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Tomas Bodin: An Ordinary Night in my Ordinary Life
Bodin compositional prowess is at center stage here, as he deftly moves from style to style without seeming to even break a sweat. While he does break into some killer keyboard chops from time to time, it's obvious that he's professional enough to show restraint and allow the other musicians to contribute to the songs as well. After all, when you've got Stolt and Salazar backing you up, you LET THEM PLAY! And play they do, with Stolt contributing some incredible guitar work (did you expect anything less?) and Salazar flying all around his drumkit with both reckless abandon and pinpoint precision at the same time. Stolt REALLY shines in the middle of Bodin's brilliant 17-minute epic "Three Stories," counterbalancing Bodin's beautiful piano work with some incredibly emotional guitar work that seems to patch directly to your soul (as Stolt's work often does). Bodin and Stolt also score a major victory with "In the Land of the Pumpkins," which combines standard progressive sounds with excellent piano passages and some furious fusion to create a song that will stick in your head like white on rice. But perhaps the most impressive musical moment of the CD comes not from familiar faces such as Bodin or Stolt, but from bassist Owe Eriksson who simply BLOWS THE LIGHTS OUT with his bass licks on "The Magic Rollercoaster". His wonderful interplay with drummer Salazar on this cut is something that simply must be heard to be believed.
Despite all the praises I have to the boys in the band, the ultimate kudos must go to Tomas Bodin who has shown that he has compositional talent that rivals that of Flower Kings leader Stolt. Perhaps future releases from The Flower Kings will showcase more of Bodin's writing as well as his always solid keyboard playing. However, if this does not come to pass, I very much look forward to any future solo efforts put forth by this very talented musician.
Track Listing
1. Entering the Spacebike (1:28), 2. Into the Dreamscape (9:41), 3. The Ballerina From Far Beyond (7:37), 4. Daddy in the Clouds (3:57), 5. Speed Wizard (5:34), 6. An Ordinary Nightmare in Poor Mr. Hope's Ordinary Life (5:54), 7. In the Land of the Pumpkins (9:06), 8. The Magic Rollercoaster (3:07), 9. The Gathering (3:02), 10. Three Stories (i. Samuel-The Knight, ii. Adam-The Prophet, iii. Miranda-The Queen) (16:41)
Personnel
Tomas Bodin: Hammond Organ, Piano, Rhodes Piano, Mellotron, Synthesizers, FX & Odd Voices Hasse Bruniusson: Percussion, Bicycle Wheel, voices; Roine Stolt: Guitars, Bass (3,7); Owe Eriksson: Fender & Warwick Basses (5,6,8,10); Michael Stolt: Fender Bass (2); Jaime Salazar: Drumkit
Album information
Title: An Ordinary Night in my Ordinary Life | Year Released: 2000