Stardust We Are (2CD)

The Flower Kings | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 17, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Inside Out U.S.
• ASIN: B00004XSOK
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #249,448 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. In the Eyes of the World

2. A Room With a View

3. Just This Once

4. Church of Your Heart

5. Porr Mr. Rain; S Ordinary Guitar

6. The Man Who Walked With Kings

7. Circus Brimstone

8. Crying Clown

9. Compassion

Disc: 2

1. Pipes of Peace

2. The End of Innocence

3. The Merry-Go-Round

4. Don of the Universe

5. A Day at the Mall

6. Different People

7. Kingdom of Lies

8. If 28

9. Ghost of the Red Cloud

10. Hotel Nirvana

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweden's melting pot of prog overflows., July 16, 2002

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stardust We Are (2CD) (Audio CD)

Weird as it seems, that title is the primary image the Flower Kings give me. Their style is primarily rooted in not-quite-copying ELP, Genesis and Yes, but they perpetually reach for anything and everything else they can think of; keyboard-heavy prog, straight rock, harmony-laden pop, classical, Baroque, reggae, folk, psychedelia, anything is fair game. They're a magnet for every overused 'pretentious' cliche the critics can dig out yet they seem utterly ego-free. Their reach is so far-flung that I can't help wondering if they'll ever grasp it all. Such bombast (I don't mean that as a bad thing) is perfectly suited to the grand sweeping double-album epics that marked the 70s prog movement, and they take full advantage of it with the monstrous 145 minutes of Stardust We Are. Just about any fan of said movement will like at least two-thirds of it.. provided they can stomach a generous helping of grand orchestrations with enough different keyboards to give Keith Emerson a headache. (If you don't know who Keith Emerson is, you probably shouldn't even be reading this review yet. Try Trilogy by ELP.)

All the other classic elements are here - three tracks stretch into the ten-minute zone and the three-part closer clocks in at a grand 25. That title track builds its mood with fantastic imagery and a wonderful piano bridge before soaring into space on an impossibly high-flying chorus. In anyone else's hands it would seem like pure cheese, but somehow it's utterly captivating. I consider "Circus Brimstone" the standout of the extended tracks, a dark carnival packed full of instrumental twists and turns that take days or weeks to get your head around. It seems the perfect complement to the acoustic wizardry of "...Ordinary Guitar" and the grand folk of "Man Who Walked With Kings." As a side note: occasionally I wish the group's mastermind Roine Stolt would take his own advice and "shut up just this once." Their instrumental tunes seem to invariably remain my favorites, and if the Flower Kings ever put out an entirely instrumental album I'd probably play it more than all the others combined. But that's just me. Speaking of instrumentals, I have to mention the beautiful solo piano of "If 28" and the dreamy forest groove "Don of the Universe." Wonderful stuff.

While the Kings quite often fall into the trap of sounding 'prog' rather than actually being progressive, they've got a nice knack for melody and there's a whole lot to appreciate in Stolt's guitar work. There's more stylistic variety in one of their discs than many others manage in a decade. If you haven't heard them yet, go for Space Revolver first.. if you don't like all those pretentious groups from the 70s to begin with, then you've been plenty warned.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid prog rock...very little filler despite the length., January 24, 2001

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stardust We Are (2CD) (Audio CD)

Swedish prog rockers The Flower Kings are an accomplished group of musicians with influences deeply rooted in the 70s' progressive scene. The most prominent influences I hear are Yes and ELP, but there's lots more here. There are infrequent times when The Flower Kings veer dangerously close to aping their prestigious influences, but luckily they are skilled composers who can rely on their own imagination as less on the established conventions of the genre.

Stardust We Are is a monster of an album, spanning two discs for about 140 minutes of music. One might suspect that such an lengthy studio work would contain reams of filler material, but actually this is not the case. For the most part, Stardust We Are is a strong collection of songs. With a few tracks the album slips into mediocrity, but when the albums shines it's sheer excellence.

The energetic opener "In the Eyes of the World" is a good dose of solid progressive music, but it's far from the best this disc has to offer. "Church of Your Heart" is one of the most perfect songs I've ever heard. The vocal melodies in the ten-minute ballad are completely beautiful, with vocalists Roine Stolt and Hans Froberg trading leads to inject the most emotion into any given verse. After this, the album moves into instrumental territory. "Poor Mr. Rain's Ordinary Guitar" is a pleasant treat to some low-key acoustic wizardry from Roine. "The Man Who Walked With Kings" is an AWESOME, grandiose and uplifting instrumental. "Circus Brimstone" is a crazy instrumental, whose dynamics are enough to provide plenty of steam for its 12 minute length. It's pretty wacky stuff. The first disc closes with "Compassion," where Roine Stolt reveals one of his more subtle influences, Pink Floyd. There's a very cool instrumental section at the end (pushing the song beyond the indicated length), which is like Floyd's "On the Run" taken to the next level. The mesmerizing synthesizers make for an engaging section.

The second disc is as strong as the first, even though some average songs drag it down. The quick little instrumental "Pipes of Peace," where the band introduces the recurring theme from the massive title track, is strictly pipe organ, and it has a soaring, stately sound. "The End of Innocence" is melancholy and quite frankly I find it a little boring, but the next track, "The Merrygoround" compensates for this. As the name implies, it is a light, happy song, completely enjoyable. "Don of the Universe" is another big instrumental, this time not as overtly quirky as "Circus Brimstone," but still laudable. "Different People" and "Kingdom of Lies" are merely average pop/rock songs. Not bad, but not too memorable. "If 28" is a nice piano-only track. No pompous musicianship here, it's just a nice, melodic song. "Ghost of the Red Cloud" is cool, and I dig the faint Celtic touch. After yet another mini-instrumental, the album moves into its 25-minute magnum opus, "Stardust We Are." Here we have three sections and myriad musical ideas seamlessly merged together, forming a big prog epic. Unfortunately, like most of the Flower Kings long songs, it's awfully random, without much unity. The first two sections, sung by Roine Stolt, are plainly his best vocal performances. Before the inspiriting final movement launches, Tomas Bodin performs an killer classical piano solo (I'm a piano nut). Froberg sings the final section, with lots of emotional power and showing that he is probably the better singer between Roine and himself. The soaring chorus comes close to giving me goose-bumps.

So out of 140 minutes of music, there's probably 20 minutes that fail to impress. If you want to get mathematical, that makes for about 86% great music, which is enough to qualify for a solid rating, in my book. Not to mention the fact that the album is a great value, costing only a little. That's like two great prog albums for the price of one. Not a bad deal by any standard.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stardust They Are--It's close to Divine, December 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Stardust We Are (2CD) (Audio CD)

Truly a post-prog masterpiece. The perennial problem with many neo-prog bands is an annoying tendency to write "Close to the Edge Part II" and not be too creative. Sweden's Flower Kings evade this by doing their own thing...though what that is, I'm not quite sure! Led by guitarist/writer/guiding light Roine Stolt, they take you on a zany, breathtaking, spiritual, hilarious, bizarre journey through the realms of Yes, Genesis, Zappa, psychedelica, fusion, pipe-organ hymns,folk, and God knows what else...from the opening Hammond shuffle-crunch of "In the Eyes of the World" to the majestic, uplifting "Church of Your Heart" to the schizoid fusion instrumental "Circus Brimstone" to the haunting, almost industrial "Compassion" to the energetic world-beat playfulness of "The Merrygoround" to the pseudo-reggae "Ghost of the Red Cloud" to the masterful, 25-minute epic prog closer "Stardust We Are", the Kings leave few stones unturned. Keysman Tomas Bodin, singer Hans Froberg, bassman Michael Stolt(since replaced by Jonas Reingold), and drummer Jaime Salazar all navigate Roine Stolt's varied compositions with a cohesiveness that keeps you from noticing that the songs are barely contained musical anarchy. Lyrically, they navigate the treacherous waters of the heart and soul, much in the tradition of Yes. Positive hippie ideals resound, social justice comments are pointed, and pleas for heartfelt sincerity abound, underpinned with some subtle, unoffensive, vaguely Christian overtones. Stolt has something here; I'm not even sure he realizes how much he has. He himself is an unsung guitar god, running the stylistic gamut from muscular, zany Zappaesque licks to Dave Gilmour bluesiness to Vai/Satriani sonic experimentation to inspiring Steve Howe-ish musical tapestries to soaring, melodic leads reminiscient of Allan Holdsworth. He finds his perfect counterparts in his Moraz-ish co-writer Bodin, his grooving rhythm section (whose drummer sounds like a reborn Jeff Porcaro!) and guest percussionist(anarchist?) Hasse Bruniusson who is featured on pizza plates, chains, trash can lids, bells& whistles, and general percussive mayhem! Go ahead and take a journey to Stolt's world of adventures and discover the Flower Kings--for, truly, stardust they are.