Bjorn Lynne Colony

Bjorn Lynne has gained much admiration among both the EM & symphonic/progrock crowds for the way he has mastered the unifying of these differing musical styles. While the music on this album seems to have been influenced by his work in these areas, it reveals a new variation on Bjorn's hybrid of styles by introducing some exciting funk, jazz & even soul stylings. This is immediately obvious once the opening tracks "Turbo Grid" & "Play Dirty" get into their stride. The scorching rhythms are full of good old-fashioned funk while the guitars of Bjorn & guest axe man Marc Pattison lay down some red hot licks & grinding rhythm patterns that should keep the rockers amongst you happy, there's even the unmistakeable sound of the Minimoog in there, too, what more could you possibly ask for?

This is an album of calm, serene, and playful music inspired by the nordic/scandinavian forests and mountains. Appearing on guitar is Ken Senior, who has often been complimented on his warm, melodic guitar style, and he fits perfectly into the melodic music on this album. Also some medieval inspired passages - pastoral, mystic and, well, just different. What really makes this album a joy to listen to, is the number of small "bridges", connecting the various songs. The music seamlessly flows into and out of the different parts, while it all appears to hang together. One theme is played in variuos incarnations, giving you the feeling that that it's all building up to a rousing finale.

'Revive' sees Bjorn move away from his recent epic albums to an album that appears much more influenced by bands such as Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. It quite a shift away from his more recent albums, and one that may well ostracise some of his fans as he has moved away from the progressive feel into an area that is much more in the vein of Krautrock. There are places, such as in "Moongazer", when the guitar makes an appearance but for the most part this is very highly keyboard dominated.

Bjorn Lynne claims he only makes his CD albums for his personal satisfaction; you'd therefore expect them to be self-indulgent, whimsical, and full of flaws. The opposite is true. Bjorn manages to be exciting and original without ever alienating the listener. He has tunes in abundance - even the guitar lines are singable. 'Wolves' is probably his best album so far. A heady mixture of ambient moods, cinematic soundscapes, and heavy metal. If you like none of these styles, you still may love this album, for there is no simple way to describe Bjorn's music.

The inspiration for writing this music came about from reading Allan Cole's fantasy novel "The Gods Awaken". It is a dark story, but Bjorn always aimed to make this album a positive one - one that can lift spirits and spread positive vibes, so he took the positive angle on much of the story. Bjorn himself plays acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, bass guitar and percussion. In addition, there are guest appearances by many other musicians who contributed to this album over the approx. 18 months that it took to write and record.

The Void is a sci-fi adventure in music. It was released in 1997 to much praise by the fans as well as the music critics. The sheer pulse, vibrancy and spaceness of this album has been able to cross all musical boundaries; the reviewers don't know what to call it; some even say that Lynne is inventing a new style of music, and the people working in record stores have real problems figuring out in which section to put this album. The Void has elements of progressive/symphonic rock as well as more contemporary electronic, ambient and rock styles. It is a concept album about a space trip that went horribly wrong - there is a vibe, a certain something that is hard to put your finger on, which gives the album a deep atmosphere…

Montage was Bjorn Lynne’s second CD, self-financed and self-published in January 1994. Stylewise, ”Montage” is a slightly more daring album than the previous ”Hobbits & Spaceships”. Tracks contain a wide mixture of styles and sounds, and although the album was produced entirely on synthesizers and effects, it is easy to hear Bjorn Lynne’s love for symphonic rock starting to shine through, especially on songs like ”Montage” and "Communion”; both of which are long tracks moving through several stages of ever changing moods. There are also some more down-to-earth simply melodic pieces like ”Head Held High” and ”Fantastic Voyage ’94”. And, there are some slightly more experimental pieces like the futuristic and very cyber-oriented ”The Spirit of Mechanica” as well as the symphonically ambient ”Enlightenment Through Fear”.

Jeff Lynne revived Electric Light Orchestra in 2015 – due to legal reasons, they were now called Jeff Lynne's ELO – releasing a comeback album called Alone in the Universe and steadily mounting a return to the road. Several dates happened in 2016, but the tour reached its apex in June 2017, when the group played in front of 60,000 people at London's Wembley Stadium. Released five months after that June 24 gig, Wembley or Bust – which was accompanied by a concert film – features the entirety of the gig, and if it's not heard too closely, it could sometimes be mistaken for an ELO greatest-hits album.

Grammy-winning Alabama singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne has given fans a taste of her “most revealing album to date,” due out in April. The self-titled project, her first solo album since 2015, will be released April 17, according to an announcement made Tuesday morning. Many of the songs on it come from an unreleased independent film by lyricist/director/screenwriter Cynthia Mort titled “When We Kill the Creators,” in which Lynne stars as “a deeply conflicted artist struggling at the intersection of art and commerce.”