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Thread: FEATURED ALBUM: Roine Stolt - Wall Street Voodoo

  1. #1
    Moderator Poisoned Youth's Avatar
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    FEATURED ALBUM: Roine Stolt - Wall Street Voodoo

    Released during the time where Flower Kings albums saturated our world, this 2CD solo set from Roine Stolt tends to get lost in shuffle. Now 12 years old, how does it stack up compared to Stolt's solo work and TFK albums? I have always enjoyed it personally, as there are trademark "Stolt-isms", but the music is so much more dependent on blues and classic rock motifs that it doesn't get caught up in the excess that can be The Flower Kings (irony that it's a double CD notwithstanding). Thoughts?



    Review from ProgArchives
    Now this is what we call a new classic rock.

    The Flower Kings frontman-cum-guitarist Roine Stolt, whose distinctive style marvelously combined David Gilmour's genial, warm mid-tempo and Frank Zappa's playful melody, tries to mix influences from the late 1960s and early 1970s blues-based bands with a modern feel. "A touch of yesterday, a touch of today," he said in an interview.

    And that's what we can feel instantly from this latest solo effort by Stolt.

    I consider myself of being so lucky that finally I bought this album, after deliberately gave several times chance up as the price was so high I felt that I couldn't afford it (but then again, it's a double disc outing, right?). But Stolt? I couldn't hardly avoid and ignore him. Alright then, US$ 27.39 wouldn't be a big deal. In short, when I did decide to get it three days ago I sent an SMS to my friend Gatot, who wrote a review here and with so much fanfare praise the album. I just hoped I wouldn't be disappointed.

    "(You) won't be disappointed," Gatot answered.

    Much of a convincing don't-worry-it's-ok words I just needed. For a while I was sure I saw him thrusting his fist into the air.

    I believe him anyway. And he's right. From the first spin, starting from the opening track "The Observer", I was so hooked. My impression was that the songs are catchy and the mood Stolt put in them are so varied. Most of them were instantly accessible. I've been listening to both disc a dozen times now. And I put much time even more to see where they can get me to. As always, Stolt exposes much of cool guitar playing -- I can feel it everywhere but I don't see any showoffs. I think one might be reminded of The Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, Santana, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix... Unlike The Kings, the lyrics are not about the positive side of the world. But they're OK.

    And one more plus thing: there's Neal Morse, ex-Spock's Beard frontman, contributes his vocal and Hammond B3 trademark playing.

    As the other reviewers already said, this is not a progressive rock album. But Stolt unpretentiously offers in it a classy work from which we can see the other side -- an impressive one -- of his musical aspirations.

    An excellent addition to any prog collection.- kunangkunangku


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  2. #2
    Member thedunno's Avatar
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    It has been ages since I last played this one but I remember liking it although there was a bit too much of it. Will need to revisit this.

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    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    Not sure what a cum-guitarist is, but I'm starting to wonder if I should have chosen a different career path.

    I listened to this album a lot when it first came out and it's one that I still return to once a year or so for a couple spins. To me it's like classic rock/blues, but always with some twists to make it more interesting (otherwise I'd never have spun it so much in the first place). The lyrics are no less timely today than they were 12 years ago. Love all the fantastic guitar tones employed here.

    Interesting to note is that all the made up names of guest musicians are probably all Roine himself doing bass, keys, percussion, etc.
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  4. #4
    随缘 SRS's Avatar
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    I need to revist this one as well, been a long time. There was so much TFK material and side projects coming out at the time that it did sort of get lost among other albums to me. I think Stolt mentioned recently that in hindsight he would have released it as a single instead of a double. I think the decision to make it a double and include everything was sort of a last minute one. I'd have to check, but the Fan Club magazine may have a list of what the original single disc song list would have been. Some of these songs were offered to TFK during the recording of A&E but the rest of the band didn't think they were right for TFK.

  5. #5
    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
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    'Remember' is worth the price of admission. IMHO.
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
    -- Aristotle
    Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
    “A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain

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    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markwoll View Post
    'Remember' is worth the price of admission. IMHO.
    I agree. I don't mean this in any kind of mocking way, but I always thought it would have made a great tune for the end credits of the first Austin Powers movie, lol.
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    I sold this album very soon after buying it, very disappointing.

  8. #8
    Member Camelogue's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=Plasmatopia;741383]Not sure what a cum-guitarist is, but I'm starting to wonder if I should have chosen a different career path.

    I don't know either but it sounds dirty.

  9. #9
    Huge Album. Some Flower Kings Tastes (naturally), some Zappa and a whoooole lotta blues! Truly an extraordinary guitarist but never neglecting the art of composition while keeping it humorous enough

  10. #10
    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve983 View Post
    I sold this album very soon after buying it, very disappointing.
    Understandably you had something else in mind altogether when you bought it.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Plasmatopia View Post
    Understandably you had something else in mind altogether when you bought it.
    Yep I had hoped it was going to be like his first solo album but better, sadly it was full of filler which there is more than enough of on many TFK albums.

  12. #12
    A big disappointment for me because I absolutely hate blues music. So thankful that Roine doesn't indulge his blues roots in similar fashion in The Flower Kings. IIRC, there was one, maybe two worthwhile tracks. Gimme "Hydrophonia" any day.

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    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    I can't quite identify with those comments because, while I am completely bored by blues albums (after a track or two) no matter how good the players are, I find WSV much more interesting.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Plasmatopia View Post
    Interesting to note is that all the made up names of guest musicians are probably all Roine himself doing bass, keys, percussion, etc.
    I was going to ask if the names of the mystery musicians had ever been revealed.
    Given the endogamy within the Flower Kings camp, I had wondered if they weren't members of the band hiding behind pseudonyms so the album wouldn't be seen as yet another TFK album.

  15. #15
    I'm a huge Stolt fan and have almost everything he's done and I LOVE his other solo albums, but oddly enough, I never got this one. I can't seem to find a way to buy a digital copy. I've heard it's very unlike his other two so I'm sure it's not going to be the type of music I want from him, but I'm still curious.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by LeFrog View Post
    I was going to ask if the names of the mystery musicians had ever been revealed.
    Given the endogamy within the Flower Kings camp, I had wondered if they weren't members of the band hiding behind pseudonyms so the album wouldn't be seen as yet another TFK album.
    They're almost certainly pseudonyms for Tomas, Jonas, and Hasse B.

  17. #17
    Member Man In The Mountain's Avatar
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    I love it!! But I also love the blues, so this was a real cool release to me from Roine that was different than the never ending Flower King epic he delivers. Lyric wise it's awesome and still very relevant.

    I do think it would have been better served as a single disc though, as I do get lost in a lot of samey-sounding material.

  18. #18
    Moderator Poisoned Youth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DTA View Post
    I'm a huge Stolt fan and have almost everything he's done and I LOVE his other solo albums, but oddly enough, I never got this one. I can't seem to find a way to buy a digital copy. I've heard it's very unlike his other two so I'm sure it's not going to be the type of music I want from him, but I'm still curious.
    Try listening to the two tracks (I picked one that was overtly blues and another that had Neal Morse as a guest musician) and let us know what you think.
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  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Poisoned Youth View Post
    Try listening to the two tracks (I picked one that was overtly blues and another that had Neal Morse as a guest musician) and let us know what you think.
    Just gave a listen. I liked them actually! Kind of reminded me of Don't Let The d'Evil In at times. There's just nowhere to get a download of this thing unfortunately.

  20. #20
    Casanova TCC's Avatar
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    Big surprise!.
    I´m not a fan of TFK: have some of their records but none of RS.
    Like the 2 vids!.
    Pura Vida!.

    There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind. ∞
    Duke Ellington.

  21. #21
    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    I wouldn't call this "blues".

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  22. #22
    It's not all blues and it's definitely not typical blues but most of the record is extremely blues influenced for sure.

    On another note - How great is Dog With a Million Bones ?!
    Love it when Roine let's his fondness for Zappa show...

  23. #23
    Member Man In The Mountain's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zappyesque View Post
    It's not all blues and it's definitely not typical blues but most of the record is extremely blues influenced for sure.

    On another note - How great is Dog With a Million Bones ?!
    Love it when Roine let's his fondness for Zappa show...
    Exactly right. I don't want to start an uproar (just personal taste), but I like Wallstreet VooDoo more than any of his FK albums. I was really disappointed he didn't tour the album.

  24. #24
    Member interbellum's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve983 View Post
    Yep I had hoped it was going to be like his first solo album but better, sadly it was full of filler which there is more than enough of on many TFK albums.
    With "his first album" you mean "The Flower King" or "Hydrophonia"?

    His actual first solo-album was "Fantasia" from 1979, after which he released two quite unknown albums in the 80's "Behind The Walls" and "The Lonely Heartbeat", before returning with "The Flower King".

    I have the Japanese version of "Fantasia" which seems to be quite collectable: https://www.discogs.com/Roine-Stolt-...elease/2678485

  25. #25
    I always found this to be a "feel" album. Love it!
    Sleeping at home is killing the hotel business!

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