| Disc: 1 |
|---|
| 1. The Observer |
| 2. Head Above Water |
| 3. Dirt |
| 4. Everyone Wants To Rule The World |
| 5. Spirit Of The Rebel |
| 6. Unforgiven |
| 7. Dog With A Million Bones |
| 8. Sex Kills |
| 9. Outcast |
| Disc: 2 |
| 1. The Unwanted |
| 2. Remember |
| 3. It's All About Money |
| 4. Everybody Is Trying To Sell You Something |
| 5. Hotrod (The Atomic Wrestler) |
| 6. Mercy |
| 7. People That Have The Power To Shape The Future |
Editorial Reviews
Product Description
With 10 releases under his belt as the mastermind and leader behind prog legends The Flower Kings and through his collaborative work with Kaipa, The Tangent, and Transatlantic, Roine Stolt has firmly established himself as one of the most respected and prolific names in today’s progressive rock scene.
This is, admittedly, not a Prog record. Here, Roine pays tribute to the music of his youth - straight-ahead rock and blues with a little jazz thrown in. It kind of reminds me a bit of what Steve Morse did with his Major Impacts releases.
Roine reveals to us his alter ego - The Rocker. His lyrics, and his guitar, bite. Instead of the sensitive, Flower King-seeking, new age Prog man, we meet a man who is cynical and more than a little bitter. In veiled commentary, he takes on the current U.S. administration and the Iraq war with standard issue, Hollywood-style, left-wing arguments. In fact, he is sounding very Daniel Gildenlow-like. Roine even peppers his lyrics with a few expletives, and like Bruce Springsteen last year, drops his first recorded F-bomb.
In It's All About The Money, Roine sings, "Too many towers have been struck down lately, Because of decisions from the business chambers ". Is he referring to the Twin Towers? I hope he is not laying blame for 9/11 on "greedy corporate America" thereby justifying the actions of radical Islam. Say what you will about President Bush and the War, but please do not trample on our collective memory of what really happened on that day.
With an album that pays homage to the music of the `60's and `70's - a period scarred by the memory of Nixon, Vietnam and social injustice which was well documented by the music of the day - it is interesting that Roine makes a record that reflects a world which finds itself in similar circumstances today. Like Sting said, "history will teach us nothing".
Politics aside, there is some fine music to be found here. Roine is sincere about this music and he appears to be having some fun.
Those of us who have been debating the chops of new Flower Kings' drummer Marcus Liliequist have plenty of opportunity here to listen to his work. He is a competent rock drummer. No question should remain about that. However, one still wonders how he will do in the more elegant Prog arena. The wait will end in a couple of weeks when the new Flower Kings CD is released.
There may have been an opportunity here for Roine to attract some rock guitar fans who have a hard time with Prog. However, due to the length of most of the songs, the average rock fan would probably lose interest. Roine will have to be content with allowing the average Prog fan a little diversion and cementing his reputation as all-around first-rate talent. The amount of quality music this man has produced in the last ten years is mind-blowing.
Stand out tracks:
The Observer - Nice bluesy guitar work built on a traditional rock `n roll riff
Head Above Water - Starts of with a Cream-like wha wha guitar line and vocal harmonies. Features Neal Morse on lead vocals. Radio-friendly if this was 1972.
Unforgiven - An ominous title given to otherwise upbeat and catchy (and danceable) shuffle.
Sex Kills - A rockin', first-class remake of the Joni Mitchell song (I think I hear a cowbell!).
Outcast - Soulful blues. I love Roine's voice but this is made for someone like Robert Cray. Nice keyboard work by Slim Pothead (widely thought to be Tomas Bodin).
Remember - The follow-up single to Head Above Water if this was 1972. Neal Morse sounds great here.
Everybody is Trying to Sell You Something - Roine slides into the 80's sounding like Talking Heads in a weird way.
Mercy - A strange little tune but I like it a lot. The acoustic guitar is so moving and sounds so lonely. Reminds me of Stephen Stills.
I am politically a very conservative guy, but being of the sixties I can see where Stolt is coming from with his lyrics here. He is asking questions that never get answered and shows his irritation with a world that seems to be spiralling into a cesspool of greed, corruption and degeneracy. Wall Street Voodoo, idealistic yet somewhat naive, is the reborn spirit of the sixties and it should be refreshing, no matter your politics, to hear such an eloquent expression of discontent as this is.
I like the whole CD, though there are parts that seem a little drawn out. But to me, the highlights are many, and they are as follows:
Disc 1:
1)The Observer-a sledgehammer of anti-capitalist invective with a soulful refrain.
2)Head Above Water-features an excellent Deep Purple style organ interlude.
3)Dirt-Powerful, accusing lyrics and gripping instrumentation.
4)Everyone Wants To Rule the World-With the exception of the refrain, this overflows with Floydian lyrics and imagery.
5)Spirit of the Rebel-A driving, pounding vision of hopelessness.
6)Dog With A Million Bones-a bitter polemic against those who have no wants yet will not share. Some great Luddite invective.
7)Sex Kills-An old Joni Mitchell tune, bitter and enraged, fits perfectly with the spirit of this CD.
8)Outcast-In my opinion, the best song among many good ones. Here are the blues. Its not a BB King ripoff as someone claimed, I hear it far closer to Peter Green than to BB King. Sublime blues guitar and desolate lyrics will mesmerize you!
Disc 2:
1)Remember-A great rocker, with a whiff of Crazy Horse. This just cooks.
2)Its All About Money-Who can disagree? Good lyrics with a lame semi-rap delivery, but instrumental portion excellent.
3)Everybody Is Trying To Sell You Something- True enough. A funky lyrical reiteration of the theme of The Observer.
4)People That Have The Power To Shape The Future-Great song taking a crack at the emptiness of a life devoted to serving a faceless corporation. Even if you are a company man/woman, you must experience similar feelings at some point in your career. Great soulful vocals.
Wall Street Voodoo is one CD I will be promoting for a long time, at least until Stolt records something even better! If you have an open mind and a love of dynamic and interesting music, then don't miss this. An album such as this one comes along only rarely.
I have not yet listened to the new FLOWER KINGS cd yet.. although I am looking foward to it... I decided to listen to the release I thought would take less time to absorb.. and normally the side releases of any band member tends to be less valuable than the output from a whole band.. but this is a rare example of breaking that rule.
Songs like DIRT, EVERYONE WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD, THE UNWANTED are just three songs over the two disc's that really stand up and grab you outright... but there are so many..
GUITAR playing on this release is just out of this world. There are keyboards on this release, but the tendency to show them off on a typical Flower Kings is absent on this release.. this is all RS jamming and doing it in ways that are not quite typical of RS playing...
Sometimes RS does a completely convincing Jimi. Clapton. Zappa. Quite incredible. And if you like Guitar playing like I do, you will love this CD.
What makes this quite enjoyable is the fact that I didn't quite expect to have this much guitar, and neither did I expect to hear ex Spocks Beard frontman Neal Morse.. and it was all this bonus boost that really makes this release a smash.
I really think that if you like the Flower Kings or anything to do with good guitar playing.. you need to get this CD. Simple as that!
Have fun
Roine's lyrics on WSV are nothing like the lyrics I have heard on previous Flower Kings albums in the following ways. They don't sound like they came straight out of 1968. They are political, and I found that interesting. They are much less spiritual than the lyrics he wrote for the FK albums in the past.
Roine's voice works on a blues album. I was somewhat worried that a man singing the blues with a Swedish accent wouldn't work out well, but he pulled it off brilliantly.
Neal Morse was not an asset to this album. I'm not sure what Neal's problem was, but it seemed to me that he somehow managed to impose a Beatlesque overtone on some of these blues songs. It didn't work for me at all.
This album would have been better if it was a single CD. If Roine had forced himself to put everything he wanted on this blues album in one CD, it would have been incredible!, Sometimes less is more. That's why I gave this album only 4 stars.
Anyone that can't hear a blues influence in Roine's guitar work with The Flower Kings has to take the wax out of their ears. It's all over the place in very heavy doses.
If anyone reading this likes the blues, buy this album. I think you'll enjoy it. Roine is a spectacular and talented guitarist. He is a first class blues guitarist as well.
I wish Roine had released this album on a blues label. I believe many blues lovers would be happy to have it in their collection. It was released on a prog label, probably because The Flower Kings are a prog band. It's a shame more blues lovers will never have a decent chance of hearing this album.
With 10 releases under his belt as the mastermind and leader behind prog legends The Flower Kings and through his collaborative work with Kaipa, The Tangent, and Transatlantic, Roine Stolt has firmly established himself as one of the most respected and prolific names in today’s progressive rock scene.
Wall Street Voodoo was written in the spirit of the late 60’s early 70’s rock and blues, drawing on influences like Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Procol Harum, and the Allman Brothers Band and combining that sound with the more experimental styles of Steely Dan, The Beatles, and Frank Zappa. Featuring a guest appearance by former Spock’s Beard vocalist and Transatlantic band mate Neal Morse.
Wall Street Voodoo,Roine Stolt,Inside Out U.S.,Pop,Prog-Rock/Art Rock,Rock,Rock/Pop
Wall Street Voodo
Average customer rating: 
|
Wall Street Voodoo
Roine Stolt Manufacturer: Inside Out U.S. ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Progressive Rock
| Progressive
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
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ASIN: B000BLI3DO Release Date: 2005-11-15 |
Tracks:
- The Observer
- Head Above Water
- Dirt
- Everyone Wants To Rule The World
- Spirit Of The Rebel
- Unforgiven
- Dog With A Million Bones
- Sex Kills
- Outcast
Tracks:
- The Unwanted
- Remember
- It's All About Money
- Everybody Is Trying To Sell You Something
- Hotrod (The Atomic Wrestler)
- Mercy
- People That Have The Power To Shape The Future
Album Description
With 10 releases under his belt as the mastermind and leader behind prog legends The Flower Kings and through his collaborative work with Kaipa, The Tangent, and Transatlantic, Roine Stolt has firmly established himself as one of the most respected and prolific names in today's progressive rock scene.Wall Street Voodoo was written in the spirit of the late 60's early 70's rock and blues, drawing on influences like Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Procol Harum, and the Allman Brothers Band and combining that sound with the more experimental styles of Steely Dan, The Beatles, and Frank Zappa. Featuring a guest appearance by former Spock's Beard vocalist and Transatlantic band mate Neal Morse.
Customer Reviews:
An Interesting Diversion from the Flower King........2007-02-15
This is, admittedly, not a Prog record. Here, Roine pays tribute to the music of his youth - straight-ahead rock and blues with a little jazz thrown in. It kind of reminds me a bit of what Steve Morse did with his Major Impacts releases.
Roine reveals to us his alter ego - The Rocker. His lyrics, and his guitar, bite. Instead of the sensitive, Flower King-seeking, new age Prog man, we meet a man who is cynical and more than a little bitter. In veiled commentary, he takes on the current U.S. administration and the Iraq war with standard issue, Hollywood-style, left-wing arguments. In fact, he is sounding very Daniel Gildenlow-like. Roine even peppers his lyrics with a few expletives, and like Bruce Springsteen last year, drops his first recorded F-bomb.
In It's All About The Money, Roine sings, "Too many towers have been struck down lately, Because of decisions from the business chambers ". Is he referring to the Twin Towers? I hope he is not laying blame for 9/11 on "greedy corporate America" thereby justifying the actions of radical Islam. Say what you will about President Bush and the War, but please do not trample on our collective memory of what really happened on that day.
With an album that pays homage to the music of the `60's and `70's - a period scarred by the memory of Nixon, Vietnam and social injustice which was well documented by the music of the day - it is interesting that Roine makes a record that reflects a world which finds itself in similar circumstances today. Like Sting said, "history will teach us nothing".
Politics aside, there is some fine music to be found here. Roine is sincere about this music and he appears to be having some fun.
Those of us who have been debating the chops of new Flower Kings' drummer Marcus Liliequist have plenty of opportunity here to listen to his work. He is a competent rock drummer. No question should remain about that. However, one still wonders how he will do in the more elegant Prog arena. The wait will end in a couple of weeks when the new Flower Kings CD is released.
There may have been an opportunity here for Roine to attract some rock guitar fans who have a hard time with Prog. However, due to the length of most of the songs, the average rock fan would probably lose interest. Roine will have to be content with allowing the average Prog fan a little diversion and cementing his reputation as all-around first-rate talent. The amount of quality music this man has produced in the last ten years is mind-blowing.
Stand out tracks:
The Observer - Nice bluesy guitar work built on a traditional rock `n roll riff
Head Above Water - Starts of with a Cream-like wha wha guitar line and vocal harmonies. Features Neal Morse on lead vocals. Radio-friendly if this was 1972.
Unforgiven - An ominous title given to otherwise upbeat and catchy (and danceable) shuffle.
Sex Kills - A rockin', first-class remake of the Joni Mitchell song (I think I hear a cowbell!).
Outcast - Soulful blues. I love Roine's voice but this is made for someone like Robert Cray. Nice keyboard work by Slim Pothead (widely thought to be Tomas Bodin).
Remember - The follow-up single to Head Above Water if this was 1972. Neal Morse sounds great here.
Everybody is Trying to Sell You Something - Roine slides into the 80's sounding like Talking Heads in a weird way.
Mercy - A strange little tune but I like it a lot. The acoustic guitar is so moving and sounds so lonely. Reminds me of Stephen Stills.
Reborn Spirit of the Sixties.......2006-10-12
I am politically a very conservative guy, but being of the sixties I can see where Stolt is coming from with his lyrics here. He is asking questions that never get answered and shows his irritation with a world that seems to be spiralling into a cesspool of greed, corruption and degeneracy. Wall Street Voodoo, idealistic yet somewhat naive, is the reborn spirit of the sixties and it should be refreshing, no matter your politics, to hear such an eloquent expression of discontent as this is.
I like the whole CD, though there are parts that seem a little drawn out. But to me, the highlights are many, and they are as follows:
Disc 1:
1)The Observer-a sledgehammer of anti-capitalist invective with a soulful refrain.
2)Head Above Water-features an excellent Deep Purple style organ interlude.
3)Dirt-Powerful, accusing lyrics and gripping instrumentation.
4)Everyone Wants To Rule the World-With the exception of the refrain, this overflows with Floydian lyrics and imagery.
5)Spirit of the Rebel-A driving, pounding vision of hopelessness.
6)Dog With A Million Bones-a bitter polemic against those who have no wants yet will not share. Some great Luddite invective.
7)Sex Kills-An old Joni Mitchell tune, bitter and enraged, fits perfectly with the spirit of this CD.
8)Outcast-In my opinion, the best song among many good ones. Here are the blues. Its not a BB King ripoff as someone claimed, I hear it far closer to Peter Green than to BB King. Sublime blues guitar and desolate lyrics will mesmerize you!
Disc 2:
1)Remember-A great rocker, with a whiff of Crazy Horse. This just cooks.
2)Its All About Money-Who can disagree? Good lyrics with a lame semi-rap delivery, but instrumental portion excellent.
3)Everybody Is Trying To Sell You Something- True enough. A funky lyrical reiteration of the theme of The Observer.
4)People That Have The Power To Shape The Future-Great song taking a crack at the emptiness of a life devoted to serving a faceless corporation. Even if you are a company man/woman, you must experience similar feelings at some point in your career. Great soulful vocals.
Wall Street Voodoo is one CD I will be promoting for a long time, at least until Stolt records something even better! If you have an open mind and a love of dynamic and interesting music, then don't miss this. An album such as this one comes along only rarely.
What a Blast!.......2006-04-13
I have not yet listened to the new FLOWER KINGS cd yet.. although I am looking foward to it... I decided to listen to the release I thought would take less time to absorb.. and normally the side releases of any band member tends to be less valuable than the output from a whole band.. but this is a rare example of breaking that rule.
Songs like DIRT, EVERYONE WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD, THE UNWANTED are just three songs over the two disc's that really stand up and grab you outright... but there are so many..
GUITAR playing on this release is just out of this world. There are keyboards on this release, but the tendency to show them off on a typical Flower Kings is absent on this release.. this is all RS jamming and doing it in ways that are not quite typical of RS playing...
Sometimes RS does a completely convincing Jimi. Clapton. Zappa. Quite incredible. And if you like Guitar playing like I do, you will love this CD.
What makes this quite enjoyable is the fact that I didn't quite expect to have this much guitar, and neither did I expect to hear ex Spocks Beard frontman Neal Morse.. and it was all this bonus boost that really makes this release a smash.
I really think that if you like the Flower Kings or anything to do with good guitar playing.. you need to get this CD. Simple as that!
Have fun
Wall Street Voodoo.......2006-04-07
Roine's lyrics on WSV are nothing like the lyrics I have heard on previous Flower Kings albums in the following ways. They don't sound like they came straight out of 1968. They are political, and I found that interesting. They are much less spiritual than the lyrics he wrote for the FK albums in the past.
Roine's voice works on a blues album. I was somewhat worried that a man singing the blues with a Swedish accent wouldn't work out well, but he pulled it off brilliantly.
Neal Morse was not an asset to this album. I'm not sure what Neal's problem was, but it seemed to me that he somehow managed to impose a Beatlesque overtone on some of these blues songs. It didn't work for me at all.
This album would have been better if it was a single CD. If Roine had forced himself to put everything he wanted on this blues album in one CD, it would have been incredible!, Sometimes less is more. That's why I gave this album only 4 stars.
Anyone that can't hear a blues influence in Roine's guitar work with The Flower Kings has to take the wax out of their ears. It's all over the place in very heavy doses.
If anyone reading this likes the blues, buy this album. I think you'll enjoy it. Roine is a spectacular and talented guitarist. He is a first class blues guitarist as well.
I wish Roine had released this album on a blues label. I believe many blues lovers would be happy to have it in their collection. It was released on a prog label, probably because The Flower Kings are a prog band. It's a shame more blues lovers will never have a decent chance of hearing this album.
good bang for the buck.......2006-03-20
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