by François Couture
Édition Limitée Québec, 1998 (Limited Edition Quebec 1998) was released by the Quebec City label Ipso Facto as a limited edition of 700 copies to help finance the Flower Kings' shows in Quebec City on September 11 and 12, 1998. The CD consists of a collection of unreleased studio tracks, live jams, and compilation tracks quickly put together, without composer or performer credits. Liner notes in French by Roine Stolt explain where the music comes from. Although the cover claims these are six unreleased tracks, two of them were actually available elsewhere at the time of the CD's release: &The Flower King& is the 1998 re-recorded version included on the compilation Scanning the Greenhouse and the Retropolis leftover &Buffalo Man& was released on the Voiceprint various artists compilation Unprogged. The four unreleased tracks are more left over from the Retropolis session: &Kite&; two live jams from a 1996 show entitled &Piece of Nizzimo& (an extension of the piece &Humanizzimo&) and &Duke of Nuke&; and a pre-production version of &Garden of Dreams, Part 1,& the complete version of which would find its way on the 1999 release Flower Power. Definitely a collector-only item, Édition Limitée Québec 1998 has its moments, but poor mastering on &Kite& and the two live tracks are downers. Still, hardcore fans of the Flower Kings will want to track down a copy.