THE ROAD BACK HOME

I admit that I initially hesitated on this purchase. I mentally listed all the reasons that I did not need this latest Flower Kings compilation: 1.) I have practically everything they've put out over the past ten years. 2.) I actually enjoy their longer prog epics more than these shorter songs that they assembled. 3.) Shouldn't we just leave the original versions alone, shortcomings and all?

But thanks to some convincing reviews around the web, I cast all fears aside and immersed myself into 153 more minutes of re-mixed and re-mastered FK music - thankfully! This is just such an enjoyable collection; long-time fans get to hear these shorter gems in a slightly different way (one great song after another), and newcomers to the band get a fabulous introduction to the melodic style and virtuosity of the band. Roine Stolt's liner notes help both the fans and the newbies to understand the message or style that the band was trying to convey on each track, as well as what changes were made for this recording. Many pictures of the various band members populate the liner notes as well, along with the usual colorful artwork that graces all of the FK cd's.

Oh, and don't overlook their cover of Genesis' "The Cinema Show" - you want proof of just how good these musicians are?

This was a very ingenious way for the band to get some of its more accessible works out to the inquisitive public, but also to reward the avid fan with yet another affirmation of this band's wealth of ideas and talent (before their next album comes out later this year!). Buy with confidence and delight.

This compilation consists of the bands shorter more commercial songs (although a few clock in around 8 minutes) and herein lies the problem. I love The Flower Kings for their long complex pieces which are in plentyfull supply over most of their albums, which intersperced with the likes of the contents of this compilation make for well rounded albums. On their own these shorter tracks, although in the main very good don't stand up quite so well.

So what about the re-mixes? To be honest in general they sound fine but I couldn't honestly put my hand on my heart and say they have been improved and in certain cases I wish they'd been left alone. This is imediately apparent on opener "Cosmic Lover" which seems to have lost a certain amout of the power of the original excellent mix, particularly in the Drums and Bass department which is rather ironic considering in the liner notes Roine states his intention was to clean up the track and let the bass and Drums do the talking.

On a more postitive note their version of "Cinema show" is very good and well worth hearing although generally speaking I'm not a lover of bands doing cover versions as they rarely are the equal of the originals but here The Flower Kings make a good stab at it.

"Little Deceiver", the one unreleased track present passes by unobtrusively and is fairly non-essential, as said previously, from "The Rainmaker" sessions which was one of the weaker releases from the band in my opinion.

Not wanting to sound too negative about one of my favourite bands though there are plenty of great songs on this 2cd set some of my favourites being "Chickenfarmer song" and "Church of your Heart". Although not a lover of "Paradox Hotel" it is well represented here by the inclusion of the upbeat "Life Will Kill You".

Overall then, a good compilation that completists will want to own. As for the uninitiated it will give a good taster of the band but is not trully representative of what the band are all about so for that reason I would choose to start elsewhere.

Reading about all this made me curious, and as a die hard fan of this band I felt I had to get it. In some ways, this seems like the least likely thing for me to want to buy, containing as it does some of my least favorite Flower Kings songs. But I was interested in the one unreleased track, having a good sounding version of Cinema Show (only have it on a CDR of their first fan club release), and hearing some Retropolis and Stardust material remastered.

Overall, I'm glad I got it. It is an interesting sequencing of tracks, and some of them I like a lot better now (Cosmic Lover, Painter). Others I felt lose a something, like the Stupid Girl, which sounds a lot better but loses it's most interesting feature........the fast Zappaesque part at the end; and Church Of Your Heart, which is cut by some 3 minutes. But songs like The Road Back Home, Rhythm of the Sea, and Compassion sound magnificent with their now pristine production (though they seemed well produced on the original releases, it's obvious that Roine has much better equipment now). Also, The Flower King and Stardust We Are (PT.3), which I had on the no longer available Edition Limitée Québec 1998 CD, sound whole lot better than they do on that. I was a little disappointed that the unreleased track, Little Deceiver, isn't really all that great (and probably would have been just as well left unreleased), but on the whole this is a decent compilation.

However, I'm not exactly sure what they are gong for with this. It will be of interest to the die hard fan, and I suppose could be a tame introduction to someone not into prog. But if the latter people like it, will they really be thrilled to discover the less accessible material like Garden Of Dreams and The Truth Will Set You Free? Somehow, I don't think so.

But in any case, this is nice compilation to have and could appeal to those who feel the Flower Kings are too excessive with their more proggy material. I'm tempted to give this 2 stars, but that would imply that only existing fans would like it, which I think (and hope) is not the case. So I'll go with 3 stars, but keep in mind it IS after all, a compilation of less proggy stuff that has is mostly available in other forms (which include the far more interesting proggy stuff).

Despite the fact that the songs are remastered and re-edited to make them sound refreshing, this is not a really good compilation due to the song selection. What's the problem? It puts a big emphasis on the more accessible, shorter songs while forgetting some of their best ones of those accessible songs.

The best/The Classics: Grand Old World, Stardust We Are, Cosmic Circus, I Am The Sun

The above average ones: King's Prayer, Babylon, Church of Your Heart, What if God is Alone?, The Road Back Home, Painter, ChickenFarm Song, The Rhythm of the Sea, Touch My Heaven, Compassion, The Flower King

The average ones: Paradox Hotel, World Without a Heart, Vox Humana, Ghost of the Red Cloud, Life Will Kill You

Below average ones: Starlight Man, Stupid Girl, Cosmic Lover, Different People, Monkey Business.

That is the problem: it avoids the epics which are really the Flower Kings' strength and the compilation includes songs that are subpar for them and considered by some to be "filler". Why would they avoid to put instantly likable songs like "Go West Judas" or "Melting Pot". However, the good thing about this compilation is that many of these average Flower Kings songs have been improved a lot.

I have never reviewed a compilation, let alone one which edits the songs, so in order to write this review, I will separate these songs into 5 groups: "much better than original", "somewhat better than original", "about the same as original", "worse than original", "no noticeable differences".

Much Better Than Original : Stupid Girl not only is it much shorter and skips that irritating zappa-like melody at the end, but it sounds much better, more smooth, and has a better guitar solo. Vox Humana is full of texture this time and wonderful on headphones. The synthesizers and harmonies sound better as well. Different People sounds less messy/muddy and more psychedelic as it was intended to be. I love the vocal harmonies at the end. Compassion not only is the pointless last 3 minutes cut off but the song sounds bigger and more symphonic than before.

Better Than Original : My Cosmic Lover because the production sounds a lot better and clearer. I don't like how the bass is lower in the mix though but no big deal. Paradox Hotel because it's shorter. World Without a Heart because it's remastered and because of the added vocal harmonies near the end. Church of Your Heart because it's shorter without losing anything important. Grand Old World has better arrangements in the background. The Road Back Home benefits from Hasse replacing Roine at spots (It wasn't Roine's best moment). Some synths are replaced by better-sounding moogs. Ghost of The Red Cloud has better sound quality, especially the guitar shines here.

As enjoyable as original : Starlight Man has better sound quality and instrumentation but the vocal harmonies on the refrains lack the "wall of sound" that I loved in the original version. I Am The Sun pt2 is criminally cut to four minutes, but I learned that I stands on its own pretty well as a simple pop song though I don't like the ending much. Rhythm of the Sea has its pointless avant-garde at the beginning cut off. The new church organ and "iiiii" vocals during the chorus are unnecessary though. Touch My Heaven nice new solo! The Flower King wow this song is changed! It is a complete remake of that anthemic tune. The choruses have more power and the keyboards sound better with Thomas. Unfortunately, the beginning of the instrumental section is not excellent and the satrianish guitar riff there is missing.

No noticeable Difference : What if God is Alone, Chicken Farm Song, Life Will Kill You, Monkey Business,

Worse Than Original : A King's Prayer because the string arrangements before the guitar solo was changed for the worse and the guitar solo is weaker and is faded out. Cosmic Circus is slightly worse IMO because the vocal harmony is slightly less powerful and the guitar follows the synth melody. No big deal, the song is still amazing. Stardust We Are Roine, What have you done!? Not only you cut off the first 15 minutes of it, making this lose some of its power as a climax but the tempo is slowed and sometimes the volume is surprisingly low. This version just sounds emotionless and tired. The magic of the song is gone.

Well, about the 2 songs that I didn't talk about yet: Little Deceiver and Cinema Show (Genesis). Little Deceive is a leftover track from Rainmaker, their least inspired album for many listeners. It is a very average folky ballad and weaker than anything on Rainmaker. The first half of Cinema Show was brilliantly covered and the Flower Kings add some nice touches to that amazing track. Unfortunately, they get too loud during the instrumental section and the production is a bit muddy. That ruins what could have been a great cover song.

To conclude: this album might be fine for newcomers who are not very familiar to progressive rock and just want this as the only Flower King album to own. For people interested in the band, it's just better to get one of their highly acclaimed studio albums. For fans, some songs are better and it's cool to use these tracks instead of the original ones when playing an album. If you want to listen to Cinema Show, listen to Genesis' version and Little Deceiver is forgettable.