Everything To Everyone, the fourth solo album of guitar picker Bjorn Riis is again a MUST for fans of Airbag and of course Pink Floyd/David Gilmour, who is clearly, obviously, Bjorn's guitar hero, I guess... As well as himself on guitars, obviously, vocals and lots of other instruments, Riis is assisted by people such as Henrik Bergan Fossum (drums, Airbag), Kristian Hultgren (bass, Wobbler), Simen Valldal Johannessen (piano, Oak), Ole Michael Bjorndal (guitar, Caligonaut) and Norwegian singer/songwriter Mimmi Tamba on vocals. Everything To Everyone kicks off with the instrumental punchy rock track Run, featuring rapid changes in tempo and lots of power and guitar styles and the song almost sounds like seventies retro rock; so, a real beauty to begin with! Lay Me Down (clocking in over 11 minutes) is a change of tune, as you could almost call this one “bluesy”, featuring beautiful vocals of Riis and Mimmi Tamba and more than excellent sound scaping. Be aware of the heavier guitar riff followed by the first of many really emotional guitar solos/leads that, sorry I have to mention that again, has Gilmour written all over it... Follow up The Siren is an almost sentimental ballad, and you will have to wait for the final guitar solo to really appreciate this one as the end of the song truly becomes rather melancholy. The absolute highlight of the album is the magnificent Every Second Every Hour, a really emotional progressive epic filled with amazing melodies, an awesome vocal duet between Riis and Tamba; but Riis guitar solos are utterly stunning here and because of these this song really becomes a super hypnotic track and the most Pink Floydish of them all. Descending is the second instrumental song and this one is way too short in my opinion, as it is a gorgeous track with breath-taking melodies and musical themes galore. Final track, being the title track, is a rather bittersweet closing song with emotional lyrics and dramatic vocals by Riis and Tamba again. Conclusion: Everything To Everyone is a fantastic body of work, a multi-layered prog rock album, featuring a great diversity of song writing and most of all obviously more than excellent and awesome guitar picking. A musical feast for guitar lovers and fans of bands like Floyd, Airbag, Anathema, Porcupine Tree, No-Man, The Pineapple Thief and David Gilmour's solo albums obviously.... Musical bliss indeed!! ****+ Martien Koolen (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
