FLOWER POWER

"Flower Power", the fourth full-length release by Swedish prog rockers The Flower Kings, is a double-disc monster spanning over 141 minutes of music, and it is very much an album of two faces. One is sublime, the other is a disappointment.

Let's start with the positives. Disc 1 contains the beautiful multi-part suite "Garden of Dreams", which is unquestionably the high point of the album. At nearly one-hour long, this track stretches considerably the progressive muscles that the Swedes had already flexed on their previous record "Stardust We Are", which also contained some long-form compositions like the 25-minute title-track. But "Garden of Dreams" is on a whole different level. Divided into 18 sub-tracks, both instrumental and with vocals, this Bodin-Stolt composition is a phenomenal trip into a myriad of progressive rock styles, from jazz rock to blues to symphonic prog, from pastoral and ambient music to hard rock, to out-there full-blown prog extravaganza. These styles are all reinterpreted with personality and a modern feel, allowing The Flower Kings to move away from a mere "retro-prog" label and qualifying them as a modern progressive rock force. "Garden of Dreams" is extremely adventurous and exciting to listen to: it is cleverly composed, with themes and motifs that are reprised at multiple places throughout the piece, and it is played with panache and gusto. The music flows away seamlessly, blessed by that golden combination of complexity, depth and instant melodic accessibility that makes the hour of music pass away almost without one noticing it. It is a spellbinding piece of prog, and probably one of the crowning achievements in the band's career.

Then there is Disc 2 and the handful of tracks crammed at the end of Disc 1. I really struggle to find anything to my liking among these 13 tracks. Frankly, this collection of songs almost feels like the band decided to release all together the leftover tracks that they had accumulated in the recording sessions of the previous couple of albums. These songs continue to explore different styles of music, from pop-prog, to psychedelia, to symphonic prog rock. But the overall feel is much more chaotic and disjointed compared to the exquisite synthesis of prog styles on display in "Garden of Dreams". Most importantly, nearly all these tracks are melodically weak and fail to leave any lasting impression on me. I might just save "Corruption", which is the only song that has a vaguely memorable chorus, although it is really quite standard and nothing to write home about.

Overall, if "Flower Power" had been released as a single-disc album containing only "Garden of Dreams", I would easily rate this as one of the best Flower Kings' albums. The second disc, however, is truly a low point in the band's discography. The average of the two faces of this release is therefore a "mere" three stars. But please do not miss out on "Garden of Dreams", because it is absolutely amazing!