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Unfold The Future
 When
Roine Stolt and The Flower Kings released “Stardust We Are” in 1997, some in the
prog scene hailed it as the ultimate Third Wave prog album – the best of the genre
since the golden First Wave of prog in 1972 through 1974 that saw such landmarks as
Yes’ “Close to the Edge,” Genesis’ “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” and King
Crimson’s “Red.” Unimpressed, Stolt and The Flower Kings followed that up with
“Flower Power” and its 60 minute “uber-epic “Garden of Dreams” the following year.
Since then, though, Stolt has launched on a searing campaign of self-examination
that has resulted in the deconstruction and reconstruction of the band. In the
process out have gone Michael Stolt – Roine’s brother – on bass and original Flower
King, Jaime Salazar, on drums. Each departure has been accompanied by a perfectly
believable – and likely accurate – story: Michael Stolt’s “day job” precluded
touring and Jaime Salazar and the band had musical differences. But the deeper truth
was that to surpass “Stardust We Are” Stolt knew perfectly well that he demanded
more out of his Flower Kings. And now he has gotten it. “Unfold The Future” finally
brings The Flower Kings close to fulfilling their potential. Until now there have
been two sets of Flower Kings – the studio band and the live band. Now, those two
are one.
The album announces its intentions from the opening bars of the first track, “The
Truth Will Set You Free.” Is this Yes? Is it jazz? The answer to each of the
questions is in the affirmative: it is both; indeed, the overall impression is not
entirely unlike the Grateful Dead. There is an open looseness and yet a sense of
purpose. Within a very few bars the album has already set up the duality dynamic
that will dominate the album: prog v. jazz.
Before long, though, “The Truth Will Set You Free” resolves into the best Yes song
that Yes never recorded – albeit it is more of a Yes from “Going For The One” onward
than the Yes of “Close to the Edge.” The vocal harmonies are unmistakable – indeed
Hasse Froberg’s voice, at times, could be easily mistaken for Jon Anderson’s. Even
Jonas Reingold’s bass has a treble dominance that sounds suspiciously like a
Rickenbacker. Half an hour later, as the song ends, the listener is left with the
overwhelming impression that this song will be a fixture in the band’s live set for
years to come.
But while “The Truth Will Set You Free” is, no doubt, a classic Flower Kings track
there is a difference. And that difference, quite specifically, is the two “new”
Flower Kings; the ones who replaced Michael Stolt and Jaime Salazar: Jonas Reingold
and Zoltan Csörsz. Reingold and Csörsz both bring to the band a solid jazz training
and background; both play with remarkable fluidity. What strikes one first in
Reingold’s bass work on the album is the sheer cascade of notes. What lingers,
though, is the surpassing harmonic inventiveness. Csörsz’s playing, too, is marked
by two seemingly contradictory features: astonishing technical prowess that is only
exceeded by his feel for the groove.
Almost lost in the analysis is the simple fact of how good the album – and
particularly the rhythm section – sounds. While it is impossible to talk about The
Flower Kings without talking about Roine Stolt, it is easy to forget that in
addition to being the primary writer, guitarist and one of the lead vocalists – he
also is the band’s producer. That is a fact that is made all the easier to forget
because of the fact that Stolt credits the production on all of the albums to the
pseudonymous “Don Azzaro.” Mr. Azzaro/Stolt has done a remarkable job here. The
first difference one notices about the sound on this album compared with the sound
on previous Flower Kings efforts is the drums. Part of this is the change in
drummer. While Salazar was notorious for not caring for his drumkit – Stolt has
written that he’s not sure that Salazar ever tried to properly tune his kit – Czörsz
is a fanatic. He changes his drumheads more often then some people change underwear.
But that is not all. The mixing on the album is masterful. While there is a
tremendous amount going on at any given moment on the album everything is crystal
clear. Every instrument is in its own pocket. While Reingold’s bass never stops –
and is quite evident in the mix – it never interferes with any of the other
instruments. Stolt achieves the bass clarity without drowning out anyone else.
While elements of the jazz are evident throughout the album, they finally emerge
into full view on the album’s fourth track, “Christianopel,” penned by Csörsz,
Reingold, Bodin and Stolt. The song begins with fractured, melodic and rhythmic
figures roiling just above the surface, some of those figures drawn from elsewhere
on the album (such as the majestic final song, “Devil’s Playground’), others from
childhood memory. The instrumentalists pick up these figures, turn them, examine
them – as a Picasso or Georges Bracques would examine the human figure employing
analytical cubism. Ultimately the musical bits coalesce into an electric jazz piece
that is not entirely unlike Village Vanguard-era John Coltrane. It is thrilling
stuff.
“Silent Inferno” explodes out of the headiness of “Christianopel,” a classic Flower
Kings track that would be perfectly in place on “Retropolis” or “Stardust We Are.”
But even so there’s a difference. Instead of progressing linearly, as does
“Stardust” or even “Garden of Dreams,” “Silent Inferno” evolves away from the prog
and toward the jazz world. This time instead of Coltrane or Miles Davis, what
emerges is a fusion jam that does not sound entirely unlike Return to Forever. It is
an evolution that is largely unprecedented in the prog cannon – with, quite
possibly, vintage UK as the only point of reference.
The album continues alternating between classic Flower Kings tunes like the rocking
“Genie in a Bottle” and jazzier numbers like “Soul Vortex” before culminating in the
remarkable “Devil’s Playground.” The album closer opens with a dark figure that is
reminiscent of the beginning of Brahms’ 1st Symphony, before the overture flows into
an Enid-like section, then the piece blows wide open. What emerges is a classic
Flower Kings album-closer – a gradually evolving and building prog piece. But where
the listener expects a grand finale in the nature of an orgasmic release (as in
“Stardust We Are Part III”) there is a difference here. Instead of resolving through
such classically prog means as that, at almost exactly the 20:00 minute mark the
song takes a left turn back into the jazz realm. A minute later, Reingold’s bass
pulls the song back into progland. The resulting effect is an integration.
As Stolt’s guitar soars in the final outro, floating over Reingold’s bass, the
realization takes hold: these are not two different creatures. These are not two
different sets of Flower Kings. The two bands – the prog group and the jazz combo,
the studio Kings and the concert Kings – are one.
Rating: 9.5 keyboards
Reviewer: MICHAEL GARDINER
Visit the artist website:
The Flower Kings
Honors: Progressive Rock album of the month for November
Discography
 The
Flower King (Roine Stolt)
Back
in the World of Adventures (1995)
Retropolis
(1996)
Stardust
We Are (1997/2000)
Scanning
The Greenhouse (comp) (1998)
Edition
Limitée Quebec (1998)
only 700 copies!
Unnamed
3-track EP (1998)
given away free at Japanese concerts; incl
"She Cared Me A Wooden Heart," "Space
Revolver,"
and "Jupiter Backwords"
Flower
Power (1999)
TFK
fanclub disc (2000) free CD
exclusive to fanclub members only
Alive
On Planet Earth (2000)
Space
Revolver (2000)
Space
Revolver Special Edition (2CD set) (2000)
The
Rainmaker (2001)
The
Rainmaker - Special Edition (2001)
Unfold
The Future (2002)
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