RETROPOLIS

At first, a respectfull guy with a little culture and concern about prog might find Flower Kings' "Retropolis" insulting. One should then ask if Stolt thinks people are dumb. But one thing's for sure ; Stolt knows exactly what he's doing. He's a clever guy. He's the Modern Times Messiah for he was the first to notice that the prog community has been slowly transformed in a gigantic and pathetic circus full of strange polymorphic creatures that love to be feeded by the spoon of any kind of stranger, digesting the same food again and again. So, nobody would complain if "Rhythm of the Sea" sounds like John Wetton singing on an unreleased track from Genesis' "Wind & Wuthering". No one would point out that Frank Zappa's "King Kong" main theme as been stolen (on "The Melting Pot" or "Silent Sorrow", my memory fails..). Silence won't be broken even if everybody knows that "There is more to this world" is more Yes sounding than any Starcastle tune. To tell you the truth, with "Retropolis", Roine Stolt achieved what the prog circus really deserves ; more than a pastiche, it is the mirror's faithfull reflection of their ugly faces.