas Bodin (keyboards), put on a tremendous show. It is clear that they are confident in support of one of their best studio CD's ever (9 of the 17 tracks come from "Paradox"). I think whenever a band is super confident of their latest album (think Genesis "Duke", Rush "Moving Pictures") the show is superb and contains a bulk load of material from that album.

The band, have, to me, never sounded so passionate and energized. The opening track, "Paradox Hotel" absolutely rocks and the next three tracks effortlessly weave into one another and are stunning performances ("Hit me with a hit" (also from Paradox"), "Last minute on Earth" (from "Rainmaker" (`01)) is a stellar version, much better than the studio version, "Eyes of the World" (from "Stardust We are" ('97)) picks up midway thru the song and is brilliantly performed. Next up is "Jealousy" (from "Paradox"), a great version of "If God is all alone" (from "Paradox"), a tremendous instrumental (the drums and Bass are fantastic) "Pioneers of Aviation" (from "Paradox"), a well played 10 minute version of "Love Supreme" ("Adam and Eve" ('04)) with Disc (CD and DVD) One closing out with a tremendous 20 minute version of "Truth will set you free" ("Behold the future" ('02)).

Disc Two starts with the brilliant guitar workout "Touch my heaven", the Pink Floydish "Mommy leave the light on" (think "Mother" from "The Wall"), "End on a high note" (this version is 10 out of 10 - stunning a real classic and "Life will kill you" (all from "Paradox" ('06)). The set closer is a ripping version of "I am the sun" ("Space Revolver" ('00)). The first of three encores follows "Blade of Cain" ("Adam and Eve" ('04), and "King's Prayer" ("Space Revolver" ('00)including the "Hey Jude" sing a long with the crowd) and 10 minute version of "Stardust we are" ("Stardust we are" ('97).

2 ½ hours of great music and so many highlights with the band's overall approach (having a great time and letting go more than I've ever heard them before), there's a real chemistry on stage and it comes thru in the music.

The "Wow, that really blew me away" moments for me were ...
Paradox Hotel / Hit me with a hit / Last Minute on Earth / Eyes of the World (These opening four really rock) / Pioneers of Aviation (for Drums / percussion / bass work - brilliant) / Love Supreme / Truth will set you free / Touch my heaven / End on a high note / I am the sun / King's Prayer / Stardust we are... including the "We want more" cries from the crowd together with the pleas for "Stardust" where Roine says.... "You're right, Stardust you are... and ... Stardust you'll get!" and the crowd go crazy! The crowd even get to sing a couple of versus of Stardust with the FK's as backing band!

Oh yes the picture / sound of the DVD. Superb. It's not spectacular it's just very clear and crisp, superbly produced.

The Music though is the key here (If I could find a way to rip DVD audio tracks onto a CD / MP3 player and play them in my car, I'd just buy the DVD only, until then it's both formats and it's the car where I do most of my listening. These CD's have been on high rotation since I got them, the performance is just so good).

All `n' all totally exceeded my expectations. A very passionate, highly energized performance with superb song selection (only "Eyes of the World", "Stardust we are" and "Truth will set you free" have appeared on previous live releases ("Eyes" and "Stardust" (10 minute version) on "Alive from Planet Earth" ('99) and "Stardust" (full 26 minute version) and "Truth will set you free" (full 31 minute version) on "Live Recordings - Epics" (CD), "Meet the Flower Kings" (DVD) ('03).

This music as with much of Flower Kings output over the years is right up there with .... (to think of a few) ...
- Caravan, "For Richard" (live Version from "New Symphonia" 1974) (original 1970).
- Emerson Lake and Palmer, "Tarkus" (title track from "Tarkus" 1971)
- Yes, "Close to the Edge" - (title track from "Close to the Edge" 1972).
- Jethro Tull, "Thick as a Brick" (Live version from "Bursting Out" 1978) (Original 1972).
- Genesis, "Suppers Ready" (Live version from "Seconds Out" 1977) (Original 1972).
- Gentle Giant "Octopus" (Live version from "Playing the fool" 1976) (Original 1972).
- Mike Oldfield, "Tubular Bells", (Live Version on "Exposed" 1979) (Original 1973).
- Pink Floyd, "Darkside of the moon" (1973)
- Elton John, "Funeral for a friend / Love lies bleeding" (from "Goodbye Yellow brick road" 1973)
- Lynyrd Skynrd, "Free Bird" (Live version from "One more from the Road" 1976). (Original 1973).
- Rush "2112" (from 2112, 1976).
- ELO, "Concerto for a rainy day" (Side three of "Out of the Blue" (1977).
- Supertramp , "Fools Overture" (1977).
- Rush, "Cygnus X-1" from "Hemispheres" (1978).
- Tangerine Dream, "Tangram Part 1" (Title track from "Tangram" 1980).
- Alan Parsons Project, "Turn of a friendly Card" (Title track, all of side two (1980).
- Frankie goes to Hollywood, "Welcome to the pleasuredome"
(title track from "Welcome to the pleasuredome" 1984).
- Marillion, "Misplaced Childhood" from (1985).
- Queensryche "Operation Mindcrime" (Live version from 1991). (Original 1988).
- Jane's Addiction, "Three Days" from "Ritual de Habitual" (1991).
- Dream Theater "Learning to Live" from "Images and Words" (1992)
- Dream Theater, "Scenes from a Memory" from (1999).
- Spock Beard, "At the end of the day" from "V" (2000).
- Spock's Beard, "The Great Nothing" from "V" (2000).
- Tool, "The Grudge" from "Lateralus" (2001).
- Transatlantic, "All of the above" (Live version from 2001 in Europe). (Original 2000).
- Transatlantic, "Stranger in your soul" (Live version from 2001 in Europe). (Original 2001).
- Transatlantic, "Duel with the devil" (Live version from 2001 in Europe). (Original 2001).
- Flower Kings "The Truth will set you free" from "Behold the Future" (2002).
- Neal Morse "Testimony" from (2003).
- Green Day "Jesus of Suburbia" from "American Idiot (2004).

Further thought would no doubt reveal more than these classics. Music, that to me, pushes the musical boundaries in terms of complexity yet still rocks with an abundance of melody and harmony, a difficult thing to accomplish without 100% dedication to create something new, endless practice and commitment.

For me "Alive from Planet Earth" was a great snapshot of their pre-millennium period of music, a lot of fun and high energy. "Live Recordings - Epics... Meet the Flower Kings" ('03) was just that "The Epics", classics with extreme technical skills on show with a "jazz" undertone, stunningly brilliant and perhaps a more "serious" Live album.

With this latest one there is a real sense of pride of their latest studio album "Paradox Hotel" (certainly 4 of my favorite tracks here ("Hit", "Pioneers", "Heaven", and "High Note" are from "Instant Delivery" alone). There is an energy / passion and sense of fun that accompanies this release all the way thru.

In recent years newer bands such as Flower Kings, Spock's Beard, Muse, Gomez, Mercury Rev, Elbow, Coldplay, Evermore, and The Flaming Lips (from "Soft Bulletin" (1999) onwards) have held my interest, together with any new releases from Dream Theater, Marillion and Rush. This Flower Kings release is a classic.

If this sounds remotely like your sort of music, then go for it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, it's really a great show.

Certainly one of my favourite live albums over the last 35 years (here are some of my other favourites)...
*** Some of my favourite Live albums over the past 35 years ...
- "How the West was won" from Led Zeppelin (1972)
- "Made in Japan" from Deep Purple (1972)
- "Yessongs" from Yes (1973)
- "Welcome back my friends" from ELP (1973)
- "Too late to stop now" from Van Morrison (1974)
- "On your feet or on your knees" from Blue Oyster Cult (1975)
- "Live in London" from Bruce Springsteen (1975)
- "One more from the Road" from Lynyrd Skynrd (1976)
- "Frampton comes alive" from Peter Frampton (1976)
- "Live Bullet" from Bob Seger (1976)
- "Seconds Out" from Genesis (1977)
- "A Live Record" from Camel (1978)
- "Bursting Out Live" from Jethro Tull (1978)
- "Two for the Show" from Kansas (1978)
- "Playing the fool" Gentle Giant (1978)
- "Waiting fro Columbus" from Little Feat (1978)
- "Strangers in the Night" from UFO (1979)
- "Live Rust" from Neil Young (1979).
- "Paris" from Supertramp (1980).
- "Exit...Stage left" from Rush (1981)
- "Under a blood red sky" from U2 (1983)
- "Stop making sense" from Talking Heads (1984)
- "Live in the city of Light" from Simple Minds (1986)
- "Live adventures of the Waterboys" from the Waterboys (1986)
- "Operation Livecrime" from Queensryche (1991)
- "Without a safety Net" from Big Country (1992)
- "Secret World Live" from Peter Gabriel (1994)
- "Together in Concert" from Tim Finn, Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga (2000)
- "Live Scenes from New York" from Dream Theater (2000)
- "Hullabaloo" from Muse (2002)
- "Out West" from Gomez (2005)
- "Instant Delivery" from Flower Kings (2006).
- "Okonokos" from My Morning Jacket (2006)

What most impressed me with the DVD, "Instant Delivery" was the nicely balanced (in terms of time) collection of songs played.

While the tour supported the "Paradox Hotel" album I was very pleased both with the song selection from it and the choice of older material.

I really loved "Paradox Hotel, feeling like it was more organic sounding and less complicated for the sake of complication which the "Adam and Eve" and "Unfold the Future" albums sometimes fell trapped to. I would have been happy to have heard the entire "Paradox Hotel" album as the concert but admit that it was nice to hear some of the older songs played with the current lineup, which I feel is their strongest in terms of all-around quality and soulful performance.

In fact, there were many performance features that gave room for all band members to stretch out. Having Thomas Bodin on tour was a boost as he plays such a unique role as keyboardist and works as a near perfect foil to Roine Stolt's guitar work.

Though some may disagree, I feel there are times Stolt is overbearing, with too much soloing and dominance over the band. Here on "Instant Delivery" Roine is one of the band - a pretty important part, but still, more on the same level than he otherwise can be. And while Hasse Froberg may seem out of place as lead singer / leader of the band, I'd say that's a calculated decision. He does sing lead on most of the songs, and as the band has progressed, his abilities have grow. He's a good guitar player and pretty good on percussion too.

The rhythm section is superb! There are drummers that play so complex and abstract as to lose whomever the are playing with. Not so with Marcus Liliequist, who can tear up the kit and still stay firmly routed in the form and function of the song he's playing in. Similarly, bassist Jonas Reingold knows where to place limitations in order to keep his playing musical rather than ultra-technical and outside the spirit of the song. Both Liliequist and Reingold keep each song enjoyable by playing tightly, yet jumping of now and then into small areas of amazing playing. I believe the reign Roine in as well. Please note, when I say things like "reign Roine in" it is not meant in a mean or nasty way. Being the strongest functioning person in the band, there must be enormous pressure to hear non-stop guitar solos followed by lead vocals and the some more solos. In some of his projects he follows this instinct, and while it is interesting to hear, it is not The Flower Kings. The distribution of performance makes TFK such an interesting band.

This performance is exceptional and everything I hoped to hear from TFK. While the guys don't jump around or embarass themselves with stupid stunts, they are animated enough to be enjoyable to watch. I'd rather see great performances than hijinks, and the song-list is as smart as TFK performancess. What really made the concert for me was the lack of computers (sequencing) or new backup members to play the concert. The decidedly medium-tech setup just shows how great a band TFK are and what a good performance they gave.

This is a must get for fans and a good gift for people that like interesting music.
Highest Recomendations

I am not a big music dvd owner; I think I can count 7 of them off the top of my head....
But here are a few great reasons to expand your own collection to include this one:
1) The Flower Kings are simply making some of the best progressive rock around.
2) You'll probably never get to see them live (unless you live in Sweden).
3) This is a fantastic overview of much of their career.

I actually DID see them in Rochester, NY a couple of years ago (on this tour), and they were excellent. Here, they are playing to a relatively large (for them) audience, on a relatively small stage. They do so much improv and jamming in their live shows that you're likely to never see the same solo or jam twice in any concert. Over the past 15 years, they've probably produced over 1,300 hours of studio music, so this dvd barely makes a dent in their inventory, but still includes some great gems. You get a lot from their last cd ("Paradox Hotel"), which I feel is their best one yet. One thing I liked about PH was that they sounded like a BAND - not just Stolt and his merry virtuosos. Well, you get that same thing on this DVD - everyone contributes equally. Plenty of Stolt solo's to keep us happy, but also some close-ups of Bodin's stubby little fingers doing their magic on the keys, plus spotlights on all the others.

All around, this is just a great concert of great music, well photographed and recorded.
Worthy.

These guys are very very clever musicians that play stuff that is complicated but very easy to follow. Even my wife who wouldn't know 4/4 from 6/4 loves this music.

Just returned last night from seeing the Flower Kings play live in Largo, Florida. Fantastic show! The best show I have seen them play (this was the 4th time I've seen them). I watched the new DVD a few nights before the show and was very excited by the performance they gave on the DVD. The Flower Kings have re-energized! Roine Stolt was simply genius. His guitar playing was ripping! His vocals emotional and almost scary at times with the power and intelligence that poured from his skinny little frame. The bands harmonies were never weak or off-key. The songs complex and simple. They also mixed the set up a little bit different from the DVD performance. It was a memorable night of music in a small auditorium. If you like the Flower Kings you won't be disappointed at all by this release, and if you've never heard them before - you must! Pick-up this release and add it to your music collection!!! Now!

"Instant DeLIVEry" is a must-have for fans of the band, and an excellent introduction for those who are curious about this Swedish band, which is arguably the best in the contemporary prog movement.

This is the complete concert from April 19, 2006 in Tilburg, Holland, and it features solid camera work and excellent sound. The song selection is very good; it emphasizes some of the best material from last spring's strong double-CD, "Paradox Hotel" (9 of the 17 tracks), with the other tracks cherry-picked from earlier releases (two each from "Stardust We Are," "Space Revolver," and "Adam & Eve," and one each from "Unfold the Future" and "The Rainmaker"). So it's not a "greatest hits" live collection, but instead is a representative collection of their material from 1997-2006. Their other live DVD, "Meet the Flower Kings" (2003), emphasizes an entirely different set of songs, mostly epics, including 1998's amazing "Garden of Dreams," and more material from their latest release at the time, the superb "Unfold the Future" (2002).

Here on "Instant Delivery" the band is in fine form, especially vocalist/guitarist Hasse Froberg, lead guitarist/vocalist/bandleader Roine Stolt, and new drummer Marcus Liliequist. On the other hand, TFK is not exactly an exciting band to watch; they are obviously enjoying themselves and it's interesting to watch these outstanding musicians play their music, but there is not much else visual going on. Some fans might say that Froberg, with his left-handed Les Paul and frontman demeanor, is worth watching, but his "rock star" antics often seem exaggerated and don't fit the music (maybe someone could give him a haircut so he can't toss his hair around all night). But that's a minor quibble in what is overall a very enjoyable DVD. I purchased the special edition containing two DVDs and two CDs, which was a great deal at Amazon's initial price of $23.99. You really can't beat "Instant Delivery" for 2 1/2 hours of great music.

Whoever put this out needs to learn how to synchronize the sound and the live product. It is like listening to an album and watching someone lipsink not in time with the music. The worst dvd I own. Do not recommend this at all.