COLONY

Although "Colony" is not the most progressive of LYNNE's material, its impeccable production alone is worth the price of the album; its pristine sound, a veritable model of modern technology. But all is not 'flash in the pan", here, as the music on "Colony" rocks high and mighty in addition to producing a mesmerizing array of neon colours in the listener's mind.

Although very atmospheric, it is laden with crunching guitar passages, powerful melodies and 'oomph' bass lines that will test the best speakers/headphones on the market. Some tracks feature pulsating rythms that hit you right in the kisser when you least expect it ("Messages", "Hyperdrive Stimuli" and "No Looking Back"). "Mind of the Visionary" is perhaps the most progressive track as it features a variety of colourful themes and mind-boggling arrangements. As for "One Step to Paradise" (so appropriately named), it will have you stomping on anything you can get your hands, feet, elbows, chin, etc. on. Finally, the album features two slow and absolutely blissful tracks, "Ypsilon" and "Crystal Vista"; these soar like a space ship silently drifting into space.

Don't expect anything profound, here; this is well-dressed yet highly accessible music. By the way, the CD sleeve sates: "This album is dedicated to all those brave visionaries who work in the field of research and planning for human colonization of other planets". For a taste of "Colony", check out BJORN LYNNE's website for some eye-popping, jaw-dropping videos set to its music. Sit back and enjoy!

Bjørn has certainly been prolific since he moved to the UK from his native Norway in 1995. This is in fact his twelfth album, which puts the work rate of some bands that I could mention very much to shame. He is a multi-instrumentalist and he has very differing styles, according to the theme that he has chosen for the album. This music is quite different to that which can be found on 'Wizard Of The Winds' and 'Wolves Of The Gods' for example, and is totally instrumental. Bjørn has used two guests (one being Ken Senior), but they have each only played a small part on one song ? the rest is all by Bjørn himself.

I found that this is great music to be either playing in the background, or when concentrating on something else. It is definitely very space-like, and there are many repeated themes on the keyboards but Bjørn is also a very strong guitarist and he moves the styles around while never rocking out too much. This is music that the listener can get lost in, creating its own world and I am sure that fans of electronic/progressive are going to love this. There are even sections of songs such as on "Endless Possibilities" that I can envisage being lifted to be used on dance numbers. Bjørn is currently recording music for the animated sci-fi series 'Animation' which is due to hit prime time national television next year. If you want to find out about this or many other good albums then go to the web site at www.lynnemusic.com.

originally appeared in Feedback #70, Oct 02