The Flower Kings
are a Swedish progressive rock group. Formed in August 1994 by veteran guitarist Roine Stolt as a touring band to support his solo album The Flower King
, [1] the band stayed together after the tour and have gone on to become one of the most prolific studio recording units in rock music of their era. In ten years they have released nearly 18 hours of music. Their music is similar to early symphonic progressive rock groups such as Yes, marked by sharp dynamic changes, polyrhythmics, heavy bass, vocal harmonies, abstract and occasionally nonsensical lyrics, and extended song lengths.
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THE FLOWER KINGS TICKETS
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History
The Flower Kings have seen frequent personnel changes. The original line-up for Stolt's solo album consisted of Stolt (
vocals,
electric guitar,
bass, and
keyboards),
Jaime Salazar (
drums), and
Hasse Fröberg (vocals). They later added
Michael Stolt on bass and Tomas Bodin on keyboards for the supporting tour. Michael Stolt was replaced by
Jonas Reingold in 2000,
and Jaime Salazar by
Zoltan Csörsz in 2002. Daniel Gildenlöw, previously of
Pain of Salvation joined the band the same year as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Zoltan Csörsz was replaced by new drummer Marcus Liliequist for several albums, but returned for the 2007 album,
The Sum of No Evil
. He was subsequently replaced by
Erik Hammarström in 2008.
[2]
In 2008,
Ola Heden, previously of Reingold's side project
Karmakanic, joined on guitar, vocals and keyboards.
Other contributors have included
Hasse Bruniusson (
percussion) and
Ulf Wallander (
saxophone).
Roine Stolt has written the vast majority of the material the band has recorded, with Bodin contributing most of the rest. The music is best described as symphonic progressive rock, bearing a strong resemblance to the music of
Yes,
King Crimson,
Gentle Giant, and early
Genesis, with
jazz fusion and
blues influences. The band's lyrics are almost uniformly positive and uplifting, affirming such values as love, peace, and spirituality, and furthering their association with Yes.
Their 1999 album
Flower Power
contains one of the longest progressive rock tracks ever recorded, the eighteen-section, nearly 60-minute "Garden of Dreams."
Roine Stolt recorded two albums with
supergroup Transatlantic, with members of
Dream Theater,
Spock's Beard, and
Marillion, in 2000 and 2001, with a third due to be released for late 2009.
[3] [4]
In June 2007 they released
The Road Back Home
, a compilation of remixed songs from 1994 to 2006, plus "Little Deceiver" (a previously unreleased track) and the full version of their cover of
Genesis' "
The Cinema Show."
In November 2008 the band were the opening act of the
Ecco Prog Fest in
Moscow.
Personnel
Current members
- Roine Stolt - guitar, vocals, keyboards, bass guitar (1995–present)
- Tomas Bodin - keyboards (1995–present)
- Hasse Fröberg - vocals, guitar (1995–present)
- Hasse Bruniusson - percussion (1995–present)
- Jonas Reingold - bass guitar (1999–present)
- Erik Hammarström - drums (2008–present)
- Ola Heden - vocals, keyboards, guitar (2008–present)
Former Members
- Michael Stolt - bass guitar (1995–1999)
- Jaime Salazar - drums (1995–2001)
- Zoltan Csörsz - drums (2001–2005; 2007)
- Daniel Gildenlöw - vocals, guitars, keyboards (2002–2004)
- Marcus Liliequist - drums (2005–2006)
Discography
Studio Albums
| Year
| Album
|
| 1994
| The Flower King
- Released: 1994
- Roine Stolt solo album
- Single CD
- Special artwork edition (single CD)
|
| 1995
| Back in the World of Adventures
|
| 1996
| Retropolis
|
| 1997
| Stardust We Are
|
| 1999
| Flower Power
- Released: Nov 16, 1999
- Double CD
- Japanese edition includes bonus tracks
|
| 2000
| Space Revolver
- Released: July 4, 2000
- Single CD
- Japanese edition (double CD) includes 5 bonus tracks
|
| 2001
| The Rainmaker
- Released: September 18, 2001
- Single CD
- Special limited edition (double CD) includes 6 bonus tracks + interactive section
|
| 2002
| Unfold the Future
- Released: November 5, 2002
- Double CD
- Limited edition (double CD digipack) includes 1 bonus track
|
| 2004
| Adam & Eve
- Released: August 3, 2004
- Single CD
- Japanese edition includes bonus tracks (double CD)
|
| 2006
| Paradox Hotel
- Released: April 4, 2006
- Double CD
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| 2007
| The Sum Of No Evil
- Released: September 25, 2007
- Single CD
- Special limited edition (double CD) includes 3 bonus tracks
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Live albums
- Alive On Planet Earth
(2000) (double live CD)
- Meet The Flower Kings
(2003) (double live CD and DVD, available separately or together)
- Instant Delivery
(2006) (double live DVD concert, limited edition includes double cd and booklet)
Limited Edition Official Bootlegs
- Édition Limitée Québec
(1998) (unreleased and live tracks)
- The Rainmaker Tour 2001
(downloadable from website, not commercially available)
- Live In New York - Official Bootleg
(2002)
- ''BetchaWannaDanceStoopid
|!'' (
2004)
- Carpe Diem - Live In USA 2006
(2008)
Fan Club Albums
- Fan Club 2000
(2000)
- Fan Club 2002
(2002)
- Fan Club 2004
(2004)
- Fan Club 2005 / Harvest
(2005)
Compilations
- Scanning the Greenhouse
(1998)
- The Road Back Home
(2007)
References
- The Flower Kings on Allmusic.com
- The Flower Kings on MySpace
- Transatlantic Reunite for New Studio Album!
- Transatlantic Flies Again!!!