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)
Paradox Hotel
The Flower Kings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm the friendly smile but nobody knows me
One checkin' in, the other checkin' in out
This house is nothing but a roundabout
We carry your bags and we clean your room
We polish the glasses, the forks and the spoons
We've got staff standing by
With people ready to die for you
Communication systems are state of the art
Educational prospects of getting smarter
"First class service" will cost you some more
We've got sexy "livestock" back in store
Just give us a call and we'll send them up
we've got satisfied guests all the way to the top
Bankers, lawyers and politicians
The guest is king, now that is our mission!!
It's a living Hell / at Paradox Hotel
Come live in Hell / at Paradox Hotel
Now if you're hung up on celebrities,
we've had them all, on that you can trust me
We know their little secrets and dirty lies
Their little filthy habits - this job is priceless!!!
The clock is tickin', day in, day out
Life in the fast lane this ol' roundabout
Some people are good, some people are bad
But we seem to remember all the fun we've had
We've had Picasso and Einstein too
Howard Hughes fell out of the blue
Hookers, liars and fancy folks
The wall street gamblers and their money talk.
A living Hell / at Paradox Hotel
Come live in Hell / at Paradox Hotel
The Flower Kings's song Paradox Hotel is a commentary on the nature of the hospitality industry, specifically the hotel business. The lyrics describe the experience of working in a hotel and the interactions between the staff and guests. The hotel is a metaphor for the world we live in, where guests come and go but ultimately no one knows anyone else. The staff serves the guests, but they remain anonymous and faceless, providing first-class service at a cost.
The song touches upon the commodification of people in the modern world, using terms like “livestock” to refer to the availability of women for hire. The idea of celebrity culture is explored, and the lyrics suggest that those who have fame and fortune still have secrets and dirty habits that the staff at the hotel are privy to. The song emphasizes the fast-paced, often unsavory nature of the hotel business, with people and events passing through constantly.
The refrain “It's a living Hell at Paradox Hotel” is repeated several times throughout the song, and it amplifies the sense of disillusionment and emptiness of those who are working in the industry. It suggests that the hotel is not just a job but a way of life, a place where the employees are trapped in a cycle of service and anonymity.
Line by Line Meaning
We've got guests, plenty, they come and they go
We have a never-ending flow of guests who check in and check out.
I'm the friendly smile but nobody knows me
As a hotel employee, I smile and help guests, but they don't really know who I am.
One checkin' in, the other checkin' in out
One guest is checking in while another is checking out.
This house is nothing but a roundabout
The hotel is a revolving door of guests coming and going.
We carry your bags and we clean your room
As hotel staff, we take care of guest's belongings and keep their rooms clean.
We polish the glasses, the forks and the spoons
We make sure that dining utensils and glasses are clean and shiny.
We've got staff standing by
Our workforce is ready and available for guest assistance.
With people ready to die for you
Our staff is dedicated to providing top-notch customer service, willing to go above and beyond for guest satisfaction.
Communication systems are state of the art
We use the most advanced technology for communication with guests.
Educational prospects of getting smarter
As a guest, you can learn new things while staying with us.
"First class service" will cost you some more
To receive the highest level of service, guests must pay extra.
We've got sexy "livestock" back in store
We have attractive employees available for guest pleasure, like livestock for sale in a store.
Just give us a call and we'll send them up
If the guest wants entertainment or company, we can provide it.
we've got satisfied guests all the way to the top
Our guests are happy with our hotel from the bottom floor to the penthouse suite.
Bankers, lawyers and politicians
Our hotel attracts wealthy and influential guests.
The guest is king, now that is our mission!!
We prioritize guest satisfaction over everything else at our hotel.
It's a living Hell / at Paradox Hotel
Working at this hotel can be unbearable and exhausting.
Come live in Hell / at Paradox Hotel
Come work at our hotel and experience the stress and chaos of constantly accommodating guests.
Now if you're hung up on celebrities,
If you're obsessed with famous people,
we've had them all, on that you can trust me
Trust me when I say that we've had many celebrities stay at our hotel.
We know their little secrets and dirty lies
As hotel staff, we have insider knowledge of celebrities' personal lives.
Their little filthy habits - this job is priceless!!!
Knowing the dirty details of famous people's lives is a valuable part of our job.
The clock is tickin', day in, day out
Time never stops, and the hotel is always in operation.
Life in the fast lane this ol' roundabout
Working at the hotel is a fast-paced, constantly-moving environment.
Some people are good, some people are bad
Not all guests behave well and follow the rules.
But we seem to remember all the fun we've had
Despite the difficulties, working at the hotel is still enjoyable and memorable.
We've had Picasso and Einstein too
The hotel has hosted many famous people, from artists to scientists.
Howard Hughes fell out of the blue
Even eccentric and reclusive guests like Howard Hughes have stayed at our hotel.
Hookers, liars and fancy folks
Our guests come from all walks of life, including unsavory types.
The wall street gamblers and their money talk.
We also host guests with big budgets who use the hotel as a place to talk about business and investments.
A living Hell / at Paradox Hotel
Despite the excitement of having famous guests and being a busy hotel, working here can be exhausting and overwhelming.
Come live in Hell / at Paradox Hotel
Consider joining our staff and experiencing the intense, almost unbearable environment of our hotel.
Contributed by Jackson E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.