Customer Reviews

Keyholder

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After discovering Notes from the Past, with some disappointment regarding Patrik's vocals being not aggressive enough for the material, I was excited to get the new album. I got it, and at first I didn't like it. But, with music as complex as this, it typically takes 4-5 listens before one really gets hooked. That's definitely the case with this album.

Pros: stellar musicianship. Lots of guitar-keys-bass interplay, catchy rhythms, stops and starts, and lots of plain old rocking out to a wacky riff. Roine is really kicking ass on this one, more so than on the Flower Kings songs I've heard, and on a par with his work in Transatlantic. Hans is not afraid to use all sorts of different keyboard sounds, including a lead synth sound that makes me think of Derek Sherinian or Jens Johanssen. Morgan is tearing up the drumset as usual. Jonas is alternating between powerful but reserved bass parts, and a few moments of lead parts. Patrik is singing like he means it (as opposed to Notes from the Past, in which his vocals were just to clean and *nice*), and Aleena is great again, and this time I think the material is a bit better suited to her voice.

Cons: If you listen to too much prog (as I do), you'll start to hear echoes of other bands in this album. At times you'll hear bits that may make you think of Yes, Queen, Jethro Tull, and Dream Theater. Not even a tip of the hat is given, but just a keyboard tone here or two notes there, which will sorta remind you of these bands. This is not a bad thing, but it was a bit distracting for me to say "hmm that sounds kinda like Gates of Delirium", "hmm that sounds like Images and Words". A lot of this for me is coming from Jonas's tone & style, which are just too reminiscent of Chris Squire.

All that said, this is an excellent album and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes prog or The Flower Kings or liked Notes from the Past.

BTW, high quality MP3 samples from this album can be found on their web site at http://www.kaipa.info/.

If more than a month goes by and I haven't listened to this, or,it has to be said, 'notes from the past', I get a little anxious, if you know what I mean. This is soaring, thoughful, inspiring, wonderful music, 'prog' if you want to call it that, but every time you listen to this, in your car, at home, on the bus I don't care where else you will smile, I absolutely positively guarantee it. Try it wearing noise reducing headphones. Enjoy.

Great Instrumental Progressive Rock, only there's a problem. This isn't an instrumental CD. I would recommend this disc to every Prog head out there based on the music alone. The over emotive Freddie Mercury vocal treatment gets annoying. This would have been much better if Roine Stolt handle the vocal chores. The music is very good, moving, melodic and enough twists and turns to make for active listening. Aleena's vocals are strong and don't get in the way like Freddie Jr.

"Notes From the Past" marked a return to music by Hans Lundin, the original founding member of Kaipa in the mid 70's. Roine Stolt joined the band as a teenager, and remained until the early 80's to pursue a solo career. After 20 years of silence (running a music shop in Sweden), Mr. Lundin came back, along with Roine Stolt with last years "Notes from the Past". The album was very well recieved; musically it was structured very well and the vocals strong. With just over a year's absence, the exact group has returned with "Keyholder".

According to the credits, Roine Stolt is a co-writer on three album tracks. Personally, I can hear little or no difference in the material as compared to last years release. It seems as though the band could have taken another year to rejuvenate. The best song, the only real reason to own the album, is "A Complex Work of Art", with beautiful lead vocals by Aleena (She was on the last album, but has a greater presence here). The song moves through various speeding bits, a gentle vocal, and the last half being very 'prog'.

"Lifetime of a Journey" (track 1) has been favorably compared to the music of Queen. It is very pompous, with dual guitars and harmony vocals. Although written by Lundin, this song has a strong Flower Kings vibe. "Weed of all Mankind" is fairly lengthy and somewhat agressive and also gentle. "Sonic Pearls" is decent, typical Kaipa, nothing quite remarkable. "End of the Rope" is the album's longest track, at almost 14 minutes. Shades of light and dark, angry vocals. Big stretches of interlocking bass/guitar/keyboard lines.

"Across the Big Uncertain" has a very pastoral sense to it; gentle, soft, flowing, peaceful. "Distant Voices" is another typical, very long tune. Mostly instrumental, with varying elements of timbre and dynamic range. The final track, "Otherwordly Brights" is another unremarkable tune, although very positive and melodic. It could have been anywhere on the album.

In comparison to the last release, this album is much more agressive, more song-driven. Although the 'lead guitar' synth sound that Mr. Lundin employes becomes very annoying at times, you will hear more organ, mellotron, and even harpsichord pop up in the songs than the last album. Roine Stolt is arguably in a period of greatest production, and his guitar-ing is top notch. I would have prefferred his singing to the sometimes bombastic vocals of Lundin and Patrik Lundstrom. Drummer Morgan Agren is quite skilled and competent, and bassist Reingold is in fine form, if providing more of an accompaning role as opposed to his often virtuoso and skillful performances in Karmakanic and Flower Kings.

Not an entirely unique album, too similar to last years album, but worth a listen regardless. Mr. Stolt recommends that the listener hear the album at least 5 times. My opinion stands firm: this is good, although not different enough.

Unfortunately, while Keyholder (2003) is a slight improvement over Notes from the Past (2002), it is still crippled by a remarkably formulaic approach to being "progressive" and emphasizes the worst aspects of American stadium rock. As such, while I found the album to generally be OK, it is undeniably boring; especially in contrast with the creative music of the post-progressive groups currently active, not to mention the progressive giants from the 1970s that I grew up listening to.

The lineup includes Hans Lundin (Hammond C3 organ, mellotron, synthesizers, piano and vocals) and Flower Kings member Roine Stolt (electric and acoustic guitars), with guest musicians including Flower Kings bassist Jonas Reingold, Morgen Agren (drums), Ritual singer Patrik Lundstrom (lead vocals) and Aleena (Lundin) providing additional lead and backing vocals.

The band members are all solid and there is some good ensemble work on the album. The male and female lead vocalists however, have very contrived and "corporate" sounding styles, with Patrick sounding a lot like Steve Perry to me (although the comparison with Freddy Mercury seems appropriate too). Fortunately, they are not used as often and instrumental passages are dominant (even moreso than on Notes from the Past).

While these guys do have a very good grasp on melodies/arrangement, I found their approach to composition, which is based solely upon clichés taken from the classic English progressive rock and American stadium rock styles (guitar and keyboard solos over an ostinato), to be troubling. That is, I see little point in maintaining a musical style that thrives on forward momentum in a state of "no change". Furthermore, the stadium rock element, which is provided by a heavily distorted guitar tone,de-emphasis of pronounced dynamic contrasts, the limited range of tone colors selected and the overly calculated ways in which this band attempts to sound "progressive" wear thin very quickly.

This CD package is quite nice and the glossy, color liner notes feature the lyrics, photos of the band members, and general production notes. The sound quality is outstanding.

All in all, while I can not deny the high level of musicianship, the high quality of the recording, and the hard work that went into this album, I can not ignore the fact that these guys are not bringing anything new to the table. Although I might not enjoy this group that much, I can recommend this album to most fans of The Flower Kings.

It takes only few minutes while listening to this album to know that this is played by great musicians, I mean they are all impressives. The music is more experimental (though it was not possible) than the Flower Kings.
Some great passages, some, yes there are a few, that aggressed me a bit.
It is certainly an album to discover, the musicians are so talented, you might start doin' some comparaison with some supposed great prog musicians from the 70's and you might come to a conclusion that. after all, they were ordinary compared to those you can hear on this album. Recommanded to anyone who's not afraid to discover new prog music !

Never having been a Kaipa fan at all, I ended up getting this album at the same time that I picked up the Flower Kings' 'Unfold the Future' and Tangent's first album, when the local record store (which surprisingly carries progressive stuff) set up a display with all of the new FK-related albums. At first, I was interested because I had liked the Flower Kings' recent work and I was flabbergasted at the sheer amount of work that Roine Stolt, Jonas Reingold, and Zoltan Czorsz were involving themselves with. 'Keyholder,' however, seems now to stand far above the rest simply because it reflects a musical zeal and flavorfulness that is not fully equated in any of the other releases. While it uses a large group of different players similar to Tangent, the performance is given a stronger artistic center around Hans Lundin. I personally think Lundin is a superbly creative composer and a tasteful keyboard player. His songs cross between jazz, prog, and classical without sounding forced. The only part of the album that sounds unusually quirky is the key change that sets up the female vocals in "A Complex Work of Art (Track 2)." It seems like they made a late decision to transpose it for Aleena's voice without leading up to it smoothly. That one quibble aside, that song features some incredible fusion work in its instrumental sections. Aleena sounds great, especially at the end, which reminds me a bit of the 'Soon' section of Yes's 'Gates of Delerium.' The part that starts 5 minutes into that song is one of the best instrumental sections in a prog (unfortunately, 'prog' is a scene now and no longer an adjective) song I've heard in years. The arrangement and the sheer chops (Reingold, Csorsz, and Stolt can't be topped in terms of chemistry) put this on level with the best work from the 70s, Zappa, etc.... 'Lifetime of a Journey' is a similarly brilliant collection of ideas that successfully goes on for 8 minutes without growing tired or played out. 'The Weed of all Mankind,' despite its silly lyrics and melodrama, holds its own. 'Sonic Pearls' features amazing guitar, vocals, and percussion in an economic fashion (6:06 clocks it in as the shortest track on the album). 'Distant Voices' features tight Yes-like group vocals that recall the vocals in Yes songs like 'Tempus Fugit.' The bottom line is that this album, among way too many other releases by Stolt and Co., stands out as an excellent artistic statement. Each song reflects careful songwriting, pristine recording production, a penchant for experimentation, and perfect playing and singing. Kaipa successfully continues to create progressive music in an environment where "progressive" music is becoming too self-referential and stilted. 'Keyholder' is definitely a cool album to check out and I'm intrigued by 'Mindrevolution,' which is due out in 6/05. I'm certain it will be more compelling than Dream Theater's new album or any future Flower King releases.

If you liked last year's "Notes from the Past," you'll definitely like this. Stolt's guitar is prevalent much more than the NFTP. One downside is there are no instrumental tracks, but the lyrics are greatly improved from their last effort, mainly due to Stolt's contributions. This album expands on the sound of NFTP, with Lundin's trademark distorted keyboards, but this album has a harder edge, and maintains the prgressive aspect. So, aside from a mediocre singing and lyrics, this is a great album.