BETCHAWANNADANCESTOOPID!!

ehh... What can be said about a record containing only live improvisations from a prog band? To me, prog music is (mostly) synonymous with structured music, often with complex textures, rhythm changes etc. Don't get e wrong - real musicianship invites improvisations - often long improvised sections, but within a rather stuctured framework (just check out Yes or ELP!) Here, the improvisations seem overly self-indulgent and pointless. I can't find any musical directions on this record, and believe me, 1 hr+ of noodling can get more than a little tiresome. For hardcore FK fans this is probably a scoop - all Flower King members are exccellent musicians and get plenty of space to show off. For the rest of the prog world - you won't miss much if you leave this one in the shelf next time you see it.

BetchaWannaDanceStoopid - More improvised & irritating dancemusic for your collection

Well, this is certainly not dancemusic; but definitely irritating. A complete disc packed with improvised livemusic by the Flower Kings. Is this what the world waited for? Definitely not! Nevertheless this 'album' was (and still is) fun listening to because the band seems to enjoy this kind of music a lot. Taken from the 'Official Bootleg Archives', Roine Stolt offers 5 recordings of surprisingly good quality, recorded at the Tribecca Grand Hotel NYC in 2003. As well as 2 bonus tracks of inferior quality recorded at the Hamilton Street Café NJ, also in 2003. Everybody who has ever seen them live knows what a great liveband the Flower Kings are, this disc certainly confirms this point.

The featured improvisations vary from Flower Kings typical Retroprog to Rock'n'Roll, Jazzrock/Fusion and even some coversongs, mainly instrumental. Roine Stolt offers awesome soloing. His best one in "This is the Night", my favorite song. "Betchawanna" features "Daytripper" by the Beatles, it fits quite good I think. The band seems to love Beatles songs for "I am the Walrus" was an inherent part of their last tour. Jonas and Zoltan show their talent in "Bellydancers from Hell", a 10 minute long collaboration of bass, drums and percussion. Jonas includes a Hendrix riff (at least that's what it seems to be) in his solo just before Zoltan and Daniel Gildenlöw attach a duett for the second half of the song, very interesting. The last song of the first set, called "Don't forget to Flush" is a very funny bridgeover. Roine's interjection "Even rockstars like Zoltan need to go to the restroom" says it all. The quality of the bonus tracks declines weighty, now you can hear that it's a just bootleg and no elaborate live-recording. The songs are similar to the ones of the first set, maybe a bit more powerful (apart from the sound quality).

Well, the statement on the back of the album draws a good conclusion: "For the completist and improlover". Nevertheless, I think that the album deserves more than two stars because of the listening pleasure. I really liked the improvised music, I think similar songs would be a good alternative for the filler material featured on the studio albums. An interesting and sometimes quite weird disc, I really liked it although it's nothing important. Don't take it too serious, just have some fun listening...

Okay, so it might not have been a great idea to seperate the improvs from the songs. But I think it works pretty well overall. Especially the 18 minute Betchawanna with it's stylized interpretation of Daytripper sounding uncannilly like the Grateful Dead at times (I know, probably a comment that will turn off many proggers.......but for me, it was a pleasant surprise). A couple tracks (This is the night for instance) are a bit too obviously disconnected from the songs they belong to and just don't work as well as stand alone jams. The rest is worth hearing for the die hard fan. So don't take my 2 star rating to mean it is not good, because for me at least, it is a worthwhile addition to the collection. But if you are not a fairly big fan of this band, this is not something to dive into. Definetly for fans and collectors only, though it is quite good to have for those people (I am one :)

Good musicians playing directionless music produced a directionless record. Useless music. Whether you are a TFK fan or not. No emotion, no passion : tasteless. Not even experimental.

Actually, this long album (remember this is TFK) could be twice as long as three times shorter : it wouldn't change since there is basically no "song" format.

The opener "The Bridge Fetish" is absolutely dreadful. The "short" next song "This is the Night" is probably the only bearable one unless you are going to fall into extasy while waiting for the "Daytripper" moment during the awfully long "Betchawanna". What a big deal !!!

Several looooooong minutes (eight or so) that will remind you the same notes from this "Beatles" song, converted into a jazzy and poor improvisation. Not to speak about the moment when the vocals enter the scene. Fantastically weak. Did you say regressive rock ? I am not even sure that the reference of this song was a sales argument since it is difficult to buy this release (but who the hell would buy this ?).

Even the "promise" of "More improvised & irritating dance music for your collection" mentioned on the back cover won't be fulfilled (many thanks since I just hate dance music).

"Bellydancers From Hell" is extremely boring. Jazz noises all the way through. While "Don't Forget to Flush" has not even funny lyrics since it is an instrumental track (can't talk about a song, really). Boring to death as the next one : a bonus track ! As if we need bonus tracks of that stuff !

Through my reviewing process, I thought I had hard times. But "Abacab", "Union", "Talk" or "Open Your Eyes", some Santana, Uriah Heep, ELO, Kansas or ELP stuff I have rated with one star are masterpieces in comparison with this one.

Just ignore this of course. I just figured out that I have been losing over an hour of my time...One star (and this is overated).

An Excellent Music Improvisations Record!

Please note that two stars rating does not mean that the record is poor or bad but it's for fans and collectors only. So if I give it with two stars it does not mean that this record is not good at all for me, it's the other way around, I do enjoy this live improvisations from geniuses who engage in The Flower Kings plus one gentleman from Pain of Salvation: Daniel Gildenlow. As far as structure, you won't find something "planned" because as in the case of improvisations, usually the music happens as the members of the band play their respective instruments, they let their mind flows as freely as possible and transmit them into their fingers or hands that finally make a music. Do not underestimate this kind of working mechanism because from jamming usually musicians would find their compositions. Typical example is for Black Sabbath, the heavy metal band, which composed their first four albums through jam session among members. But The Flower Kings is not Black Sabbath, I know, and most of these songs played here would not make into structured songs in their later releases; but some segments might influence their later compositions.

As far as you let your mind open, freely, throughout your journey with this free-flow music, you might find these pieces of music entertaining and probably mind-boggling in some ways. For me personally, I really enjoy this record from the opening jam session "The Bridge Fetish" (12:56) which demonstrates excellent guitar solo by Stolt combined with tight bass lines by one of the best bass players in prog music: Jonas Reingold and acrobatic drumming by Zoltan Czörsz. The stunning guitar solo is even longer and much attractive under second track "This is the Night" (6:59); so entertaining. In "BetchaWanna (Daytripper)" (18:05) the improvisations by each member of the band revolve around The Beatles "Day Tripper" which played very differently from the original version. Of course the melody is in some segments are kept similar with the original but the groove and nuances it builds are totally different as it's now like a jazzy tune than a pop rock music.

Overall, I recommend this CD to those of you who can let your mind open and let the music flows in its free way into your mind and heart. You might find it entertaining and enjoyable. I find it enjoyable especially in relatively long guitar solo, or keyboard interlude by Tomas Bodin. The players have let their skills blend together into these pieces of arrangements. It's an excellent record! Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Okay, so it might not have been a great idea to separate the improvs from the songs. But I think it works pretty well overall. Especially the 18 minute Betchawanna with it's stylized interpretation of Daytripper sounding uncannily like the Grateful Dead at times (I know, probably a comment that will turn off many proggers.......but for me, it was a pleasant surprise).

A couple tracks (This is the Night for instance) are a bit too obviously disconnected from the songs they belong to and just don't work as well as stand alone jams. The rest is worth hearing for the die hard fan. So don't take my 2 star rating to mean it is not good, because for me at least, it is a worthwhile addition to the collection. But if you are not a fairly big fan of this band, this is not something to dive into.

Definitely for fans and collectors only, though it is quite good to have for those people (I am one :)