DVD Review: The Flower Kings - Meet The Flower Kings

I was not really aware of The Flower Kings until after hearing and seeing Roine Stolt perform with the prog-rock supergroup Transatlantic in 2000. His brilliant guitar playing and distinctive lead vocal contributions on their epic debut album SMPT was some of the most refreshing stuff I had heard in a long time. Little did I know that The Flower Kings were one of Sweden's best bands, and with the quality and quantity of great progressive music coming out of that fine country lately, that is saying volumes.

Meet The Flower Kings was recorded at the Stadsteater in the band's hometown of Upsalla, Sweden, on February 10th, 2003. This is not a true live concert, but more of a live studio performance with only a handful of invited guests in attendance. The small audience is never really included in the filming and were apparently told to shut the hell up during the performances, which kills any trace of live concert atmosphere to speak of. To give you an idea of what to expect from these guys, there are only six songs performed, but they total a staggering two and a half hours! Now clean up the drink you just sprayed all over your keyboard. That's par for the course with this band, as most of their albums are double-length behemoths that often get bogged down by too much filler. The Flower Kings are not an easy listen, and require a lot of patience to get through some of the longer songs - which are the majority.

The performance kicks off with the epic (I swear to only use that word this one time) "The Truth Will Set You Free," the 31-minute suite that opens their 2002 album Unfold the Future. This baby is progressive-rock at its most indulgent—jaw-dropping musicianship, overwhelming emotionality, and more time signatures than in an ordinary band's entire catalog. To me, the song meanders on too long and would have benefited from at least a ten minute pruning. Along with the five regular Flower Kings onstage are Pain Of Salvation frontman Daniel Gildenlöw adding some extra guitar, keys, percussion, and his incredible vocal range. Also joining them are Hasse Bruniusson of the band Flying Flood Circus with some extra percussion and vocals. With these seven virtuosos up there, they are able to easily recreate, and often surpass, the complex arrangements of their most challenging studio work.

The program alternates between song performances and behind-the-scenes footage. This was one of those rare occasions where I didn't really mind, considering the length of each song. For instance, "Garden Of Dreams," the 18-part, 60-minute monstrosity that kicks off their 1999 album Flower Power is up next, but they are kind enough to slice it up into a 27-minute Part 1, and a 17-minute Part 2, which are separated by more behind-the-scenes stuff. Don't let the length frighten you though because this one is a stunner. They somehow manage to mix in the sounds of James Taylor, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, and Al DiMeola into one song. Yeah, that's who they sound like. Roine Stolt shares frontman duties with guitarist/vocalist Hans Fröberg who has a more ordinary, but pleasant-sounding voice. Stolt's vocals have a rather nasally, lounge singer-like quality and he tends to over-enunciate everything, but he still manages to be very appealing. He is truly unique.

Article Author: Paul Roy

Paul Roy is a network administrator by day and amateur music DVD critic by night. When not attending as many live concerts as he possibly can, Paul likes nothing more than to kick back with a good concert DVD and rattle some walls. …

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