Swedish melodic progressive rockers THE FLOWER KINGS and longtime label-partners InsideOutMusic began an extensive reissue campaign in 2022 which will see the entire catalogue of the band reissued on CD & Vinyl in remastered editions.
One of these is the band’s sixth album ‘The Rainmaker’, originally released in 2001. The album has been slightly re-mixed and fully remastered 2022 revealing new layers of sound, and the reissue features refreshed artwork designed by legendary artist Ioannis.
‘The Rainmaker’ caused quite a few splits among previous THE FLOWER KINGS fans, as this is the first album from the band with a much more commercial sound, poppier, even hard rocking, and including ‘song-format’ tracks, even though three are still over 10 mins long.
For us, ‘The Rainmaker’ is one of THE FLOWER KINGS favorite albums, at places similar to Asia, GTR, ’80s Yes, etc.
‘Last Minute On Earth’ is an excellent starter. Beautiful singing from Hasse Froberg who, on this album, handles more of the lead vocals than usual. Both he and Roine take it in turns to sing lead, both on here, and on other tracks. And the mixture works well. There is superb guitar work on this song, very Holdsworthy in parts, whilst the ending is well worked and effective.
‘Road To Sanctuary’ was a song that took some time to get into, but was worth the effort. Well crafted, with a nice change of pace near the end, it is typical Flower Kings. Title track ‘The Rainmaker’, the first of three instrumentals, is a slow, keyboard led build up, with hesitant, marching drums, cool guitar work near the end alongside atmospheric keyboards.
‘City Of Angels’ is epic, and is one of our favourites. Very catchy, with a memorable melody and, again, superb harmonies, this track sticks in the mind immediately. Brilliant.
‘Elaine’ is an underrated song. Another shortish, (for this group) vocally dominated track, it has very thoughtful lyrics, regarding someone who doesn’t quite fit in with the majority of people. A very sad, yet true statement. I like this one a lot.
‘Sword Of God’ is tremendous. Hasse Froberg throws off his Jon Anderson voice here and manages to sound amazingly close to Paul Rogers during the verse. A quite heavy, memorable riff accompanies this rocky song, not very progressive, but classy.
The next track, ‘Blessing Of A Song’ is the second instrumental, and is again catchy, with nice Bodin keyboards. The third instrumental, ‘Red Alert’ follows this, very short, yet again keyboard led and catchy. Superb.
Now we come to the album closer. ‘Serious Dreamers’ is, maybe, the best of all. There’s a wonderful melody in the verse, lots of harmonies in the catchy chorus, and all this is accompanied by high class guitar work. This track is only a second or two under 10 mins, by the way, and is the perfect way to finish a stunning album. I always believe that the last track on an album should be one of the strongest, as it then ends the record on a high, and this certainly does that.
‘The Rainmaker’ is among our favorite albums from The Flower Kings. It has prog but also a rocking spirit, accessible songs and lengthy, elaborated tracks plenty of stupendous musicianship. Very good remaster / mix too.
Tracklist:
01. Last Minute On Earth (2022 Remaster) (11:35)
02. World Without a Heart (2022 Remaster) (04:30)
03. Road to Sanctuary (2022 Remaster) (13:50)
04. The Rainmaker (2022 Remaster) (06:02)
05. City of Angels (2022 Remaster) (12:04)
06. Elaine (2022 Remaster) (04:55)
07. Thru the Walls (2022 Remaster) (04:31)
08. Sword of God (2022 Remaster) (06:00)
09. Blessing of a Smile (2022 Remaster) (03:12)
10. Red Alert (2022 Remaster) (01:08)
11. Serious Dreamers (2022 Remaster) (09:00)
The Flower Kings – The Rainmaker (2022) Re-issue Remaster+FLAC
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