BACK IN THE WORLD OF ADVENTURES

Although technically the first album by the Flower kings, Back In the World of Adventures is probably viewed by many as the successor to The Flower King by Roine Stolt. It's not surprising, as Stolt is still the dominating power on this album, (a trait that would be more delegated to other members in future albums) having lead vocals on all songs. It's hard to blame him when the songs sound THIS good. He was definitely at his creative peak here.

Roine's contributions aside, we see a few new members aboard, most notably Stolt's brother Michael on bass, Jaime Salazar on drums, and Tomas Bodin as the keyboardist. Of the three, Bodin is the only one who has been on every album since The Flower King's inception.

The album is, not unlike most other Flower Kings compositions, very upbeat, melodically rich and cheerful. It opens with the epic title track, 'World of Adventures,' which is currently my favorite TFK song. The song gradually progresses from an upbeat intro accompanied by Roine's unique vocals, into one of the best melodic sections I've ever heard.

The second song, aptly named the 'Atomic Prince,' is an instrumental that literally evokes the feeling of royalty (that's Stolt for ya), before segueing into the slow yet beautiful 'Kaleidoscope.'

'Go West Judas,' the third track is just a straight up rocker with blazing guitar work, mostly in 7/4 (as much of this album is in).

This is followed by the slow 'Train to Nowhere' and the jazzy 'Oblivion Road'. Both are decent, highly atmospheric tracks, but pale in comparison to the next track 'Theme For a Hero', an energy-filled, melodic instrumental with top of the line performances from each instrument.

'Temple Of the Snakes' is an unnecessary track that could have been left out, or at least been a apart of the following song 'Cosmic Lower,' a psychedelic Beatles-esque pop tune.

'The Wonder Wheel' is a nice atmospheric tune and feeds very well into the final track "Big Puzzle" an end to the album that rivals the strength of the beginning.

Overall, this is probably the Flower Kings greatest offering. The musicianship is amazing and the album itself is void of any real filler, something which is problematic in many of their future albums. Simply put, the album lives up to its name, it truly is an Adventure.

9/10