''The Flower Kings'' are a Swedish progressive rock band. Formed in 1993 by veteran guitarist Roine Stolt as a touring band to support his solo album ''The Flower King'', the band stayed together after the tour and has gone on to become one of the most prolific studio recording units in rock music of their era. In ten years it has released nearly 18 hours of music.
The Flower Kings have seen frequent personnel changes. The original line-up for Stolt's solo album consisted of Stolt (vocals, electric guitar, bass, keyboards), Jamie Salazar (drums), and Hasse Fr�berg (vocals). When the full band was formed, they added Michael Stolt (bass) and Tomas Bodin (keyboards). Michael Stolt and Salazar have both left the band since its formation, replaced by Jonas Reingold (bass) and Zoltan Cs�rsz (drums). Other contributors have included Hasse Bruniusson (percussion), Ulf Wallander (saxophone) and Daniel Gildenl�w of Pain of Salvation (vocals, guitar, keyboards and percussion). Zoltan Cs�rsz has recently been replaced by new drummer Marcus Liliequist. Daniel Gildenl�w recently left due to personal issues.
Roine Stolt has written the vast majority of the material the band has recorded, with Bodin contributing most of the rest. The music is perhaps best described as "symphonic," bearing a strong resemblance in many instances to that of Yes, and yet there are also hints of strong influence from the jazz fusion genre. The band's lyrics are almost uniformly positive, affirming such values as love, peace, and spirituality.
Their 1999 album ''Flower Power'' contains what is thought to be the longest progressive rock track ever recorded, the eighteen-section, nearly 60-minute "Garden of Dreams."
Roine Stolt recorded two albums with supergroup Transatlantic (band)|Transatlantic, with members of Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, and Marillion, in 2000 and 2001.
Discography
Studio Albums
* ''The Flower King'' (1994) (Roine Stolt solo album) * ''Back in the World of Adventures'' (1995) * ''Retropolis'' (1996) * ''Stardust We Are'' (1997) (double CD) * ''Flower Power'' (1999) (double CD) * ''Space Revolver'' (2000) (regular and digipack editions single CD, Japanese edition double CD) * ''The Rainmaker'' (2001) (regular edition single CD, special edition double CD) * ''Unfold the Future'' (2002) (double CD, limited edition contains bonus track) * ''Adam & Eve'' (2004) * ''Paradox Hotel'' (forthcoming March 24 2006) (double CD)
Live Albums
* ''Alive on Planet Earth'' (2000) * ''Meet the Flower Kings'' (2003) (double live CD and DVD, available separately or together)
Limited Edition Official Bootlegs
* ''�dition Limit�e Qu�bec'' (1998) (unreleased and live tracks) * ''The Rainmaker Tour 2001'' (downloadable from website, not commercially available) * ''Live In New York - Official Bootleg'' (2002) * ''BetchaWannaDanceStoopid!!!'' (2004)
Fan Club Albums
* ''Fan Club 2000'' (2000) * ''Fan Club 2002'' (2002) * ''Fan Club 2004'' (2004) * ''Fan Club 2005 / Harvest'' (2005)
