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"Whether you like complexity or are annoyed by the bewildering nature of the compositions, you will be at least intrigued or at worst frustrated by “Love”, where the Flower Kings demonstrate their usual refusal of monotony."
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4/5
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It's not easy to enter the world of the Flower Kings! For over thirty years now, under the leadership of founder and guitarist Roine Stolt, the Swedes have been producing eclectic and sometimes complex progressive music. With a stable line-up over the last few albums, the band's “Love” follows in the footsteps of previous albums.
The Flower Kings clearly have no intention of changing their ways: a very copious menu (over 76 minutes!), an immediately identifiable style both vocally and instrumentally, strongly reminiscent of Yes through Hasse Fröberg's tessitura, the very present bass playing and the disjointed nature of the compositions. The Swedes don't like monotony, which will obviously suit fans of progressive music, but they unfurl tracks that go off in all directions, like the opener ‘We Claim to the Moon’, which immediately gives the impression of a well-organized mess: the musicians are impeccably in place and exude the pleasure of playing together, the arrangements invade every space and there's an appreciable variety in the choice of sounds, the whole not hesitating to dive into unexpected jazzy or fairground parts.
The flip side of the coin is that the style exposes the listener to a loss of continuity that makes it hard to get to grips with: a short track like ‘World Spinning’ moves from the Genesis-like intro to synths reminiscent of Peter Bardens (Camel), ‘Kaiser Razor’ gambols over an odd rhythm with a beautiful freedom of tone, and even ‘The Elder’, with its 11-minute running time, is constantly baffling, leaving the listener with the impression of not having been able to identify a unifying theme. It's not until the excellent closing track ‘Considerations’ that we're treated to a true guitar solo.
Obviously, with an hour and a quarter of music, “Love” is not exempt from dispensable surpluses: “The Rubble”, “The Phoenix” or “The Promise”, placed in the middle of the album, act as soft underbelly. On the other hand, the title track ‘Love’ effectively revives the machine with a beautiful evolution in a pure progressive spirit. And then there's the slightly heavy-handed guitar effects (‘Walls of Shame’) and the slightly overplayed vocal interpretation (‘The Promise’), all of which are little annoyances (subjective) that somewhat limit the listening pleasure.
So, as is often the case with The Flower Kings, the listener leaves “Love” with a certain frustration, caught between the obvious quality of the musicians' playing, the discontinuity of the tracks and the undoubted potential of the compositions. The naturally curious progressive fan will be well advised to take an interest, however, as there's plenty of good stuff to discover on “Love”, despite its irregular appearance. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. We Claim The Moon
02. The Elder
03. How Can You Leave Us Now!?
04. World Spinning
05. Burning Both Edges
06. The Rubble
07. Kaiser Razor
08. The Phoenix
09. The Promise
10. Love Is
11. Walls Of Shame
12. Considerations
LINEUP:
Hans Fröberg: Chant
Lalle Larson: Claviers / Piano
Michael Stolt: Chant / Basse
Mirko Demaio: Batterie / Percussions
Roine Stolt: Chant / Guitares / Ukulele
Aliaksandr Yasinski: Invité / Accordéon
Hasse Bruniusson: Invité / Percussions
Jannica Lund: Chant / Invité
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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Top of the page
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(1) COMMENT(S)
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READERS
3/5 (1 view(s))
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STAFF:
4/5 (4 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH THE FLOWER KINGS
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LAST INTERVIEW
THE FLOWER KINGS (OCTOBER 2020)
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The unstoppable Flower Kings took advantage of a creative confinement that allowed them to release a new album, "Islands". Meeting with the leader of the band, Roine Stolt.
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OTHER REVIEWS
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT THE FLOWER KINGS
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