The Flower Kings (prog rock / Sweden)

The Flower Kings is a Swedish progressive rock group. Formed in August 1994 by veteran guitarist Roine Stolt as a touring band to support his solo album The Flower King, the band stayed together after the tour and have gone on to become one of the most prolific studio recording units in rock music of their era. In thirteen years they released nearly 18 hours of music spread over 11 albums. Their music is similar to early symphonic progressive rock groups such as Yes, marked by sharp dynamic changes, polyrhythmics, heavy bass, vocal harmonies, abstract and occasionally nonsensical lyrics, and extended song lengths.


Roine 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 one of the longest progressive rock tracks ever recorded, the eighteen-section, nearly 60-minute "Garden of Dreams."

Garden of Dreams: 

Love Supreme:

Current members:

Roine Stolt - guitar, vocals, keyboards, bass guitar (1995–present)
Hasse Fröberg - vocals, guitar (1995–present)
Tomas Bodin - keyboards (1995–present)
Jonas Reingold - bass guitar (1999–present)
Felix Lehrmann - drums (2012–present)


Former members:

Jaime Salazar - drums (1995–2001)
Michael Stolt - bass guitar (1995–1999)
Zoltan Csörsz - drums (2001–2005; 2007)
Daniel Gildenlöw - vocals, guitars, keyboards (2002–2004)
Marcus Liliequist - drums (2005–2006)
Erik Hammarström - drums (2008)
Ola Heden - vocals, keyboards, guitar (2008)


Guest musicians:

Hasse Bruniusson - percussion (1995–present)
Ulf Wallander - saxophone (1995–present)
Pat Mastelotto - drums (2007)


More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flower_Kings