Transatlantic_B.jpgFlower kings.jpg
Roine Stolt is one of my favorite composers. He has many solo albums and has worked with various bands and has solo band in which he composes most of the songs.
My favorite song is "The Garden Of Dreams" in "The Flower Kings'" album "Flower Power. What is your favorite song that he has composed, alone or not?
He was with Kaipa, Transatlantic, Angels of Mercy and more that I can't recall haha...
He's a great composer. 'Garden of Dreams' is probably my favorite piece that he's written, although much of that cowritten with Tomas Bodin. Much of Stardust We Are is great too, and that is overall my favorite Stolt related album. Some other favorites are 'The Flower King', 'Dissonata', 'World of Adventures', 'I Am The Sun', and 'One More Time'. I do like Angels of Mercy and Transatlantic too, and Roine's solo stuff. Pretty prolific guy.
I first discovered Roine Stolt from Transatlantic.
Actually, it was more like... Rush, then Dream Theater, and because of Mike Portnoy, then Transatlantic. After discovering TA, I of course branched off into Spock's Beard/Neal Morse, Marillion, and Roine Stolt/The Flower Kings.
I *love* The Flower Kings and all of the music they have done, but my top 3 albums would have to be:
Stardust We Are
Unfold The Future
Paradox Hotel
They're just great masterworks and full of amazing modern symphonic prog epics. It also helps that they're behemoth double-album monsters, chock full of great music! Of course, though, the rest of their work is great as well, even the lesser-loved albums like The Rainmaker and Adam & Eve have some good music on them! Their first five albums, however, are all pure gold, and if I had to pick 5 consecutive albums by them, it'd be their first five, even if it meant missing out on UTF and PH. Their latest release Banks Of Eden was a triumphant return to form while creating something that was new and different. I thought it would've been hard for them to do so, considering their previous release The Sum Of No Evil, which was over 5 years old at the time, while good, was still same-y in comparison to their older releases.
Beyond TFK, though, I also discovered Kaipa, and their modern albums are really great, from Notes From The Past all the way up to their latest release, Vittjar, even though Roine hasn't been with the band for their last 4 albums.
Then of course, there's The Tangent, another band Roine was initially a part of, but later quit, but because of his involvement, he had me hooked on Andy Tillison's music and everything since the first two Tangent albums has been GOLD to me, although I will always have a special love for The Music That Died Alone and The World That We Drive Through.
There's also Roine's more recent side-project/band, Agents Of Mercy. Their first album (The Fading Ghosts Of Twilight) was pretty good, but their second Dramarama not so much for me. Their third The Black Forest really hit it off well, but I think I need to revisit this band and their three albums again really soon. I don't think I gave them enough of a chance at their release.
Then backtracking to Transatlantic, his work on all 3 TA albums is nothing short of astonishing. He's vocals and guitar playing are top-notch, as to be expected, but it always seems that when the four of them come together to write, their musicianship is somehow amplified by each other, creating a whole that is far Far FAR greater than the sum of its parts. The Whirlwind was an astounding effort that really brought out a lot of great Roine Stolt moments, both in performance and writing.
Of course, I cannot finish this without mentioning Roine's solo albums, especially Wall Street Voodoo. It's a jazz-blues-fusion that is quite a different side of TFK, considering the band is mostly TFK members, along with fellow TA member Neal Morse on keys and vocals. It's one of my most listened albums with Roine Stolt! And speaking of jazz fusion, there's also 3rd World Electric, which is more in the vein of Weather Report and other such jazz-fusion bands, and less bluesy like WSV, but it's a good listen if you want to hear more of that side of Roine.
Stolt is so versatile and puts out SO much music, even a die-hard fan like me barely has time to enjoy all that he releases, but I try to make time. He's got a LOT of music released under his belt, and just over the last 20 years! It's hard to believe that The Flower King will be 20 years old next year!!!
-Marc.
Last edited by The Letter M; 04-23-2013 at 07:53 PM.
Agree with you both.Garden of dreams is certainly up there with the best.I do like Rising the Imperial of last year's Banks of Eden.I was lucky enough to see the band recently in London ( I'm a u.k.resident living about 300 miles away from the capital) co-headlining with Neal Morse and Transatlantic and the kings were by far the most impressive.
So lucky! I wish I could see them but, they haven't planned a tour in Canada any-time soon. :/Originally Posted by KELLY WELSH
Garden of Dreams is excellent!!
I also really love Hummanizzmo, although I don't know if he composed it and I don't know what it's about (I don't listen to lyrics much) - but the live version on their DVD (with the grasshopper on the front) gives me goosebumps every time.
Love Garden of Dreams but my favorite is Stardust We Are (the full version).
Obviously haha :P I would hate having my favorite song cut in a live show, it seems so wrong that they do this.
"Stardust We Are" can still send shivers up my spine, especially when I see it performed live. One of my all time favorite concert moments was when they performed it at ProgDay in 1998 with the sun setting over the trees. A magical moment for sure.
Steve Sly
"Stardust We Are" is what won me over as a fan. It's still my favorite, but there are a lot of great Roine songs to love.
Stardust We Are, I Am the Sun pt.2 & The Flowerking !
I love Roine's guitar playing more than anything. I like his singing too, and his accent doesn't bother me.
Calling Home from Flower Power I think is my fave. Just read the lyrics like a book and you'll see why.
Though Ive grown tired of the same old same old from the Flower Kings, he remains one of my top ten guitarists. Hydrophonia is awesome, love it all. I too was introduced to him and the FKs through Transatlantic, and started going through their catalog backwards. Not so much a fan of forward unfortunately, after Space Revolver they started loosing me. Aside from The Tangent, some of the other bands mentioned never really grabbed me. Perhaps it was due to his prolific output that over saturated me? Don't know, but the dude can play a guitar no doubt
Same here. He combines the bluesey and the epic just amazingly well.
Check out my concert videos on my youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/broadaccent
There is so much I can't decide. Love his guitar playing as well.
Regards,
Jon
I'm totally on board with the majority of sentiments expressed in this thread. With very few exceptions I find myself loving most projects Roine Stolt has been involved with.
And as a guitar player myself, Roine is one of my very favorite guitarists. For my tastes, he has the perfect balance between technique and just plain ol' soulful, melodic playing. Those of you who enjoy this aspect of RS should definitely check out the latest TFK "Banks Of Eden". Some of the best guitar solos the man has ever recorded, IMO, and with perhaps his sweetest guitar tone ever (I'd also call particular attention - at least for tone junkies - to his guitar sound on Wall Street Voodoo and Paradox Hotel...although every TFK album since has also featured similarly great tones).
My personal favorite is The Truth Will Set You Free. What makes him such a great guitarist is he's more concerned with tone and expression than he is with flash.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Easily one of the most prolific musicians around, and all of his work is of high quality. When I consider the entire TFK catalog and I compare it to two other prog faves who have extensive catalogs (Rush and Yes), TFK easily trumps them in terms of overall quality. There are Rush and Yes albums I absolutely despise and others that I rate a 5 or lower on a scale of 1-10. Yet my least favorite TFK album would rate perhaps a 7 or 8. There are no TFK albums that I hate or find mediocre.
And to think it doesn't even stop with TFK - there is also as The Letter M mentioned, Transatlantic, Kaipa and The Tangent, all of which he shines on as well as his solo albums... and then I haven't even gotten around to checking out the other stuff yet like Agents of Mercy or 3rd World Electric!!
Amazing!
You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...
I like most of his music, but for me, "Stardust We Are" and the Transatlantic albums top the heap.
Gnish-gnosh borble wiff, shlauuffin oople tirk.
Haha can't believe I haven't mentioned!! I'll have to say that's it's a tie between "The Truth Will Set You Free" and "The Garden Of Dreams". Both long songs that are interesting from beginning end. One is longer and, the other one has an epic chorus.
It was the "double shot" of "The Flower King" (from Roine's solo album of the same name) and "Stardust We Are" (so epic, so melodic) that hooked me on TFK and on all things Stolt. Most anything he plays on at least gets a listen from me.
Above I listed my favorite long song with vocals. My favorite short instrumental is Theme For A Hero from Back In The World Of Adventure. A very close second would be Pioneers of Aviation from Paradox Hotel
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Theme for a Hero is awesome. One of my all time favorites.
I Am The Sun, parts 1 and 2. The finale of I Am The Sun part 2 is one of the best things that ever appeared on a CD.
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