Back in 2005 the keyboard player from The Flower Kings released an album which would be the first of a trilogy about being human. I AM was a fine album made by Tomas Bodin and showed that also other instruments besides the keyboards could take a leading role in his music. The guitars played by Jocke JJ Marsh often sounded very aggressive but I liked it a lot. Now several years later, the second part of the already mentioned trilogy is available. Strangely enough not released under his own name, but as a band. The band Eggs & Dogs includes several musicians who were also on I AM. The same man that was responsible for the metal influences and also the same person that hit the drum kit appears. Besides Mr Marsh and Marcus Lilijquist we can also welcome another well know musician in the band. This person was for several years the bass player in the Flower Kings and his name is Michael Stolt, brother of Roine. On You are he also did the lead vocals in a rather strong way reminding me a little bit of Elvis Costello and Tom Waits. At first, when you hear the entire album you don’t hear many influences from The Flower Kings and you might feel a little disappointed. Because on only the second track Poor Lucille and the last track Silicone Bimbo Run you hear the typical TFK elements. These moments make your heart beat much faster. But also the fine instrumental section on Private Skies will please a lot of progheads, a highlight on You Are. This strong instrumental highlight starts as a sort of Firth Of Fifth /Cinema Show (Genesis) piece on which Tomas gets all the space to show why he is such a fine keyboard player, but there is a lead role also for Jocke on his electric guitar. He is not just a fast metal player, which is shown on the song American Standard. This ballad includes some wonderful acoustic guitar playing. Another fine ballad on the album is Food. It’s a fine relaxing track on an album that has much more than just progressive rock influences. Names of bands such as Queen, The Beatles and 10cc came to my mind several times. The Queen influences are most notable on the piece Dad Is Coming Home. The fine close harmony vocals and barbershop elements are most of all responsible for the Queen sound. The sound fragments taken from an American Radio station gives the album a feeling as if it is one whole concept. But Tomas states that the songs are just a couple of stories that are all inspired from real life, however there is always an author’s privilege to change details. The more you play You Are you discover that Tomas made with his band Eggs & Dogs a strong follow up to I AM. He certainly shows that the music business is much more as just the music from The Flower Kings. Hopefully can we enjoy the last part of the trilogy very soon and does it not take such a long time as the space between part one and two. Everybody who is interested into this album and would like to hear more from Tomas Bodin should look at his websites. *** Henri Strik (edited by Melody Oakley) Where to buy? |
