THE FLOWER KING

A fine disc to own if you are a fan of Ronnie and the Flower Kings. Although its a solo album, it has all the trappings of a Flower Kings album. It is heavy on Ronnie's guitar and light on keyboards, you won't miss it much because the arrangements are top-notch. The first song, 'The Flower King' has everything a Flower Kings fan would want; good singing by Ronnie and Hans, fiery guitar and catchy lyrics. Excellent all the way through! There are a few instrumentals and Camelesque songs, but my favorite is "The Sounds Of Violence". Its your typical Stolt song, but I really like the middle section, hyper and speeded up it makes up for the silly lyrics. The album does have one massive song, "Humanizzimo", alittle too long for my taste. It loses its way half through, but ends nicely; again a Camel-like song. The last song reprises the first bookending the album nicely. Overall a pleasant album that all Flower Kings fans should own. For all you others who may not own a disc by the group, this would be a nice start. Not as risky as some of the early albums and not as heavy as the later. Its a safe album: 3.5 stars rounded to 4.