WALL STREET VOODOO

Leave it to Roine Stolt, the magnificent lead guitar/vocalist of the progressive-rock band The Flower Kings to release a solo album that is a double disc. It has become a common occurrence for him as a FLOWER KINGS member so why not a double solo album? The key of course is does he offer solid music to his listeners with this bountiful material? The answer is of course a resounding yes, what else would you expect me to say after covering every one of the TFK studio albums, Stolt's solo albums, and their first DVD, while raving every step of the way. This brings me around full circle and into an entirely different realm than what I have become accustomed to hearing from this man.

"Wall Street Voodoo" brings Stolt back to his roots, the classic rock, and blues he grew up with and found so inspirational. The music is very solid while the lyrics have a particularly cynical slant expressing his political and personal viewpoints. He is not radical in his views by any means, just honest and straightforward and I cannot argue his stance on many fronts. Titles like "Everyone Wants To Rule The World," "Sex Kills," "It's All About Money," and "Everybody Is Trying To Sell You Something" tells the tale of this story. The voodoo that Wall Street and all its capitalism trappings bring to the table come painted on a musical canvas that offer enthusiastic and eye opening honesty by the artist. One must hear these messages and understand where he is coming from to understand the meaning or concept if you will of this recording. It is not difficult to see that Stolt thinks our Western capitalism is the root of all that is evil, yet everyone desires it. The paradox is that bands from overseas find their way to stardom on this soil. I guess you could call it selling your soul to the devil. No worries for Stolt and his band however, as they have not become superstars, they have their own little niche in this world and his name is now synonymous with progressive rock. The success he enjoys is on a worldwide level while marinating a tremendous amount of anonymity, the best of both worlds.

This solo album is not anything like TFK music, so do not set yourself up for a letdown right out of the gate. This is blues-rock, and while Stolt does not play blistering Johnny Winter like licks throughout this album, he certainly does the genre justice. This was a cleansing of the soul for him and I am sure something he has wanted to do for a very long time. It will be interesting to see if TFK take on a new direction since the moth has turned into a butterfly and flown off in a new direction.

© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck-http://www.muzikreviews.com December 07, 2005