Customer Reviews

The Road Back Home: The Best Of (2CD)

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

 

 

The Road Back Home is a two-disc compilation album put together by Flower Kings leader Roine Stolt. Not only does it feature the band's relatively more compact and "easy listening" cuts, the songs have also been treated to a new mixing job by Stolt. Add to that several newly recorded guitar solos as well as some backing vocals by Roine Stolt and Hasse Froberg. Some of the numbers have just been remixed whilst some others also feature previously unheard passages, instrumentation, and vocal parts.

The song long-time fans will want to hear the most will probably be "Little Deceiver", a leftover from the band's Rainmaker sessions. It is an interesting experiment where the tune wanders off more into Dire Straits-goes-country territory, bringing forth a true solo statement from Stolt and Froberg who are responsible for everything this song has to offer: unusual harmony vocals, cool loops and sound effects, and steady, straightforward drumming.

Also new on the CD is the band's Genesis tribute "Cinema Show", originally recorded in 1998. Being one of the greatest Genesis songs ever, Stolt says the band was rather nervous while recording it, but the result is nothing short of mindblowing. The acoustic guitar tone, the layered melodies, the awesome vocal parts, and last but not the least, Tomas Bodin's mindblowingly beautiful key solo that not only honours Tony Banks' original work but also adds its own touch to it -- everything is phenomenal about this piece. As noted in the liner notes, that solo is testimony that "great keys can be played with emotion without a trace of blues or jazz".

It would be impossible and meaningless to describe each song on this compilation. After all, they all represent a different era of the band; and they are meant to be enjoyed best in their original context. However, the little nuances brought out in the mixing stage do warrant a mention. "Cosmic Lover", for instance, features new vocal and some clarinet addition as well as a heavier focus on rhythm. This brings out the funky aesthetic and underscores the brilliant Beatles-like vocal harmony. "Stupid Girl" has a brand new guitar solo; and truth be told, I can't choose which one I like better cause the new one is truly sublime. Also, the guitar solo of "A Kings Prayer", one of the greatest Flower Kings songs ever, is different. I love how the deep message is conveyed on this one amidst glimmering acoustic guitar notes and McCartney-like vocal arrangements.

The last few minutes of "Church of Your Heart" have been cut off, and rightly so. The result is a more direct and powerful tune driven by tons of organ work by Bodin and soaring harmonies by Hasse Froberg. The African tribal rhythms merge seamlessly with a gorgeous soprano sax arrangement on "Grand Old World" whilst "Monkey Business" proves once again why everything on Unfold the Future is gold. Jonas Reingold's fretless bass, Hasse Bruniusson's percussion rhythms, and Stolt's unmistakable guitars form the musical aspect of the otherwise tragic lyrical theme. Stolt's vocal part in the intro of "The Road Back Home" has been replaced by Hasse's more fitting singing -- perhaps the best Retropolis song with its melodic hook and blazing Hammond elements.

The songs with Pain of Salvation's Daniel Gildenlow providing backing harmonies have mostly been left untouched, such as "Starlight Man" and "Cosmic Circus", but you can still tell a remix was done on them. The somewhat cluttered soundscape layering of the former piece seems totally gone on the reworked version of "Different People" off of Stardust We Are. Unlike the original version, the piece has a stronger psychedelic centre here thanks to Stolt's meticulous remixing, and the melodious flow is more evocative. The backing voices have enhanced this cut greatly as well.

It doesn't matter whether you're a long-time fan or a new listener. Any Flower Kings fan should pick this up in a heart beat and hear these songs in their new format. If you have never heard any of Flower Kings' studio albums, on the other hand, then, depending on the songs you like the best here, you should go and pick it up impromptu. Once you're hooked, you'll want to have their entire discography anyway.

Kudos to Roine Stolt for not only compiling and remixing all these songs, but also for the detailed song-by-song analysis he offers in the liner notes. He even designed the booklet and cover art himself and added some photos as well. The packaging is superb -- it couldn't be any better.

I wish all compilation albums were this amazing.

I admit that I initially hesitated on this purchase.
I mentally listed all the reasons that I did NOT need this latest Flower Kings compilation:
1.) I have practically everything they've put out over the past ten years.
2.) I actually enjoy their longer prog epics more than these shorter songs that they assembled.
3.) Shouldn't we just leave the original versions alone, shortcomings and all?

But thanks to convincing reviews like the one from my esteemed colleague from Istanbul, I cast all fears aside and immersed myself into 153 more minutes of re-mixed and re-mastered FK music - thankfully! This is just such an enjoyable collection; long-time fans get to hear these shorter gems in a slightly different way (one great song after another), and newcomers to the band get a fabulous introduction to the melodic style and virtuosity of the band. Roine Stolt's liner notes help both the fans and the newbies to understand the message or style that the band was trying to convey on each track, as well as what changes were made for this recording. Many pictures of the various band members populate the liner notes as well, along with the usual colorful artwork that graces all of the FK cd's.

Oh, and don't overlook their cover of Genesis' "Cinema Show" - you want proof of just how good these musicians are? (I know, it's tempting, tempting.......Add...to...cart?...)

This was a very ingenious way for the band to get some of its more accessible works out to the inquisitive public, but also to reward the avid fan with yet another affirmation of this band's wealth of ideas and talent (before their next album comes out later this year!).
Buy with confidence and delight.

I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:
Music quality = 9/10; Performance = 9.3/10; Production = 9.5/10; CD length = 10/10.
Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 9.2 ("4-1/2 stars")

The Flower Kings (Roine Stolt) take some of their shorter progressive rock tracks and re-mix and remaster them. The chosen list is pretty good and covers their entire career up to this point. The extra, never released track "Little Deceiver" from the Rainmaker sessions is nothing special.

The remixing doesn't seems to improve the songs much and actually seems to make them 'softer.' I word I could use is 'pillowy'....almost giving some of the slower parts of songs a new-age feel to them (not a good thing in my opinion). The punch of the original songs is missing, replaced by a broadening effect to fully take up the sonic range. Another point of dissapontment......should you really mess with "Church of Your Heart?" The classic Flower Kings song has been truncated and the dramatic key change at the last part of the original version is gone. That was the part of the song that got me hooked on the song in the the first place. Also "I am the Sun part II" seems to be truncated as well, and again, the best part of the song, in my opinion, is missing.

Songs picked from newer releases (Adam + Eve and Paradox Hotel) are less affected by the mixing and come off much like the originals.

All-in-all, this is a good collection of Flower King songs, but the remixing doesn't seem that great of an improvement of the originals.

First off, I absolutely love the Flower Kings and anxiously await their next release. This one though.....
OK, let me get this off my chest first - why, oh why would you play with the perfection that is the original "Church of Your Heart"? When I saw this on the CD's pre-release playlist on the TFK website, I was counting the days until it arrived just to hear a remastering of this song. (I think all TFK fans can agree that while "Stardust We Are" is one of the best albums of all time, it is also one compressed sonic mess). But instead of a nice clean remastering, we get a complete remix, and, gasp - an entire section of the song - a critical section in my eyes - is totally gone! Disappointed hardly covers it.
And therein lies the problem, for me. Most of these songs weren't just remastered, they were remixed as well. Instruments are added or taken away, changing the complexion of the songs in someways good but mostly not. For the most part, the new productions just don't stand up to the old. Several tunes, like "World Without a Heart" sound lifeless, are missing key instrumental parts (where is the lovely piano part in WWAH?) or have had the sometimes rough edges dulled down until they don't have the same impact the originals did.
Roine evidently has disdained the use of reverb for the new mixes, and for me, this new "dry" sound doesn't serve this type of music well.
Overall, it WAS a somewhat fun first listen, and of course the songs are pretty much wonderful anyway, but while there are great moments, I can't imagine listening to this one again anytime soon.
Having said that, thanks Roine for the effort - the liner notes are indeed exceptional, and maybe there is hope that you'll find time to go back and remaster (but NOT remix) the classic TFK albums like Stardust We Are, Flower Power and Rainmaker. Wouldja, please????

With a sound firmly rooted in Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd and a high level of musical talent, The Flower Kings are one of the brighter stars in the neo-progressive rock scene. They're also a band whose sound didn't change much from album to album. I think I had accumulated 5-6 separate Flower Kings albums before it hit me that aside from a song or two here and there, I couldn't tell one album from the next. They're all very good neoprog albums, but they're also more than a little repetitive. That's where a collection like The Road Back Home comes in handy.

The Road Back Home is a 2-disc retrospective of the band's career, and seems to have covered all of the songs that caught my attention from the various studio albums. Some of the songs have been edited (otherwise this set would have fewer songs) and they've all been remastered (and remixed, I think) by Roine Stolt, so the audio quality is consistent throughout. They also tossed on a pair of new songs to entice long-time fans. The first is "Little Deceiver," an outtake from the Rainmaker sessions, and the second is a very faithful and very well-executed cover of the Genesis classic "Cinema Show."

This one is pretty easy. If you're new to the band and want a solid, comprehensive overview of the Flower Kings sound, The Road Back Home is an idea, inexpensive way to do that. If you're a serious fan who already owns the band's studio albums, just download (legally, please) "Little Deceiver" and "Cinema Show" individually.

For those who know me, I am a huge Flower Kings fan. For someone who has all of thier records, including the solo outings and official bootlegs, etc... you would think I would be one tough customer, as I have heard it all. But not so with this double album set! Of course, you have your jaded listeners who'll say, "I have all of these songs already, why buy this?" For anyone who knows how a perfectionist (such as master Stolt) labors over his art, you can imagine how many sleepless nights were spent trying to get the right sound and then discovering (sometimes years later!) that it's not quite there yet... perhaps the recording equipment was available at the time, or perhaps a better idea came along... Anyway the point of all this rambling is: it is easy for the casual listener to be contented with the orignal recordings and roll their eyes at a "re-issue". But this is not a re-issue. It is a true labor of love as it is an attempt to try to capture things that the artist felt were missing in the original recordings. To think, it took Leonardo DiVinci TEN YEARS to paint the lips on the Mona Lisa! A true artist is never satisfied! Roine Stolt and the members of the Flower kings are no exception. They are true artists who are never contented with their art, and for that all of us casual listeners should be grateful!!!

So rather than go through the list of songs with the intention of trying to convince someone to purchase this record, I will conclude with the following: if you appreciate the genius that is the Flower Kings, you will appreciate this record.

And be sure to Preorder the new album The Sum Of No Evil!!!

Thank you Murat, for the fine review. I agree with everything you mentioned. I give the album 5 stars; it's that good.

This may be as much a rant as a review......Are you people out of your mind? This is a treasure of a band.They have as much claim to the continued growth and resurgence of Progressive Rock as anyone.All I read is this could be better or that one doesn't hold my interest. I won't analyze or "overanalyze" the individual songs on this set. Suffice to say that there is plenty of great stuff here. For anyone new to this band, there is enough to pique your interest for further research into their massive output of work.I am aware that everyone is a critic these days, but give me a break! These guys make some incredible music and will continue to so. LONG LIVE THE FLOWER KINGS!!!!!!!

The Flower Kings are one of the best band in the progressive band's world. I bought this CD and i just can't stop listen to it over and over again... This is simply amazing. All songs are re-mixed and re-worked version and the result is very good. One unreleased track from the Rainmaker album session is included for our pleasure.... hehehe. Well the rest is order the CD and enjoy it as i do.

I know I'm gonna get flamed but, ya' know, too bad. I had never even heard of the Flower Kings until they were recommended to me. I was told "As good as Yes or Pink Floyd, or Rush". I was stoaked and ready to hear me some Flower Kings. I thought why not get a greatest hits and that way I can hear all the good stuff I've supposedly missed. This being a 2 CD set I put in the first CD and waited to be amazed, The first 8 songs were very, very good. Roine Stolt is an excellent guitar player and the other musicians were up to the task as his equals on their chosen instruments. Starting with track 9 it all went downhill fast. "This is the new Rush, or Yes or Pink Floyd ?" I asked myself. Not even on the same planet!! I thought disc 2 might be better. Wrong again....(see where this is going?) The only decent songs on disc 2 were Touch My Heaven and Life Will Kill You and this only because of the level of musicianship. All the rest of the songs sounded like old 60's flower power love songs. You remember The Cowsills, Harpers Bizarre, etc. etc. I half expected little butterflies to come winging there way out of the stereo and flowers to drop from the ceiling. This stuff was mush!!
If they are the next Pink Floyd or Yes, we're in trouble. I gave this collection 3 stars but only for Stolt's guitar work. He is truly amazing.
If someone can tell me which of their albums are MUCH MUCH better than this one, I'll give them a listen but if this truly is their best.....don't bother.