Bigbang

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BigBang

Origin	Oslo, Norway
Years active	1992 – present
Genres	Rock
Labels	Grand Sport Records, Warner Music
Members	Øystein Greni Olaf Olsen Lasse Weeden

Bigbang is a Norwegian rock band led by frontman Øystein Greni, and is considered by many as the best live band in Norway.

1 History
2 Discography
3 Media links
4 External links

[edit] History

Bigbang play retro-rock, in '70s style, but also acoustic folk ballads such as Chocolate Factory or Old People, all sung in English.

The album Clouds Rolling By from 2000 was the beginning of their commercial success, thanks to the hit Girl In Oslo, released in many compilations by that time.

Øystein's father, Thor S. Greni was performer in the Undertakers Circus 1960/70s soul band. The songs were sung in Norwegian except two Curtis Mayfield covers included in the debut album.

Young Greni grew up with the intimate conviction that "[he] was born to do that", he was influenced not only by his own father's work but also by other 60/70s Norwegian bands as well as British and American artists like The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream and The Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd or Eric Clapton's Blind Faith cult band. As a skateboarder he was into Punk rock energetic music like The Jam, Dinosaur Jr. or Hüsker Dü and American 80s alternative, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Tom Petty. He was also into Bob Dylan and Neil Young's folk-rock though, hence a sounding resemblance with acts such as Pearl Jam (To the Mountains) or R.E.M. (Spiritual Heart Surgery).

Bigbang's classic Long Distance Man is actually the English adaptation (with totally different lyrics) of a Norwegian sung Undertakers Circus 1973 tune. The band often covers their favourite tracks on stage, including almost all previously mentioned bands and even an instrumental partial cover of James Brown's 'There Was A Time'.

In 2002 Bigbang released Frontside Rock'n'Roll. Even though the album had no obvious hits, a lot of fans think of this as the band's most complete album. The album features the song Frontside Rock'n'Roll, which is a song Øystein Greni dedicated to two skaters that passed away. The name of the song is in fact one of the most difficult, but beautiful tricks one can do with a skateboard.

Bigbang was formed in 1992 by Øystein Greni, Erik Tresselt and Christer Engen (Turbonegro). Throughout the years the band's line-up has changed several times. The following persons have entered and left the band:

Nikolai Eilertsen
Karim Sayed
Stig Morten Sørheim
Kristian Syvertsen
Martin Horntveth
Erik Tresselt

As of 2006 (Not A Rolling Stone EP) it consisted of Øystein Greni, Olaf Olsen (who joined in 1999) and Erik Tresselt (who rejoined after some years of absence). Øystein Greni is the only person who has always been a member of the band, and he is also commonly seen as the band's front figure, as he writes almost all the songs as well as being the lead vocalist and guitarist.

Shortly after the release of the 2005 EP, Erik Tresselt left the band, and was replaced by Jarle Bernhoft (former guitarist & vocalist of the Norwegian punk/rock band Span). The line-up seemed somewhat unsure at this stage, as Bernhoft only did one concert in Norway with the band. On the acoustic tour they did in early 2006, former bass and piano player Nikolai Eilertsen joined the band. He also played at a couple of electric shows in April and Norwegian Wood in June. During the concerts of this summer, it was Lasse Weeden who played the bass.

As of March 2007 and the release of their latest album, "Too Much Yang" (2007), the current line-up consists of Øystein Greni, Lasse Weeden and Olaf Olsen. This is also likely to remain the formation of the band for a while, as these three will tour Norway extensively during the first half of 2007, before departing Norway in September to move to Los Angeles for one year together.

The spelling of the band name is often inconsistent. It is usually written "Bigbang" or "BIGBANG".

In Norway Bigbang is often described as "Norway's best live band" which is not really far from the truth, since Radio Radio TV Sleep has became the most successful live album ever released stateside.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Too Much Yang - 2007	Poetic Terrorism - 2005	Radio Radio TV Sleep - 2003 (Live recordings, 2 CDs)	Frontside Rock'n'Roll - 2002
Clouds Rolling By - 2000	Electric Psalmbook - 1999	Waxed - 1995