Bjorn Lynne - Revive - 2000
intro
Bjorn Lynne is, no doubt about it, one of the most prolific solo composers of the 90's and also a man with a wide vision of his style, which seems to be progressive rock. And I say it seems to be, because this Norwegian has never stopped experimenting with a music style that has allowed him to model and play with its lines, developing in most of his works big doses of electronics. Ever since his beginnings in 1992 with his opera "Hobbits & Spaceships", his musical passages are usually described through synthesized elements, a line that was followed in his second work, "Montage".review
After issuing his first two records, that were actually financed and published by Bjorn himself, his career moved to the United Kingdom, where he registered for the Scottish label Centaur Discs, allowing him to publish his third album "Dreamstate". Later, and through a famous Italian label (Mellow Records) he recorded what was to be his best disc, "Witchwood", a delicate pastoral piece of work that has become a real gem for all his fans. The pilgrimage through several different record labels finally led him to the English firm Cyclops in 1997, and it is there that he found a stronger support and promotion for his works. "Void" became then the disc that really launched him and which also received a great number of good critics from the press. Since then, we have found two conceptual oeuvres of great idealistic unions, with an enormous compositional quality, though the style changes completely from each other. Two works based on fantastic novels by Allan Cole, "Wizard of the winds" and "Wolves of the gods". The first one is an instrumental rock-opera of great dimensions and a very important production effort. On the other hand, the second one is in a more direct and simplistic rock style.
As you can see, the career of this Norwegian musician is actually quite interesting and at the same time surprising due to the variety and all the different atmospheres included in his music. With "Revive", Bjorn returns to his electronic roots, thus creating an almost entirety computerized opus. A collection that picks up all of his older experience and develops it with the use of synthesizers. Dynamic music with a high production quality, nice melodies that were perfectly studied and performed. "12th Warrior" and "Bridge to the universe, part 1" are the pieces that start this box full of lyrical rhythms that truly remind of Jean Michel Jarre’s recordings from the early eighties like "Magnetic Fields" or "Rendez-Vous", these two genuine electronic marvels. There is also an approach to Kraftwerk in the introduction of "Himalayan Summit (Hightop)". It also includes some small acoustic parts on "Empty Spaces". "Moongazer" is, along with "Space deliria 2000", a space trip where those who are fond of science fiction will feel entirely pleased, it is a hallucinating ecstasy of musical reflects whose different rhythm layers mix and reach very high points. A real source of sounds. Rhythms in the style of the famous American keyboard player Jan Hammer can also be heard on themes like "Niagara". "Empty spaces 2" brings us back to the ground with a magnificent piano solo. The addition of an electric guitar to the omnipresent keyboards produces a different and more relaxing atmosphere on the final part of the CD, "Cosmos" and "Session" are a good example of it. "Bridge to the universe, part 2" and the bonus track "Union City Conspiracy", two fantastic compositions with a great savoir-faire on the keyboards, conclude this musical voyage. Pretentious Egyptian pomposity, visionary futurism and science fiction together.