[Rick and Roll]

I'll feature two releases that I think qualify for rarefied air....

The Flower Kings - Paradox Hotel (2006)

Roine Stolt and the boys are back for their best record (2 CD's actually) since Rainmaker. 2 CD's and not an ounce of fat. We'll hear 12 of the 19 songs, due to time. Hmm. 12/19 that's my birthday...

Monsters And Men 21:19

An epic worthy of "Stardust" comparisons.

Jealousy 3:21

Just Roine, just right.

Hit Me With A Hit 5:32

Hasse Froberg gets a lot to sing on Paradox, here's one.

Pioneers of Aviation 7:42

Instrumental featuring the awesome Jonas Reingold and new drummer Marcus L.

Lucy Had A Dream 5:59

One of two Roine tunes with a decidely female point of view.

Self-Consuming Fire 5:55

One of two Roine tunes with a decidely female point of view.

Minor Giant Steps 12:13

As is their wont, a very Yes-like song. Catchy chorus, great song.

Touch My Heaven 6:09

Penned by Tomas Bodin and sung emotionally by hasse, a bluesy atypical song. Brilliant guitar lead at the end.

The Unortodox Dancing Lesson 5:23

Another instrumental, kind of funky, borrowing in spots from KC's "Red".

Man of the World 5:59

Written by Jonas in the Karmakanic style, good to see him get some songs in.

The Way The Waters Are Moving 3:11

Penned by Bodin and Stolt, for the Tsunami victims.

End On A High Note 10:44

That we will with a classic FK sound.

Two excellent songs I nneded to omit for time constraints were the nice "Mommy Leave the Light On" and the conterversial yet excellent "Bavarian Skies".

Saga - The Chapters Live (2005)

They finally did it. All 16 Chapters of their sci-fi story on one record. You think Rush's "Fear" trilogy was hard to follow, try 16 songs over 25 years and 15 records..out of order! It comes together nicelyhere , although a lot of the story is still open to interpretation. They do reveal that it is a story about Aliens trying to preserve the Earth after we destroy it, moitoring us the entire way yet conflicted about what to do. I didn't realize that it was Albert Einstein they were talking about, a very neat idea about preserving his brain.

What I particularly enjoy about this record is that it covers material from very different periods of the band. Some of the songs are gems, such as the first album's "Tired World". Chapters 1-8 are from 1978-1984, and after a long hiatus, 9-16 are from 1998-2004.

1 Images
2 Don't Be Late
3 It's Time
4 Will it Be You?
5 No Regrets
6 Tired World
7 Too Much To Lose
8 No Stranger
9 Remeber When?
10 Not This Way
11 Ashes To Ashes
12 You Know I Know
13 Uncle Albert's Eyes
14 Streets of Gold
15 We'll Meet Again
16 World's Apart

In the coming weeks we'll hear some fusion, rock, prog..lots to get to. And full CD's by Magic Pie, Karcius, and the latest Tool.