Customer Reviews

Retropolis

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I stumbled on The Flower Kings via Transatlantic, the side project for FK guitarist Roine Stolt, Dream Theater drummer extraordinaire Mike Portnoy, Spock's Beard frontman Neal Morse and Marillion bassist Pete Trewavas.

I'm sure glad I did, too. This music is superb.

Progressive rock -- even well-played "neo-prog" -- is head and shoulders above other music these days. The level of musicianship is vastly superior to today's run-of-the-mill New Rock/Alt Rock/Metal bands. The music is deeper, more intricate and bears repeated listenings. (Try that with Rob Zombie, Bush or Incubus.)

On Retropolis, The Flower Kings show uncommon musical talent, with songs running the gamut from delicate and atmospheric ("Rhythm Of the Sea") to purely bombastic and fun (the title track, "Retropolis") to completely captivating ("The Judas Kiss" -- which I can listen to on Repeat all day long -- or "Flora Majora").

The vocal style reminds me of John Wetton circa King Crimson's Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black or Red era.

The keyboards are reminiscent of '70s era Yes, ELP or Genesis. Roine Stolt's guitar playing often sounds like Steve Howe of Yes (check out "There Is More To This World," if you doubt me) with just as much virtuosity. (The whole song has a Yes-like feel to it, circa Tormato or even one of their more recent releases -- The Ladder, perhaps. It even features raspy bass playing, a tenor vocalist who sounds like Jon Anderson, and an optimistic lyric -- all of which smacks of Yes.)

The Flower Kings' Retropolis is precisely the music I most enjoy listening to. It's upbeat, intricate, mostly instrumental, showy and fun. It's perfect for the office, where I do most of my listening. In fact (and I know I'll get tar-and-feathered for even thinking this), in many ways I prefer it to Yes, a band I adore. The musical landscape is more diverse and the musicianship is, if anything, even more flamboyant and creative.

If you're looking for music well-played, with hints of Yes, Genesis, ELP and Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings will fit the bill nicely. In fact, I couldn't ask for anything more from this album.

I highly recommend Retropolis.

Retropolis starts out simply with Rhythm Of Life and blazes into Retropolis, a stunning instrumental featuring progressive rock but mixing modern synthesis and elements of electronica along with tradmarked organ and mellotron washes. Roine Stolt's guitar playing is melodic and assured, he doesn't need to play fast to show you how good he is, he plays what is necessary letting the music speak rather than technique.

The next two songs Rhythm Of The Sea and There Is More To This World move more into pure progressive rock and set the tone of this excellent album. The changes in dynamic, both mood and volume are as good as any progressive act I've heard but with a modern twist and overall sound that is unique to The Flower Kings.

One man does not a band make and Tomas Bodin aptly shows this on keyboards. Michael Stolt's bass is more subdued than is typical for this genre of music but fits well in the overall sound. Jaime Salazar is an excellent drummer who can sit back in a mix and find moments to expoit with Bruford-like fills. The two wild cards here are Hasse Bruniusson's percussion work which adds character to the music and Hans Froberg's vocals which augment Roine Stolt's. Froberg has a pure tone and to some might seem the better singer but Stolt has the better delivery. He has an empathic style whereas Froberg is super articulate.

When listening to The Flower Kings I keep appreciating the ensemble work. Stolt's guitar work is wonderful and owing considerably to Steve Howe, Steve Hackett and Frank Zappa yet he pulls it together using these guitar slingers as influences while retaining his own style. More importantly he doesn't overshadow the band when soloing, instead his solos fill in musical spaces keeping the music cohesive.

I read a bunch of reviews here, I'm glad I did because the sound clips would never have convinced me to purchase Retropolis.

Having grown up on Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant and King Crimson and having moved on to mostly electronic and post rock/experimental music in part because of how unimpressive commercial rock became it was a pleasant surprise to find The Flower Kings. Had it not been for Transatlantic's two fine CDs I probably would never have known about them. Having found out I purchased four of their albums in a month.

Retropolis is focused with no filler and would make a good initial album for first time listeners.

The Flower Kings' second album is, if anything, a bit better than their first, Back in the World of Adventures. After the throwaway intro "Rhythm of Life" is the lengthy and soaring instrumental title track which keys album by painting a cinematic and portentious mood.

The next two tracks are the album's highlights - almost. "Rhythm of the Sea" is a relatively quiet track of gentle longing, and it's followed by the anthemic "There is More to This World". The latter has a rousing and punchy first half, but rather than tailing off it evolves into a quieter and more intricate repetition of the refrain, interlacing several voices, before building back to its crescendo. It took a few listens before I really got into it, but the second half really makes the song.

The next several tracks are something of a mixed bag. Though vocalist/guitarist Roine Stolt writes most of the Kings' material, keyboardist Tomas Bodin adds the occasional piece. But all three of his tracks here are of little note: The aforementioning "Rhythm of Life" is 30-seconds of a ping-pong game; "Romancing the City" is a 1-minute - if pleasant - piano piece; and "Retropolis by Night" is a dour collection of mostly-synthetic sounds and little melody (a kind of depressing counterpoint to Stolt's overture piece).

Stolt's middle pieces are also so-so. "The Melting Pot" is a good instrumental. "Silent Sorrow" borders on mainstream rock but ultimately isn't very interesting. "The Judas Kiss" feels grating.

But the album goes out with a bang. "Flora Majora" is the Kings' first truly classic track, a throbbing, soaring, thrilling instrumental which starts with Bodin's tendency to work with highly repetitive melodies, and then evolves by adding some of Stolt's best guitar work as Bodin provides the harmonic underpinnings in much the same way Pete Townshend's synthesizers did on some of The Who's best work. After this, you'd think the concluding "The Road Back Home" would be a bit of a letdown, but it's actually an understated track with echoes of some of Paul McCartney's Beatles work coming through it. A satisfying closer to the album.

It would be a while before the Kings surpassed this album (though they finally did in 2000 with Space Revolver), and it's a modern prog masterpiece nonetheless.

I would give this CD rating a rating of 5 stars if I could give Stardust We Are, Alive On Planet Earth, and Space Revolver 6 stars each. With that being said, you can expect this one to be of extremely high quality, but perhaps not quite as good as the other TFK CDs.

With this CD I can finally say I own a CD where you can hear a ping-pong match being played. That's how the CD starts off with the 32 second long "Rhythm Of Life". This leads into the title track, an 11 minute instrumental that is very good, but perhaps not as good as a couple other instrumentals on this CD. The beautifully haunting "Rhythm Of The Sea" follows. Next up is "There Is More To This World", a track I am familiar with from their live CD. While this is one of the best songs on the CD, it feels out of place here from the rest of the songs.

"The Judas Kiss" is the other song I'm familiar with, and I knew even before getting the CD that I would not like this as much as the live version on Alive On Planet Earth. The reason is the live version is twice as long, with a 8 minute or so jam session in the middle. But having said that, this is one of my favorite TFK songs, studio or live version.

The CD finishes with the instrumental "Flora Majora" and another of my favorite tracks on the CD, "The Road Back Home". I was listening to this one on my way to school yesterday, and the lyric "And after all it's good to be alive" just set the mood for the entire day. Having gotten to class early, I ended up just sitting outside for about a half hour on the Arizona State University campus with not a cloud in the sky and the temperature at about 60 degrees. Indeed, with music like this, it's great to be alive!

Usually the album that introduces you to a new group will always tend to be your favorite by that group. This is totally logical! If you buy another album or two on the basis of one, it would stand to reason that you probably really like the original one you listened to. No other album is that album, and they never seen to quite stand up. I was introduced to the Flower Kings through "Flower Power", but I really think that "Retropolis" would be the one I would suggest if you were to purchase the definitive album by the Flower Kings. On "Retropolis" we see the clearest and most consistent picture of the influences that drove and continue to drive Roine and the Flower Kings even into the 21st century.

Just for fun, let's use our imagination for a second. Imagine a band that had, as its creative core, Keith Emerson, Frank Zappa, John Wetton, and Steve Howe collaborating on a serious and respectful level. Of course, the big stretch here is Frank. I mean, I can't imagine that Frank Zappa would be able to stay in the same room as Keith Emerson at all in real life, much less actually collaborate with him in a serious fashion. Or, even more comical, Frank Zappa trading fours with Steve Howe. For the sake of argument let's assume he was doing a satirical project on progressive rock.

Then let's visualize a "Union"-style touring supergroup (to accommodate the differences in production quality between the mid-`70's and now, of course) made up of whatever musician whose style would best suit any given part of Retropolis. By the end of the album, the band is quite large and almost comical:

First of all, Frank and Steve would ask Steve Hackett to play some atmospheres and rhythm work, and Steve Howe would convince Frank that Chris Squire could totally hang. Frank agrees, but only if he gets rid of the Rickenbacker.

Keith would ask Tony Banks be his tech, and Tony ends up playing on stage with him before the tour is on its third date. Tony would, of course, suggest that Phil Collins play drums. Frank begrudgingly agrees, but only after arguing for awhile in favor of Chester Thompson.

Ironically, Jaime Muir simultaneously calls John Wetton in desperate need of a gig, and John suggests to Frank that Jaime play percussion. Frank asks him how his vibes chops are, and Jaime stares blankly. Frank rolls his eyes and says "whatever".

And last, but not least, there would be a big church organ in the darkness above the stage that Rick Wakeman would come out and play every now and then. Rick is so excited about the gig that he calls up David Bowie on that "big favor he never mentioned in 1969" and asks him to steal some of Jon's leads, to which David happily agrees.

So, by the time you are done, you have Hackett, Howe, and Zappa trading fours on guitar. Keith and Tony are hidden behind a wall of keyboard equipment, while Bowie and Anderson are on a podium in the back singing backups for Wetton. Wakeman plays his two minute organ part and returns to his six pack in back. Phil is searching for eye contact with Muir while Chris is trying to hold the whole thing together.

The lowdown: Can you see why I think this album is entertaining? Retropolis allows me to fulfill the "what if" of this seemingly ridiculous cooperation. By my understanding, Retropolis is based largely on material that Roine wrote in the `70's while still playing with Kaipa. If Retropolis were released between 1973 and 1976, it would most likely be a classic and influential, and that is its strength. It does not pretend to be anything besides what it is: a misty-eyed tribute to a musical climate that has long since changed

The neo-prog movement of the nineties is filled with poseurs, pretenders and wannabe's. The vast majority of them are out-of-fashion metal bands taking refuge within the confines of prog. Very few have any sense of originality or are capable of taking the art form in a new direction. Except for the Flower Kings. These guys are the real deal. Everything that made the greats of 70's prog what they were can be found here. They are, collectively, the finest group of musicians since Yes had Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman join the ranks. Vocals, songwriting and arrangements are all exceptional. Where they may take the occassional respectful nod to the past it is for but a brief moment that they do so. This is a very contemporary, relevant, unique and innovative sound and presentation, one that takes progressive rock into the new millenium with a sense of hope and direction. For now these fellows are the finest that prog has to offer. Thank god for Roine Stolt and co. This one's highly recommended as is anything in their brilliant catalogue...Simon

If you don't know the band, this is a good choice to begin with, that's what I have done when one of my friend talk to me about the FK, after hearing this, I wanted more. No filler in this album, only top quality modern prog music, you can't go wrong with this one.

This is my first run-in with the Flower Kings. I heard one of their songs from I believe the album "Adam & Eve" some time ago and it wasn't my particular cup'o'tea. Then riding in the car with a friend one day he had a mix cd playing and this ridiculously good song came on that I was almost positive was Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Upon inquiry he said it was the Flower Kings' Retropolis. Needless to say that song alone was enough to make me buy the album, and the rest of it is just as fantastic. There is some amazing guitar work on it, along with great bass lines and keyboard work. The vocals are perfect. Perfect. Dwell on that word. There's not many things I would consider musically perfect, but the vocals fit right in with the rest of the virtuosity.

The original prog sound-founded though it was in the UK-had many disciples outside of Old Blighty in its heyday. The jazzy Focus from The Netherlands. Triumvirat from Germany. PFM from Italy. Even Kansas over here in the States. But even though I was a dedicated aficionado of the sound back then, I'd never heard of any bands from Sweden. I guess that's because the Swedes decided to wait a generation, and their timing put them into a perfect position to spearhead a preservation/ resurrection movement. Success of the albums which followed this one prompted them to re-release it in this US edition some five years after its original release. The title track at 11 minutes is one of the longest prog instrumentals I'm familiar with outside of Liquid Tension Experiment, but this one is definitely in the traditional prog mode rather than the more modern hard rock-based LTE. Again the Kings aren't reluctant to use dynamic range and thematic changes-from a chugging low string ostinato (perhaps sampled) that reminds me of the intro to ELP's "Pirates" to acoustic guitar soloing to the more expected Hammond/ synth stretches. "Rhythm Of the Sea" may have a new age-y title, but make no mistake-you're not getting Vollenweider of Kitaro here. It's a hard-hitting vocal number whose lyrics draw a contrast between the steady rhythm of the sea and the stressed-out rhythm of the city. "There Is More To This World" has some early Kansas influence, both in its feel and its basis in a standard Kansas philosophical theme-spiritual transcendence above the mundane. What we have to settle for being as opposed to what we could be. "Romancing the City" serves as a short classical piano cadenza that paves the way for the Genesis-influenced instrumental "Melting Opt", a patchwork of the...well...Romantic era. "Silent Sorrow" has the same sort of Beatles influence used in King Crimson's "Dinosaur"-except for the break that's an odd fusion of Memphis strut and Gentle Giant. "The Judas Kiss" has the sound of the short-lived U.K., even down to the vocals sounding slightly like John Wetton. "Retropolis By Night" makes me very nostalgic for Virgin-era Tangerine Dream. In "Flora Majora" 5/4 time signature drives a tune that sounds a lot like Steve Hackett's early solo work, except not many of the old timers other than Gentle Giant messed around with eccentric meters-that's a treat the modern crowd has blessed us with. Genesis featuring Branford Marsalis? The finale "The Road Back Home features a soprano sax in an almost ballad-like setting that reminds me of one of the quieter movements of "Topographic Oceans" by Yes. So all in all, Their Floral Majesties continue to rule. I second another reviewer's observation about how unbelievable it is that leader and principal writer Roine Stolt can come up with so much material (A F-K album is hardly ever under an hour long) without much of it being filler.

One thing you can get pretty tired of when reading about prog-albums here are all the nostalgic guys that were raised with 70's prog. Ok, not all of them, but certainly those who don't seem to understand that they like the 70's prog better simply because of the nostalgia it brings. Serioulsy, Yes, Genesis, Kansas, and those guys are all great and I like listening to them. They have some great songs with strong themes... but (and people will probably hang me for saying this) most of the neo-prog bands are quite superior when it comes to arranging the pieces. Before you throw angry words in my direction, I just want to remind you that since I'm of a younger generation (born -84) I don't have any reason to go in favor for either the 70's prog or the neo-stuff. This is simply the impression of non-partial ears. The impression of someone who also loves to work with compositions and arrangements (though mostly for choir acappella, I'm afraid)... in all humbleness, of course.

Another thing I don't understand is that some seem to have got the impression that The Flower Kings are inclined to playing fast and difficult stuff. That is not very true... there's always a certain level of show-off in prog/symphonic rock, but these are definitely not the worst, and certainly not much flashier than the guys of the 70's.

So, then, that's said... It felt good.

About this album then. Well, it's a great one... I think I like the early works of The Flower Kings best, which means this one and Back in the World of Adventures. Though I don't like absolutely everything about this album, mostly because I tend to get bored by the more bombastic side of this band, at least when it stretches on for too long. They seem to like long chord chains with a lot of modulations (like at the end of "The Judas Kiss"). Well, I don't... I find it quite uninteresting and makes me think "yeah yeah, get to the point". And that's what so good about the band - the point. The point, as i see it, is the rich collection of great melodies that follow with each album. A medley of those on this album is to be found in the instrumental title track. I love songs like "Rhythm of the Sea" (even if it is a BIT bombastic), with it's great keyboard line before the chorus and "Silent Sorrow" (sometimes Jaime Salazar reminds me of Jeff Porcaro), a quite simple, catchy, groovy tune. "The Judas Kiss" has a great groove too(despite the strange part at the very end) and the folkly melody of "The Melting Pot" truly appeals to me, as usual with TFK's more folk-oriented stuff. "Romancing to City" is one of many Bodin piano solo pieces that you wish would stretch on longer (at least I do).

The rest of the songs are also great, but to me, not every day... they come and go in my liking.

I must add that I don't agree with those who dislike Roine's voice, but I can sort of understand them, since it's quite special or odd or what you'd prefer to call it. It's one of those love-or-hate-voices, it seems.

To me, The Flower Kings are a "cozy" band... Sometimes cheezy, true, but I like the sort of dreamy, fairytale feeling I get from some of their songs. Because of that, they will remain favourites for some time. :)