Tomas Bodin
I Am

When I decided to purchase this album, I set out to listen to it many times before offering even a summary judgment on the entire work.
It couldn't have been otherwise given the ambitious project put together by Tomas Bodin (talented keyboardist of The Flower Kings). A CD that lasts 1 hour, 3 minutes, and 23 seconds, composed of only 3 songs lasting about 23 minutes the first, 21 minutes the second, and 18 minutes the third and final track.
What to expect? A yawn right after the first half of the first track? Maybe yes, but my intention was clear, so I equipped myself with goodwill and with a lot of trust in the introspective concept that awaited me, I embarked on listening and repeated it numerous times before trying to describe in words what my ears but above all my heart had felt.

In the concept, it is Bodin himself who questions his personal life and the search for spirituality, going through various moods arising from questions he poses to himself, and also addressing religious themes, up to one of the culminating points of the concept, namely a sort of dialogue that Bodin establishes with God. The guiding thread of the work is the continuous search for answers to try to understand where life is taking him but also where death will take him and what will be after.

Musically, many solutions wink at progressive bands of the past like Genesis, King Crimson, but also Pink Floyd, and you can even hear Beatlesque echoes. Many of the keyboard and piano atmospheres are offspring of the great Keith Emerson (EL&P), they are not copies, but rather Bodin manages to transfer his skill into scores that in many passages recall the compositional vein of his illustrious colleague. If I were to define this work, I wouldn't say it's a "solo" work; indeed, it’s not Tomas’s instrument that is at the center of the compositions. The keyboards are certainly an integral and fundamental part of the completeness of the work, but guitar, bass, and drums are not put in the background; they too are main actors and not extras or little more as already heard in other solo works. Jansson's voice is very versatile, incisive, and sharp when needed and perfectly expresses the various emotional moments described by the lyrics; also making an appearance are two female voices, Helene Schonning and Bodin’s wife, Pernilla. Many genres are touched upon, including pure rock (but also hard rock), progressive, and jazz; a special mention should be made of the bass arrangements (Jonas Reingold boasts a performance in grand style) and drums and the almost perfect production.

I admit that for a work of this magnitude (as far as I'm concerned second only to "The Human Equation"), you mustn’t be squeamish or hasty. What I recommend is: patience, and all the pieces of this puzzle will fall into place on their own. The many listens reward and allowed me to realize that I, too, ask myself the same questions and have the same doubts, it’s incredible that an album has made me reflect in such a way about the meaning of life and its whys.
To be listened to while reading the lyrics and trying to understand the philosophical/religious reasons that drove the author to write such a complex rock opera.