MUSIC REVIEW: The Flower Kings - Flower Power

"Prog rock. Lots of it."

The obvious highlight of this 2CD set is the massive suite "Garden of Dreams." Normally, this would be enough to satisfy the material for one album, but the Flower Kings better the package with another 80 or so minutes of music. A great deal, at the very least.

The 60-minute epic "Garden of Dreams" is divided into eighteen parts, and they run the aural gamut with countless musical styles. Gothic orchestral moments, straight ahead crass rock n' roll, virtuoso insanity, even some light opera (!), and way more. The suite is easily faulted for a lack of focus...even after several listens you won't pick up any musical or lyrical themes tying it all together. It just seems to disjointed overall. Nonetheless, taking each part on its own, the bits are pretty good. Recall every progressive rock cliché in the world, and you'll see that "Garden of Dreams" exemplifies all of them. Whether that's good or bad is up to you. Personally, I would have preferred a bit more unity or natural 'flow' to give "Garden of Dreams" the feel of a cohesive song.

To many "Garden of Dreams" will be the highlight, but the rest of the album's material is good enough to capture one's attention. Disc 2's eclectic collection of tunes has a lot of great stuff, but I suspect that some people won't like everything that's offered. It's plain to see that the Flower Kings are a peppy bunch, going for positive, happy progressive music over the turgid drama of some other prog artists. The silly ballad "Magic Pie" is delightfully serene (completely weird lyrics though), "Deaf, Numb & Blind's" tempo changes and Eastern chord progressions are fun, while "Stupid Girl" features a great jam moment at the end of song. These are just some of the highlights. There are countless more, but I don't want to get carried away.

As with most prog bands, all of FK's musicians are very tight. Main songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Roine Stolt excels in the art of songcraft. He has a prog musician's knack for complexity and a pop producer's sense of melody. The album is brimming with catchy moments. Even though the lyrics are generic, even silly, in the context of the songs they work. One unique point about the Flower Kings is their use of two lead vocalists, Stolt and Hans Froberg. While Froberg is certainly the better singer, Stolt's vocal stylings are more suited to rock music, while Froberg's voice fits better for the mellower moments (like "Magic Pie" and part 8 of "Garden of Dreams"). I feel that this mix makes certain moments of the Flower Kings' music much more effective.

A good album, but it's very tough to take it all in...after all, there's a lot of material here. For those who love prog-style excesses, great playing, and catchy songs, The Flower Kings have your number. If you're trying this band out for the first time, I recommend starting with one of the band's shorter albums, like Space Revolver or maybe Retropolis. Or just go hardcore and check out my favorite of theirs, the other double-album Stardust We Are.