BIGBANG

Bigbang, a Norwegian pop/rock outfit that dominated domestic charts, launched its recording career in 1995, reached mainstream audiences in 2000 via the Top Five single “Girl from Oslo,” and sustained a consistent following thereafter. The group originated in 1992 when Øystein Greni on vocals and guitar joined forces with bassist Erik Tresselt and drummer Christer Engen. Repeated personnel shifts occurred across subsequent years, yet the band continued to operate as a Greni-led trio whose songwriting anchor drew support from longtime associates Olaf Olsen on drums and Nikolai Haengsle Eilertsen on bass and keyboards. Its first release, the 1995 album Waxed, attracted minimal attention, so several years elapsed before Warner Music issued the follow-up Electric Psalmbook in 1999. Momentum arrived the next year when “Girl from Oslo” climbed to number five, propelling the accompanying album Clouds Rolling By to a number-two peak on the Norwegian chart. Two EP-only tracks, “New Glow” and “Smiling For,” also performed well, landing at positions twelve and seven. Frontside Rock ’n’ Roll, the 2002 studio set, likewise reached the Top Five, while the 2003 live collection Radio Radio TV Sleep became the band’s first chart-topping effort. Poetic Terrorism in 2005 and Too Much Yang in 2007 both topped the albums chart and spawned the hit singles “Not a Rolling Stone” and “I Don’t Wanna.” Those accomplishments prompted the retrospective packages Something Special: The Best of Bigbang in 2007 and From Acid to Zen in 2008, the latter prepared for American listeners after the group relocated to Los Angeles. At Sound City Studios, working with co-producer Greg Richling of the Wallflowers, Bigbang completed Edendale, its seventh album overall and second aimed at the U.S. market; issued first in Norway in 2009 and then stateside in 2010, the record secured a third consecutive number-one position and delivered the single “Swedish Television.” The band remained in Los Angeles for the next several years, producing Epic Scrap Metal in 2011 and The Oslo Bowl in 2013, neither of which registered on American charts yet both extended the Norwegian number-one streak. In 2017 the sole continuous member, Greni, issued his solo debut, the Pop Noir LP.