Thåström

Singing in the most important Swedish punk group, Ebba Grön, and the most influential alternative rock band, Imperiet, Thåström was the brightest shining star of Swedish rock in the '80s. Musically he started out in punk and moved through hard rock and alternative rock. When Imperiet finally broke through the boundaries of alternative music they became the most popular Swedish group at the time. In the end of the '80s Thåström set out on a successful solo career, and in the '90s, he formed the industrial rock band Peace Love and Pitbulls. Though the albums of this group never sold much, they helped Thåström in reinforcing his reputation as hard-headed and non-compromising. In 1999, he returned with a solo album that was well-received by both the audience and the critics. Thåström was born in 1957 in Stockholm. Without much musical background but inspired by suburban boredom and English punk, he formed Ebba Grön together with Lennart Eriksson and Gunnar Ljungstedt. In only a few years, they had managed to become pioneers of Swedish punk, teen idols, and to move away from punk towards hard rock and '80s alternative rock. After five years, the band broke up, but most of the members remained in the new band Imperiet, which started out where Ebba Grön had ended, with alternative rock and a more sophisticated sound. Imperiet proved even more successful, and by 1985 they had become the biggest rock band in Sweden. But being loved by such a broad audience seemed to fit Thåström, the main creative force in both Ebba Grön and Imperiet. Despite the success, the group's last records showed signs of declining motivation. After failing to break abroad, Imperiet broke up in 1988 and most of the members set out on solo careers. Thåström played together with Eldkvarn and participated on two of their albums. His fame made him a welcome collaborator the coming years and he recorded albums with a number of artists, including Sator, the experimental string quartet Flesh Quartet, and Stry Terrarie, who had been a member of both Imperiet and Ebba Grön. During his years with Imperiet, Thåström had started to show a liking for big gestures and theatrical stage performance, and when he released his first, self-titled solo album in 1989, these tendencies were very obvious. The album included the major hit "Alla Vill Till Himlen" and was a commercial success, but was not as embraced by the critics, many of them who found it melodramatic and unfocused. The answer was the aggressive album Xplodera Mig 2000, recorded in Amsterdam, where Thåström had moved the same year. One long step further into distortion and noise was taken with the band Peace Love and Pitbulls and their self-titled debut album in 1992. This project turned out to be relatively long-living, and the following six years the Amsterdam-based band explored industrial rock and made excursions into techno and metal. Three albums were released, but to little commercial success. Thåström moved back to Sweden and in 1999 he released his first solo album in ten years. Det Är Ni Som E Dom Konstiga, Det Är Jag Som E Normal was a dark but straightforward rock album and didn't contain any samplings, techno beats, or distorted vocals. It was hailed as the return of the "real" Thåström, and its success proved he hadn't lost his legendary status within Sweden. ~ Lars Lovén