The Flower Kings will, of course, need absolutely no introduction to readers of this website. The band formed 31 years ago now (this following on from the previous year’s Roine Stolt album, The Flower King), are rightly regarded as one of the pioneers and pivotal acts behind the third wave of progressive rock in the 1990’s which, unlike the first two, primarily took place outside the UK.

Last year’s studio album Love was a highlight of 2025 to these ears, and I must get around to writing some words down for the website. It followed on neatly from 2023’s Look at You Now in providing us with a more stripped, and laid, back product, specifically single CDs and, in the main, shorter form songs as opposed to being packed with epic songs, and I truly believe that these two albums are up there in the band’s canon of quality. Yes, naturally as a symphonic and fusion progressive music fan, I adore the long form, but there are times when less is, indeed, more.

Come 2026, we have a new live album, their sixth by my reckoning, outside of fan special editions, and as I own all of them, I believe I am in a decent position to state this is their finest. Even after all these years, this is the sound of a band not only bathed in waves of musical excellence, but also clearly genuinely enjoying each other’s company, note perfect with some fine improvisation along the way.

The lineup is Roine Stolt (guitars, vocals), the other original member, Michael Stolt (bass, Moog bass, vocal), Hasse Fröberg (guitars, vocal, percussion), Lalle Larsson (keyboards), and Mirko DeMaio (drums, percussion).

So, from Love, released via Inside Out last year, we have four tracks, We Claim the Moon, How Can You Leave Us Now? Considerations, and The Elder, a track from 2023’s Look at You Now, a new track, Desolate, and a classic, Last Minute On Earth from 2001’s The Rainmaker.

The CD is already out, and available from roinestolt.com. For lovers of vinyl, 1st May sees the release of a lush package via one of this website’s favourite record labels, constructionrecords.nl.

I do have a couple of teaser videos for you embedded below.

We kick off with We Claim the Moon, a lesson in how to make percussion musically interesting from the outset, and about the 90 seconds mark, the whole band kick in, with a delightful exercise in how to fuse jazz (Larsson on particularly playful form) with core symphonic sensibilities, and it is its uplifting impact which is immediately noticeable, setting the tone for much of what is to come. It is essentially the sound of a band very comfortable with their later material and at ease with the live environment, a song full of rhythm and joy.

How Can You Leave Us Now has the trademark TFK bass melody underpinning all from Michael, and the vocal is sublime, delicate and emotive. I have embedded the official studio version video below for you in case you are one of those who are unfamiliar with the album, Love. They are pretty much the same length, and the live version is a very faithful rendition. It is, perhaps, this track I meant above when saying “less is more”, because this is, to these ears, the band at their finest, some lush harmonies created, the guitar solo weeping.

The live version of Considerations is shorter than the studio version, and packs a tighter punch, I think. There is a dirty Hammond on this, and the initial guitar solo hits you well and truly in the midriff before the synths begin to swirl and whirl around your head. As we progress, we get a wonderful TFK sense of the grandiose in the guitar screaming out at the audience. A rock song to have played on a city parade.

We then have the final “Love” track, and the sole epic on the album, The Elder. Larsson’s work on the piano is vital at the heart of this beautiful song, perfectly accompanying Fröberg and Stolt’s vocals. The track itself is perfect for our age – yes, I have seen commentators making hay about a return to early 1970’s Yes-like drippy hippy love and peace (man), but in this utterly chaotic world, with war raging across continents and innocents caught up in a global powerplay, never have we needed more a tale of how love can conquer all, especially manmade conflict, and the guitars on this perfectly reflect that, the sense of drama in the interplay between the band section by section, the thoughtful synth laden, jazz-infused passages, and the mellotron bringing to the party that ethereal quality we love so much. The thumping drums end a warmly received piece of music.

Last Minute on Earth is a classic, one of my favourite pieces of music by this venerable outfit. Again, this is a pared-back version for the live arena, and, again, it is not a negative comment there. I have always found this a fascinating concept, knowing this is your last moment, facing the ultimate challenge faced by all of us at some point. What would we do? How would we react? Will we go down in history? Will we be alone, or surrounded by those we love? What is to come? Anything? Nothing? What would go through the mind? As with the studio version, Fröberg leads the line vocally with aplomb, and the passages where the band engage with some jamming are done with far more purpose and discipline, a vital part of the track, as opposed to noodling for the sake of it, and we get a very clear glimpse of precisely why Mr Hackett is recruiting this keyboardist, because his work is sublime.

It leads into a short new instrumental, Desolate, the piano spartan in its gravity to begin before a brighter close, pretty and fulfilling the cheer which is fundamental to this outing.

We close with The Dream, from Look At You Now, and this version is about double the length of its studio counterpart. Close your eyes when listening to this, and if you take out the vocals, you would swear you are listening to the grander period of U2 when they became an arena-busting band, as opposed to snotty post punk kids. It doesn’t last long, but it is absolutely there, and there is throughout a sort of Celtic marching sense to proceedings, albeit with TFK symphonic rock woven into its fabric, the percussion timing key to this.

For those of you with the equipment and sonic appreciation, the vinyl version of this live masterclass in progressive rock will, I know, provide a huge source of joy. I think it is their best live album, and I think this whole experience is something I will return to regularly.