CHASER

I own a lot of Rypdal albums, I guess I was just drawn to his melancholic style right from the start. "Chaser" is from 1985 and we get a trio here of bass, drums and guitar. I don't know the drummer or bass player but after looking them up both have been very active in the Norway music scene over the years. Terje adds keyboards on "Transition" the shortest track on here at around 1 1/2 minutes. The keys create atmosphere while the guitar solos over top in a relaxed way. This was recorded in May of 1985 at the Rainbow Studio in Oslo.

An interesting start to the album with "Ambiguity" as it opens with a drum solo before Terje joins in then bass. How about that guitar! So good! Terje changes his style to riffs after 3 minutes making me think of the 80's. Then we get this guitar melody that screams GENESIS. So cool. The guitar is crying out before 7 minutes as Rypdal changes it up again. "Once Upon A Time" is pretty mellow although the guitar does get more passionate as this plays out. A calm at 4 1/2 minutes to the end.

"Geysir" is excellent with the guitar being so inventive as the drums rumble. Bass after a minute as the guitar steps aside but not for long. Love the guitar on this one. Tracks 4 and 5 the two middle songs are very laid back overall. The guitar and drums do get louder on track 5 after 2 minutes. Nice guitar work on the title track especially after 4 minutes as Terje lights it up. The closer is the perfect ending with those experimental sounds in the dark as the bass joins in. Such a chilled track with sparse sounds in the night. Suddenly before 3 minutes we get some life as the guitar starts to make some noise before this all fades into black.

Tough to know where to place this one as far as favourites go. "Whenever I Seem So far Away" is my favourite, such a special album but this one is right up there with many of his other works.