4.5 Stars
04/29/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This instrumental effort is the solo debut of the Flower King's brilliant keyboardist, Tomas Bodin. With some help from the Stolt brothers and Jaime Salazar there are a lot of familiarities with that of the Flower King's sound. Still it is definately Bodin's creation. It is a rich, complex recording with strong compositions and musicianship that grow's on you with repeated listening. It certainly makes clear the extent to which Bodin adds to the Flower King's sound. Wonderful instrumental prog, highly recommended...Simon"
A Wild Ride, Even by Flower Kings Standards
Alan Cox | Denver, CO | 07/20/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As the keyboard player of the excellent Prog band, "The Flower Kings," Bodin has made his presence and style very obvious on those releases. On this solo album, Bodin takes you on a fun-house journey that's loaded with sometimes amusing, sometimes odd, sometimes fascinating and always interesting music. It's a kaleidoscope of sounds from a barrage of synths. Half the tracks are like solo pieces (such as a deep church organ solo, or a sampling experiment), and the other half are swelling prog sounds like Flower Kings. The first listen, I didn't like it much. After repeated listens, I think it's absolutely brilliant. If you like the Flower Kings or creative keyboard work, GET THIS DISC!"
Prog For the Ages
Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 10/02/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I agree with both of the previous reviewers. First of all, Ordinary Night merits 4 and 1/2 stars. And secondly, while I did not much like this on first listen, I now find it a near masterpiece. As a matter of fact, it has become my favorite Tomas Bodin solo project of the three I own.
Ordinary Night can truly be called "prog for the ages". There is so much going on here that not only should this be heard by all fans of the genre, but it should be studied by all prog musicians.
The CD takes the listener all over the musical map. There are quasi-religious passages, there is a touch of fusion, a lot of classical, and just so many high-voltage sequences that Ordinary Night is a great CD for a roadtrip. One hears the Flower Kings of course, but I also sometimes was reminded of Procol Harum, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, and even Chroma Key as I listened.
My favorite cuts are Into the Dreamscape, Daddy In The Clouds, and the memorable three part tour-de-force called Three Stories that closes the CD. That last IS a masterpiece.
So there you go. If you are already a Flower Kings fan, then you should not hesitate buying this. If you are a curious prog fan unfamiliar with what Bodin can do, I say take a chance on Ordinary Night. You'll be glad you did.
"
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1