PARADOX HOTEL

"Regressive Progressive Rock"

The Flower Kings, Swedish Progressive group led by one of the most experienced members of the scene Roine Stolt, have released a new album, titled - Paradox Hotel. This is yet another 2CD the group has to offer its fans and it contains yet another "epic" over 20 minutes in length. This can't go wront, right? Wrong. Paradox Hotel is a fine a example of how one should not judge a book by its cover(speaking about the cover literally, that's some terrible cover art!) - being overlong and containing "epic" tracks doesn't make the album any better than it is. On the countrary, it seems that being too long makes it even more incoherent, which was the case with another The Flower Kings album I used to have on my hands - Unfold The Future, which I found to be even more disastrous.

The album starts with the short sample Check In, which contains nothing interesting at least in the musical sense. Monsters And Men is next and, what do you know, it's the longest track on this album! All "epic" tracks, accept it or not, always make the listener expect something earth-shattering and that's why they tend to disappoint us a lot - sometimes due to the expectations themselves, at other times it is the fault of the songwriters. I'm afraid the latter is the case here, as the songwriting of this "piece" is inspiring and dull. I had trouble finishing the rotten experience of trying to listen to this music, simply because after this track I did not want to continue wasting my time. I do not doubt the technical prowess of the musicians, however, from my point of view, songwriting is something they seem to have abandoned since Space Revolver and it definitely needs a lot of work for future releases. If you've heard any other TFK album, you'll know where my main complaint comes from - no direction! The direction is either completely missing here, as the music goes absolutely nowhere, or the main point is exactly showing off technical skill and as many moods as possible. Roine Stolt sings here. He has a hearty voice, which I happen to like, however, I find it insincere on this record(an ability I've developed by listening to a lot of music, I suppose)and his singing and the lyrics that are written quite well simply can't save the album and make it worthwhile - much like the group's personal abilities.

In all but one TFK album I've heard so far, I've noticed that tracks and parts of tracks can be divided on a groups: ones that seem to pay homage to the 70's legends (Genesis, Gentle Giant, Yes, King Crimson, you name 'em), often all at once at the same time, some bizarre sounding songs that wouldn't be out of place on a contemporary adult radio station, and ones of the group's distinct style that is also derivative and drives me crazy with its lack of direction. After the epic track described above, the other tracks seem to follow that pattern as well. I am glad to mention, however, that the second part of the first CD, from Pioneers Of Aviation to Selfconsuming Fire is more listenable than the previous tracks, which made me proud that I finally made it through the madness to hear what perhaps is the best side of the group. Many of the tracks here either contain some nice melodies without going to nowhere or have a remarkable atmosphere, something I never associated TFK's music with. One thing I feel I should complain about though is that there is some giggling in a couple of tracks here, which is really out of place and does not suit the mood of the corresponding composition at all. The second disc does not hold up to my expectations either and makes me regret spending my time with this release.

To sum up my thoughts: in most cases, this is derivative, incoherent, chaotic music with a lack of direction, without the songwriting to back up it being overlong. This is exactly what I hate in TFK's sound and the exact qualities I try to avoid in my prog diet. Perhaps, people are referring to the TFK-styled groups when they form a prejudiced opinion against the type of music this site covers so deeply? I wouldn't be surprised actually. Despite some pleasant moments being included, I have to say that I would rather listen to three other albums that are actually innovative and interesting to listen to, instead of spending more than two hours trying to digest this. Time is money!

My final verdict will be more sober though and should not frighten anyone: this is a typical TFK album in every sense of the word and has some elements the group, to my knowledge, has yet implemented into their music, so if you are a fan of the musicians, I don't see why you would avoid it. However, to those unfamiliar with the group yet or already with negative impressions of the group's style: remember, there is more to prog than a single group and what is God's gift to mankind may very well be a disaster to another. Do not form your opinion on the whole genre, style or even era of music based on just one release - a mistake I once had the misfortune to make.

It's a pity that the first review of The Flower King's new masterpiece, Paradox Hotel, is a negative one. Its amazing that even after eight studio albums, two live recordings and several fanclub releases that the kings of prog rock still remain at their peak of creativity. This massive 2-CD release (boy are we spoilt!) about the "hotel" of life is brilliantly structured, played, put together and connected. The concept is fitted together nicely, with some of the band's best lyrics and musical moments. The song range is more diverse, and therefore more exciting - going from the wonderfully melodic Monsters & Men, to straight-out operatic, rockier songs like Paradox Hotel. The vocals are as fine as always, and each band member have their own moments to shine (with even a few songs written by Reingold and Froberg!) The mood is dark, peaceful, beautiful, thoughtful, moving, crazy - all the things that make up life itself. Choosing to stick with shorter songs this time, this move makes the album more accessible, and will no doubt invite new fans into the kingdom. I wouldn't call it their "commercial" album, however - what exactly is commercial about the quirky Unorthodox Dancing Lesson, and the psychedelic rocker Pioneers Of Aviation? To put it simply, this is one of the best albums I have ever heard, and have had the privledge to enjoy. Nothing is too long, too short. Everything is perfectly considered and put together with tender and care. This album is full of direction, pace, and overall, mind-blowing talent. Many fans agree that Paradox Hotel contains some of their best work, and I'm sure the songs will go down as prog classics and an awesome display on the stage. Thank you, Roine, Hans, Hasse, Tomas, Jonas, Marcus ... for giving us this gift of incredible music. I look forward to spinning this in my player again and again. Highlights include: Jealousy, Unorthodox Dancing Lesson, Monsters & Men, Hit Me With A Hit, Life Will Kill You ... it's all good!

Ah yes, the omnipresent Flower Kings, the stalwarts of modern progressive rock music as we know it. Led by outstanding composer/ guitarist / vocalist/ all around cool dude Roine Stolt, the band has clearly had its ups and downs over the last 10 (!) or so years. For every exciting, strong and coherent album they release (Unfold the Future), another album of thiers comes along to ruin the fun (Adam and Eve). I can easily say, however, that Paradox Hotel falls strictly into the former category, as this double album can be compared favorably to the greatest Flower Kings recordings and still hold its own.

I don't know if its the modern sound, the more streamlined song structures. the greater presence of piano and acoustic guitar...or maybe a combination of all three, but SOMETHING on this album helps to elevate even the "filler" songs to repeat status on my playlist, moreso than on any other Flower Kings album. From the strong opening of "Monsters and Men" to the uplifting happiness of "End on a High Note" (with some killer guitar playing by Roine Stolt, finally!), the first CD is a tour de force of retro progressive rock with a modern edge and some freaking KILLER melodies.

The epic "Monsters and Men," I will admit, had be feeling a little cold, but repeated listens have opened it up to me and now it is one of my all time favorite Flower Kings songs. Other notable songs on the first CD include "Hit Me With A Hit," a proggy little rocker with some great choruses and playing, and "Pioneers of Aviation," a soaring instrumental with a classic Flower Kings feel. The only song on the first CD, in fact, that still leaves me cold is the strange "Bavarian Skies," which is totally ruined by the low distortion used on Roine's vocals. A pity, but there's something to be said for a Flower Kings' CD with only one completely forgettable song on it!

CD number two contains no epic and is altogether shorter than the first CD, and thus not as strong, but still extrememly enjoyable and it works completely when complimented by the first CD. The opener, Minor Giant Steps, dispite it's somewhat corny lyrics, serves as a very strong opening statement, and leads into Touch My Heaven, which contains some very emotional vocals by Hans and some excellent guitar work (again!). Other highlights include The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson, with its we're-all-kinds-of-cool 13/8 time sig, and Life Will Kill You, another classic prog-rocker and one of the Flower Kings' strongest 7-minute offerings.

Paradox Hotel, unlike albums such as The Rainmaker, Stardust We Are, and Adam and Eve, works because even the lesser songs on the roster work just as well as the focal points. Songs like Lucy Had a Dream, Man of the World, What if God is Alone?, and others serve not only as strong transitions between more stately fare, but are also wholly strong, punchy, individual songs that can stand on their own far better than random songs on past Flower Kings albums. Moreso than most Flower Kings albums, I noticed that there were more memorable melodic lines, such as the opening of Selfconsuming fire, the bass in Pioneers of Aviation, the vocals of Jealousy, and the chorus of Man of the World, just to name a few.

A few words must be said about the actual musicianship on the album. I am extremely impressed with Roine's guitar work on this album, as many of the songs contain some of his truly best guitar work, whether it be beautiful acoustic melodies or emotional soloing (just listen to End on a High Note or Touch of Heaven and you'll see what I mean). Also, I am very glad that Tomas Bodin has opened up to the strong sound of a grand piano moreso than the other electronic sounds of his keyboards. The piano is able to give a more organic, wholesome feeling to many of the passages in the songs, and the album benefits from this greatly.

All in all, a very strong offering by the Flower Kings, far superior to much of their back catalog, and ranks up their with Space Revolver and Unfold the Future as one the best recording the band has ever done. Perhaps the greatest compliment to band stems from the feeling that even the filler does not feel like filler, but real, strong, developed songs. And as a compliment to the new Tangent album, A Place in the Queue, one can have hours of gorgeous, melodic, and emotional progressive rock to satisfy those quiet spring and summer afternoons (for that's when the Flower Kings' music works best).

5 stars! Excellent work!

Any Flower Kings fans afraid that this will be a stinker? Don't worry!! Here, you got Standard Flower Kings: it is just the Flower Kings making good music!

I was afraid too ... without the sax of Ulf, the voice of Daniel, and the wonderful jazzy drummer .. I didn't expect that much, and the album cover didn't help. I pre-ordered it anyways and then listened with an open mind without trying to make comparisons. The epic really turned me off at first listen, but then I liked the rest and I now enjoy the epic. This is, like Roine said, the Flowers' version of the Beatles' "White Album" ... it is like a summary of the band as a double album. I'm sure you'll like it a lot. Another interesting thing to note is that is sounds even more "retro" than retropolis! IT has moog synths, grand piano, the old Mellotron (!) in abundance, and a more raw and live sound.

Warning: Like all FK albums, it takes several listens to love it.

EPICS (Very challenging, but the patience is worth it):

After a pointless NASA recording of a takeoff, "Monsters and Men" starts. I know that when you first hear it, you will think that this is a complete mess! Actually, while I admit it is a bit weak compared to some of their previous epics, I've grown to love it. The problem with it is that it feels it has a lot of amazing moments usually connected lazily from one to another in the first listens and sometimes not given enough exploration of those themes. Unfortunately, it has a few bad parts at around the middle which I will never like. The good parts of it are excellent (hear the intro, and the majestic part at minute 16-18 to see what I mean). After 10+ listens, it appears more coherent, so I raised my score to: 7.5/10

"End at a high note" has the "And You and I" feel. It is very uplifting, has a gorgeous wordless vocal pas7.sage done in harmony repeated throughout the whole track and some good soloing in the somewhat uninspired rocking middle section. It is very poppy and catchy, so it tends to be a highlight at first listen 7.5/10

"Minor Giant Steps" has great ideas, including a gorgeous melodic line "I'm just a minor giant bird/soul". instrumentally, it is excellent. A bit difficult to get into, but excellent once you get it. If you like their extended epics full of solos, I'm sure you'll like this song a lot. 8.5/10

Short-Midlength tracks (the Strength in this CD):

Hit me with a Hit: Silly title and also sounds silly at first as a consequence of the vibraphone and the funky rhythm. The title is brilliant though once you find out that this song attacks the music industry (get it? hit!). It is actually a very good track with great guitar riffing, interesting funky rhythm, and a wonderful instrumental break that even features mellotron. The melodies are poppy and very likable. There is a reference to a DJ or hip hop in the middle. 8/10

Pioneers of Aviation: After a spacey intro, this is a good rock instrumental with electric guitar leads in the vein of Roine's "Flower King" solo album. Tomas Bodin plays a synth solo in the middle and a keyboard solo at the end. 6.5/10

Selfconsuming Fire is a highlight of the first disc and will make you forget about Bavarian Skies (if you don't like that track). Gorgeous acoustic guitars, nice melodies, great fretless bass playing, memorable pain of salvation style chorus (is Daniel doing the vocals here?), ol' school mellotron, and a mindblowing hard rock climax featuring a great guitar solo. It has very dark lyrics. Nothing wrong about this song at all. The highlight. 10/10

Mommy Leave The Light on is overall dark and mellow (About a dying child). The electric keyboard playing is haunting and creates an atmosphere similar to the first instrumental break of Suppers Ready. The song tends to drag though as well as the transition to the following track with the "Mommy Leave the Light on!" looped for a minute 5.5/10

Touch My Heaven: This is a haunting track with my favourite vocals from Hans. The choruses repeating each word twice in different notes is a neat effect, with the word "heaven" sounding strong in the first time, and extremely powerful in the second chorus. The guitar solo is brilliant and reminds you of David Gilmour at his best. 9/10

Man of The World isn't an impressive track, but it offers very good vocal harmonies in its choruses and a very good instrumental section as always near the end. It just feels like a part of the album, and the melodies are brilliant 8.5/10

The Way The Waters Are Moving: a moving FK ballad on piano about the Tsunami disaster. I love how the mellotron (or whatever keyboard) captures the sound of the crashing waves in the chorus 8.5/10

What if God is Alone?: A great tune indeed. The vocal harmonies are great as usual, and the emotion packed in this song is overwhelming. The slow buildup to the climax is professionally done, and the choruses are classic. My only gripe is how long it takes to get started. If the intro was cut off, this could be a great radio-friendly track in the vein of U2 8/10

Paradox Hotel: A very entertaining hard rocker. While the verses are not melodically strong, the music behind it is, and the choruses are really something! "It's a Living Hell! At Paradox Hotel! Come Live in Hell! At Paradox Hotel!" 7/10

Blue Planet: If you felt you missed melodies after Paradox Hotel, you got them here. I great closer to a great album. The chorus is magical! Here, you got everything you can think of from the Flower Kings, including an extended guitar solo leading the song with its melodic beauty for minutes. 9.5/10

Experiments (they often work with the exception of Bavarian Skies):

Lucy Had a Dream: Beatle-esque psychedelic tune with a great guitar intro which a melody later used as vocal melodies. The songs seamlessly turns into a trippy merry-go- round part. Strange, but it works extremely well. (also note that the sinister laugh is heard here as well) 8/10

Bavarian Skies: It has distorted Stolt vocals to attempt to sound like Hitler (his attempt may work, but I don't like the sound of the distorted voice too much, I thought he learned his mistake when he did this during the earlier "Monsters Within"). This song is in the vein of "Vampire's View", yet I not as strong. The vocal melodies are nowhere to be found (even the excellent operatic instrumentation doesn't save the vocals), and the symphonic part after Hitler says goodbye may be appropiate to the concept, but I don't like it. I still don't skip it because the instrumentation is very good. 5.5/10

Unorthodox Dancing Lesson: The verses Feature a tricky rhythm of 13/8 played professionally by the bass, drums, and rhythm guitar. It sounds a bit goofy at first, but you'll get used to the sound just like you did with Circus Brimstone from Stardust We Are. The choruses are a quick burst of heavy metal with a riff that sounds similar to Lark Tongue in Aspic pt2 from King Crimson. The best part of this song is the middle section. IT is some of the best avant garde I've heard with the guitar sounding like it's being tortured. It gets really dark and intense at its climax and then ends with the verse heard at the beginning. Great experiment! 8.5/10

Life Will Kill You: The Flower Kings playing Rock&Blues? Now that caught me by surprise, especially since the drummer composed the song. This is a good rockin' tune that you would enjoy if you like Roine's "Wallstreet Voodoo". This song could easily be on the radio if the band was better known. The only negative I can give is the goofy "rhythmic" electronic vocals heard in the first verse. However, you have the rocking organ, rocking guitar soloing. Rock on! 6.5/10

Get it Flower King lovers. This is one of their most cohesive albums. However, I wish that in their next album, that they would focus on being more innovative. The Flower King formula would probably become repetitive if this goes on. Adventurous albums like Unfold the Future, Flower Power, and Space Revolver will surely be welcome.

I've listened to this latest release about 3 times now. Of course 3 listens aren't enough to give a in-depth comment on this work, but I can surely give some info for people that are still in doubt of buying this. It's quite simple: "Paradox Hotel" is a typical FK album, very much in the vein of "Stardust we are". But even though the sound structures and the instruments they use are very often very traditional-prog, this album certainly has some modern details as well. I'm always sceptic when I buy 2cd- albums, because most of the time you get a mix of great songs and real "fillers". Well, of course I have my personal favs on this cd, but I haven't heard any songs that I dislike or would qualify as "filler". So, all in all, an excellent new release by the Flower Kings. 4 stars should do it! The only thing that keeps me from awarding 5 stars is that more than once I get the feeling 'hey, I've heard that before (on previous albums)".

I just say wow! Roine Stolt has done it once again together with Tomas, Jonas, Hasse, Hasse and Marcus. I hold UTF for THE FloKi album but PH is up there too for sure. It's a bit differentsounding from all the other FloKi albums I guess. Roine himself said they had been painting with a broader brush this time and I think that's an appropriate way to put it. The recording is perhaps more organic than earlier releases since much of the backingtracks were laid down with the whole band in the studio. My overall impression is that the music has gained from this. Some of the earlier work of FloKi have sometimes suffered from the lack of group dynamic created in the studio this time. So once again an undisputable must-have for any prog-nerd out there! My 4 stars are actually with a great big plus after them!

This is a good album by the Flower Kings. The melody and composing remains as beautiful as in the latest album. However it's a bit different. You can feel this is the first album all the band made together. It is based mostly of group work and polyphonic melodies than on the instrument-solos the Kings used to play. In the earlier albums you could feel the musical segment where you know a guitar, keys or bass are playing alone while other instruments only giving background music and rhythm. Now you can feel the music is blended all together, and that brings the Kings to a differnent level. However, it feels like this album has the "Tales from Topographic Oceans" syndrome. It holds many minutes of great music. It feels like there a few minutes of great music more than can be put in one CD, so you get many fillers in order to not waste the 2nd CD. This album could be one of the band's greatest if it was only one CD.

The pearl: Pioneers Of Aviation Stay away: Mommy Leave The Light On

I waited for a while before writing this review, in order to listen to this CD for enough times to have a clear idea. Again I must give a 4 star to this new work from TFK. Good melodies witha return to prog music atmospheres typical of the seventies mostly YES). Of course when you talk about a double CD with more than 2 hours music, you have to fill it with some fillers (I would not give negative opinion on these songs anyway) such as Mommy Leave The Light On and Life will Kill you.. It would be too long to give an opinion on each and every song also because most of them are simply fantastic. Simpler is mentioning the only song I really cannot stand: Bavarian skyes (why this manipulated voice Roine?). Outstanding mention for Monsters and Men (short epic for TFK standards..) Lucy Had A Dream , and Blue Planet. If you like TFK you have to add this additional jewel to your collection.

WOW.

I think it's safe to say that this is my new favorite album from TFK. Perfect. It passed Devin Townsend's "Synchestra" as my favorite album of 2006 (which is really saying something since I love that album so much).

This album is full of masterpieces: Monsters and Men, Hit me With a Hit, Pioneers of Aviation, Self Consuming Fire, Mommy Leave the Light On, End on a High NoteMinor Giant Steps, Touch My Heaven, Paradox Hotel, and Blue Planet.

The rest of the album is amazing as well.

This is a must-buy.

In order to begin to speak of this disc I would like to make emphasis that this is one of my favourite bands and of which I have listened more and than with that I mean that I can speak too much well of this disc since I consider the best band of the present time, by more of an aspect, with this I mean that I consider and the volume like a band of high level, for that reason make this explanation. The Hotel of the Paradox is without a doubt some the concept better worked than its double predecessors east without a doubt was made the power yet of the experience that has acquired the band, the different members that have happened have done and left their track in such a way that each band becomes a symbiosis from people, in this occasion is not strange to see this band encarrilada to this his ninth work in study so well that in truth notices happening of the years, like many of the bands that acquire experience can be observed that this already this in one you mature completes, this I say it so that she is robot in production and with members that no longer are apprentices and are not for looking for his you mature if that or obtained it, this work is not I create indeed what it was looking for Sreñor STOLT when I create "Adam & Eve" notices a phase of changes that I see here completed, however if strange a little that flavor that imprimió Daniel GILDENLÖW, with that touch of the dark that characterizes to him, but retaking a little the beginnings and foundations that forged to the band, says to us that the main source of inspiration that I take to Ronie STOLT to create its disc in solitaire "The Flower King" which later as we know it would return but or with that same name and alignment for the formation of band THE FLOWER KINGS, but that reason was "an incentive for the good ones you vibrate, love light and amiability", that they thought many those is things of fag and until in the name of the band, but that foundation becomes good, also brings the reasons to us for its líricas and bases of everything, says: "In a world in where the God of the man is the power and the money I bring alga to them so that they look for the love that there is in our hearts", in the end it is the thought of a man and its love by music which takes it and moves to make that art that as much appreciates some and that to others that does not please by the melosos and tedious which they can be listening to them, in aim a light band that is not more, but with that they have created works full of mystery and the clear dark with an aim it specified more. "Paradox Hotel" begins with which in truth I please me to first "Check In" is the narration type NASA that does of a launching of a spaceship, since the concept is that going to a place to the place where we lived the life, but full of irony, since at the end of the narration the juice of ping is appraised pong representing from the first moment the lucky people which we are to escape and to make to us like alive beings in the planet, that simpleza with which is a so real aspect that it is interlaced with "Mosters And Men" that represents of skillful form that trip of the spermatozoon until reaching the fusion in which [ Loby would be called ] at the moment that operates music jumps to the life and this inside in the Hotel in where constantly it is possible to be felt, where it is learned, where is made badly, where it is obsessed, where fights, where it falls in love and where we lived, a life, it not so narrates generalized aspects to us but if of certain focused way to things that are destructive and degenerativas like the taste to destroy and worse still to enjoy that, of how the freedom and the luxuries that are obtained at the cost of people that is repressed, like a balance seems to be impossible, to finish it says to us as the search and the compression are the ways to follow, of successive form we can spy on each subject and their different messages that in this case to the being a double disc very is varied, the jealousy the origin and its possible solution and the frustration of not facing them, to see us in the sky are graceful almost one vision from divinity that the man was fulfilled, but not always was easy, the blows that sometimes we got to receive from other people or who we give, all that wrath that we let leave in puñetazo, all that impotence of not acting with the mind and of how we must learn to receive them of form reciproca, those dreams that dream up like horseshoes and that we used in the life, of those dreams that become reality without giving account us and that we requested God, as we see the past and we interpreted in the present, as the blue one becomes gray in opening and closing of eyes, badly lasts so that it lives in our hearts, we felt but we do not say, we thought but we did not act that endless ones of things that consume to us like fire, the memories of loving of a mother who never left us and as a end is in if the beginning of another fine one in a chain infinite where the life is death and the death life, in this first disc one is daily things to us of a life but so that they are possible to be recognized and to be appreciated, for two disc the intensity does not lower, would turn out absurd to deny what the man to obtained those steps the passage by the Earth, in which now would be almost impossible to perceive those footsteps since our steps are made and greater more and more until being now giant, that same quality does to us thinks that in algun moment of our life we have all that internal sky that we wanted to show and to share as if we could say to headress my sky so that see that it is truth, some times we felt able to move with subtility and soltura but always will have somebody us can to teach art of movement that flame I danced, so that some times it forgets us that we are part of a world and not of inverse form, in where we are stopped which it is what we see and what we touched, to live kills to us, to live fascinates to us but it detests to us, to live is only that, we must recognize the pain the others we do not have to be to feel the pain the other to make it ours thus to be better with us and the world that sometimes we forgot that it exists, if a God exists, if it is so it does, it can listen to us, forgetfulness of us, and What if this only, we followed here almost as if nothing happened, What we do in the Earth, For which east Hotel, in order to finish we must remember that we are very lucky east gift or opportunity to live, to see the blue sky, mountains, the animals, the sea, to breathe, to feel and the quality to perceive and to process the beauty, the badness and to feel love, again we listened to that narration type NASA in which the presence of the Blue Planet is indicated to us a vision that is not compared with anything seen, again the simpleza is host of the greatness and complexity, the paradox is the life. In truth it is an excellent work, the musicians are of luxury, the participation of the new member I leave myself satisfied very so that until certain point collection in the dualidad of both previous drummers and it is not the first time that I listen to since in the masterful piece of Takings BODIN, "I a.m." it is listened to to him of a form very or obtained and sober form in the piece in solitaire of Ronie STOLT "Wallstreet Voodoo", others of that records its own parts in the disc, in general all are very or and with a sound that to my seemed to me of the best thing than they have made masterful a piece of simplicity and for that reason a paradojico concept full. To that it sounds? Room 111: The sound is of the best thing and the clear acquired experience is siemplemente very good makes see the clear experience and the streamlined sound us and obtained of "Rainmakers" and "Space Revolver" the sound of the previous "Adam & Eve well" this present to exepcion the voice of Daniel GINDENLÖW, but in spite of that he is something that is due to see since the voice of Hasse FRÖBERG this like never, Jonas REINGOLD always showing a very good level, Ronie STOLT and Takings Bodin simply one dupla that it is known and make a work exepcional, the exit of Zoltan CSÖRSZ and the great work that I make sees a little forgotten adevido clear esata to the entrance Marcus LILIQUIST that demostro to have the necessary thing to cover the place and step to create one dupla with the senor REINGOLD that to my made me remember SALAZAR- REINGOLD, in truth a good work. Room 222: Perhaps the final sound is not very far from which and they do clear this regularly if osadia must to call it of that form but really it is a work that is brilliant and of first order, in which all estan of first, epoca gilded of THE FLOWER KINGS without a doubt some.

I'm not going to suprise anyone by writing a five star review for The Flower Kings. (All you have to do is look right above the review.) It might be interesting to know why this Flower Kings album is five stars though.

Paradox Hotel is yet another double album in The Flower Kings discography (Stardust We Are, Flower Power, and Unfold the Future being the others). The album is long (slightly over 2 hours). It will be debated by fans forever whether or not the album justifies two discs, but it's there so it might as well be reviewed. Pardox Hotel is a more experimental album from The Flower Kings. While previous Flower Kings albums focus on individual instrumental skills of musicians like Roine Stolt, Tomas Bodin, and bass master Jonas Reingold; Paradox Hotel is more about all of these great musicians grooving togethor to create a strong rock album. The vocals on this album seem to be a bigger focus than usual as well. With the departure of Daniel Gildenlow, the vocal picture focuses even more on Hasse Froberg and Roine Stolt. This is an all but typical album from The Flower Kings that will suprise quite a few fans.

It would be wrong of me to begin a Flower Kings review without starting with Roine Stolt. Stolt's performance on this album is less prominent than others. This is not a bad thing though. Stolt's trademark bluesy solos are still prominent throughout the album, but this time other musicans are able to take the spotlight more than on previous albums. Stolt's composing is once again top notch. On Pardox Hotel, Stolt's playing is more built around chords and harmonies than screaming melodies. The melodic technique is still very much a part of Stot's playing, but his performance is a little more balanced on this album. Stolt's singing is once again brought more into the spotlight with the departure of Daniel Gildenlow. The harmonies between Stolt and Froberg are much better than on the previous two albums (Unfold the Future and Adam and Eve).

Hasse Froberg makes another great vocal performance on this album. Froberg was one of the few members of The Flower Kings that put in a five star effort on the previous album Adam and Eve. On Paradox Hotel, the five star effort still remains. Froberg's voice seems to be at it's pinnacle, but still isn't ready to drop. Froberg once again proves his unmatched power in the symphonic prog genre. Excellent performance from Froberg.

Tomas Bodin has done quite possibly his greatest Flower Kings performance. Not that Bodin's work has been subpar before, but on Pardox Hotel, Bodin has chosen a wiser selection of synths, and shows more skills as a pianist. From the opening epic track Monsters and Men to the album's closer Blue Planet, Bodin performs nothing short of keyboard perfection. It's likely that Bodin's latest solo album I AM has helped him mature musically. I never remember being so impressed with Bodin's performance on previous Flower Kings albums.

Jonas Reingold is one of my top three bassists of any musical genre. You can almost expect what I'm going to say here. Yeah, Reingold's performance is top notch. Like the rest of the band Reingold seems to play more of a supporting role this time. The wanky jazz runs are still in Reingold's performance, but they are more effectively used on this album. Rather than near randomization of these runs, Reingold places them in more musically effective places. Rather than the band going tacet and Reingold fills some space, Reingold is able to mix these arpeggios in with the rest of the band playing. An excellent but more tasteful approach by Reingold this time.

Now we come to new drumer Marcus Liliequist. Liliequist has gained favor of The Flower Kings fans by playing not only on Stolt's latest solo album Wallstreet Voodoo, but also Bodin's solo album I Am. Liliequist is the young one of the bunch (25), but he lacks no skill to play with these great musicans. Liliequist is dead on every beat and fill of this album, an improvement over former drummer and slight slacker Zoltan Csorsz.

The production as always is top notch. I don't have to tell Flower Kings fans that the drums are clear and articulate, the bass is prominent and clean, the guitars are bluesy with multiple distortion and clean tones, the vocals are clear and perfectly harmonized, but I do have to say the keyboard synths are much better than previous albums. Especially the piano synths, they sound incredibly authentic. Paradox Hotel is a definate winner, five stars.

Let's Get one thing staight first. I DO NOT consider TFK to be a neo prog band but rather a symphonic prog one. I can't understand why so many prog fans label the as neo... Tha being said, I'm sure that most of you following the band's steps these last years, have noticed a steady decline from space revolver and onwards (with the exception of "unfold the future" of course). This new effort is closer in sound to "the Rainmaker" and although it is by no means a bad album on the whole, it could use (perhaps more than any other TFK album) SERIOUS editing!!! There is a lot of filler to be found inside this two cd outing. Had the flower kings edited this baby to just one cd, it would have been a helluva release (a masterpiece even). As it stands however in its current form, it deserves no more than 3,5 stars. What I did with this album to in order to appreciate it better, is that I condenced it myself to just one 75 minutes cd. Needles to say the result was a far more consistent and enjoyable album. I strongly urge everyone to do this (come on, the price of this 2cd release isn't that high anyway, it's more like a little more expensive single cd release.)

Man i was excited hearing that THE FLOWER KINGS were releasing yet again another double disc album because all their double albums are the best. but when i heard that they were gonna settle and make something like the WHITE ALBUM by the Beatles i was kinda dissappointed. but i've heard so much good things about it i decided to get it anyway. and man this album is different by in a great way. This is starting to become one of my favorite FLOWER KINGS albums as they explore new territory by of course going into their Yes, Genesis, and Zappa roots but you also have a little more hard rock some nice melodic neo prog and cool beatlesque type stuff here as well. Well first off i love the fact that TFK make great epics and they have done that once again MONSTERS AND MEN, END ON A HIGH NOTE, and GIANT MINOR STEPS have really took me by surprise how lucious, crazy, and melodic the music, vocals, and solos are in each minute they are without a doubt some of the best epics by them. the are a bunch of the medium size tracks that also fair well like the crazy instrumentals of PIONEER OF AVITAION and THE UNORTHODOX DANCING LESSON. then you have great hard rocking yet melodic tracks like some of my favorite like WHAT IF GOD WAS ALONE?, PARADOX HOTEL, and LIFE WILL KILL YA. I mean this album is so good not even the filler stuff doesn't even bother me as much well except for BAVARIAN SKIES but that track doesn't take away the sheer joy that this album has. Also each member really does a fine job displaying the talents they have as muscians. Roine Stolt once again displays his great virtiuoso guitar skills throughout the entrie album in fact he has probably some of the most beautiful solos i've ever heard from him. Hasse Froberg also does a great job with his awesome vocal harmonies and he has some killer moments in stuff like MONSTERS AND MEN and GIANT MINOR STEPS, Jonas Reginold oh man what a great player unbelievalbe bass lines in alot of these songs i love the effective bass solo in the begginning of PIONEER OF AVIATAION. Tomas Bodin gah he has impressed me as this album displays his finest playing ever in fact this album has become my favorite bodin performance. MarcasLiliquiest well let me just say he doesn't quite beat Jamie but he is a bit better than Zoltan not that he isn't good its just that Marcus is just so tight with the whole group hitting every note as possible ah i love the tightness he brings to the band kinda reminds a bit of John Bonham which you kinda see in most of Marcus playing style. So as you can see this is definitely becoming a huge favorite of mine in the flower kings discography and i hope that their next albums after this will be just as good.

Ahhh, the new Flower Kings album.. Probably the best album this year. (I'm 100% sure of that)

Being a hardcore Flower Kings fan, Paradox Hotel was really a boost in my confidence. Adam & Eve was of course good for 2004, but it really did not boost my hopes up. It was great at the beginning and just ran out of steam after I listened to it about 50 times. (That means its still very good, just not quite as good anymore)

In the album Paradox Hotel, we see things change quite a bit. The lack of Daniel Gildenlow, who was fired for his disappreciation at the negative over-protection that the US authorities had for the States, so there goes Daniel.. The music, ahhh... reminds me a lot of new beginnings for The Flower Kings. The new beginning for the Flower Kings, sounds weird doesn't it? This is the album where The Flower Kings brings new dimensions into their music with different and not so complex songs like Paradox Hotel, Hit Me with a hit, also blending traditonal Symphonic Prog songs like Monsters and Men and the amazing Monster Within-like Minor Giant steps. (Probably my favorite TFK song since The Truth Will Set You Free)

Bodin and Froberg actually add their pens onto this album, but I must admit, Roine did the better writing.

The poetry that Roine and co. writes is of epic proportion. This album is by far one of the most complete The Flower Kings album and it was recorded in a very short amount of time. They coulda just recorded it live and it could have been just as good.

Recommended for all fans of Prog, especially ones who worship Modern Symphonic Prog.

Ah, those were the days. The birth of prog-rock. Back then, in reputable magazines like Rolling Stone, adjectives such as pretentious, self-indulgent, and bloated often filled the reviews of the only music that really made my heart race with excitement. Now, in some strange way I'm happy to see such words return to some reviews of the FKs' efforts. We seem to have come full circle, which suits me just fine.

As a guy who grew up in the 70s spending an hour or two a day in the school orchestra and then playing prog-music in a band every night, I feel pretty well qualified to discuss prog music. I spent 100s of hours enjoying and learning to play music by many of the greats, especially Yes (my old favorite), early Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Tull, and many others... and I still listen to those golden oldies and attend concerts by some of these musicians, especially Yes members, from time to time. (In fact, I just saw Jon Anderson perform in a club here last week.) Although I've since moved into the jazzier side of things, as well, I still love that 70s era of prog music and currently write and record my own style of jazz-rock-prog as a semi-pro musician in California.

I discovered the FKs about six months ago after first trying Spock's Beard, Porcupine Tree, and some others. I've enjoyed them all, but for me, the FKs came closest to the 70s spirit and sound although I admit that I've sometimes found their CDs to be just a bit inconsistent, with some uneven styles and weaker filler moments. I moved from Unfold the Future to Stardust to Space Revolver to Rainmaker--and have really enjoyed them all, with only minor reservations.

I find Paradox Hotel to be an enjoyable offering in its own way. I've only listened to the CDs a dozen or so times--in the correct way, with good headphones cranked and nothing else distracting me--but these CDs seem to continue the solid identity of this very talented band. Everything flows, and the music is constantly interesting and engaging. The music is so intricate and thoughtful, yet the edges are so smooth that nothing seems jarring or terribly out of place. In fact, I feel like I'm back in the height of the 70s prog era, listening to a group that falls somewhere between Yes (especially), early Genesis, and Crimson, with a dash of Gentle Giant, Pink Floyd, and Kansas thrown in for good measure. (The obvious Beatles' influence goes without saying.) But it's not at all just a copy of such music; it has a unique and current sound that has really grown on me, yet I'm certainly reminded of those past musical giants. One other big difference, though, is the excellent reproduction that today's recording equipment allows. In a word--audiophile. If I'd heard the FKs back in the 70s, they would have been very high on my list of favorites. Now, after such a long void of good prog-rock, the FKs' work on CDs like this one is a godsend. These guys are the real deal. They can stand alone.

The biggest issue I have with this release, as with all of their double-CD releases, is that the really old-school (symphonic) prog-rock cuts mix it up with some shorter, more straight-ahead rocky tunes. In fact, the Kings offer up fewer of the longer old-school tracks, the ones I much prefer, this time around. I find an effort like Space Revolver, with its longer (more complex) pieces, much more appealing in the traditional prog-rock tradition. Still, editing these two CDs down to one killer CD works like a charm. Given our individual preferences, there's enough variety here to allow each listener to choose the perfect mix, and many of the choices here are indeed tempting.

One other minor issue for me this time around is the quality of the recording itself. Although it's definitely well produced, especially compared to older prog-rock efforts, Paradox lacks some of the crispness and adventurous recording touches of some of the FKs' past releases. The drums, in particular, are much more basic and slightly muffled for my tastes, especially if compared to, say, Space Revelover or Unfold the Future. You can catch my point easily if you're old enough to remember the change in technique and sound when Yes moved from Bill Bruford to Allan White--both great drummers, but each altering Yes' overall sonic texture in key ways. Bruford ruled for me. I also really miss the jazzier touches now, including the absent sax, although some listeners will probably prefer this more straight-ahead approach. In short, I don't think Paradox will become my favorite FKs' effort, but I can't complain too much given the abundant creativity and diversity still present here.

If you can relate to my background, I'd suggest ignoring the occasional naysayer here and giving the FKs a try. I'm just getting to know this particular release, but it's certainly a keeper. In fact, I think they knew exactly where they were headed this time around and had the skill to get there in style. My initial impression is that the music is more structured, more song-oriented with less filler, and that Stolt's guitar work and vocals are among the most confident I've heard from him. Overall, still very creative stuff, beautifully performed, and well recorded, even if I suspect that I may tire of this streamlined approach sooner than their past efforts. If you're a progger whose tastes are more in line with Close to the Edge than with Fragile, I'd suggest entering the FKs' world via Space Revolver instead.

Of course, as with any good prog-era effort, some more investment of my time and open mind is necessary before making more critical judgements. Even the early Yes efforts didn't always win me over immediately, which was part of their lasting beauty. With all due respect, I sometimes think that the few harshest critics of this music are either too young to really appreciate the roots and traditions of prog-rock music or too old to accept that anyone besides the old masters can achieve anything worthwhile. Of course, I find some FK moments here much more appealing than others, but I could say the same about any of the original prog-groups, too. (Close to the Edge was one of the only Yes releases that was 100% meat for me, but the others were still plenty filling in their own ways.)

Music is so darned personal that I always hesitate to recommend anything too strongly. I'd simply suggest giving a listen to some sample clips online if you're on the fence--in other words, try to draw your own conclusions before buying. We're all different, and every band and CD has its highs and lows that can vary for each of us. For my tastes, however, this effort's another overall winner from a special band that has, almost single-handedly, re-awoken and re-energized my prog spirit. I really couldn't pay a higher compliment.

Bravo, FKs, from a critical fellow musician and life-long prog-rat. I'm just glad you're out there and working as hard as you are to keep such music alive and fresh, especially in the increasingly (and depressingly) corporate, cookie-cutter world that stubbornly resists adventurous music like yours. You truly deserve your growing success, and this latest effort adds to your shine, especially for folks who prefer slightly shorter, simpler efforts that are still (for the most part) firmly rooted in the prog-rock tradition. For me, Paradox Hotel is a solid if streamlined effort, still brimming with confidence and skill. It's not my favorite of yours, but you're obviously working hard and staying true to your roots, Tack sa myckert, guys. Wishing you many more years of health, vision, and prosperity.

Musical taste and preferences are changing with time and so are my reviews for FloKi albums. I happen to like very much their mainly "regressive" or retro kind of style. But after listening to nine studio outputs of this band, four of them being 2 CD sets with tracks made following more or less the same principle I just can say: Mr. Stolt, hold on, it's enough, just relax and take a rest of a couple of years. Maybe this helps to bring a few fresh musical ideas to your mind. I wouldn't say that "Paradox Hotel" is a bad album. Not at all, but it's just another solid mediocre one from them.

The 21-minute epic song "Monsters & Men" is just (overtly) long but not necessarily good for that reason. It sounds at least to parts very constructed, in a way boring though having a couple of nice sections. There's one weak point in their music becoming at least to me more and more obvious that are the heavily Jon Anderson-inspired spiritual lyrics appearing almost hokey for my taste. And referring to the music I've got to say as much as I like the old Yes-Crimson-Genesis stuff I prefer to listen to the originals from that time and don't have a need for a copy of this style over and over again.

I'm not going into detail for every individual song of this album since this has been done already quite excellent in previous reviews. Fans of Retro-Prog will certainly love it and so will any hardcore fan of the band what is well reflected by the high ratings here. But on the other hand there's isn't anything on there which can fascinate someone listening to a broad spectrum of music and always looking for real progressive music (in the literal sense) like me. So I'm almost seduced to give it "For fans/collectors only" - rating but this would raise the question whether most of their records (apart of "Unfold The Future" which was quite experimental) would not deserve that. And since it's really a solid work and at least for the proned listener an enjoyable album I'll give it 3 stars (good, but really not essential).

I'm becoming more and more convinced that for any Prog lover who isn't a TFK-fan in particular it's more than enough to have two studio and one live record from them. I'd like to recommend Space Revolver, Unfold The Future and Meet The Flower Kings, possibly Retropolis for fans of Retro-Prog.

Another masterpiece is made!

I hadn't heared any of the new songs before I went to their concert in Tilburg (NL), but I bought the album on the spot in a trance! What an amazing piece of music the've produced. I agree with previous reviews that the album takes a listen of two before it all sinks in, but when it does...wow! My personal highlights are Monsters and Men, Jealousy, Hit me with a Hit, End on a high note, Touch my heaven, What if God is alone and of course Paradox Hotel. I heared all of these songs live first and their magic was clear instantly. There are some filler tunes here and there, but totally in place within the musical concept of the album. Even Bavarian Skies brings a smile to my face. Probably because it's so weird, a matter of taste I suppose. I think this album will be in my cd-player for a while. Looking for a great addition to your prog collection? GET THIS ALBUM!!!

OK, someone has to knock all the hype off the Flower Kings. This latest outing is way overrated, in relation to its quality. I am a Flower Kings fan, and own every album, and even though sometimes I have to admit I had to make an effort to like some of their over- abundant material, most of it was if inconsistent, at least enjoyable. This release is where my patience with the FK ran out. They songs are dull and uninspired, and most of them 'don't go anywhere' or just lack development. There are less and less of those tasty instrumental breaks the FK is known for. Many songs have this sort of a letdown, where there are just starting to build toward something, but nothing really happens. Other songs are just plain bad. Only a handful are interesting in terms of composition, like MAN OF THE WORLD and LUCY HAD A DREAM. The obligatory 21 minute epic is OK, but also rather lackluster compared to their previous efforts. You can barely hear Reingold's bass any more and Bodin's keyboards seem to be pushed out of the way, and solos kept to a minimum. However, Stolt's annoyingly bluesy guitar seems to be omnipresent.

As a long time fan of this band I was a little nervous about this album. The previous album, Adam & Eve, left me pretty much cold (I've come to appreciate it and even like much of it, but it is still probably my least favorite by the band). So I was not sure if they had reached their peak on Unfold The Future and were heading on the downhill slide that so many prog bands end up on eventually. It turns out, I had nothing to worry about. This album worked for me on the first listen, and just gets better every time I hear it.

It is nothing if not consistent. Every track has something I enjoy, with only a couple seeming somewhat ordinary. The opening epic seemed kind of dull to me on the first listen or two, but after hearing it on headphones, I can say it is one of their best epics. If flows beautifully and has some outstanding keyboard playing from Tomas Bodin. In fact, his playing on the rest of the album is some of the best I've heard from him with the Flower Kings. The first CD strikes me as being a bit stronger than the second, but they are both excellent overall. The two instrumentals are some of the FK's best, and quite possibly my two favorite songs on the album. Stolt's playing is at its best throughout this album as well.

My only real (small) dissapointment is that new drummer Marcus seems to be a less stand out drummer than either Zoltan or Salazar were/are. And Jonas seems to be far more subdued than on previous albums. Still, on close listening it is obvious that both play some incredible stuff throughout the album.

The reason this does not take away from the album for me is because this album sees the band focusing on songs and ensemble playing, rather than flashy displays of technical skill (something that worked well on UTF, but can disrupt the continuity of songs). The melodic content of this album is stunning. The fact that the tracks were recorded live in the studio by the core band probably has a lot to do with the fatastic consistency of this album. Not a bad song in my opinion (though Bavarian Skies and Jealousy are somewhat weak I think). Flower Kings fans should get this one if they don't already have it, and everyone else should give it a listen for sure (though newbies should probably start elsewhere).

While not my favorite FK album (though time may change that......but I doubt it), a solid, excellent offering that has fully restored my faith in this great band. 4 solid stars.

WARNING: The Flower Kings never sounded better!!!

The Flower Kings is a Swedish band. They have impressed me since "Flower Power" album. Can you imagine the almost one hour length track (called "Garden Of Dream")? Although my sister always hate this band, I almost buy all their releases (from their debut album "Back In The World Of Adventures" until "Adam & Eve"). And in this beautiful year, they released the new album "Paradox Hotel". "Paradox Hotel" is a double album concept. I got it just a week ago. When I read the booklet, I find that now the members are 5 personnel. It's an ideal mark, I think (in "Adam & Eve" you find 7 personnel and in "Unfold The Future" 8 personnel!!!). The most important thing is about their quality. And the result is excellent. The Flower Kings never sound better! The song such as "Monster & Men", "End Of A High Note", "Minor Giant Steps", and my favorite "Man Of The World" are incredible. I think this album can become the best album of the year like their recent releases, "The Rainmaker" and "Unfold The Future". Also, you can't forget about this. The artwork is very beautiful and I also think that this album can become the best artwork of the year!!! Finally, they made a song presented for the tsunami victims all over the world!!!!! This song is called "The Way The Waters Are Moving". Uuuuh, it touched my heart very much...Only a few band did something special like this not even Dream Theater, my best band. Salute....

Fernandi Gunawan

An Album Difficult To Digest

Phew ...Having spun the CD eleven times I could finally digest the album in its entirety. Well, this is definitely one of prog albums that have taken a very long time for me to digest. It reminds me to the days when I first listened to YES "Relayer" and "Tales From Topographic Ocean" that took me a relatively long period to fully understand the music. But, the challenge I'm facing now is totally different when it was 35 years ago when not so many prog albums releases. Currently, I have a stack of CDs ready to digest as well. So I got to "conquer" this "Paradox Hotel" before I move on to another prog CD. I almost gave up at 7th spin because so far I have implemented a "policy" to enjoy prog music by spin number 8. Even when I reached 8th I still could not understand what the band is trying to do with this latest release. So I did some variations by playing CDs of Van Halen (who says that I'm only enjoying prog CDs?), Roine Stolt "Wallstreet Voodoo", The Flower Kings "Stardust We Are", Riverside "Out of Myself". I broke my rule and went ahead with another try before deciding to resell the CD. Spin number 9, nothing happen, 10 still nothing happen even though I could grab a bit.

The key is to conquer "Monsters and Men"

Since day one I spun the CD I knew the main problem: it was track number two "Monsters and Men" which presumably serves as opening track as track 1 "Check In" is basically a narration. I guess if the band did not put this "tough" song as opening, I probably could digest the music quicker. Say, instead putting track 4 "Hit Me With A Hit" as opener (track 2) I were pretty damn sure that I could nod my head right away at first spin. That's for sure. But it's not the case because the band has conceptualized the story started off with "Monsters and Men" which unfortunately offers a music that I could not understand at all. For this, I have to put all my due respect on the band's creative piece. Or, probably Bodin and Stolt tried to test our limit as prog lovers into how far we could reach the unreachable. Oh yes, this track is very very difficult to understand because in terms of structure and notes chosen, they are not something that I could easily emulate. Unpredictable - that's probably the correct term to use. It starts off with piano touch that I'm not familiar at all with the notes used followed with weird mellotron sound and marching drums. In a way it reminds me to YES's Mind Drive (but only on the marching drums, not the composition). When all instruments form the music in a flow that I could not predict, it confused me further. Even when the vocal part enters the music, I still could not understand it. When I continued to other tracks, I could see the beauty of the composition but I still got stuck with track no. 2 "Monsters and Men".

At 11th Spin ...

When I reached 11th spin, I said "Yes!" to myself as now I could fully enjoy "Monsters and Men" really well and I admire the tight composition despite no memorable melodies produced by this track. How did I conquer this track? It's basically I let my mind and my ears being totally open with no expectations at all on how the music should sound nicely to my ears. By doing so, starting from spin number 8 (I think), it grew on me and I could finally enjoy track 2 in its entirety at 11th spin. And it's true, after I could accept track 2, the rest sounded very easy to digest - nothing compares to track 2 in terms of complexity and weird melodies. Track 2 is an epic with three major movements with transitions among movements are done excellently through relatively long instrumental. As a matter of comparison, "Monsters and Men" is similar with what I experienced the first time enjoying YES "Gates of Delirium" which at that time I was not familiar at all with the melody that sounded weird to my ears.

Great Music, Great Musicianship

Once I could enjoy track two, I could then see the overall music theme that connects one track to another from disk one to disk two. The music flows wonderfully from opening to end with various styles and tempo changes. The composition and songwriting are very tight and powerful, successfully adding up the album into a cohesive whole.

I'm not gonna review on track by track basis but I need to emphasize that track number 8 "Self-Consuming Fire" is a killer! Its melody is truly wonderful. The music starts off wonderfully with Stolt and Hasse nylon string acoustic guitar after the ambient end of "Bavarian Skies". Stolt sings wholeheartedly with powerful voice while Hasse also plays percussion in addition to nylon string guitar. The opening part reminds me to STING's "The Shape of My Heart" (oops! This is not prog music, but I listen to it as well - what's wrong?) in terms of nuance but "Self-Consuming Fire" is much darker. The use of mellotron-string has enriched the dark nuance. Oh .. the music flows wonderfully in medium tempo with a bit of jazz and bluesy style. I enjoy very much when Stolt sighs "Ah ..ah ..ah ..etc.". So wonderful! The interlude part with rocking guitar solo (reminiscent of classic rock music) makes the music much powerful. Jonas Reingold plays his bass guitar dynamically. On "Mommy Leave The Light On" the vocal line is using a distorted distant vocal technique accompanied with mellotron sounds and guitar fills which reminds me to Hackett with Genesis.

Disk One concludes beautifully with "End on A High Note" (another excellent track). Disk Two material are generally much easier to digest compared to disk One. It starts off with paradoxical title "Minor Giant Steps" followed with mellow "Touch My Heaven" in distant vocal style. The rhythm section reminds me to the music of Peter Gabriel or Carptree. "The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson" is a nice instrumental. There is music riffs which are very similar to King Crimson (at minutes 1:00). In here you can enjoy how excellent Marcus (the new drummer) is playing his kits. The title track "Paradox Hotel" is a straight forward composition.

Overall, this is a great music with great musicianship. I urge you to own this album. If you find problems to accept the music, you might need to follow my path as I mentioned above with patience and open mind. Let the music flows - don't expect the music "should be" like this or like that. Especially, don't play around with the melody. The Flower Kings has pushed the envelope further, to create music beyond what the have done so far. Oh by the way, the sonic quality is excellent. Cover art (by Andres Valle) and CD package are great - really prog package! The album is produced by Roine Stolt and assisted by Tomas Bodin. Roine Stolt is a genius! On the basis of this album and Roine's last solo album, I decide myself being the fan of The Flower Kings. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

I am one of those who use to say that TFK should better release single CD's instead of double ones, in order to avoid the filler and select only their best stuff. With that thoughts in my mind the first two listens of Paradox Hotel were, as I expected, a little hard to complete, and I initially thought that 50% of the album was filler. Well, it isn't. This is the typical grower, the album wins with every listen and after you are used to listen to it you can really see that it is full of gems. This work is also more song- oriented, with less improvisation and more well-thought compositions. The style could be compared with Stardust We Are with some bits of Adam & Eve. The album begins with the same ping-pong nonsense that began the Retropolis album, which is fun anyway, and then it gives pass to Monsters And Men, the epic of this album. This is a typical TFK epic with lead vocals shared by Hasse and Roine. The track is a very dinamic one, features good Yes-like melodies (I can't help but remembering "The more We Live Let Go" from the Yes' Union album when I listen to TFK repeating the chorus "The more you look, the more you try...") and the different parts are well bridged with entertaining and inspired guitar work. It may not be their best epic but it's a good listening experience. The rest of the fisrt CD is comprised by several types of songs: the short slow melodic ones, all of them very pleasant with beautiful melodies (I love the psychedelic Lucy Had A Dream and the quiet and lovely "Mummy Leave The Light On), a pair of Yes-style ones (the catchy chorus on Hit Me With A Hit was the first melody that I found myself singing after a pair of listens of the album),a good instrumental (Pioneers Of Aviation), and a new dark and theatrical song, Bavarian Skies, in the vein of "Vampire's View" from their previous release. Not bad. The second CD begins with three tracks that remind me of three big names in prog music: Minor Giant Steps is a good melodic track in the vein of Yes, Touch My Heaven sound similar to Pink Floyd circa Dark Side era (specially the Gilomuresque solo at the end with backing chorus). And Unorthodox Dancing Lesson seems to be a sort of tribute to King Crimson, you can even hear the same melody of certain part of Lark's Tongues In Apic. Anyway that songs are not ripp-off, they use the 70's prog inspiration but make new interesting music with it. After that three songs there are several less interesting tracks (4,5,7) but then the title track gets you to wake up again. It's not a prog rock track really, it would have fit on Roine Stolt's last solo album, as it is very blues-rock oriented, but it's really good, and it really rocks! Finally we arrive to Blue Planet, a delightfull tune with beautiful melodies and emotional singing by Roine. I am convinced that this is the best album to date by The Flower Kings. It does have 3 or 4 weaker tracks but most are gorgeous. You simply have to let them time to grow on you. Highly recommended.

There are times when we sense a great album almost instantly but we can definitely say the word “amazing”, “marvelous”, "masterpiece", whatever, only after dig harder into it. We may consider it a tough item. The latest output of Swedish progressive rock giant The Flower Kings is an example. The opening track, a 21-plus-minute epic "Monsters & Men", contains snippets of gorgeous melodies, quick-change tempo, varies styles, keyboards playing that display accuracy and prowess, and killer guitar solo, but it doesn't instantly bring the listeners to the destination expected in the first place. We need to muster the concentration required to listen to the song, and ultimately the album in its entirety, for several spins before a "click" can be reached.

That sounds pretty much The Flower Kings' typical albums, indeed. However, in this point in time, the band 10th studio offering (a double album, again!) has more than just its hard-to-digest materials: it also strengthening the band's position as a group who really deserves to be highly praised -- one of the greatests in its genre since early 1990s. This album neatly packed many strong materials in terms of sound, instrumentation, dynamic and arrangement; all of them make up the unique form of music. It's the kind of cuisine we wouldn't find in every restaurant.

While naming individual remarkable songs is somewhat futile, it's safe to mention there are stuff that remind us of 1970s giants such as Yes, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant and King Crimson. All of them are presented with a different musical recipe, though. And with this, frontman-cum-guitarist Roine Stolt lead his band cruising enthusiastically into human existence in a world he refer to as a hotel. “We are only guests here; we can't take much with us. We check in, we use the hotel bar, pay the bill – you get nothing for free – and then leave again sometime”, Stolt explains the concept.

An interesting theme, a wonderful music. Add with the sleek production, we have enough reasons to praise this album and put it in the same rank with the bests from The Flower Kings catalogue.

Listening to prog rock for only 3 years, I admit having ignored TFK's music until 2004's "Adam and Eve". I decided to buy "Paradox Hotel" when it was released. It just doesn't leave my CD-player since. An important variety of styles is present in this LP; we go from Yes-inspired epics ( "Monsters and Men" ), to alternative rocking ( "Life will kill you" ), psychedelic ( enormous "Lucy had a Dream and "Bavarian Skies" ) or jazzy ( the hilarating "Unorthodox Dancinglesson" ) compositions without feeling any kind of boredom. These guys are very professional and undoubtedly write and play their songs with passion for progressive music. A great work from a big prog band.

After a few same-sounding albums it is a treat to hear what the Flower Kings have unleashed with "Paradox Hotel".

I've been a Fan of the Kings for a long time, starting with "Retropolis", the first album I heard from TFK. I loved it's playful and life affirming nature with just enough concern leveled at world leaders and difficult issues: and it sounded great with every play, getting better with each listen! So it is very pleasing that "Paradox Hotel" reminds me of "Retropolis." It's themes are similar Flower Kings issues with irony and wit being applied to issues like not letting leaders fool you and a gnostic type of Christianity - something I often dislike in music, as I don't enjoy being prostilized to. Thankfully, that isn't the case. All messages are addressed in an adult manner that even a child could underestand. Believe me, if I don't find it offensive than I doubt most folks who prefer sermons at religious gatherings will find no fault with the subject manor.

Some changes have been made. The Kings have a fine new drummer replacing an equally fine drummer. Marcus Liliequist fits in a bit better as he seems more equipped to play in the rock idiom. One of the issues I had with "Unfold the Future" and "Adam and Eve" were the occasions into jazz fusion, which while good, often took the band out of their more comfortable groove, and while I'll anger some listeners, created a schism between jazz oriented players and Roine Stolt, who has a good feel for jazz fusion but just doesn't seem to sound right when the rhythm section is smoking on a agressive jazz fusion groove. Roine Stolt is many things as a guitarist but he isn't a jazz player and as such offerred rock oriented solos and chord progressions that often created a schism. Marcus Liliequist fits into TFK considerably better and is able to hold the band together on every direction they go, which is many, sometimes frequently.

Also back is a sense of humor and experimentation that seemed taken up by intense jazz segments on the noted albums.

Best of all, "Paradox Hotel" was practiced and featured compositions by Tomas Bodin, the band's keyboardist and Hans Froberg, it's singer and additional guitarist. This makes for a more open feel to the album and best of all, the band is firing on all cylinders. Froberg has been developing as a vocalist with every album and is at the point where I prefer his voice to Roine Stolt's, which, had you said this several years ago I would have laughed at. But to his credit Hans can do it all now. His stylistic range goes from strong leads in baritone to tennor range, his tonal reigon is spectacular. He can be smooth and soaring or gruff and snarling. Perhaps most surprising is his blue eyed soul sounds as demonstrated on, "Monsters & Men." No need to fear, the vocal duets between Hans and Roine are as good as ever, and while Hans has become the lead vocalist, there are still plenty of moments for Roine's expressive vocals.

According to band sources much of the album was recording live in the studio with some overdubs, and the album has a punchy mix that sounds like a fantastic live concert...the kind some bands would pass off as live, leaving out the overdubs and the insanely good performances.

"Paradox Hotel" is a complete work, so there isn't really a way of saying which CD is better. The work is uniformly excellent, and this is said about a band that seems to have more double albums than single ones! As corny as it may sound, "Paradox Hotel" is by far the most concise double CD The Flower Kings have released. There is no filler material. In fact, it has the least amount of lesser quality songs of any TFK release.

This makes "Paradox Hotel" a serious candidate for album of the year. While I normally don't recommend double albums as a starting place for new users "Paradox Hotel" has such a good flow and variation of material that it is difficult to find much to say wrong about it. Maybe it's too long, but there are two CDs and you aren't compelled to listen to both, although it is a pleasant experience.

It's funny that I've spent so little time discussing The Flower Kings! Essentially, TFK are a band that lean in the direction of occasional mimicry of idols from the golden age of progressive rock. In particular, arrangements tend to be similar to YES and Genesis with songs that have sometimes similar themes and literal quotes from past masters of the progressive genre. Usually the YES feel is found in the grandiose arrangements, complete with massive song structures which are symphonic in nature. TFK are also subtle; more so than YES, and in this case there are many of the hair-pin turns and beauty found in Peter Gabriel era Genesis. Beyond these two stellar artists, guitarist / composer Roine Stolt has an affinity for the wah-wah, particularly when it comes to angular solos similar but more melodic than Frank Zappa. In fact, the art-work and song structures, down to the name of certain songs, are the best Zappa songs he never wrote. Listen to Disc 2's "The Unorthodox Dancine Lesson" which is pure Zappa in terms of humor and dynanism. In general Roine Stolt is a 70s based guitarist that has kept up with time, unlike so many of his contemporaries. This is one reason his sound and approach to whatever he plays works so well. He is a guitar hero who can hold his own with Steve Howe, another major influence, but can also hold his own with today's more technical guitarists.

Thomas Bodin creates novel to extravagent keyboard parts, particularly when using synths. Bodin is novel in his electronica leanings which give a nice edge to his part in the band.

Essentially, every player in The Flower Kings would be a major find for any other band, and as is the case, many of the members have side projects, Stolt included. While a product of the original greats in progressive music, the Kings are already part of the greats they sometimes emulate. In the end, they are adroit writers and brilliant players.

There are a good number of TFK songs here at Prog Archives. While they aren't from "Paradox Hotel" they will give you a good idea of what The Flower Kings sound like and their superb mixture of old and new school progressive. They may take a listen or two to get you interested, but of the more modern bands within the Progressive Rock scene, they are worth a few albums worth of purchases. I really would suggest "Paradox Hotel" as a starting point as it is The Flower Kings at their apex, with a long list of styles and obvious pleasure in the making of an album. It reminds me a bit of The Beatles, White Album which was all over the place and did have filler. At the Paradox Hotel there is no filler and plenty room for TFK to be caught playing for the pure enjoyment. Very few albums like this exist, let alone are so well produced and performed!

Flower Kings' latest epic 2CD set is a well packaged set, the digipak edition at least appearing in a sort of triple gatefold affair, very pleasing to the eye, I like the caricatures of the band on the cover, I know others disagree, still to the music.

Starting off with Check In which is mainly just conversation between ground control and one of the apollo missions, a nice effective opening, finishing off with what sounds like a table tennis match, which I'm pretty sure they have used elsewhere, but can't think on what. This leads in to the epic Monsters and Men, which is a fine epic never seems to wander off track or dabble on a theme for too long, heavily influenced by Close to the Edge period Yes, it keeps the interest nicely which can be a problem with longer songs. Hit Me With a Hit is a fine catchy "Prog Pop" song really which seems to follow the KLF how to have a number one hit, about the vacuous ness of music in the "Charts", but I think its catchy enough to populate said Hit Parade itself.

Half way through CD1 we go into Pink Floyd mode with Pioneers of Aviation a sort of psychedelic instrumental which you can image early floyd making crossed with a touch of SEbtP era Genesis, and Mommy Leave The Light on" which could have graced The Wall.

CD2 starts with a real barnstormer in the guise of Minor Giant Steps, reminds me vaguely of mid period VdGG for some reason, but doesn't really sound like them. Touch My Heaven is a personal favourite of mine, starts of dreamy and jazzy and ends with spine tingling guitars a terrific track even though its the least "Flower Kings" type track on here. Man of the World and Life Will kill you could be two tracks that you could hear blaring out of car stereos sounding like typical FM Radio Rock, which made me blanche a bit at first, but I really started to appreciate the tracks after a few listens, as more and more depth is revealed, than upon initial hearings. The Way the Waters are Moving is a moving (!) hymn dedicated to the casualties and survivors of the christmas 2004 tsunami and its stays just the right side of mawkish and slides nicely into What If God Was Alone, which is another highlight of the album. The title track continues the tradition of Flower Kings having the worst song on the album as the title track (a la Adam and Eve), it just seems to be a boring chuggy pub rock type track, although there are some nice instrumental passages later into the track. Blue Planet finishes off nicely and comes around to the initial theme of the apollo missions, getting description of the Earth from the Astronauts perspective.

All in all a fine album, not perfect, but then very little is.

This realease has left me cold. Don't get me wrong folks, it's a solid album. But is it worthy to wear TFK label ? The intro is one of those things ( the whole ping pong ball thing) that has finally been over done by the band. Track # 2, MONSTERS AND MEN is very typical FK music. Nothing special about it but it is masterfully performed. HIT ME WITH A HIT and PIONEERS OF AVIATION are both spectacular pieces of music but are nothing new for these guys. Beyond those 3 tracks, disc one seems to be a serious regression from ADAM & EVE.

The 2nd disc doesn't fare much better. MINOR GIANT STEPS and WHAT IF GOD IS ALONE are the only tracks that run ahead of the pack. In short... as is the case with many of their 2 disc sets... one would have been enough. There is so much filler material here that it makes you wonder what these boys could do if they concentrated real hard on a few great ideas instead of a cornucopia of mediocre ones. Bottom line is that TFK are in need of a blood transfusion because they are becoming predictable and stale.

This is the best work the Flower Kings have ever done. I think they have reached a pinnacle and I hope they stay at this point for every album they do in the future. This album is special. For me, its an album that I can listen to over, and over, and over. A double CD, (nothing strange to TFK) this album is packed with great song after great song. Songs are inspiring, jazzy, rocking, and everything in between. The vocals sound the best they have ever been- and the new drummer fits in nicely. I have had this CD in my car for 3 months straight, and its not coming out anytime soon. This is a masterpiece if I have ever heard one. Way to go Flower Kings!

Sorry but what's all the fuss about it?! Ok, some instrumental passages are well performed and also mixed in a remarkable way; nevertheless the present album is a bit disappointing, lacking of immagination and almost emulating - for instance - the melodies of Peter Gabriel (listen to "Jealousy") or those ones in the vein of Yes (listen to "Hit Me With A Hit")...if you start listening to the first song of disc 2 you receive the same impression as above, because their poor music ideas reach the sense of tiredness ( like in the second track of disc 2 entitled "Touch My Heaven")...anyway, except for such major defects , you can discover a few interesting features within ,regarding the harmony, as this latter is mainly composed by Roine Stolte - even though He sometimes plays some passages which could be dedicated to King Crimson (his citation regarding "Larks tongue in Aspic" in the tune "The Unorthodox Dancinglesson" is evident and it's a bit disturbing me, cause the intro of this song finally seems an original compostion by Roine himself!!...): "Life Will Kill You" is a typical example, but at the end you could prefer the soft and pleasant approach of "Man Of The World" or once again the good job at the keyboards of "Pioneers Of Aviation" (coming back to disc 1), which is worth checking out at least... and then?...Is it enough? I don't know, but at the end you could erase an half star from the total score.

Well, I musty say I liked this album very much when I first heard it. Like all TFK albums, it seems that they can´t really release a bad CD. They are simply too talented for that. But it does not mean they are all masterpieces either. Paradox Hotel is clearly an album without focus, ragged and lacks power. Individually, the songs, except for the inevitable filler stuff, are quite good. But surely they lack some kind of spark. This is particularly true with the two epics, which seemed to be written mostly for the sake of it.

The line up changes also did some harm. Founder member Hasse Brunnisson plays only on a couple of tracks and new drummer Marcus Liliequist is good, but not par to his predecessors. Also missing is Daniel Gildenlow, but, considering his busy work schedule with Pain Of Salvation and also with Transatlantic, that was to be expected.

The album seems a bit forced in some aspects too. Almost like they decided to prove they are really a ´rock´ band, with silly tracks like Life Will Kill You and the title track. Fortunately those are not the majority here.

If you´re a Flower King fan, go for it. It has a fair amount of decent songs on it and their musicianship is as awesome as ever. However, this is not for the newbie. It is a transitional album that will satisfy only the devoted fan, who has bought all their major albums already and want to get their latest stuff too,no matter what. Compared to much stuff that´s being released nowadays I think Paradox Hotel is still a strong effort. But when you put it side by side with their best work, I´m afraid this one suffers a lot. Clearly, they were not in their prime.

Rating: Something between 2 and 2,5 stars really.

Even the Flower Kings have sold their soul to the neo pro movement. This album is easily their most accessible, and flat out the worst I heard of them. I don't know why they made this move but I think prog should stay prog, and should not go to the direction of pop.

Probably the saddest thing about all this is that this is more than 2 hours of music, if it had been only 1 disc I maybe could've forgiven them, but this is too much. There is no real direction and the music isn't really coherent.

2 stars only for our friends from Sweden

The best flower kings album yet. From the first song on disc 1 to blue planet, the closing song of the album, this album is great. They continue to show their versatility and ingenuity with this album. Highlights Disc 1: Monsters and Men - Continues to get better each listen. Great opening epic, sets the mood and theme for the album. Jealousy - A somber but beautiful piano piece here. Self consuming fire- An awesome song in all respects. Roine's solos are breathtaking. Arguably the best short song of their catalog.

Disc 2: Basically everything. What if god is alone and Minor giant steps are my two favorites on the second disc. Every song is a highlight except unorthodox dancing lessons and the way the waters are moving, but they're both good songs.

Dissapointments: Only Bavarian skies.

The greatest album among a collection of great works deserves a 5.

"And soon you'll dine with presidents..."

Wow! The Flower Kings.

When I first heard the Flower Kings were going to be putting out a new album, I immediately got it ordered on the internet, and I had it within a week of its release. To be quite honest, it hasn't yet left my CD player. This was my first Flower Kings album. I heard this and immediately, I went out to but Roine Stolt's "The Flower King." This album has had such a positive influence on my musical tastes. The 2 albums are extremely powerful, and cover tons of different sounds. After only hearing the Flower Kings on the radio and ProgArchives, and then putting this album in, I was pleasantly surprised. The Kings have a great, clean, happy sound that makes "Paradox Hotel" one of my favorite albums of all time. The music is superb and the atmosphere the album creates is awe-inspiring. A must have!

CHECK IN- A very cool intro. The anti-climactic ending is such a great into to the fantastic album. I love the ping-pong noises after "ignition." MONSTERS AND MEN- After CHECK IN, the listener is pleasantly surprised to hear nice soft keys introducing one of my favorite epics. This song definitely rivals Driver's Seat (My other favorite epic by the Kings). Everything works in this epics, and the shifts from one theme to another are spotless. The music is very, very emotional. What a way to begin the album! JEALOUSY - Cool song with interesting lyrics, nothing to "wow" at, but the song does have a lot of emotion to it. It reminds me of something the late Beatles would have done. HIT ME WITH A HIT - Wow! The madness begins. The Marimba with the guitars is brilliant. The theme of the song is obviously the music industry. Through the seeming chaos, this song maintains a great upbeat rhythm played perfectly. PIONEERS OF AVIATION - Thought slow to start, this tune really starts to rock once the keys get into full blast. The bass solo and guitar solo are among the best on the album, as there are no lyrics. This is definitely one of the best songs in the collection of the Flower Kings. LUCY HAD A DREAM - This sad tune has odd lyrics, and a mystical, almost psychedelic aura to it. Though it's rather somber, the song features great playing and is a nice piece of "filler" if you want to call it, although I would argue that is an important track on the album. Plus, the ending is simply HILARIOUS! BAVARIAN SKIES - An interesting song, again. I have little to say about this dark song. Though it is my least favorite on the album, I can see how it also works with the rest of the album. Combined with LUCY HAD A DREAM, these two songs fit into the grand scheme of the album by adding a tad of darkness. Hitler was a nutcase. The ending of this song it very creative, as are the vocals. A nice respite from the darker theme in the middle of Disc 1. SELFCONSUMING FIRE - Though it starts slow, this song totally picks up and then just rocks out! The vocals are super cool, and it is a fantastic addition to the album. MOMMY LEAVE THE LIGHT ON - this song is so emotional. It makes me very sad when I hear it, but again it fits into the scheme of the album, and is such a great build to the next tune. END ON A HIGH NOTE -- This was the sole reason I bought this album. I heard it on the radio, and was absolutely blown away. Though the middle of the album is very mellow, this track kicks it up a notch. From the first chord to the last note,, this song is a gem. They Keys are fantastic and the whole song has such a happy feel to it. MINOR GIANT STEPS - This song goes so understates in the other reviews that I have read. It had such a great sound to it, traditional Flower Kings. The "beeping" noises in the background I find to be very amusing, and I simply can't get over the sounds that the rest of the keys have! Nice guitar work too! TOUCH MY HEAVEN - Another song that just builds and builds and builds, until it reaches its climax at the very end with an awesomely emotional solo. THE UNORTHODOX DANCEINGLESSON - My jaw dropped the first time I heard this. The weird 13/8 time signature usually turns off all of my friends, but it had this magical feel overlying the aggressive harder-edge playing seen in this track. Definitely one of my favorite on the album. (Throughout the song, there are some priceless sound effects, watch out for them!) MAN OF THE WORLD - Featuring a bright opening, this song never fails to amaze me. I love the use of the melotron in the beginning. Toward the middle of the song, there is an unbelievable keyboard solo that gets rather out of control! LIFE WILL KILL YOU - This is also one of my favorites on the album. This song just shows the versatility of the Kings. Great guitar work and the lyrics are so cool! THE WAY THE WATERS ARE MOVING - This track slows it down a bit, but yet again, the singing is extremely emotional. Another "weak" point, but still it fits into the grand scheme of things. WHAT IF GOD IS ALONE - Interesting song. It has a good message, in my view and it does a nice job of showing what is "backwards" with today's society. The vocals, are emotional, and they grow with the rest of the music! This whole song is one giant crescendo. PARADOX HOTEL - And the title track comes at the end, cool! Although this track gets a tad repetitive, the intro is excellent and the guitar works is really cool. This hard-edged approach works very well. BLUE PLANET - The final track, unfortunately. With such an impressive album, the only complaint I have about this song is that it ends the album!

I purchased Paradox Hotel expecting some well made symphonic prog that paid homage to the classic progressive rock acts of the 70's like Yes, Gentle Giant, King Crimson and Genesis. I understood that the music of The Flower Kings was nothing original, this was something that I didn't mind. As long as it was good music that entertained me I would be satisfied. Unfortunately Paradox Hotel does not offer that. The album is bland, uninspired, and just plain weak. It does nothing to really provoke any emotional reaction or even inspire any thought. They're basically doing a tribute act to prog act rock, but writing their own songs and ultimately failing to live up to the standards of the prog greats of the 70's.

The music won't make you feel or think or anything of the sort. It's just there, it exist and does nothing but exist. I never really found a moment in the album where I thought "that's a cool melody" or "that's a great composition". I tried to listen, take in what the album offered but all I could do was hear. There's really nothing to listen for. There's no thing offered by this album. Parts of it are catchy but they just get lost in endless noodling.

Some songs on this album would make wonderful pop songs, something Mr. Stolt should do instead. 'Hit Me with a Hit' and 'Minor Giant Steps' have vocals hooks and choruses that could make perfect pop songs. But they only last little but, to be drowned in twiddly pseudo-prog instrumental sections. It's basically a great song ruined by mindless noodling that poorly imitates King Crimson or Gentle Giant and atmospheric sections that lack any true atmosphere. The skills of the musicians is great. They play fast and complex stuff with ease. But does that really matter if the stuff your playing is poorly written and completely dry, then does that even matter? Good musician ship is about being able to use your skills to express yourself, and Stolt and his friends have nothing to express.

Maybe it's because of the flat production that everything on this album sounds so, well, lame. Maybe that's why the 'atmospheric' sections sound like the band endless meandering, and when they attempt to 'rock' it sounds so flat, lacking any youthful energy. Maybe that's why parts of the album sound like plain adult contemporary. Again, like musicianship, production should be used to express something. Too bad the band has nothing to express.

'Monsters and Men' is yet another passionless piece of music like everything else on the album, except there is no catchy pop song under the mindless twiddly parts. The whole thing is just a bunch of references to classic prog with no flow or real point. It's like they recorded something , decided the album needed an epic to be a true prog album, so they added various bull[&*!#]. Don't expect a satisfying grandiose epic; just something that tries and fails to be grandiose and doesn't even care about being satisfying. The only difference between Monsters and Men and the rest of album is that parts of this album have those tasty pop tunes hidden underneath, but unfortunately suffocated.

Paradox Hotel does not pay homage to the classic artist of, it's embarrassingly imitates them. The biggest problem with the album is not the endless references to classic prog we have all heard, it's that it's simply a bad album. It's flat and uninspired and shows a band that has forgot that songwriting comes first. Forget about Paradox Hotel and go buy a classic prog album instead. You'll actually get something out of it other than disappointment.

Well, in concern to this album, I have few to add to what official prog reviewer Trickster F. said in his review. Once more, I would be embaraced if I had to show someone this album as an exemplification of modern progressive rock. Honestly what would that person think? I would bet that person would be very disappointed.

More again, he/she would meet a collection of cliches of 70's classics, with some uninspired back arrangements, which at times, can be ridiculous and completely out-of-date. Or could even laugh at your face with the unfashioned 80's-like, even nauseating, progressive pop- tunes. The most dramatic example is "Lucy had a Dream" in which its "fantasmagoric" video- game backgrounds and the dramatic lyrics discredit completely the tune. In fact, lyrics are other issue of the vast "completely out-of-date list". And when the band tries to make something different, the result can be the embarassing "Unorthodox Dancinglesson" on disc 2. The band seems to like to prolong to the exhaustion their poor compositions, like the starter "Monsters and Men" which has a tremendous poor structure for a 20 minutes song, it is few more than a collection of piano/organ/guitar/voice solos. In fact, what could we say about Flower Kings was that they could master brightly complex compositions, like in Space Revolver. But even that is lost in this album. Everything seems to be so forced. The appelative soft pianos only cover the completely lack of sense of musicality the band showed in the album.

Regressive and uninspired progressive rock, only for prog purists or fans of the band.

I listened to this album 3 times (over a period of half a year, and the last time just a few hours before writing this), and I cannot remember any great song or melody. It's a solid effort, better than the previous album (Adam & Eve), with top musicianship, production and packaging ... but it somehow feels empty and dry. There are a few inspiring moments in some tracks - Pioneers of Aviation, End on a High Note, the title track + Blue Planet. But I only know this because I kept notes from my listening session.

Conclusion: 3 stars - a solid effort, but nothing to write home about either. I'd recommend any other TFK album instead of this one, with the exception of Adam & Eve. I hope that Roine manages to find the inspiration to write another truly great TFK album ... he is still capable of writing great music, as proven by his (non-prog) solo album "Wallstreet Voodoo", which was released just half a year before this one.

The Flower Kings at its best. This album unite all the experience of the band's 12-year-old life, mix them in that inspired mind of Ronnie, with the right help of Tomas, and spread the result in two discs, with no fillers, where the weaker parts are enviable by many other albums.

Too much? This is what a masterpiece is, and some times I'd like to use the word perfection, but that is an exaggeration, I know.

When I talk about the highest moments on the album, Selfconsuming Fire, Minor Giants Steps or What if God Is Alone, I talk about some of the greatest songs of The Flower Kings. And when I talk about the typical experiments, eventually fillers in these two-disc albums, Bavarian Skies and maybe The Unorthodox Dancinglesson, I talk about strong tracks, where the experiments worked excellently.

Let's focus in some key moments: First of all, the opening, Monsters and Men, the only 20-minute track. It starts really good, with a beautiful piano, and the first half is just like one of those great songs like Stardust We Are or The Truth Will Set You Free. But, unfortunately, the song can't keep that level, and falls in some kind of lethargy which surrounds you with good music but allows you to see that something is missing. In this hotel, the longest one is not the best one.

Selfconsuming Fire is the peak in Room 111. It starts with a beautiful acoustic guitar leading toward a crescendo that ends in an electric guitar solo, and then again. Simplicity is the best friend of this song. Simplicity and inspiration.

Bavarian Skies stands like an experiment, those weird songs usually one doesn't understand, with voices and some music on the background. But suddenly the sense arises, the song takes form, and you find yourself in the middle of an emotional melody. Not a low point at all.

Room 222 stars with the superb Minor Giant Steps. How to summarize this song with words? Mmm. It's very dynamic with the typical sound of the band, and a great singing by Hans, quite sweet at moments.

Tracks 2 and 3 are a kind of experimental section. Touch My Heaven, composed by Bodin, is very calmed, a little dark at the beginning, with the music like covered with pillows before the speakers. But the solo at the second half is really great. Just picture Ronnie with the eyes closed, the head to the back and playing. The Unorthodox Dancinglesson is an instrumental piece based on a motif on the keyboard, with a chaotic crescendo in the mid section. Interesting duo, as I said, not low at all.

Life Will Kill You is Froberg's debut on the composition. A little pop oriented, something like a single, but it's ok. All in all, I'm happy when I got to this song.

The Way the Waters Are Moving makes an excellent intro to the other extraterrestrial song: What if God Is Alone. I can't avoid crying with this one; the climax really catches me. "I can see beyond time, I can love beyond words, I can shine beyond suns, I can dream beyond worlds."And the lyrics are very beautiful too.

So, what do we have here? One of the strongest works of The Flower Kings, in my opinion the best one, with similarities in structure and style to Unfold the Future. Paradox Hotel is an album to be heard at night with no interruptions, just one and the music. It's a Masterpiece from beginning to end.

There are a lot of songs on this great double album of TFK and they are very diverse in quality at least where my personal taste is concerned. So I will judge them individually without too much comment on every song. 1. Check in: short and not too intersting opening of the album, 2 stars. 2. Monsters & Men: Simple: one of the best songs EVER, incredible composition. So brilliant, especially the build up. Fantastic climax. Some of the elements in other song are brought together in this classic epic. Amazing. Can only be 5 stars. 3. Jealousy: short ballad, quite nice but nothing more. 2.5 stars 4. Hit me with a hit: common song, not too special. 3 stars 5. Pioneers of Aviation: original song, particularly in the beginning. Good, 3.5 stars. 6. Lucy had a dream: another ballad. Although TFK's ballads are ok I'm not too fond of them (just personal). 2.5 stars 7. Bavarian skies: Some strange vocals in this one. Gloomy song. 2.5 stars 8. Selfconsuming fire: this one's better. Good build up of the composition. 3.5 stars 9. Mommy leave the light on. Yet another ballad. See above. 2.5 stars 10. End on a high note. This is one of the highlights. A great varied song, TFK how I like them best. 4.5 stars

1. Minor giant steps: More or less like the previous one, only slightly less. 4 stars 2. Touch my heaven: this is my cup of tea, incredible guitarwork by Roine in the second part of the song. 5 stars 3. The onorthodox dancing lesson: strange one, not my thing. 2 stars 4. Man of the world: average song by TFK standards. Good nor bad. 3 stars 5. Life will kill you: another one like Touch my heaven, less compelling but with more spirit. 5 stars 6. The way waters are moving: simple song, not much. 2.5 stars 7. What if God's alone: best ballad, original lyrics. Makes you think. 3 stars 8. Paradox Hotel: pretty rough one for TFK standards, somewhat commercial too. 3.5 stars 9. Blue planet: nice mellow conclusion of a very diverse double album. 4 stars Since my way of judging is: when 3 or more songs are of the 5 star category it gets 5, so this gets the full 5.

Not that paradox at all ...

It took nearly one year and after several rounds and breaks I'm now ready for a review. First of all let me say - this is a big hand for the Hotel Paradox. I'm feeling right comfortable in here, the service is excellent. And I'm going to come back again for sure. THE FLOWER KINGS and especially Roine Stolt with his multiple side projects have had an enormous output during the last years. So one might imagine some wear marks and weaker albums. That's a great fallacy - at least for this one! The concept of 'Paradox Hotel' is thoroughly thought through. Conceived as a guest book the booklet contains nice illustrations and pictures. The songs are devided in two hotel rooms according to the two discs. Good ideas in summary! Lyrics are accessible, full of brave statements and all the other band members are involved to the songwriting process. Musically the album is pretty good with much variety during the two hours, an inspired, modern, fresh effort, sometimes retro with relations to other (symphonic) rock bands. Fröberg's vocals are a good addition and give a mellow appeal to some songs.

First we have a check-in for Room 111 and I'm only able to mention the most noticable fixtures and that's a lot, believe me. Monsters & Men is the first highlight. 'Freedom for the underdog' points out Stolt's first political message and the Kings are marching on with Mellotron in the background. A long monster epic indeed in the typical TFK mood and a mandatory Stolt solo. Tomas Bodin's various keyboard work and also some fantastic vocals are remarkable for this mid-tempo song. Hit Me With A Hit is a hit in fact with some GENESIS reminiscences. Not only musically top-notch but also a hit against the methods of the music industry. The instrumental Pioneers Of Aviation has a psychedelic startup, then changes its character to Fusion and for the rest rocks straightaway, a brilliant combination!

Lucy Had A Dream is a catchy tune, a compelling ballad about a young girl which disappeared from home. 'Is someone missing her?' - the band is spreading a very melancholic mood with electric circus keyboards. Bavarian Skies is a very ambivalent song which makes references to the fascist dictatorship in Germany. Musically not a highlight but very courageous and I hope Roine Stolt never will be told misunderstanding for his lyrics. Mommy Leave The Light On is very melancholic - no, a step further - just depressive about a child which wants to have allayed his fears. With End On A High Note we are checking out Room 111. This uptempo song rounds up the first disc with a positive flavour and Stolt's mandoline and electric guitar solos.

Then we are entering Room 222 which is even more comfortable. Lead vocals are by Hasse Fröberg. With Minor Giant Steps and nice multiple vocal parts Stolt is philosophizing a lot about the development of the human race. Touch My Heaven, written by Bodin, is about 'the white line' with a nice piano intro remembering at the DOORS 'Riders on the storm' and a great guitar solo once again. The Unorthodox Dancinglesson mutates to an eclectic King Crimson lesson, very spectacular. 'Send me over the ocean - I am lonely' is the main chorus of Man Of The World and indeed - this is a nice floating song. Life Will Kill You sounds like a hommage to TOTO collaborating with SANTANA. Carrying two faces, rocking without mercy but also switching to a latin rhythm with beautiful sparkling piano parts - bravo Hasse - another big highlight for me. With the haunting What If God Is Alone TFK are getting very melancholic once more and impressive vocals are remarkable. 'Come live in hell' - the title song Paradox Hotel serves a monster groove sowing the seeds for the gentle closer Blue Planet where Stolt again picks up the main theme of his lyrics.

Now what more is to say? I absolutely recommend to reserve a lot of time to explore this album. Its worth it. In summary including concept, lyrics and the musical output this is a masterpiece and ranks high in my collection in the meantime.

Paradox Hotel is just a mediocre album. Nothing on it really stands out to me. I found that Monsters & Men is not that great and a bit too long. If the song was shorter I might like it more. Also there is a lot of filler in this album. Many of the songs sound like they were put there to make the album longer, and they do a good job of that. There are some good songs on it though. The title track is probably one of my favorites on the album. Minor Giant Steps is another good song. I would say that disc 2 is better than disc 1 in general. This album just didn't do it for me. I would take a look at some other albums like Space Revolver.

Since their very early days back in their world of adventures, "TFK" has been playing the same sort of music. Fully inspired by "Yes" and "Crimson". At times with skills and inspiration from their debut album up to "Stardust We Are". Later on, a good studio album will be released as well ("The Rainmaker ", "Unfold The Future") and a good live one as well ("Meet TFK").

I am not fully passionate with "TFK" music by now, but when I discovered their work some four years ago I was really charmed. By now, I consider them as a good band, but bu no means a trend-setter.

"TFK" will even limit the music lenght of this double CD set to "only" just over two hours. With some goods and some poor songs. A song like "Hit Me With A Hit" is a typical "TFK" song. Very nice vocal harmonies, fully "Yes" style.

Fillers ? Of course there are. The last four numbers of CD 1 are not really great. "Bavarian Skies" being the worse while "Mommy Leave The Light On" won't be remembered either as a fantastic song. But even if "Selfconsuming Fire" has a weak start, Roine performs a brilliant guitar solo in the middle part. I have been used to more fillers than that on most of the "TFK" albums. Of course the last one of this first CD( Room 111) is probably not well titled ("End On A High Note"). And yes, I quite like the epic song : "Monsters And Men". No novelty here, but a good and melodic work. All the "TFK" clichés can be found here but IMO it is not boring at all. Even its lenght is not a handicap. The highlight of this album.

Since "TFK" has always produced lenghty albums (being single or double ones), there is always a chance that the second disc would be "fillers" oriented. But "Minor Giant Steps" is another of the pleasant songs from "Paradox Hotel". A very nice and fully symphonic classic "TFK" song as "Touch My Heaven" whose jazzy and tranquil mood will be illuminated with a fantastic guitar break, full of emotion. I like it very much. A second highlight.

The instrumental "Unorthodox Dancinglesson" is weaker. Fully Crimson-esque : repetitive riff and some improv. A feeling of "déjà vu", since the band has produced quite a few of this genre. Not a filler but just average. But it is followed with a very melodic song; full of poetry and feeling. "Man Of The World" is indeed a very good song. On the mellow side but not only. Great vocal harmonies.

Some harder notes with "Life Will Kill You" which is not the best number out there. The hardness will be smoothen by "The Way The Waters Are Moving" a short and soft ballad. A bit flat and dull to be honest. The title track is a filler as well. Dull and noisy. Useless. Another one of my faves.

To summarize my feeling, I would say that this work is above average the standard "TFK" production. OK, it is somewhat lenghty, but that's another of their characteristics. I have always believed that if they would cut their albums by some thirty per cent, the appreciation of their work would have been slightly higher (but this is a personal feeling).

It is a good album and as such I will rate it with three stars.

PARADOX HOTEL is one of those double albums which contain a few nice ideas but, after a while, pretty much all of those get spoiled. Take the 22-minute opening epic, 'Monsters and Men'. The first fifteen minutes or so sound quite exciting, and Roine Stolt even treats us to one of his best ever guitar solos, but then the music starts to drag, and the thing ends not with a bang but with a whimper. Same problem with the twelve-minute 'Minor Giant Steps', the opening tune of the second disc: optimistic symphonic pop with glorious church organ outbursts - but with a totally forgettable middle section.

At the same time, one of the FK's most serious problems is that they always sound oh so earnest, well-intentioned and over-emphatic... Supposedly sensitive ditties like 'Mummy Leave the Light On' don't make this listener feel anything; they just get on his nerves. 'Bavarian Skies' must be the most superfluous anti-Hitler ballad ever; when you consider how Tom Waits or Randy Newman might treat this kind of subject, you realise Roine Stolt has a LOT to learn about singing-songwriting. And what on earth is the point of 'The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson'? It just sounds like a totally superfluous attempt to rewrite 'Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part Two'.... 'Man of the World' then sounds like classic Yes performing a track by U2; it'll satisfy admirers of neither band. By 'What if God is Alone' (the 7th track on the second disc) the music has become so portentous the listener switches off altogether.

Fortunately, there are a few points of light. 'Jealousy', on the first disc, has a lovely romantic melody. 'Pioneers of Aviation' is a soaring instrumental, which makes me wish the Flower Kings would drop the vocals altogether. 'End on a High Note' sounds fairly uplifting, and 'Blue Planet' is a charming ballad with interesting developments on church organ. All in all, there must be about 45 minutes of truly enjoyable music on the entire double album. Where are the days bands had outside producers to guide them?

1. Check In (1:37) 2. Monsters & Men (21:21) 3. Jealousy (3:22) 4. Hit Me With A Hit (5:32) 5. Pioneers Of Aviation (7:49) 6. Lucy Had A Dream (5:28) 7. Bavarian Skies (6:34) 8. Selfconsuming Fire (5:49) 9. Mommy Leave The Light On (4:38) 10. End On A High Note (10:43)

1. Minor Giant Steps (12:12) 2. Touch My Heaven (6:08) 3. The Unorthodox Dancinglesson (5:24) 4. Man Of The World (5:55) 5. Life Will Kill You (7:03) 6. The Way The Waters Are Moving (3:12) 7. What If God Is Alone (6:58) 8. Paradox Hotel (6:29) 9. Blue Planet (9:42)

Not a very good concept, I must add, but i will be judging the album on musical content, not lyrical.

Highlights of the album would be about ten of the songs out of 19, so it's not bad going. The rest are either pointless or average prog songs. The rating system goes as follows:

1. Check In - Pointless really. Not a song - 1/5 2. Monsters & Men - Great song with some fantastic guitar work, one of FK's best work, extremely melodic in every way - 5/5 3. Jealousy - Another pointless waste - 1/5 4. Hit Me With A Hit - Stunning single from TFK, one of my favourite listens. A nice 9/8 riff as well - 4/5 5. Pioneers Of Aviation - Great follow up to HMWAH. Reminds me a lot of Camel with the 6/8 feel - 4/5 6. Lucy Had A Dream - The best Bach-like keyboard melody I've heard in years! one of my favourites of the album - 5/5 7. Bavarian Skies - Rubbish, I have to say - 1/5 8. Selfconsuming Fire - Another of my album favourites, not quite masterpiece though and slightly unoriginal - 4/5 9. Mommy Leave The Light On - OK I guess - 2/5 10. End On A High Note - Another just good song. Worth a listen however - 3/5

1. Minor Giant Steps - HAHA! one of my favourite FK songs, masterpiece, Stolt at his songwriting best - 5/5 2. Touch My Heaven - Very Floyd. Great blues song with some incredibly emotional guitar playing and atmospheric keyboards and vocals - 5/5 3. The Unorthodox Dancinglesson - Average prog song with unusual time signatures. A bit unbearable to listen to - 2/5 4. Man Of The World - Another great single by the FK - 4/5 5. Life Will Kill You - Very listenable heavy prog song, slightly nostalgic of Whitesnake - 5/5 6. The Way The Waters Are Moving - Rather pointless ballad - 2/5 7. What If God Is Alone - Not so pointless ballad with a 5/4 feel. Very moving with cheesy lyrics - 4/5 8. Paradox Hotel - Average single with a very embarassing riff, not prog at all - 3/5 9. Blue Planet - An excellent ending, some very good progressive moments that remind me of Yes's Awaken - 5/5

Overall, 3.5 / 5, good with not so good concept. Non-essential but has some nice ideas.

THE FLOWER KINGS fourth double album is a concept album called "Paradox Hotel". The hotel really represents our lives, in that we check in(birth) stay for a while(life) then check out(die). We never see the hotel manager(God) but assume he's looking after the hotel so that it runs properly.The first thing to know about the band on this album is that Daniel Gildenlow has left along with drummer Zoltan Csorsz. As for the music it isn't nearly as complex or dark as "Adam & Eve", in fact this is very laid back for the most part with guitar, drums and bass often taking a back seat. Lots of mellotron, reserved vocals and harmonies on this one. I still really liked the first disc a lot, feeling it was a solid 4 stars, but the second disc brought the rating down for me even though my favourite song on the album "Life Will Kill You" is on it.

Some of the highlights for me were "Hit Me With A Hit" an uptempo tune with vocals and great bass lines early. It settles right down 2 1/2 minutes. I really like this section as drums, bass and mellotron create an awesome sound as angular guitar melodies play overtop. Full sound returns 2 minutes later. "Pioneers Of Aviation" is an instrumental that opens with guitar and pipe organ that builds. It turns spacey until the drums and aggressive guitar come in after 2 minutes. An incredible uptempo melody follows that has a slight Celtic(IONA) flavour to it. Pipe organ late. "Lucy Had A Dream" is mellow with reserved vocals to open. The lyrics are quite moving with some cool sounding guitar. It ends with this hilarious pretend add for an airline. "Bavarian Skies" is creepy in more ways than one, but it is truly brilliant. Haunting mellotron and piano provide the background to the spoken vocals. I like the female vocal melodies to end it. "Self-Consuming Fire" features intricate and beautiful acoustic guitar melodies. Reserved vocals come in and mellotron. Nice. The sound gets fuller 1 1/2 minutes until it's full after 2 minutes. Scorching guitar 3 minutes in. Fantastic tune. "Mommy Leave The Light On" opens with gentle guitar as vocals come in softly. Mellotron floats in. This is so heavenly. How emotional is this though. Gulp. The three tracks I didn't metion(not counting the brief intro song) are all good as well, making the first disc a 4.5 star rating.

The second disc(like the first one) opens with the longest song on their respective sides, and both don't do a lot for me even though I do like them. "Touch My Heaven" is ok, but the guitar solo is excellent and a highlight on the album. I do like the experimental side of "The Unorthodox Dancinglesson". "Life Will Kill You" opens with a spacey atmosphere before the guitar comes in sounding amazing. Vocal melodies join in as drums build. Guitar cranks out some great sounds. There is some ripping organ and killer guitar on this one. One of my favourite FLOWER KING songs of all time!

I really wish i could give this 4 stars because there are so many great tunes, but there are also many I can't get into on the second disc. If I could pick out the songs I like to make this a single disc it would be 4.5-5 stars. So yes, I do still recommend it to those who want to hear some great tunes. 3.5 stars.

This is the first album by the amazing Swedish rock band led by veteran guitarist Roine Stolt that I acquired and boy am I glad I did! Now I'm hooked to this band! Being a fan of the classics I didn't listen to much new prog at the time but this band caught my ears and made me feel comfortable buying more newer prog. Listening to their music I find that they sound very much like seventies prog almost a mix between Queen, Yes, and Pink Floyd yet they have their own distinctive sound. 4.2 stars for this one. Although consisting mainly of good tracks there are some that are just thrown in there such as Bavarian Skies and the seemingly pointless introduction Check In. Lucy Had a Dream is a nice song which goes to show you that not all good guitar riffs have been stolen. The slow-to- start What If God Is Alone is a good song and Mommy Leave the Light On sounds like something Roger Waters would have written. The epic track, Monsters and Men is one of the best tracks they've ever released sounding like a Yes epic such as Gates of Delirium and Pink Floyd epic such as Echoes at the same time. The filler (which it is filled with) is actually decent filler so it doesn't drag much.

All-in-all this is a very well put together album. (Although, what up with the artwork?)

EDIT 7/20/2011:

Oh my, how the tables have turned.

Although at times I'm proud of my changing tastes, it's albums like these that it makes me sad. I still love Paradox Hotel, I really do, moments of this record are absolute genius. But I have to admit, more than half of the double album is filler.

The good news is, when it's good, it's REALLY good. The long tracks especially really are The Flower Kings at their absolute best but songs like Hit Me With a Hit really bring down the overall quality.

I'll forever love you Flower Kings, 3 stars.

As a long time fan of this band I was a little nervous about this album. The previous album, Adam & Eve, left me pretty much cold (I've come to appreciate it and even like much of it, but it is still probably my least favorite by the band). So I was not sure if they had reached their peak on Unfold The Future and were heading on the downhill slide that so many prog bands end up on eventually. It turns out, I had nothing to worry about. This album worked for me on the first listen, and just gets better every time I hear it.

It is nothing if not consistent. Every track has something I enjoy, with only a couple seeming somewhat ordinary. The opening epic seemed kind of dull to me on the first listen or two, but after hearing it on headphones, I can say it is a very good epic. It flows beautifully and has some outstanding keyboard playing from Tomas Bodin. In fact, his playing on the rest of the album is some of the best I've heard from him with the Flower Kings. The first CD strikes me as being a bit stronger than the second, but they are both excellent overall. The two instrumentals are some of the FK's best, and quite possibly my two favorite songs on the album. Stolt's playing is at its best throughout this album as well.

My only real (small) disappointment is that new drummer Marcus seems to be a less stand out drummer than either Zoltan or Salazar were/are. And Jonas seems to be far more subdued than on previous albums. Still, on close listening it is obvious that both play some incredible stuff throughout the album.

The reason this does not take away from the album for me is because this album sees the band focusing on songs and ensemble playing, rather than flashy displays of technical skill (something that worked well on UTF, but can disrupt the continuity of songs). The melodic content of this album is stunning. The fact that the tracks were recorded live in the studio by the core band probably has a lot to do with the fantastic consistency of this album. Not a bad song in my opinion (though Bavarian Skies is certainly very unusual and I'm not sure I'd call it a good song.......but not a bad one either if that makes any sense). Flower Kings fans should get this one if they don't already have it, and everyone else should give it a listen for sure (though newbies should probably start elsewhere).

While not my favorite FK album (though time may change that......but I doubt it), a solid, excellent offering that has fully restored my faith in this great band. 4 solid stars.

''You're stuck in between the flower kings and your dreams''

Paradox Hotel is the follow-up to Adam & Eve, which was the album that left-behind the jazzy roots: Ulf's sax and Jonas' fretless bass. With Paradox Hotel, The Flower Kings confirm they'll leave those influences behind for now. On the bright side, Paradox Hotel is a full-blown Symphonic Prog album, while Adam & Eve wasn't, or maybe it was, but it headed sometimes way too dark mood-wise or sometimes way too soft, in which it didn't make it flow that well. Also another worthy mention, is the consistency of this double-album, seems like Adam & Eve and Space Revolver joined together to make a double-album, consistent-wise, however stylisticallyt this and Adam & Eve doesn't have anything to do with Space Revolver

About the music, I can tell you there are the obvious stand-outs, which are really worthy songs for any Modern Prog fan, and then there's the enjoyable ''short''(for Flower Kings standards) tunes.

Onto the standouts: one of them is Monsters & Men, this is one of those epics which are really hard to digest from the first listens, since the melodies are not instantly grabbing, nor the solos, and much less the whole composition. However with many close-payed-attention listens, you'll be understanding the song more and more. The composition itself, still remains somewhat of a puzzle for me, some very gentle parts which flow well with some more melodic or heavy ones, but then there's the complex sections which for me are out-of-place. However the main melody, like in every Flower Kings epic, it's fantastic, and develops very well, through the moog and/or guitar. The musicianship, as always, is outstanding, however there's a notable main character in this epic, this is Tomas Bodin with his excellent piano playing, barely heard before, and his always stunning moog solos.

Another highlight is End on a High Note, compared to Monsters & Men, this seems like pop, haha, though it's not. It's much more accesible; the melodies are catchy, there's much less mood changes, it's mainly soft lead by a up-lifting acoustic guitar and sweet vocals. I find it wonderful allthrough, though it's definitely the weakest and less complex of the standouts.

The opener of Disc 2, Minor Giant Steps, is another highlight, and what a highlight it is! Flower Kings fans must check this song out immediately if they haven't. It grabs you instantly, with it's fantastic composition and amazing musicianship, it's definitely a killer ''short'' Symphonic piece. Full of modern moog, resembling the giants as Rick Wakeman, as well as the mellotron, ala Tony Banks, as well as showing the capabilities of new drummer Marcus Liliequist. If you want to know how The Flower Kings sound, this song is one of them to check out first, even if it's not their best.

The last standout, is the closer of the album, Blue Planet. More rewarding than End on a High Note, though by no means in the complexity heights of the other 2. However, the other 2(Monsters & Men and Minor Giant Steps) don't give you such a delightful listen like this one does. Blue Planet is like a 'overture', re-taking the main melodies from the album and twisting them a bit, however by definition a 'overture' is completely instrumental, in which this is not the case, as well as not being the case of opening the album, the contrary, closing it. Blue Planet is a fantastic closer, quite melancholic in bits, as well as being a great summary from the best of this album.

Anyways, the album is not only composed by those 4 highlights, the rest of the album is essential to make this album what it's worth, with songs like Life Will Kill You and Paradox Hotel being straight-forward rock songs with some slight-prog leanings to make the album more enjoyable and digestable allthrough, then there are 2 more Prog tracks, which are excellent, these are Pioneers of Aviationm with some outstanding moog work, and then there's Unorthodox Dancinglesson with it's, sort-of, dissonant melodies making it a quite complex and weird instrumental for The Flower Kings.

Paradox Hotel is the first Flower Kings double-album which is enjoyable all-through, despite having less quantity of extraordinary compositions like in other double-albums, this stand-outs excellent due to it's consistency, as well as for the mentioned standouts which are very rewarding.

Highly recomended for Modern Symphonic Prog fans.

As with every album from The Flower Kings, there's a lot of excellent material present, but there's an awful lot that really should have hit the cutting room floor. In fact, I think many songs should have been dropped and this album condensed to one amazingly outstanding disc. Honestly, if it had only consisted of "Monsters & Men," "End on a High Note," "Minor Giant Steps," "Man of the World," and "Blue Planet," it would probably be the closest thing to perfection The Flower Kings ever made- an hour of pure bliss. Instead, they release a double album with a lot of forgettable filler that makes it arduous to listen to all the way through.

"Check In" Not a song, the first 98 seconds of the album is an eccentric countdown.

"Monsters & Men" The glorious highlight of this record is no doubt the exceptionally arranged 21 minute epic. Bodin's lovely piano introduction sparkles just before a gritty steel guitar leads the rest of the band into the music. Froberg's vocals are forceful and believable as he sings some of The Flower Kings's most compelling lyrics. After an exciting instrumental section, Stolt treats listeners with his most heartfelt vocal performance. Following some great church organ, an excellent movement in 7/8 ensues, allowing Stolt to strut his guitar prowess in a wah pedal workout. The music blends soulful guitar passages with fuller visitations of the opening theme.

"Jealousy" Flowing perfectly from the piano from the previous track, Bodin plays a sparse but lovely piece that Stolt's gritty falsetto seems to tarnish.

"Hit Me With a Hit" This song blends a harder progressive rock edge with jazzier elements. The chorus is one of the more memorable points of the album, and overall, it's a lighthearted yet somewhat serious piece. Froberg does a great job on lead vocals.

"Pioneers in Aviation" The first instrumental track boasts a grand opening, full of church organ, synthesizer, and tasteful guitar. Two minutes in, it evolves into something completely different, with bulbous guitars and atmospheric sound. While not the greatest instrumental, there's certainly a lot to like about this one, including that eerie church organ conclusion.

"Lucy Had a Dream" Stolt's strange vocals and the even stranger music make this the first of several forgettable and skip-worthy tracks. Everything about this song is just ludicrous. Admittedly, the "travel advertisement" at the end is one of the funniest things I've ever heard in progressive rock music.

"Bavarian Skies" Thick vocal effects are meant to enable Stolt to evoke the voice of Hitler, but I doubt its effectiveness. The first half of the track is boring, and like "Lucy Had a Dream," this is one of those curious but unnecessary tracks.

"Selfconsuming Fire" Gorgeous classical guitar opens this piece. The Mellotron is lovely in the background, and the vocals work well here.

"Mommy Leave the Light On" Despite lovely electric guitar, this is another useless one, with Stolt trying to sing disturbing lyrics with that quaking voice of his. There's just nothing to this track that makes it interesting to me, especially musically.

"End on a High Note" The last song on the first disc does exactly what the title says. Beautiful twelve-string guitars and whistling synthesizer introduce the main theme. This is perhaps the catchiest song The Flower Kings ever made. Bodin engages in some exceptionally wild soloing over this foot tap-inducing listening experience.

"Minor Giant Steps" A happy electric guitar and sparkling synthesizer begins the second disc. "Minor Giant Steps" is a superb track in every way, and is one of my favorites from the entire work of The Flower Kings. It includes some of Bodin's finest moments, and has some great guitar work too. Terrific vocal harmonies abound throughout, with plenty of excellent melodies.

"Touch My Heaven" Yet another fairly bland song, this one has muffled drums and rather exaggerated vocals. The guitar playing is soulful, but otherwise, I don't care for this one.

"The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson" The other instrumental on the album is even more interesting than "Pioneers of Aviation." Even the title is intriguingly perfect. There's a lot of strange noises and unconventional weirdness going on, but I can take it!

"Man of the World" The best short song on the album, this piece features melodies and an exceptional structure. Reingold does have a few moments of brilliance laying down the groove as he does, but I feel like he's pushed out of the mix a bit in some parts.

"Life Will Kill You" After some disorienting panning effects, the guitar enters and builds to something initially appealing, but the verses have some strange background vocals (they sound like they're run through a wah pedal). Froberg does a great job making this a grittier song with his rock vocals.

"The Way the Waters Are Moving" Inspiring piano and Stolt's trembling voice make for a good pensive song.

"What if God is Alone" For the most part, this is a strong, gradually building song with intriguing lyrics. It's certainly not my favorite, but the guitar work at the end is wonderful.

"Paradox Hotel" The Flower Kings abandon their flowery music for a bit to produce this nasty little rocker. It's close to Alice in Chains, with heavy riffs, gritty vocals, and a catchy chorus.

"Blue Planet" A wondrous revisiting of the marvelous track "Monsters & Men," it has its own flavor, but if one didn't get enough of the lengthy piece on the first disc, this should more than satisfy. In this way, it is the perfect conclusion to the album, which unfortunately uses its last two minutes to have what seems to be an astronaut describing the Earth from space.

In my not so humble opinion:

Paradox Hotel by the Flower Kings is the most complete and consistent album in their long and illustrious career. There are no weak songs on either CD. The flow is well thought out and timed with a great balance of upbeat and mellow songs. As with all of the Flower Kings' CD's, the playing is impeccable and the vocal harmonies are among their best. This is The Flower Kings at the top of their game.

Jonas Reingold uses this album to further solidify his place as one of the best modern progressive bassists and Roine Stolt continues to shine as he pulls off some beautiful solos. One interesting thought, playing the tracks in the opposite order makes a surprisingly cohesive, smooth flowing album as well. I'm guessing this is just a part of the Paradox.

My personal favorite from this album is Minor Giant Steps which is a happy mini epic and is one of my two favorite Flower Kings songs (I am the Sun being the other). Each member of the band melds together to form an almost perfect blend of their individual talents. The afore mentioned vocal harmonies are illustrated and Jonas plays an incredibly tasty run for most of the last five minutes of the song. Tomas and Roine also do a great job of trading the spotlight back and forth before both fading to allow the vocals to lead again. All in all, this is an amazing song.

Other highlights include 'Life Will Kill You' which highlights Hasse Froberg's singing and an amazingly catchy lick in the chorus by Roine. Roine's solo in this song is one of his best as well. "End on a High Note" could almost be describes as 'Minor Giant Steps' part 2, again great vocals. 'Selfconsuming Fire' is beautiful and 'Mommy Leave the Light On' is a touching song. 'Touch My Heaven' showcases another soulful Roine Stolt solo.

You can't mention a Flower King's CD without addressing the epic(s). For a change they started, rather than finished, the album off with the giant 20 minute epic 'Monsters and Men'. It's a good song with all of the tricks and turns that you'd expect from a Flower King's epic what I call the 'Supper's Ending', a term inspired by Roj M30's description of the ending of most IQ albums. I've expanded the term to include the ending to just about every Flower King epic as well.

All in all, this is a beautiful album, through and through. It's got everything you could want from the jazzy 'Unorthodox Dancing Lesson' to the flat out rock of the title track, the almost poppy 'Hit me with a Hit' to the mellow 'The Way the Waters are Moving' all summed up with the gentle closer 'Blue Planet' which thoughtfully revisits many of the album's themes.

Highly Recommended.

MONSTERS AND MEN - This track alone will get this a FIVE STARS rating. Why? Well you ignore the intro of astronauts recording - why? A clip from Fawlty Towers would have been more apt for "Check in" or a clip from "Psycho" perhaps? Anyway - The truly awesome epic is underway at CD1 track 2 and it's a 21 minute treat - it's a mixture of yes like bits (check out the Close to the Edge you-get up bit) Floyd and Greenslade. ITS FULL ON SYMPHONIC PROG and the finale had my the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. It has some truly magnificent guitar licks STOLT is a genius. This track alone is ESSENTIAL in any symphonic rock collection, thus the five stars. Mind you, this track is of such a high-quality, it is expected that no other track on the double CD comes near it. But since the Flokis have given us a double CD and both of prodigious length - there are other tracks to get a mention. CD1, Hit me with a hit - Howe like guitar solo in a YES - Tormato stylee dort of track. The instrumental Pioneers of Aviation - Excellent Church organ and mini-moog with Rush base lines and an a "The Enid" like ending. The last track "End on a high note", again very Yes like buth then gets a bit like "Uriah heep", very good track.. CD2 - This is a lot less good on material, Track 9 - Blue Planet is the best by a mile and there is a Monsters and Men reprise - Thus it's a WINNER. Track 4 - Man of the World has an ace moog solo. The opening track "Minor Giant Steps" has some nice mini-moog flourishes and has a good instrumental part but overall is a bit on the poorer side. This CD is all about the EPIC. Anybody who is a fan of symphonic prog MUST get this CD just for that. You'll thank me.

Paradox Hotel was the first album by The Flower Kings that I purchased the week it was released, and, coincidentally, it was the first (and so far the only) album by them that disappointed me. Sure there are some songs here that I like, but there are quite a few that I dislike. Usually, if a song by TFK does not interest me, I can usually wait a minute or so, and it will change styles, and for the most part, change to a style that I like. Here, on the first disk, from Lucy Had A Dream, all the way to nearly the end of the disk, I find it almost unlistenable. And I understand the Europeans' infatuation with the Nazis and World War II, but I find Bavarian Skies to be borderline offensive.

That isn't to say there are no good songs on the album. It is worth hearing, just for Hit Me With A Hit, Pioneers In Aviation, The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson and Paradox Hotel.

But there is just too much filler for me to highly recommend the album.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

To 2006, and another double album from The Flower Kings. This album, probably more than most of the others, is the reason why I have taken so long to review the band's output since buying all of their works last year. It takes a long time to not only appreciate, but also to be in a position to make an objective review.

The first thing to say is that it is a wholly symphonic album, and if you detest that, there will be nothing here for you to change your mind. For those of us who love the sub-genre, it is a real treat. Rather than attempt track by track, I will list my highlights from this ambitious work.

As ever, the album is marked by the epic tracks it contains. The first is Monsters & Men, clocking in at over 21 minutes long. This takes a great deal of listening to, and patience is hugely rewarded. There are some sublime melodic moments, interspersed with at times incredibly quiet piano, vocals, and then heavier passages. When Stolt begins his vocal contribution, I swear he has never sounded better. I love the way that the climax builds down rather than up.

Jealousy is a beautiful ballad, where Stolt's vocals & Bodin's gentle piano complement each other perfectly.

Hit Me With A Hit is an uplifting, fast tempo treat, which I believe was released as a single.

Pioneers of Aviation is one of my favourite instrumentals of all time, not just by this band. Organ has very rarely sounded better in creating a thorough wall of sound, and combined with swirling synths and tasteful guitar, these combine to produce a great opening, which then morph into an altogether trippier feel, before developing into a pure rock out. The organ solo at the end is sublime. There is no greater compliment than to describe it as Wakeman-esque.

Selfconsuming Fire has a lovely acoustic guitar to open, and there are some sensitive and fragile vocals to follow, with mellotron backing to good effect.

End On A High Note is the second track of the album over 10 minutes long, and ends CD1 in exactly the way that the song title suggests. It is an incredibly catchy song, and makes me really wish that record stations & producers entertained the thought of 10 minute singles - if this were the case, this one would be a smash hit! If you are not tapping your feet and feeling incredibly happy at this one, you are no longer alive - simple as.

Minor Giant Steps opens CD2, and this one weighs in at just over 12 minutes long. This one, again, I find very uplifting, with some fantastic guitar work especially, fun synths, great vocal harmonies, and bass lines by Reingold just to remind us all just how good he is.

Man of the World is another great catchy shorter song, at just under six minutes. This one is definitely led by Reingold's bass guitar pounding away, and is at turns amusing and uplifting.

Life Will Kill You first attracted me really because of its poignant, and ultimately true, title. This is a heavy song, very much in the mode of classic 70's heavy rock, albeit with some strange sounding vocal effects in tow.

The Way The Waters Are Moving returns us to the very simple, and very effective, combination of piano & Stolt's vocals. A lovely, moving piece of music.

What If God Is Alone has the most incredibly moving opening section, with the band seeming to yearn for the answers to the ultimate questions and dialogue they pose with this entire concept of life's cycle - thankfully, when the lyrics/vocals arrive, they don't spoil this at all. Some of the finest seven minutes of prog you will ever listen to, the ending guitar solo is to die for.

Blue Planet at just under 10 minutes closes the album in quite some style, with lyrics in the form of a commentary which reminds me a little bit of Waters alien in Amused To Death talking about the planet in the past tense, but perhaps not so scathing or bitter as that opus. The music itself brings together nicely all of the strands previously evident in the work.

As with most TFK double albums, there are undoubtedly fillers, which do distract somewhat from the excellence of all else, including, I am afraid, for me, the title track, which strikes me as being an unnecessary harder track.

If the album were merely filled with the tracks I have discussed in detail, it would be pushing the ultimate five star rating. As it is, I feel it is a very strong four star album (4.5 stars in reality, but rounded down rather than up) and is very highly recommended to all who love that grandeur and supreme musicianship in their symphonic prog.

Longer or short compositions, it doesn't matter. The only weaker part of this album are fillers which serves as mood setters, so it's obvious that they won't be top notch killer epic tracks (they're not supposed to be), even title track, Paradox Hotel isn't as good as the rest. Duller, more as simple Rock. When I want this, I listen Rock, not TFK. Nevertheless, it's not complete disappointment, just unusual. Music here is consistent (unlike this review) and stable. It's sad that as of mid 2010, this is the last TFK release (I would invite more). Lyrics are quite good as well. Lovely (in moster size) piece is of course Monsters and Men, but that was expected.

4(+), there are some weaker songs, but they cannot bring the strong ones down for me. Don't be mad at Flower Kings, they're just trying to accompany their great pieces by other songs. Not so epic ones, but good nevertheless.

Well ! An average here of 3.5 means, of course, an average of half opinions at 3 and the rest at 4... Not that simple, because there are some 5/5 and also low notes !

My first listening was... deceiving, for the very first time, for a TFK CD. Knowing it is prog means that you have to listen a number of times before being able to fully appreciate... this 2-hour of music. Are there fillers ? Is it too long, even if we are used to it with this group ? I have to answer "yes" for the first time. There are too many 'ordinary' tracks, without as much spirit than usual. They do not get to me as other material did before (I mean in their order of producing). I prefer of course the epic "Monsters & Men", which has everything described here : variations, punch, very good solos by Bodin, changes of tempos, etc. And some others are good : "End on a High Note", "Minor Giant Steps", "Life will kill You", "Blue Planet". Average quality displayed by The Flower Kings, as we have seen before. But the remaining is a little too 'low', as compared to what they have showed us they are able to. Oh, they might have a better rating if if was their only CD; but I confess I rate this according to their other productions, and I see this one lower... the lowest, in fact. With the least general feeling (those things happen !).

If you love TFK, you can get this one, mostly because of the "Monsters & Men"; otherwise, if you don't know them... The rating : So, the epic counterbalance the 'ordinary' tracks; those identified being good save the thing. And it gets around 3/5, in my view. Yeah : non-essential, for the first and only time.

This is the Flower Kings at their best. This record is not as overly proggy as some of their other records - although they deliver some proggy goodness in songs like Monsters and Men, Pioneers of Aviation, Minor Giant Steps, and The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson - but it is certainly ranks near the top, if not at the top, when it comes to not only songwriting, but diversity and variety. You pretty much get a little bit of everything, and it makes for a wonderful listen.

I love that much of the album was written on piano and/or acoustic guitars, as it gives the record more of a simple, catchy feel, as opposed to feeling like you got bludgeoned with the prog non-stop. Not that all-out prog is bad, as it can be good when done well, but TFK has enough albums like that, so it is nice that they gave us this record with such different types of tunes on it. The fact that most of the tunes are outstanding makes it that much better. As a diehard TFK fan, not only do I consider this one of their essential records to have, but I feel it is a must-have for all prog fans, as it proves once again that prog doesn't have to be all crazy time sigs and long instrumental sections all the time to be great.

My experience with The Flower Kings' "Paradox Hotel" was a little strange one. I neede three listenings to get it. Usually I think I can rate a record after one listening. First I thought the record was too long and then I found some gems and now think almost everything is awesome. This is The Flower Kings' ninth studio record and it was made in 2006, now seven years ago and the ensemble made up by Roine Stolt (guitars, vocals, percussion), Tomas Bodin (keyboards, effects), Jonas Reingold (bass), Marcus Liliequist(drums, percussion), Hasse Fröberg (guitars, vocals) and Hasse Bruniusson (marimba, gong, percussion).

This is a double cd which counts over two hours modern symphonic music and the cover shows the band checking in to Paradox Hotel. What I like most with this record is the variation. No tracks sounds like another and here we hear inspiration from the Gods Genesis and Yes and of course there is pure Flower Kings material too. "Monsters and men" is a very long and amazing track with wonderful sweaping melodies and powerful themes and also very nice high vocal harmonies. "Lucy had a dream" has a poetic text and a strange power in its blend of soft and symphonic. "Bavarian skies" is different but interesting about a jew in Nazi Germany and "End on a high note" is another symphonic "epic" and "Minor Giant Steps" is even better in that way. "Touch my heaven" also hits a very high standard like instrumental "The Unorthodox Dancinglesson" which is very cool. The title track is hard rock and "Blue Planet" ends the record wonderfully. This is really a record that grows for every time you listen to it and it also is worth studying carefully beacause the lyrics seems to be a part of a long story, so it seems to be a concept album.

First I was very sceptical to this Paradox Hotel but something caught me from the beginning and wanted me to listen again and it was very good. Three listening changed this from a three star to a five star record. I am quite new with this band but I'm beginning to respect them now for this wonderful dreams. I haven't written about every track but almost everything is good. It's just "Check in" that's not interesting. I prefer quality before quantity but now I am bound to check out Flower Kings' other long record.

I am relatively new to The Flower Kings, but have slowly been exploring their discography. Paradox Hotel was recommended to me as one of their better albums so after being pleasantly surprised with Desolation Rose, I grabbed this one. Paradox Hotel is a meandering affair full of social commentary which I have not fully digested. While I love concept albums (where the whole is better than the sum of the parts), I feel like the music on this album really suffers as it seems to be an afterthought compared to the lyrics. The band has something to say and by golly they say it! The music just does not measure up, in my opinion.

While there is a lot of music on this double disc album, there are really only a few individual tracks that I find interesting. The first album begins with a very solid offering in "Monsters & Men" which begins the commentary on the European aggressors of World War II (Germany). While I haven't given the lyrics a whole lot of attention, a similar theme continues for the rest of the two albums with the music becoming rather boring and forgettable along the way.

The second disc has a few worthy additions in the tracks "Touch My Heaven", "Life Will Kill You" and "Paradox Hotel." Again, this album is much better as a whole and is really the only way to listen to it as the individual songs just don't have very compelling melodies. As a result, if I'm in the mood for The Flower Kings, I'd much rather listen to Stardust We Are or Unfold the Future.

Very Mixed, but some Greats.

Roine Stolt has called this TFK's White Album, and while it is not quite as varied as the WA was for the Beatles, there is here a huge range in quality just as there was in the predecessor, 'Adam and Eve'. And at two full-length CDs, this is a very long album. Thankfully, this means that if you skip the duds, you still have lots of great music. Let's begin with the greats. I really like the long epic, "Monsters and Men". While shifting (like many TFK songs) between themes, this is very musical, with some great sensitive playing (both guitar and piano), and I really like the lyrics too. For me, this tune is essential to this album (but yes, it is pretty dense, so will likely take a number of listens to 'get'). "Hit Me with a Hit" is likewise a fantastic tune, combining complexity and catchiness effortlessly into an instant progressive rock classic. "Pioneers of Aviation" has a wonderful melody and nice build up, and "Self-Consuming Fire" reminds me of the great shorter tunes on Unfold. "End on a High Note" (which closes CD1) is a fantastic uplifting piece of music. "Minor Giant Steps" (opens CD2) is a very nice tune, similar in feel to "Life in Motion" from 'Sum of no evil'. "Touch My Heaven" is very compelling, one of Thomas Bodin's best vocal-based TFK songs and among the highlights on this album, as is "What if God is Alone", an extremely musical piece with a great build up, and some thoughtful interesting lyrics too (despite the subject matter). Finally, "Blue Planet" provides a beautiful, shining, life-affirming ending to this wonderful album. I also like "Life will Kill You", Hasse Froberg's song on this album, although not at quite at the same level as the other highlights. Taken together, if you add up just these good tunes, they are too long to fit on only one CD, justifying this as a 2-CD album. So, I can see why they decided to release it as such, and if they just included those tunes, this would have been up in the five-star realm. Now for the duds. The worst here is "The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson", which includes a rip from Crimson's "Lark's Tongues in Aspic Pt II". Seemingly meant as a joke, the tune is gratingly annoying from start to finish (at least for a Crimson fan like me), despite the fact its an instrumental! "Bavarian Skies" has some decent music (written by Thomas Bodin), but Stolt's lyrics, while intellectually thoughtful and thought-provoking, make the listener want to avoid this tune after you have heard it once. While some really like "Jealousy", I have a similar reaction to this one, although it does not turn one off as much as Skies. The title track is a throwaway inside-joke rocker, harmless but not exceptionally interesting. The few remaining tracks I haven't mentioned yet ("Man of the World", "The way the water are moving", "Lucy had a Dream", and "Mommy Leave the LIght on") are all decent, better than filler but otherwise also mixed in their effects, and so tempering the wonders of the great tracks. On the whole, I am really glad this album was made, as it contains some of TFK's most compelling tracks. I would very much recommend it to anyone who likes TFK. But I agree it is hugely mixed, and it will test the patience of many listeners who listen straight all the way through. I would recommend make a custom tape, cutting out the duds - that provides a much better listening experience allowing the best tunes to shine without interruption. But the strength of the many great pieces raises the overall average, I give this 8.5 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates as 4 PA stars.

Well, the Flower Kings have been one of my favorite bands for about 22 years now, yet I've never felt that they produced a solid 5-star cd before this one. Over the years, they've successfully integrated 70's-style prog along with the occasional jazz fusion sequence, original and interesting compositions and arrangements, catchy refrains - and it's all been done with some of the best musicians in all of rock. "Paradox Hotel" showcases their talents like no other recording before it....and it undoubtedly deserves 5 stars!

This is perhaps their most Yessy-sounding cd; and with harmonies and lyrics that frequently intone "heaven", "God" and even the word "roundabout", the Yes comparisons are pretty hard to ignore. (See "Hit Me With a Hit", "Minor Giant Steps", "Man of the World", and the last 3 minutes of "End on a High Note" in particular.) Not as much of the ELP or Crimson sound this time around. In fact, if anything there's a little more "pop" bent to this cd....but don't read that as "commercial". I mean, this IS the Flower Kings, so you still get a good dose of odd meters, polyphony, complex arrangements and clever ideas.

This is just a very even album for them, with more songs in the shorter range (that is, 5 or 6 minutes!), and they just flow together and transition effortlessly. The introspective and compassionate lyrics continue to augment the great melodies. Every song is unique and well-crafted. I echo everyone else: "How do they do it year after year?"

Perhaps what struck me most on this cd is how much they sound like a BAND - not just a bunch of virtuosos from Sweden pieced together to play Stolt's music. And virtuosos they are! Jonas Reingold is still my favorite bass player these days, alternating between thick Rickenbacker and gentle fretless bass. Tomas Bodin showcases the grand piano much more on this album, but there's also plenty of organ, mellotron, and other assorted synths and sound effects. He is GREAT on this cd, and (again) probably my favorite keyboard player since Tony Banks. And Roine Stolt is simply incomparable: inventive solos and riffs, clever modulations, and sweet sounding slides - check out his slide guitar on the 21-minute album opener "Monsters and Men". Sublime. Roine Stolt is a musical genius, and clearly in a class by himself.

New drummer Marcus Liliequist is excellent as well; perhaps not quite as jazzy as former TFK stickman Zoltan Czorsz, but he nimbly leads the group through the 4-3-4-2 time changes on "Unorthodox Dancing Lesson", and sounds perfect for the classic Flower Kings sound. And Hasse Froberg is in great voice on this cd, writes one excellent song himself, and fills in with lots of cool rhythm guitar.

I've seen others compare this album favorably to Stardust We Are and Flower Power. But I sense that Stolt and company tried to touch on themes or sounds that conjure up almost ALL of the TFK back catalog: e.g., ping-pong balls (Retropolis); monsters (Space Revolver, Adam & Eve); the troubled woman ("Elaine" from Rainmaker), underdogs, freedom, dancing, and so on. The album begins and ends with some mission control sound clips from around 1970, perhaps to establish the "hotel as microcosm of Earth" metaphor? And you can still hear the mischievous Scandinavian gnome laughing in various spots throughout the album (a TFK staple). The only thing I kind of miss is the sax playing that Ulf Wallander used to do on the earlier TFK cds. But other than that, this is pure prog heaven courtesy of the Flower Kings.

HIGHLY, Highly, highly recommended. Paradox Hotel: Check in....and check it out.

"Paradox Hotel" could have been an excellent The Flower King's album, but it's too long and sometimes even too boring to be considered even a very good one.

The epic Monsters and Men is one of their most forgettable long songs they've ever written, and tracks like Lucy Had a Dream, Jealousy and Touch My Heaven are forgettable while other like Bavarian Skies and Mommy Leave the Light On are directly bad.

Luckily, there are also enough good moments in "Paradox Hotel" which makes this album worthy of a pair of spins, but it is so irregular and the quality is so mixed that I can't give more than three stars.

And that's a shame, because if "Paradox Hotel" was half so long and if they had rid of the bad and mediocre songs, this could have been a four star one, easily surpassing "Adam & Eve".

But sadly, that is not what happened.

Best Tracks: Pioneers of Aviation (fine instrumental) End on a High Note (the best song of the album, a lot of happy feelings mixed with splendid keyboards), Minor Giant Steps (catchy and diverse track) and What if God is Alone (beautiful lyrics and great vocal melodies)

My Rating: ***

If different albums represent different moments in the development of The Flower Kings, then 'Paradox Hotel' is their improvisation-meets-dreamy-soundscapes kind of release. The Swedes' ninth studio release is a striking double album, certainly one of the longest rock albums ever released, clocking in at 136 minutes, and is essentially a collection of compositions that unlike most of their other releases, features songwriting contributions by all band members. As for them, 'Paradox Hotel' sees the talents of Roine Stolt, Tomas Bodin, Jonas Reingold, Hasse Fröberg and Marcus Liliequist, in the sole time he appears behind the drum set on a TFK studio album. Hasse Bruniusson makes yet another guest appearance on one of the tracks, playing marimba and percussions.

Wandering and often meandering, also very creatively diverse, this 2006 release has gained a reputation of being one of the band's 'slower' albums, and in reality, it has many mellow, dreamy moments, definitely more than the preceding efforts of theirs, but these are evenly balanced with the more improvisational compositions, a side of the band's music that has been touched upon on 'Unfold the Future' and 'Retropolis' previously but this time TFK certainly go off the leash at full power. All this does not necessarily mean that this is a flawless album - first of all, the length of it is at least unnerving, so the average listener would insist that the music be more than excellent, should he invest the time to listen to this mammoth of an LP. Secondly, the band have obviously decided to focus on soundscapes, and sound design overall, adding many intermission-like instrumental passages that often drag the songs off for a bit too long, this is best felt on instrumentals like 'Pioneers of Aviation' or the final minutes of 'Bavarian Skies'. And finally, the big three-part 20-minute epic 'Monsters and Men' might be the most disappointing long song the band has ever recorded, as the emotional catharsis of something like 'Stardust We Are' is lacking, or the bottled-up wackiness of 'The Truth Will Set You Free', and certainly the absence of the adventurous and captivating nature of 'Love Supreme' and 'Drivers Seat' is felt.

Inasmuch as the band members have given themselves full freedom to do whatever they feel like doing (and this has resulted in them writing some of their best stuff), it has also led to an overflooding with content, and this feeling is starting to prevail around the end of disc one. Still, songs like 'Hit Me with a Hit', 'Lucy Had a Dream', 'Man of the World', 'The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson' and the title track are some of the most memorable and appealing achievements of 'Paradox Hotel', while peculiar entries like 'Bavarian Skies', 'Mommy Leave the Light On', 'Selfconsuming Fire' and 'Life Will Kill You' are a pleasant surprise to hear, as the band go to paths previously untrodden. It seems like it is the longer songs that are not contributing much to the overall better reception of this enormous album, and had it been spared of some of these, it would have probably been regarded more highly.

'Paradox Hotel' is above all challenging and just then entertaining. Sometimes it might be adventurous, sometimes it might be dull and drooling, but for the most part, it is a patience test for the listener, which does not mean it is a bad album. I believe this band is unable to release something terrible and unlistenable, yet 'Paradox Hotel' is just too long, and its lows overshadow its many highs, leaving the impression that there are better things to be found in The Flower Kings' catalogue.

After Unfold the Future and Adam and Eve left me wondering if the Flower Kings had run out of steam, it took me a long time to get around to giving Paradox Hotel a try. In retrospect, I am glad I did, because this feels like a reinvigoration of the band's approach. The band dial back from complexity for complexity's sake and are a bit less big on simply repeating ideas from 1970s prog groups, with the result that their sound ends up a touch more streamlined - they don't go full neo- prog, but if they went that much further in this direction that's where they'd end up.

The thing which stops me getting fully behind it is the same issue which affected my enjoyment of the past couple of albums - the gang just aren't that good as vocalists, and between this and some fairly risible lyrics (guys, we didn't really need a Flower Kings meditation on the rise of the Third Reich) the album ends up suffering more or less whenever someone is singing. The musical backing and instrumental sections are strong enough to salvage things in general, but it's faintly alarming that this deep into things the band still haven't figured out a little thing like "lead vocals".

'Paradox Hotel' is the ninth studio album by The Flower Kings, released on 4 April 2006. 'Paradox Hotel' is the band's fourth double-CD. This is the only Flower Kings album to feature drummer Marcus Liliequist (who is also on the live album 'Instant Delivery'). I love all the Flower Kings drummers, but if I had to choose, Marcus Liliequist would probably be my favorite Flower Kings drummer. Like Zoltan Csörsz, Liliequist has a jazzy touch on the drumkit, but is aware of when to hold back or play powerfully. His drumming serves the Flower Kings' music well and I wish he was in the band for a longer period of time. The first CD is titled "Room 111" and the second CD is titled "Room 222."

The opener, "Check In," is an audio excerpt of a countdown, which dramatically leads the listener into the first proper song, "Monsters & Men." "Monsters & Men" comprises of three sections: "I. Seasons of War," "II. Prophets and Preachers," and "III. Silent River." This 21-minute epic is often regarded as one of the weakest Flower Kings epics, and I couldn't disagree more with that opinion. Tomas Bodin's piano and keyboard work shines on this track and is what drives "Monsters & Men." I love the Gentle Giant-esque section during the midpoint. The emotional highlight of "Monsters & Men" is the "Silent River" section. The ending piece is grandiose and climactic. The final atmospheric seconds of "Monsters & Men" bleeds into "Jealousy," which is another piano-led piece with orchestral elements. After the copious piano music, "Hit Me With a Hit" is the rocking tune we were waiting for. The song is in 9/8 and screams Yes, particularly "Close to the Edge." There's also a hint of Zappa heard from the percussion. Jonas Reingold's bass and Roine Stolt's guitar reminds me of Chris Squire and Steve Howe, respectively. Hasse Fröberg's vocals even remind me a bit of Jon Anderson, though Fröberg has more grit than Anderson. "Hit Me With a Hit" brilliantly transitions from Roine Stolt's guitar solo back into the song. The sustain of Roine's guitar at the end of the solo is stunning. "Pioneers of Aviation" is a contender for my favorite Flower Kings instrumental, alongside "Circus Brimstone." Each musician shines on this song, especially Jonas Reingold and Tomas Bodin. Bodin plays church organ at points. The guitar melody of "Pioneers of Aviation" fills me with inspiration.

The second half of the first disc is the weakest spot on 'Paradox Hotel.' Tracks like "Lucy Had a Dream," "Bavarian Skies," and "Mommy Leave the Light On" are among the weakest Flower Kings songs of this era of the band. Fortunately, "Selfconsuming Fire" and parts of "End on a High Note" keep this half of the CD from being unlistenable. The former begins with mellow nylon string guitar, and gradually crescendos into a couple guitar solos. The latter reminds me yet again of Yes, the song this time being "And You and I."

The second disc of 'Paradox Hotel' is perfect. It opens with one of my favorite Flower Kings songs, "Minor Giant Steps." The oxymoronic title describes the evolution of humanity. Hasse Froberg's vocal performance on "Minor Giant Steps" is among his best. Fröberg is able to sing with bombast during the "Now we understand..." lyric and later with delicacy during the "I'm just a minor giant soul..." lyric, which demonstrates excellent vocal control. Overall, Hasse Fröberg shines on "Minor Giant Steps," and his performance moves me. "Touch My Heaven" was written by Tomas Bodin, and is one of my favorite pieces from him. "Touch My Heaven" is unlike any song in The Flower Kings discography. The first half is moody, and the ending guitar solo with the supporting backing vocals is a exquisite. "The Unorthodox Dancinglesson" should've been renamed "Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Part 6)." All joking aside, "The Unorthodox Dancinglesson" is a dissonant, King Crimson-inspired instrumental that, like "Hit Me With a Hit," has a Zappa element, mostly due to the use of percussion. Marcus Liliequist's drumming is phenomenal, especially during the explosive bridge. "Man of the World" is an accessible rock song in 11/8. "Life Will Kill You" is a contender for my favorite Hasse Fröberg composition, alongside "Magic Pie." "Life Will Kill You" is an excellent rock song filled with wonderful hooks. I love the juxtaposition between the jazz verse and the powerful chorus. "The Way the Waters Are Moving" is a heartbreaking piano ballad about (I believe) the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. "What If God Is Alone" is one of my favorite Flower Kings songs and lyrics. This song was written by Jonas Reingold and is my favorite composition from him. The first minute of "What If God Is Alone" is hauntingly atmospheric, and finally the music builds to the first verse. Roine Stolt sings lead vocals during the first two verses and the rest is sung by Hasse Fröberg. The end section makes me cry and is the climax of 'Paradox Hotel.' Every musician is playing with maximum power by the end. Roine Stolt plays a superb guitar solo alongside Fröberg's heavenly vocals, creating an orgasmic combination. We're in the final stretch. The title track is a heavy rock song with catchy hooks. The closer, "Blue Planet," is another favorite of mine. Essentially, "Blue Planet" is a reprise of "Silent River" from "Monsters & Men," which gives 'Paradox Hotel' some cohesion. It's strange to hear a theme that you heard from two hours ago. Nevertheless, the music is beautiful and melancholic. As if I wasn't emotionally drained by this point already, the lyric, "I just want to keep the dream forever, and I never want to leave. I wish that everyone could see and feel the way I feel," hits me like a ton of bricks. The last few minutes of "Blue Planet" ends 'Paradox Hotel' similarly to how it began.

In conclusion, 'Paradox Hotel' is the closest The Flower Kings have come to reaching the height of 'Stardust We Are,' my favorite Flower Kings album. I have a strong emotional connection with this album. It pains me not to give 'Paradox Hotel' five stars, but there are some superfluous tracks towards the end of the first disc that ultimately hinder this album from being perfect. However, the first half of the first disc, as well as the entire second disc, are flawless in my eyes.