INSTANT DELIVERY

Don't Buy This! .unless you love Paradox Hotel album!

The above statement is true! As I experienced tough times digesting the band's latest album "Paradox Hotel" I thought that my affair with The Flower Kings was about to end up and forget about this band! But .. that was happening before the magic spin number 11. At spin number 10 I still thought that the music of PH was rubbish and should thrown on a waste basket - resell the CD to the secondary market if I wish. But at spin number 11 everything turned upside down and I truly love the album. So, why so important to love Paradox Hotel before enjoying this DVD / CD? It's because this new live lset contains materials from the Paradox Hotel album. But you are lucky that there is no "Monsters and Men" - the track that inhibited me to digest the beauty of Paradox Hotel. But when I conquered that track, I could finally enjoy the album in its entirety. So, for those of you who do not favor Paradox Hotel because of "Monsters and Men" you are relieved now as there is no such inhibitor. Well, I don't intend to scare you but it's the fact. Instead you have "Hit Me With A Hit" which I'm sure you all will be able to digest easily. Having been a fan of The Flower Kings for some time I was so concerned that the band experienced many personnel changes. The new drummer Marcus Liliequist is an excellent player even though he is less dynamic than Zoltan Csorz. For those of you who have seen the excellent "Meet The Flower Kings" will find that this set has some improvement here and there. The picture quality and sound quality are excellent. Enjoying the voideo while the Paradox Hotel material are being played is to me a very special moment. All the subtleties that I imagined during the Paradox Hotel listening pleasure are now in front of my eyes and damn close to my ears that I can enjoy. I will eventually revise this write-up in more in-depth analysis once I got a chance to spin more than three times.

It's a masterpiece of prog (any sub-genre!) live set that proggers must have!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

If you like the latest album (Paradox Hotel), you will probably love this. Personally, I think it is an excellent DVD. Fantastic sound, excellent camera work, and even the sparsely used effects are done very well and don't take away anything from the performance (unlike the dancers used on Meet The Flower Kings). The set list is not exactly my dream set list (Meet The Flower Kings was very, very close to that), but it is still quite good. Hasse Froberg is absolutely stunning vocally on this DVD. And Roine is no slouch either, giving a quite moving performance on Jealousy. My only real complaint is that they segue the two epics, as well as Last Minute On Earth and In The Eyes Of The World. They do it well, and I can sort of understand it since the show would be at least 40 minutes longer had they done them in complete versions.....not that I or the audience would have minded though, I'm sure. Which is another thing that makes this different from the last DVD, there is a good sized audience and it really feels like a real live show, because it is (unlike the previous DVD). What surprises me with this one is how they seem like more of a kick ass rock band than a prog band. Don't get me wrong, they still play prog rock, but they just seem to have more of a vibe that you'd expect from a straight ahead, energetic rock band. Pretty impressive for a bunch of old proggers I'd say.

So over all, this is well worth having if you are a fan and/or if you liked Paradox Hotel. Since it is a DVD live performance, I can't really call it a masterpiece. Besides, it isn't a set list I'd consider a masterpiece either. But I can give it a solid 4 stars. Excellent work by the Kings.

This DVD is quite different form the previous one, the brilliant Meet The Flower Kings. First, they are two members short: guitarrist Daniel Gildenlöw (leader of Pain Of Salvation) and original percussionist Hasse Bruniusson are gone. The excellent drummer, Zoltan Csörsz, is also absent. New drummer Marcus Liliequist steps in. A new aproach to music? Definitly. A better one? hardly. It's a maeer of taste also (see below)

From the very first song in the set, Paradox Hotel, it seems that they want to present themselves as a more tight, rockier band. Not only they are reduced the outfit, but also everybody is singing. I don't know if this is the best approach for such a prog group like this.It seems odd sometimes, but it does not spoil the whole project. And unlike Meet The flower Kings, there are no overdubs here. At least not as obvious as on their previous DVD!

If you liked the Flower Kings last CD chances are you'll probably enjoy this DVD a lot. I did, but being a long time fan I must say the set list is not much what I'd like to hear. I'm still wondering why they included such epics as The Truth Will Set You Free and Stardust We Are on this DVD. Their shortened versions are far from better then the full ones played in Meet The Flower Kings. Even some newer one such as Love Supreme is barely over half its original length. With such a vast cathalog of songs behind them, why didn't they play some tunes from great albums like Retropolis or Back in The World of Adventures instead? It's a mistery and such an waste of time for a double DVD. If in Meet The Flower Kings you wish they have included some more shorter songs in place of those boring tour images, on this one you'll end up guessing why they made such a strange choice of material.

Still, they are the Flower Kings, The musicanship is awesome as ever, the sound is better, the images are excellent. And the Paradox Hotel material works better live than in their studio versions. If only they did not play the same songs they did on Meet The flower Kings and would include some never seen live on DVD material Instant Delivery would be a great companion to their first video oferring. But, alas, this is not what we have here.

Good, but definitly leaving a lot to be desired. Good luck next time, guys.

I just finished watching this and wanted to post a review while it's fresh in my mind. 2006 has given us many great prog DVD's, and this will most certainly make my year end top 3 or 4 (Behind IQ's Stage, Porcupine Tree's Arriving Somewhere..., and Dream Theater's Score). Instant Delivery gives you a good dose of all thing Flower Kings and what this band embodies: pure musicianship, deep and introspective lyrics, and a dedication to performing.

The band comes out rocking with the title track from the latest CD, and finds Hans Froberg sounding great and ready to deliver with his Lou Gramm-ish vocals. He's definitely enjoyable to watch playing to the crowd and striking his rock star poses, but it never comes off cheese laden like Coverdale. The first part of disc 1 is solid, but it's the last half that I really enjoy. "What If God Is Alone" is not only my favorite song from Paradox, but up there as being a favorite all-time by this band. They breeze through "Pioneers Of Aviation" brilliantly, and close out with the amazing "Love Supreme" from Adam And Eve (EXCELLENT bass work by Reingold), and the highly popular "The Truth Will Set You Free"...albeit a somewhat abbreviated version. The latter does showcase a nice duet by Reingold and new drummer Marcus Liliequist, who fits in seamlessly with The Flower Kings.

Disc 2 brings more new material with the Bodin penned "Touch My Heaven", to Reingold strapping on a double neck 12-string bass for "Mommy Leave The Light On", to the instant classic "End On A High Note". Disc 2 sees the band revisiting the earlier days, which a truly touching version of Space Revolver's "I Am The Sun", and a taste of "Stardust We Are".

I guess my only gripe is why it's on 2 DVD's, as it seems everything could fit on 1 with no special bonus features. Secondly, as much as I love "Stardust We Are", I'd love to hear the whole thing. I imagine a band who has a rich library of music with classic epics, it would be inhuman to expect them to play them all; but, would like to see some of the other tunes omitted to leave room for an epic or two. That aside, this is a brilliantly assembled DVD and makes me appreciate Roine Stolt the guitarist. The man does have a style as smooth as molasses, with a voice to match. Another surprise was seeing just how good Marcus Liliequist is. The Flower Kings have had two absolutely stunning drummers behind the kit, but this kid is really fun to watch. He's sort of like a very skinny Steve Gadd. Just an all around great product and a must for every Flower Kings fan.

Ps. It's great to have accompanying CD's of the performance for the car!

I am starting to think that music DVD's are some of the best things on earth- enabling a band like the Flower Kings (who usually don't tour my area that often  ) right into my living room. This is my 1st look at them, and I have to say that I am very impressed. But 1st, I need to start with the negatives. I am a big proponent of bands playing their songs in its entirety. The Kings don't do this here, sometimes cutting out huge chunks of songs. I don't see a need for this! The set list is a little bias towards Paradox Hotel, and they could have left the title track out as far as I am concerned. That song is a little to hokey sounding for me. Having the concert on 2 DVD's is a little inconvenience, but not much- and the lack of bonus features is a bit surprising, seeing as how its almost a staple for DVD's to include. However, the positives outweigh the negatives by a mile. The set list is great, the musicianship is excellent, and the cinematography is top notch. When the band is playing some atmospheric/trippy sounds, you also get a little artwork thrown on the screen to add to the mood- very neat stuff. Again, its nice to have a band that doesn't tour everywhere available to you on the screen at anytime. This is a great DVD and if you enjoy the Flower Kings, you should definitely pick this baby up. 4.5 stars

This was my first FK exposure and I have not heard their studio albums. I like to start with a live DVD occasionally because getting the visual and live energy can tell you much about the essence of the band. They turned out to be not entirely to my taste but I still enjoyed watching them perform..mostly. Noting the bad first, I just hated the first track "Paradox Hotel" which featured an extremely grating, over the top vocal from Mr. Froberg who was far and away my least favorite leg of the FK table. When his vocals were not dominating the material, I was able to really enjoy some of the outstanding interplay between Stolt, Reingold, and Liliequist. Their playing was interesting, fluid, passionate in many places. Were they an instrumental act I believe I would be far more interested in the band, but the lyrics and the Froberg vocals were a turn-off. Production was not bad, I have seen better camera work and more interesting staging but it was certainly very watchable and with good sound. A modest recommendation for folks needing an introduction and an easy buy for those already big fans. 3 stars.

All I can say at this juncture is that this bands live output sounds much, much better to me than their studio material. This album is more fluid, more energetic than any of the studio albums I've heard. I give this album a 5, I haven't heard anything else by them that would even come close. I probably need to listen to more of their studio albums, but at some point I simply gave up on them.

What a different side of the Flower Kings we get presented here....With Alive On Planet Earth we get the improvising one...the loose band that plays numbers like they make a sandwich..Meet The Flower Kings...the extremely tight band that plays their epics with great skill and dedication...and now Instant Delivery...a complete recording of a big fat 165 min....quite long....where the band mainly performs their shorter tracks, that are nevertheless more rocky from content....and usually much shorter...perhaps the choice was made deliberatly...to complete the bands other side...after the other 2 albums...that is fine and I think very nice...but what I don't understand is why they do not stick with only with the short rock songs and not chop up the epics....Songs as The Truth Will Set You Free, In The Eyes Of The World or Love Supreme are all drastically cut and choped up......I really dislike it when bands are doing that...I know they do that with Stardust We Are, that became a habbit over the years by now...perhaps because they also think that this songs tends to be too long or something (although I do not agree with that)....Please people...rather have you playing lesser songs but keep the long tracks intact as you wrote them....These songs are so beautifull, in fact too beautifull to chop them up.

Having said I also have amediatly given my main critique towards this release.....The ones that are played complete and the parts from some that are played are played once again with great crafmanship and skill...and there are passing bye some realy beauties here.....Man these boys can play.......

As expected the show is mainly stolen by Roine and Tomas.....Rione's great guitarwork....accompanied by Tomas fantastic then suddle and then boombastic (he told me once he is a great fan of Wagner and Shostakovich so that makes you think) keyboards are truly blending into tunes that make our jaws drop time after time.....In that I must say that I keep on saying that Im more fund the songs were Roine himself is singing....like the beginning of What If God Is Alone...or the Middle part of The Last Man On Earth......magnificent.....Roine should sing much more...

But in tne end its still a Flower Kings concert....recorded in the Netherlands.....so what else can we wish....for completists I think a obligated purcase......

If you like Paradox Hotel, you will probably love this.

Personally, I think it is an excellent DVD. Fantastic sound, excellent camera work, and even the sparsely used effects are done very well and don't take away anything from the performance (unlike the dancers used on Meet The Flower Kings). The set list is not exactly my dream set list (Meet The Flower Kings was very, very close to that), but it is still quite good.

Hasse Froberg is absolutely stunning vocally on this DVD. And Roine is no slouch either, giving a quite moving performance on Jealousy. My only real complaint is that they segue the two epics, as well as Last Minute On Earth and In The Eyes Of The World. They do it well, and I can sort of understand it since the show would be at least 40 minutes longer had they done them in complete versions.....not that I or the audience would have minded though, I'm sure. Which is another thing that makes this different from the last DVD, there is a good sized audience and it really feels like a real live show, because it is (unlike the previous DVD). What surprises me with this one is how they seem like more of a kick ass rock band than a prog band. Don't get me wrong, they still play prog rock, but they just seem to have more of a vibe that you'd expect from a straight ahead, energetic rock band. Pretty impressive for a bunch of old proggers I'd say.

So over all, this is well worth having if you are a fan and/or if you liked Paradox Hotel. Since it is a DVD live performance, I can't really call it a masterpiece. Besides, it isn't a set list I'd consider a masterpiece either. But I can give it a solid 4 stars. Excellent work by the Kings.

Well . I am quite disappointed this time.

Well filmed,good sound and performance.

But this DVD is mostly based in Paradox Hotel and Adam and Eve ,in my opinion the worst albums by FK.

So i think the selections of songs was not the best.

The first disc quite good. The second disc quite bad.Exceptions I Am The Sun and the short version of Stardust We Are.

Here is a predilection for the rock and roll heavy rock AOR american rock tunes..and i really prefer the more symph rock songs of this band.

In my oppinion a bad element in this performance is Hans Frobers performance.¿Does he think he is an american rock star ? Too much shout ,too much adrenalin for a band as TFK.

So in comparison to 2003 performance ,this one is for not more than 2 stars.

The Flower Kings aren't the best live band in the world for the reason that they've never been able to settle on a drummer to fit in with their musical style. The jazzy Zoltan Csorsz is easily the best drummer they have had but unfortunately his presence doesn't align with their best studio albums. Marcus Liliequist mans the drum kit here and doesn't do a bad job. Hans Froberg tries to make up for the reserved personalities of the other band members and overdoes it. The stars of the band are Roine Stolt on lead guitar, Tomas Bodin on keyboards and Jonas Reingold on bass, all of whom are superb musicians.

Instant Delivery is their worst live album I have listened to. It simply doesn't do justice to their studio album Paradox Hotel which they are promoting here. There is no audience ambience which could inspire the musicians to higher effort and there are no songs presented here that are as good or better than their studio versions or previous live efforts. Meet The Flower Kings is a vastly superior live album.

Report this review (#2272632)
Posted Tuesday, October 22, 2019 | Review Permalink