Sweden played a crucial part in the progressive rock revival of the 1990s, but amid dark-sounding King Crimson-influenced bands like Anekdoten and Anglagard, the positive-thinking Yes-enlightened act The Flower Kings felt almost out of place. Yet, the Flower Kings became, along with the American Spocks Beard, the 1990s prog rock band with the largest fan base, the biggest sales, and the widest international appeal.

997 saw the release of the mammoth two-CD set "Stardust We Are," which included In the 'Eyes of the World,' 'Church of Your Heart,' and the 25-minute epic 'Stardust We Are.' With four albums (including one double CD) released in less than four years, music critics around the world started to wonder how Roine Stolt managed to write this fast. Still, the fan base was growing as were the sales. A compilation album, "Scanning the Greenhouse" (containing a fantastic rendition of Genesis' 'The Cinema Show') was released to prepare Americans for the bands first U.S. tour and a limited edition CD containing live improvisations and unreleased tracks was issued by Ipso Facto for the Quebec market, while Roine Stolt released his critically acclaimed solo album "Hydrophonia." All in a years work.

Another two-CD set, "Flower Power," saw the light of day in early 1999. Even more ambitious, it contained the 60-minute suite ''Garden of Dreams' and the quirky 'Psychedelic Postcard' which paid tribute to one of Stolt's main (although rarely detected) influences: Frank Zappa. — François Couture, AMG