The Flower King by Roine Stolt

The Flower King, the third solo album by Roine Stolt, from 1994 here in an excellent 2024 reissue.

The original lineup of the album was composed of 
Stolt (vocals, electric guitar, bass, keyboards)
Jaime Salazar (drums) 
Hasse Fröberg (vocals)
The same musicians later formed "The Flower Kings" and released their debut album "Back in the World of Adventures" the following year.

 

About 70 minutes for 8 tracks, one of which is a long suite of about 21 minutes divided into 6 parts.

A great album by a guitar virtuoso and although credited directly to Stolt, I consider it my favorite Flower Kings album and their actual first album.
 

A decidedly prog album with a Symphonic Rock inclination, much less influenced by the sacred monsters of 70s prog compared to the later ones.
 

Being a solo album by a guitarist, the guitar dominates, something that can also be seen in other works by famous guitarists, first of all Steve Hackett. 

Roine also plays all the keyboards himself on the album and I must say he does it brilliantly.
Great track the opener "The Flower King", their "manifesto" in my opinion, with a great guitar solo, a beautiful chorus, lyrics full of love and hope and I believe the best melody Roine has ever composed, a truly magnificent piece.
Also beautiful is "Dissonata", a wonderful instrumental with great guitars and a remarkable keyboard solo. 
An album dominated by virtuosity and splendid execution that I recommend to everyone and of course to all those interested in discovering the music of Roine Stolt and the Flower Kings.

My judgment, in short: a masterpiece.

Tracklist

1. The Flower King (10:33)
2. Dissonata (10:03)
3. The Magic Circus of Zeb (7:07)
4. Close Your Eyes (3:12)
5. The Pilgrims Inn (9:20)
6. The Sounds of Violence (5:42)
7. Humanizzimo (20:54) :
- Twilight Flower
- The Messenger
- The Nail
- Only Human
- This Is the Night
- The Flower of Love
8. Scanning the Greenhouse (3:45)
Total duration 70:35
 

LineUp
Roine Stolt - lead vocals, 6 and 12 string electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion, arranger and producer
With:
- Hasse Fröberg - lead vocals
- Ulf Wallander - soprano saxophone
- Hasse Bruniusson - drums, percussion
- Jaime Salazar - drums, percussion
Note: "Dexter Frank Jr." and "Don Azzaro" sometimes credited are actually aliases of Roine Stolt.