STARDUST WE ARE

The Swedish symphonic/eclectic rock Neo Proggers begin their tradition of publishing far more music than one person can possibly ingest in one sitting (or even two!) covering so many styles that it becomes far too overwhelming to enjoy as a whole. The listener has to pick and choose one's song from the enormous variety offered instead of sitting down for an enjoyable 45 minute listen.

CD 1 (54:34) 1. "In The Eyes Of The World" (10:38) don't like this rhythm track style at all. (16.75/20)

2. "A Room With A View" (1:26) gentle keyboard interlude. (4.25/5)

3. "Just This Once" (7:53) a more tolerable sometimes even enjoyable style and construct. (13/15)

4. "Church Of Your Heart" (9:10) nice soundscape to open with but then the vocal/lyrics push me away. (Maybe it's just Roine Stolt's voice that drives me away.) Cute homage to Rick Wakemen ("Awaken") with the use of the solo pipe organ. Nice melodies, nice "gospel"-like finish. (17.5/20)

5. "Poor Mr. Rain's Ordinary Guitar" (2:43) rainstorm with two electrified acoustic guitars. Roine is no Will Ackerman or Chet Atkins. (4.25/5)

6. "The Man Who Walked With Kings" (4:59) organ arpeggi with acoustic guitar open this song in a very classical Xmas carol feeling. A nice song, actually--even when it goes rock 'n' roll. Great lead guitar work from Roine. (9.5/10)

7. "Circus Brimstone" (12:03) another example of the fact that listening to a RFK album is like channel surfing on Cable TV. I, for one, like a little more consistency in sound, style, or instrumentation (not necessarily all three) from an album. The first 2:30 are completely into horror film soundtrack à la GOBLIN, and then we get more rock-oriented like or even UNIVERS ZERO (a little). I like the little child-friendly passage in the sixth minute, but then things ramp back up. The third fourth gets a little angular but then we return to the rock (YES) orientation and more for teh final quarter. (22.5/25)

8. "Crying Clown" (0:57) truly a circus theme. Closes out the "Brimstone" song nicely. 9. "Compassion" (Actual song length is 4:45; hidden instrumental track follows) (8:40) - first song: weird effects (8.5/10)

- Second song is pure experimental electronica--like the beginning of Todd Rundgren's "Utopia Theme" gone rogue. (8.25/10)

CD 2 (71:41) 10. "Pipes Of Peace" (1:19) pipe organ solo. Kind of a prelude to the next song. (4.25/5) 11. "The End Of Innocence" (8:28) nice enough music led astray by the band's choice to focus on Roine's anæmic singing and lyrics. Also, the pace, while comforting at first for its ability to allow much to happen in its spaciousness, becomes tedious over its eight minute length. (Would that it's intriguing final 30 seconds had lead to something new and different.) (17/20)

12. "The Merrygoround" (8:17) trying to be YES. Too bad for the ridiculous lyrics. (17/20)

13. "Don Of The Universe" (7:02) timbales! chimes! Anthony Phillips-like acoustic 12-string guitar! sitar! Great beat and rich guitar chord progression. Almost an Ozrics sound--just a bit too slow. Great bass and saxophone. Instrumentals are where this band excel! (14.5/15)

14. "A Day At The Mall" (0:45) electronic piano from the county fair.

15. "Different People" (6:19) built around a laid back acoustic strum, it's a nice start but then why do they let this guy sing? Nice guitar solo in the middle. (8/10)

16. "Kingdom Of Lies" (5:48) I've noticed through the years that Roine and company have a little bit of an obsession with musical themes generally associated with the circus or carnival. Here, using an alternate vocalist gives the music a totally different (albeit 1980s hair band) feel. The music, once it's established, is a rather straightforward classic rock form with horse-trot bass and pacing, but it's solid, well-performed. (8.5/10)

17. "If 28" (2:15) solo piano notes played in a large, empty space. Great acoustic effect to this very pretty piece. (5/5)

18. "Ghost Of The Red Cloud" (4:37) mysteriously inviting instrumental choices are taken into another circus theme direction before taking on a kind of Rasta/Reggae rhythm flow. The slightly more impassioned vocal by Roine Stolt reminds me of Bruce Cockburn. As a matter of fact, the whole song does. (8.5/10)

19. "Hotel Nirvana" (1:49) moody synth note and small "strings" chords prep the listener for the arrival of some dramatic acoustic guitar play (two channels). Like something out of the soundtrack to a Spaghetti Western. (5/5)

20. "Stardust We Are" (25:02) one of the places TFK excells in the creation and performance of its long-playing epics. (45.5/50) = 9.1

Total Time: 126:15

My other problem with a lot of TFK music is the lack of connect to the lyrics: the words/messages are just too hoky--they work too damn hard for some kind of profundity.

B/four stars (Disc One a low four stars; Disc Two 4.5 stars--a near-masterpiece); a collection of varied symphonic prog rock music that would be an nice addition to any prog lover's music collection.