RETROPOLIS

The title of this one is a good indicator that it is going to have a retro sound. The Flower Kings always had a sound reminiscent of the 70s, but none harkened back so much as this. No clear evolution of sound is apparent from Back in the World of Adventures. It is equally as enjoyable.

The ping-pong intro leads into the albums best instrumental: the title track. It's punchy and powerful. Following it is "Rhythm of the Sea," a nice slower song with a powerful middle section surrounded by a soft, spacey beginning and end. If Jon Anderson did the vocals on "There Is More to This World," they would have you fooled for Yes. Good song though. "The Melting Pot" is another solid instrumental, followed by a couple of rockers, "Silent Sorrow" and "The Judas Kiss," both pretty good pieces with commendable instrumental sections. A couple more instrumentals follow. They end nicely with "The Road Back Home."

The songs are individually solid, but as an album it doesn't bear much cohesion. This album isn't as fun to go through as Back in the World of Adventures; though that was also pretty song-oriented, there was more of a flow. You can start to hear some ideas on this album that are expanded and improved upon in their later albums.

Another enjoyable, albeit derivative album is given to us from The Flower Kings. After this release, Stolt and crew will develop more quirks and experimentality. And by experimentality, I mean with new sounds. The band definitely experiments with different sounds and what not, but most of them are rehashed from their influences. There are no bad spots to point out here. Well, come to think of it, it may be Roine's weakest album vocally. It's a good album, but it's one of the least necessary in The Flower Kings' catalog.