AN ORDINARY NIGHT IN MY ORDINARY LIFE

Not much in the way of reviews for this one it seems (or ratings either). I had kind of shelved this one a few years ago after I had bought it in the early days of my Flower Kings obsession. I listened at least half a dozen times, probably more, but just felt it was sort of a Flower Kings lite type of affair. After all, most of the band helps him here, along with a couple of other guests. I pulled it out more recently, and I must say, it has a value and interest beyond the Flower Kings stuff.

Still, there is no doubt that the first track (well, the first real song anyway, after the spacey and very short into of Spacebike) sounds like nothing if not a Flower Kings song. Albeit, a song from the earlier days of the Flower Kings (which is the period in which this album was recorded and released). I imagine the presence of both Stolt brothers was a factor here. Though for Roine fans, it should be noted he plays on the entire album, also contributing bass guitar on two songs. Salazar, the then Flower Kings drummer, plays on all tracks as well.

After the opening two tracks, things become much more distinctively Bodin (whatever that is). A generally mellow and atmospheric approach holds sway for the bulk of the album, more of a focus on sound than composition if you will. This is not a detriment, however, and helps to set this album off from his work in the Flower Kings. Nonetheless, Speed Wizard and Land Of The Pumpkins display more driving prog with some fine soloing by Stolt and Bodin. The Mr. Hope installment, probably the first one for those of us familiar with the future installments on the fan club releases, is something of a psychedelic free for all........even featuring the repeated phrase number 10, in honor of the Beatles well known number 9 from Revolution number 9 on the White Album. Not really a highlight, but not terribly annoying (at least to me). The epic Three Stories, featuring a section for each of Tomas' 3 children, is pretty much on par with the rest of the albums pieces, though features more diversity within itself than other tracks on the album.

This is probably his least interesting solo album, and the one that has the most in common with his main band. But for all that, it is quite a pleasant listen. I think the real drawback is that none of the songs really strike me as highlights, but none are particularly bad either. I think this is pretty much the definition of a 3 star album. If you're not a fan of the Flower Kings, you can probably consider it 2 stars. For just about everyone else, it is definitely good, but non-essential.