Formation
In early 1993, guitarist and singer Roine Stolt had written material for his third solo album The Flower King and sought for musicians to perform it. He had wanted to release a progressive rock-style album for a while and felt the time was right to pursue the project. The album features Stolt on vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards, Jaime Salazar on drums, and Hasse Fröberg on vocals, and was recorded in Sweden between May 1993 and January 1994.
In preparation for Stolt's concert tour to support the album's release, Stolt, Salazar, and Fröberg were joined by Stolt's brother Michael on bass and Tomas Bodin on keyboards. The five performed their first gig on 20 August 1994 at an outdoor festival in Uppsala, Stolt's hometown and the city where The Flower King was recorded. After they decided to become a full time band, they officially adopted the name The Flower Kings, named after Stolt's album. Stolt had produced a list of potential titles for the record, one of which was "The Flower King", and chose it because of its positive meaning and its reference to the hippie era of the 1960s.
Activity
After performing a series of concerts through 1994, the band entered the studio in December 1994 to record their debut album, Back in the World of Adventures. The recording process was gradual, finishing in September 1995.
In 2000, Michael Stolt was replaced by Jonas Reingold. Two years later, Salazar was replaced by Zoltan Csörsz. Daniel Gildenlöw of Pain of Salvation joined the band the same year as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist.
Other contributors have included Hasse Bruniusson (percussion) and Ulf Wallander (saxophone).
Stolt has written the vast majority of the material the band has recorded, with Bodin contributing most of the rest. The music is best described as symphonic progressive rock, bearing a strong resemblance to the music of Yes, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, and early Genesis, with jazz fusion and blues influences. The band's lyrics are almost uniformly positive and uplifting, affirming such values as love, peace, and spirituality, and furthering their association with Yes.
Their 1999 album Flower Power contains the eighteen-section, almost 60-minute "Garden of Dreams".
In June 2007, they released The Road Back Home, a compilation of remixed songs from 1994 to 2006, plus "Little Deceiver" (a previously unreleased track) and the full version of their cover of "The Cinema Show" by Genesis.
Zoltan Csörsz was replaced by new drummer Marcus Liliequist for one album, but returned for the 2007 album, The Sum of No Evil. He was subsequently replaced by Erik Hammarström in 2008.
In 2008, Ola Heden, previously of Reingold's side project Karmakanic, joined on guitar, vocals and keyboards.
In November 2008, the band were the opening act of the Ecco Prog Fest in Moscow.
After touring in 2008, The Flower Kings were inactive for four years. Stolt felt the band had varied levels of focus in their direction and had started to feel lost. They reunited in 2011 to work on new material after Stolt felt it was the right time and sensed eagerness from the other members to work together. This marked the arrival of German drummer Felix Lehrmann. Banks of Eden, the group's eleventh album, was released in June 2012 and was recorded with analogue recording techniques and styles reminiscent of the height of vinyl records. This was followed by Desolation Rose in October 2013.
The line up of Stolt, Bodin, Reingold, Fröberg and Lehrmann played together for the last time in 2015. 2016 and 2017 saw the bandmembers busy with other engagements.
In December 2017, the first part of a career-spanning box set titled A Kingdom of Colours was released. This first box, with 10 discs, covers the period from 1995 to 2002 and includes the studio albums from Back in the World of Adventures to Unfold the Future. The second box set, titled A Kingdom of Colours 2 and covering the albums Adam & Eve through to Desolation Rose, was released in June 2018.
In September 2018, Stolt announced a new album named Manifesto of an Alchemist. The album did not feature long-time keyboardist Tomas Bodin, and as such it is credited to "Roine Stolt's The Flower King" rather than "The Flower Kings"
In August the same year Roine Stolt presented a new band called "Roine Stolt and friends play The Flower Kings". The band featured Stolt, Fröberg and Reingold with new keyboard player Zach Kamins and new drummer Mirko De Maio. Roine Stolt stated that he was done being in a group and wanted to tour as a solo artist like Roger Waters or Steven Wilson. Tomas Bodin was not a part of this group and made his displeasure quite public. The band toured with Spock’s Beard in November and December 2018 and continued to do shows in 2019, this time under the name "The Flower Kings Revisited".
In July 2019, "Revisited" was removed from the band name, making it clear that this line up was now "The Flower Kings". The band went on to release the double albums Waiting for Miracles in 2019 and Islands in 2020, the latter having been recorded entirely remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 24 March 2021, Roine Stolt announced two big projects. The Flower Kings are working on a brand new album "in the same innocence" of Stardust We Are. On 19 April 2021, Roine officially teases that Stardust We Are is getting a brand new vinyl remaster.
On April 8th 2022, InsideOut and Roine Stolt announced that Back in the World of Adventures and Retropolis were getting "remastered and partly remixed". The release date for both was placed on May 27th 2022. Also Stardust We Are and Flower Power are getting remixes and remastered in June.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flower_Kings
Studio albums
The Flower King (1994)
Back in the World of Adventures (1995)
Retropolis (1996)
Stardust We Are (1997)
Flower Power (1999)
Space Revolver (2000)
The Rainmaker (2001)
Unfold the Future (2002)
Adam & Eve (2004)
Paradox Hotel (2006)
The Sum of No Evil (2007)
Banks of Eden (2012)
Desolation Rose (2013)
Manifesto of an Alchemist (2018)
Waiting for Miracles (2019)
Islands (2020)
By Royal Decree (2022)
Fast Lane
The Flower Kings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
"Life can be a shortcut"
and you will always speed for...
More is less in daylight! You fight;
living in the fast lane
and you are never gonna see
The sunlight
Feel the lovelight
Taking place in the haze, of the sunshine
Tend to insight
Seize upon "here and now"
Trust what's given
Everyday make your way, in the sunshine
Try to see it my way! You say;
"Life can be a jackpot
and I will always speed for..."
More is less in daylight! Insight;
livin in the fast lane
and you will never gonna see
Believers
smile when you aim for love
Be receiver
You can win, let it in, feel the sunshine
Free the spirit
Your mind will start glowing
Go from wasteland believers will shine
Freedom beggars can
turn into angels
Rise from mazeland stay true to your heart
In The Flower Kings' song Fast Lane, the lyrics are addressed to someone who is constantly living in the fast lane, always looking for shortcuts and battling to get ahead. The singer pleads with them to try to see life through a different lens, one that is not always in a hurry. They suggest that more is less in daylight, meaning that sometimes the relentless pursuit of success can cause you to miss out on the simple things in life, like enjoying the sun. The chorus suggests that if you slow down, you'll be able to see the world from a higher perspective, and encourages the listener to seize the present moment, trust what's given to them, and embrace the here and now.
Line by Line Meaning
Try to see a new way! You say;
Encouraging the listener to adopt a fresh perspective
"Life can be a shortcut" and you will always speed for...
Suggesting that life can be simplified and rushed through
More is less in daylight! You fight;
Implying that excessive action leads to less satisfaction
Living in the fast lane and you are never gonna see
Claiming that those who are always rushing will miss out on the good things in life
The sunlight
Referring to positivity and optimism
Shines from a higher ground
Suggesting that good things come from a higher, more enlightened place
Feel the lovelight
Encouraging the listener to experience love and positive energy
Taking place in the haze of the sunshine
Implying that even amidst confusion and uncertainty, the potential for positivity exists
Tend to insight
Advocating for mindfulness and clear perception
Seize upon "here and now"
Encouraging the listener to live in the present moment
Trust what's given
Promoting the virtue of gratitude
Everyday make your way in the sunshine
Urging the listener to consistently embrace positivity and optimism
Try to see it my way! You say;
Encouraging the listener to consider a different perspective
"Life can be a jackpot" and I will always speed for...
Suggesting that life can offer abundant rewards if one is willing to work hard
More is less in daylight! Insight;
Continuing the theme of the limiting nature of excess and imploring the listener to be mindful
Livin' in the fast lane and you will never gonna see
Reiterating the idea that those who rush through life will miss out
Believers
Referring to those with faith and optimism
Smile when you aim for love
Implying that love leads to positivity and satisfaction
Be receiver
Urging the listener to be open to positive experiences
You can win, let it in, feel the sunshine
Suggesting that good things are achievable if one is open to them
Free the spirit
Encouraging the listener to embrace freedom and individuality
Your mind will start glowing
Implying that positivity and optimism lead to mental clarity and enlightenment
Go from wasteland believers will shine
Suggesting that those who have experienced suffering can still find positivity and optimism
Freedom beggars can turn into angels
Implying that those who are poor or struggling can still experience positivity and enlightenment
Rise from mazeland stay true to your heart
Encouraging the listener to persevere through challenges and remain true to their beliefs and values
Contributed by Nathaniel A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.