Here we are: at the end. The Flower Kings played their last shows in 2015 and, while it's never impossible, a return seems unlikely. Roine Stolt certainly hasn't shown any interest in reviving the band – although he hasn't shut the idea down. A career-spanning solo tour might be in the works as soon as The Sea Within's tour ends, which should be interesting. Jonas Reingold has moved from Sweden to Austria, but he and Roine still collaborate frequently. Hasse Fröberg is happily fronting his own band. Tomas Bodin, meanwhile, has developed a rather severe case of tinnitus that left him unable to perform. As long as he doesn't recover (and it goes without saying that I really hope he does, regarldless of whether TFK will re-unite) it seems unlikely that we'll be hearing more from The Flower Kings any time soon.
Roine Stolt's star hasn't been waning, however. If anything, it has risen even more: he made an album with Jon Anderson and toured with Steve Hackett. He's rubbing shoulders with the big boys now. He has taken his rightful place as one of the great living progressive rock musicians, winning him yet more new admirers in the process.
So maybe some renewed interest in The Flower Kings was inevitable. Thomas Waber, the boss at InsideOut, certainly seems to have taken note. The decision to release a career-spanning boxset was probably his as much as Roine's.
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| No, YOU'RE a dinosaur! |
The boxset raises two questions. First: Why isn't The Flower King included? Second: Why did I buy this? I already have all the albums, after all.
I don't know the answer to the first one. I have many answers to the second.
Quite apart from just having all the albums at a very reasonable price (especially for an InsideOut release) and supporting your favourite band, there's some new goodies the fans might like. The main attraction here is the brand new 2017 remaster of Unfold The Future, The Flower Kings' crowning achievement (this version also recently came out on vinyl). Also, there's a big booklet containing interviews with Roine, plus all the lyrics to all the songs. Also, I just wanted to end this series on a high note.
Playing all the albums in order reveals a band that was always in flux. Sure, they had that unmistakable Flower Kings style from the beginning. Listen how confident “World Of Adventures” sounds! But they did evolve, they did progress. Tomas Bodin became a more confident songwriter over time; moving from his Bodinterludes to contributing lots of music to “Garden of Dreams” to writing his first lyrics for Unfold The Future. Hasse Fröberg becomes much more prominent as a singer as times go by. The songwriting becomes more focused; from the generalized and spiritual to the much more specific, aware and poignant. And the band turns from Roine Stolts's backing band into an ever more tight-knit unit. Even an album like The Rainmaker, the dark horse in the discography, fits perfectly into this narrative.
Space Revolver, at the turn of the milennium, is probably the turning point. So much co-incides in that one album. It was the first album they released under the famed InsideOut-label, which remains their ally to this day. It was the first album with Jonas Reingold on board. It was also the first album that came out after the formation of Transatlantic; a band that has done so much to bring the prog community together in the early Internet age, and probably sent a lot of new fans Roine's way.
“Black and White” and “Devil's Playground” have also been completely re-worked. “Devil's Playground”, if you can believe it, is actually over five minutes shorter. A big chunk is cut from the middle, basically the entire “subdued” section of the epic, making the song much more energetic and to the point. That fantastic guitar solo at the end gets a very hyped-up reworking. And guess what? Daniel Gildenlöw has actually shown up to re-record his vocals! That's awesome. After all these years, he's still an honorary Flower King. I'm still not sure if I prefer this to the original, but it's a great version of this song to have.
The new version of “Black And White” sounds a bit more bombastic but the bass, which is really the lead instrument on that track, has been mixed more to the back to give the rest a little more space. This one just seems to have been messed around with for the heck of it.
The rest of the album hasn't been changed quite as dramatically as that, but there's still a noticable difference. The new version strips away layers and effects, while adding new ones, and puts all the voices and instruments in your face. It certainly makes it easier to follow, and easier to appreciate the musicianship on display (especially from Reingold and Csörsz). It also rocks harder. It is especially the new version of “Silent Inferno” that gets our “most improved” award. Roine manages to draw even more menace and even more swing from that song.
“Monkey Business”, “Vox Humana” and “Grand Old World” were also featured on The Road Back Home, and they sound very similar to the takes from the 2007 compilation (to the point that I think they might be the same versions). Hasse re-recorded his vocals for “Vox” back in 2007, and they sound a little warmer.
All in all, there's no escaping the fact that, while Roine certainly has done a thorough job, Unfold The Future always sounded fine. The new version aims to fix what was never broke. It's interesting to have two such wildly different takes on the same album, but if Roine is going to remaster more of his old material, I'm probably going to give it a miss.
The other albums are the good old versions we know and love. Roine probably only had time to remaster one album. Even oddities like the weird bonus track at the end of “Compassion” on Stardust We Are are still there. If you have bought this boxset while not knowing much about The Flower Kings, boy oh boy. You've got your work cut out for you. This is a lot of music. If only you knew a guy who has written an extensive series of reviews to guide you through all this…
If you are a proghead who's curious after The Flower Kings, this is for you. If you are relativey new to The Flower Kings and you are ready to hit the deep end, this is for you. If you're a casual fan with some gaps in the collection, this is for you. If you're a die-hard fan who needs to own everything Roine Stolt puts out (good luck with that), this is definitely for you. If you already have all the albums and don't really need a new version of Unfold The Future, only then do you have my permission to skip out on this. The boxset, like I said, is very reasonably priced and you get a LOT of bang for your buck.
The second boxset, covering Adam & Eve to Desolation Rose, as well as three disks of bonus material, will come out later this year. I may or may not buy it. I may or may not review it. For now, this is the end of the series.
I set out wrtiting this series mostly as an exersice for myself. I love writing, I love writing about music and I wanted to keep myself writing – if only to keep me from getting rusty. I didn't originally intend to publish it, but once I felt comfortable that what I had was an accurate reflection of my feelings, I decided to go through with it. I've noticed other people wrote retrospectives about bands like Genesis and Yes, and I've always enjoyed those. Surely, TFK belongs in the list of the greats by now? My TFK retrospective ended up maybe a bit longer than these things typically are, but I don't mind. It's quite fitting for a maximalist band like The Flower Kings.
It's been tons of fun to write this series, and more fun still to see all the great reactions. I want to thank everybody who read this and everybody who weighed in, and give a shout out especially to Stenn (AKA Art Rock SRS), who gave his own thoughts on the studio albums and gave some much-needed attention to all the bonus material – something I've intentionally neglected to do. Most of the information on the band history, as well as some anecdotes, came from liner notes, interviews and Hasse Fröberg's blog. If anyone feels I've misreprestented any events, don't hesitate to contact me. I'm a reasonable chap, and easy enough to find.
I don't know where ProgRama will be going forward. Last year I reviewed my top ten albums of the year and I will probably do the same this year. As for my next big project… I've a few ideas but I'm alwas open to suggestion. For now, this is Niels saying goodnight… goodbye… auf wiedersehen!
INDEX
Preface
Studio Albums
0: The Flower King
1: Back In The World of Adventures
2: Retropolis
3: Stardust We Are
4: Flower Power
5: Space Revolver
6: The Rainmaker
7: Unfold The Future
8: Adam & Eve
9: Paradox Hotel
10: The Sum Of No Evil
11: Banks Of Eden
12: Desolation Rose
Live Albums & Videos
Alive On Planet Earth
Meet The Flower Kings
BrimStoned in Europe
Instant Delivery
Tour Kaputt
Compilations
Scanning The Greenhouse
The Road Back Home
A Kingdom Of Colours (You Are Here)
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