AN ORDINARY NIGHT IN MY ORDINARY LIFE

I thoroughly enjoyed Tomas Bodin's 2002 album PINUP GURU, which included the best examples I'd heard of instrumental, keyboard-driven symphonic prog since the mid-1970s heyday of BRAIN SALAD SURGERY, THE STORY OF I and RICK WAKEMAN'S CRIMINAL RECORD. I wish I could say exactly the same about THIS album, released six years earlier, but unfortunately I cannot.

To be honest with you, AN ORDINARY NIGHT... certainly has its moments, and I think I'll be listening to the second half of the album for years to come. But throughout the first three or four tracks Bodin seems to be sleepwalking. Whenever he digs up his (fake) church organ, he merely uses it for effect; never for a special reason. Far too often he descends into B-movie soundtrack mode or cloying sentimentality. "Three Stories", the mini-epic which concludes the album, dissolves into a bolero which is obviously inspired by E.L.P.'s TRILOGY, but the bolero ends with a whimper, not with a bang... Besides - what's going on with Bodin's song titles??? "Entering the Spacebike", "Daddy in the Clouds", "In the Land of the Pumpkins" etc.: they mean precisely nothing.

It seems by the time of PINUP GURU Bodin had far more energy. His melodies became more inspired, his solos sounded much more urgent.

Nevertheless, even on AN ORDINARY NIGHT you'll find appetizing solos in the vein of Wakeman, Emerson, Moraz and Banks, accompanied with brio (sometimes in true "Classic Yes" style, as only the Flower Kings know how!) by Messrs. Stolt, Eriksson and Salazar. If you're a Flower Kings completist, you'll want this. But if you want to start with Bodin at his instrumental best, I suggest you try PINUP GURU first.