It is definitely not easy to deal with Roine Stolt's releases. He obviously is one of the most productive musicians in the present time. Besides several solo albums and the Kaipa discography he's also involved in several other Prog combos, so it's often forgotten that he also is the leader of the FLOWER KINGS, Europe's most successful Progressive Rock act, and produced ten albums with the band since 1995. It is almost a miracle that he still manages to release a double CD full of new songs every now and then. But here is where the problem starts: The music by the FLOWER KINGS definitely is unconventional, and Roine Stolt and his keyboarder Thomas Bodin do not hesitate to include far-out arrangements, strange harmonies, etc. The result of these experiments often are fascinating sound constructions full of dignity and sometimes over ten minutes long. Anyway, this concept seems to have worn-out through the years. I get a strong feeling that the FLOWER KINGS nowadays include about every single studio experiment on their albums. Especially Paradox Hotel contains some very nice tracks, including the 21 minutes long Monsters & Men, the brilliant opener of the second CD (Minor Giant Steps), the emotional Touch My Heaven... but also some kind of obsolete songs which are hard to listen to. Especially The Unorthodox Dancing Lesson seems somewhat misplaced and sounds very, very annoying. I tend to call hectic songs like this one, which are everything else than objectively beautiful, “Neal-Morsey”, as especially this awesome musician inspired Roine in creating stunning, yet demanding compositions whose aesthetic value does not show even after listening to them for the twentieth time. I consider this approach to be worthy of being punished by “bad marks” in the future as I cannot see the reason for including hectic and annoying parts in great Progressive Rock just to show ones elitism. It is a shame that a musician like Roine Stolt does not reduce his album release-rate and takes the time to work selectively, throwing half an album away every now and then and work on a global artistic concept, taking the listener on a journey to enchanted musical castles without crossing rough scatter fields. So, to sum this up: Paradox Hotel is a solid release, but a little less music would definitely imply a higher quality. A little break followed by a back-to-the-roots approach would do the trick, I think.