One of my son Andrew’s favorite bands is (are sounds better) The Flower Kings Over the years, I’ve listen a few times to their albums and have found them to be just ok. After listening to their latest release, Desolation Rose I am reconsidering my assessment and may just have to go back and listen to the other albums from these guys. Hell at their website I read….
They are regarded by many as one of the leading, if not THE leading, progressive rock outfit of the new millennium. The Flower Kings are led by progrock icon, guitarist, vocalist, composer, producer Roine Stolt into a world of unlimited musical fantasy and flair. Playing it’s first ever live date in August 1994 as a result of the interest in Stolt’s solo album “The Flower King”, the band quickly became somewhat of a phenomenon in the progressive rock community for everyone that once loved bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis, Zappa, UK, Utopia, Yes, ELP, King Crimson or Focus. The band quickly finished the first proper band recording “Back In The World Of Adventures” released 1995 on it’s own label “Foxtrot Records” and played shorter tours in Europe the same year, the ball started rolling…just a bit. Building on the success of albums like “Retropolis” & the already classic double CD’s “Stardust We Are” and “Flower Power” they toured Europe, Japan & South America and started to build a worldwide following. Continue Reading
Ok so what about their new album . So far I’ve listened to the album a couple of times and I am really enjoying the album!! Here’s what Roine Stolt of the band said about the album back in September:
“Being somewhat of a political statement, the epic theme of “Desolation Rose” is a logical step in a time where perpetual war, famine, environmental threats, religious conflicts dominate the media and our minds. This is a time to wake up and the music on this album takes you on a journey where you are forced to questions what the mainstream media feed us and to rethink your whole world view on all of the above. This is in many ways a typical Flower Kings album but we have also taken it into another realm where we do take chances and where you may struggle to get into the music – or the lyrics – but trust me when I say that you will be rewarded, as this may be our most involved, important and interesting album ever.”
Sources and Links
Artist Website Facebook Myspace Reverbrnation IPhonw.Android App Here’s the official lyric video for the song “Desolation Road”