RETROPOLIS

The beauty of The Flower Kings albums is always full of everything progressive rock fans adore about the genre. There are virtuosity, creativity, dense musical textures, memorable tunes and beautiful and spiritually uplifting lyrics. And fans will also find moments in which they are reminded of the sounds of the first generation progressive rock bands but without questioning them.

The band indeed has a knack to combine great elements from past bands, their influences, and yet come up with their signature sounds. This album is no exception. From the second track, a mighty instrumental, "Retropolis" to the last track "The Road Back Home" we can hear snippets of Pink Floyd, Rush, Genesis, Yes and other stuff. But each of them is so unique, with intense and forceful interplays between keyboardist Tomas Bodin and guitarist Roine Stolt, who also showing off magnificent solo passages.

Composition-wise, this album offers powerful songs -- even the shortest cuts, "Rhythm of Life" and "Romancing the City", are so convincing. This is by no means easy listening, but it becomes more rewarding with each attempt. The highlights are "Retropolis", "Rhythm of the Sea", "There Is More to This World", "Silent Sorrow" and "The Judas Kiss". Yes, it is an extravaganza.

This album deserves to be at the same place with the following stronger effort "Stardust We Are" and the beautifully recorded opus "Space Revolver", and therefore is a must- have for progressive rock fans.