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)
Life Will Kill You
The Flower Kings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sky is turning red
Silence, I don't know how it feels
Deep inside my head
So scared to walk that moonlit mile
I can't stand to lose my face
So tired, I have to rest for a while
And get out of these wicked ways
Life will kill you!
Life will kill you!
One step, I'm close to the edge
I can't move no more
In my life, there's a lot of things I regret
That I can't take back for sure
My confidence is leaving me
The evidence is clear to see
It's nobody fault but mine
Life will kill you, anytime
Life will kill you, any minute
Winter, no leaves on the trees
I can't move no more
Life will kill you, any time
Life will kill you, any minute
The Flower Kings' song "Life Will Kill You" is a contemplative look at mortality and the fragility of life. The opening lines paint a picture of desolation and isolation, with the singer feeling lost and disconnected from the world around them. The repetition of "Life will kill you!" serves as a kind of mantra, reminding the listener of the inevitability of death.
The second verse sees the singer reflecting on their own life, and the mistakes and regrets that they carry with them. They acknowledge that their own choices have led them to this dark place, and there is a sense of resignation that they cannot turn back the clock or undo their past actions.
The chorus comes back in, driving home the message that life is short and can end at any moment. The final lines of the song, "Winter, no leaves on the trees / I can't move no more," suggests that the singer has reached a kind of breaking point, unable to go on any longer.
Overall, "Life Will Kill You" is a poignant meditation on the human condition and the fleeting nature of existence.
Line by Line Meaning
Winter, no leaves on the trees
The bleakness of the winter season is a reflection of the emptiness and hopelessness inside the singer's mind.
Sky is turning red
The color of the sky reflects the intensity of the negative emotions felt by the singer, and it signals an impending danger or tragedy.
Silence, I don't know how it feels
The singer is numb and detached from his emotions, and feels a sense of emptiness and confusion that he can't quite articulate.
Deep inside my head
The artist's struggles are internal and deeply rooted, and he cannot escape them no matter how hard he tries.
So scared to walk that moonlit mile
The artist is afraid to face his fears and confront his problems head-on, as it requires taking a risky and uncertain journey that might bring him harm.
I can't stand to lose my face
The singer is afraid of losing his dignity and self-respect, which he sees as his only source of strength and identity.
So tired, I have to rest for a while
The singer is exhausted from the constant struggle of life, and he needs a break to regain his strength and composure.
And get out of these wicked ways
The artist acknowledges that he has made mistakes and has indulged in unhealthy behavior, and he needs to change his ways to avoid self-destruction.
Life will kill you!
The artist is aware that life is a struggle, and it can crush you at any moment if you're not careful and resilient.
One step, I'm close to the edge
The artist is on the brink of a breakdown or an irreversible mistake, and he's afraid of losing control.
I can't move no more
The singer is paralyzed by his fears and doubts, and he can't take any action to change his situation.
In my life, there's a lot of things I regret
The artist is burdened by his past mistakes and missed opportunities, and he can't help but dwell on them even though it's futile.
That I can't take back for sure
The singer is resigned to the fact that his actions have consequences, and he can't undo or fix the things that he has done wrong.
My confidence is leaving me
The singer is losing his self-assurance and belief in himself, and he feels hopeless and powerless as a result.
The evidence is clear to see
The singer can see the negative outcomes of his actions and decisions, and he can't deny or ignore them any longer.
It's nobody fault but mine
The artist takes responsibility for his mistakes and shortcomings, and he's not blaming anyone else for his problems.
Life will kill you, anytime
The artist is emphasizing that life is unpredictable and dangerous, and it can take away everything you hold dear at any moment without warning.
Life will kill you, any minute
The singer is reiterating the point that life is short and fragile, and it can end abruptly and unexpectedly without any chance for redemption.
Contributed by Josiah Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.