The Flower Kings - The Road Back Home

The younger-looking John Lees, Roine Stolt, and his band of prog virtuosos have reworked/remixed some of their snappier tunes for this collection, but it’s their proggier, lengthier material that most impresses. In this vein, the nine-minute Mellotronic title track shines, along with a fresh 12- minute take on Genesis’ The Cinema Show. A similar pairing rounds out the companion disc in the shape of the 11-minute The Flower King (all bright, airy Yes/ Genesis-leaning stuff) and the closing pomp of Stardust We Are. Much of the remaining material is less clearly labelled as classic prog, however, the opening Cosmic Lover being a toned-down Soft Machine with the quintet throwing in sitar over jazz guitar lines. A couple of numbers could be ELO, while Stupid Girl recalls Eric Johnson and Babylon is nearer to Camel. The variegated stylings mean there’s a mish-mash of tones, the band sometimes rocking, other times meandering, as on the sax of Grand Old World and reggae of Ghost Of The The Red Cloud. An unreleased Little Deceiver is doleful, but the breezy Chickenfarmer Song lifts things and Monkey Business rocks. A mixed bag then, but one worth rummaging in.