RETROPOLIS

The second Flower Kings album after the affable 'Back In The World Of Adventures', 1996's 'Retropolis' finds Roin Stolt and company tipping their respective hats in the direction of their 1970's heroes whilst mainting the glossy sheen and impressive technical proficiency that would eventually become the group's trademark. There is, of course, no doubting the Swedish outfits die-hard love of all things progressive, and thus, 'Retropolis' provides fanboy affection by the bucket-load, only from fans with serious talent and their own ideas. However, despite semi-successful attempts at replicating the old school synth-and-organ sound of yore and Stolt's seemingly neverending arsenal of guitar solo's, 'Retropolis' is actually something of a letdown, the golden melodies that adorn the Scandanavians very best work replaced by an earnest, overly-tricksy and actually rather boring modern-prog sound. Not only does it lack the upbeat, almost joyous, ambience of it's predecessor, 'Retropolis' lacks any real stand-out cuts, a rare thing indeed for a Flower Kings album. The chief offender in this misfire has to the title-track, which also serves as the album's opening epic, and serves up over ten gruelling minutes worth of relentless soloing from Stolt. More of the same is offered up on the slightly-less draining 'There Is More To Thias World', whilst the album's second half continues the general theme of polished production values, top-notch technicals and Stolt's tiresome guitar histrionics. Buy 'Stardust We Are' instead. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2015