Life's Too Good

Bjork before Bjork. Love it.

Pre Listen: Yet another band I haven't heard of before. Hard to tell what genre this will be based on album cover. The naked(?) stick figures and some of the song titles make me lean towards it being punk, or punk adjacent? Not too sure though, so no expectations. Notable Tracks: Birthday - Least favorite track. That vocalist is miserable. The instrumental backing is miserable. This whole song is awful, actually painful listen. Cold Sweat - Most solid instrumental work on the album. Not a good song because of the screeching banshee vocalist, but the guitarist tried their best to salvage something out of it. Post Listen: Well, it wasn't punk. I'm not really sure what that was. Other than just pretty awful. This one is incredibly close to being a 1. The female vocalist is the worst part, her screeches, growls, howls and "singing" ruins every song she opens her trap on. Many such cases. The male vocalist isn't too much better, more so inoffensive than talented. The same could be said for most of the instruments playing. The guitarist and bassist have some solid moments, but generally are simply passable. I didn't notice anything of note the drummer did for the entire album. The result of all these factors are songs that sound like nails on a chalkboard 40% of the time, pitifully average sounds 55%, and something somewhat decent 5% in-between. Nothing sweet about these sugar cubes. I didn't know they could expire, but apparently they can. 2/5 EDIT - After dwelling on it and remembering I couldn't even finish this album, bumping my review down to a 1. This thing sucked. I didn't even realize it was Bjork. Womp Womp.

Not a fan of Bjork so understandably wasn't a fan of this album. Found the screeching vocals a bit overdone but the supporting band was not too bad

This came out in 1988, right around the time I moved to Chicago. I still own the album, but, after listening to it just now, only 2 songs (and 1 musician) really stand out: tracks 2 and 3 (motorcrash; birthday), and (of course) the singer, Bjork, who went on to further/greater fame as a solo artist. When this came out, those 2 songs (and, by extension - SORT OF - this album) felt like the epitome of cool; fresh and new and different. Those 2 tracks still sound pretty great to me, but the rest of the album, and particularly the spoken male vocals, sound fairly meh. You'd think, then, that I wouldn't rate this any higher than 3 but, if so, you'd be wrong, because I rate it as a 4, admittedly based fairly heavily on the promise of something exciting and new in tracks 2 and 3, which (to my ears) still stand the test of time.

funky

I’ve heard this before and I own it. This always actually the first cd I ever bought after we got a cd player in our house. Before that I was buying tapes and sometimes records. I also had a tape dub of this album from a friend before I got the cd. This album has a very distinctive late-80s/pre-nirvana alternative rock sound to it that really captures the feel of that period while not sounding dated. Bjork’s vocals are fantastic on here and you could tell she was going on to bigger things based on this presence. The cd version I have has 6 additional tracks on it that I didn’t know were bonus tracks until today when I pulled it up on spotify on my work laptop and it ended on Take Some Petrol, Darling rather than the Deus remix. I had to pull it up on my itunes later to listen to the full cd version of the album later since that’s what I’m used to. I like the full cd version best of course since that’s what I’ve been listening to for the past 33 years, but it also works as a shorter album. Every song on here is a banger with great pop sensibilities but also an underlying weirdness that makes them stand out from other alt pop from that era. Some of the minor key songs have an almost goth feel to them based on Einar’s vocals and the overall production. The drums have gated reverb on them for a number of songs which I usually don’t like but it works on this album, I think because it accentuates the overall weirdness. It’s just a great album all around.

Bjork doing Bjork things but with more people? Deus is an earworm I'll be dealing with for the rest of the day. 4 keepers in 17 (24%). 24

Not for me

Shouty

barely recognised that this was on

Pretty good

Favorite track(s): Motorcrash, Birthday, Coldsweat Pretty good but they weren't letting Björk get nearly weird or horny enough.

like it, reminds me of something else but cant think of what

Not a fan of Bjork, in general, but this is less weird than her later solo stuff. 2.8/5

Siis naislaulajalla on hyvä ääni ja hän osaa karjua, annettakoot se hänelle, mutta musa itsessään ei oo kyllä mulle.

Bjork is a queen I enjoyed this, mostly because of her

Ah, the sugarcubes 🤩 Great Album

Recognized Björk’s distinct voice right away, and interesting to hear her beginning through this band.

Sounds wonderfully light and poppy, but thw lyrics under that are quirky and dark in places

I actually kind of liked this. Björk with more energy behind her than what she became known for solo

It’s clearly better than your standard pop record and it is quite good I suppose but doesn’t do that much for me. Ahead of its time.

I love whatever is wrong with them!! I have such a soft spot and bias for Björk because she is one of my favorites. But that aside, like, there is no one else doing it like this! It's so fun and creative, it's unique and different and it holds your attention. Vocals are gorgeousness, music is awesome, and it's just so much fun. There are weaker songwriting moments, but this is a sick album. Top Songs: Motorcrash, Birthday, Delicious Demon, Coldsweat, Deus, Cowboy

2,8/5

Good record

An album that I enjoyed the whole way through. I'm growing to like Björk a lot since hearing a couple of her albums on this generator. This was my first time hearing her outside of her solo career. I get the sense that she is fully invested and immersed in her art, she doesn't ever sound like she's half arsing it. Very talented vocalist, and I like that kind of roar thing she does, even if I can imagine it's a bit marmite. The band sounded really good too, I liked the more conventional alternative rock sound. Not so experimental this time.

now I love Bjork but... this is just not it unfortunately I wonder if there was a single occasion in the process of making this album that they weren't all on drugs

Another mediocre 80's album. Maybe it's a me thing. but it's getting repetitive.

Didn’t love the screechy vocals. Overall it was just…fine. 4/10 Acceptable

Hard for me to hate Björk. Some of the guitar layering here is super creative. Some of the songs just suck. Interesting little album.

Incredible pre-solo work from Björk and company. It's lively, energetic and it's not anything you might expect. Definitely up there with the great debut albums.

Album #238: The Sugarcubes – Life’s Too Good ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I love this album. It was a new discovery for me today. The only thing I knew about this band going in was that Björk was the lead singer, and what a lead singer she is. It’s funny because this is kind of the debut of her career, but she almost sounds fully formed. She’s just born to sing, and it’s a joy to listen to her fronting an ‘80s post-punk band. She sounds marvellous, but she’d sound marvellous reading the phone book. Do we still have phone books? It’s probably an outdated term at this rate, but you understand what I mean. The music is pretty great too. It’s a smorgasbord of ’80s post-punk. I almost hear a tiny bit of the Smiths in it, especially on Fucking in Rhythm & Sorrow. But the two main things I hear are both Irish, actually. There’s a lot of early U2, and early Sinéad O’Connor, particularly when Björk lets loose. She can sound a bit like Sinéad when she really opens up. That’s probably the closest vocal comparison I can make between Björk and anyone else, because she’s such a unique singer. I loved pretty much everything except for the last three tracks. I think the album ends on a bit of a bum note, from Sick for Toys to Take Some Petrol My Darling. Those final songs just don’t do much for me. My other issue with the album is this, and I know nothing about the history of the Sugarcubes, so excuse my ignorance here. I don’t know how they formed, who everyone is, why they broke up, or why Björk went solo. Actually, I can appreciate why she went solo, because she was born to be her own thing. But if I was in a band with Björk, even at this early stage of her career, I’d like to think I’d appreciate what I had going for me. So this other dude who’s singing on the album? If I were him, I’d keep my mouth shut. I’d say he probably has about 25 to 30 per cent of the vocal duties on this album. He should have none. Not that I’m the biggest fan of that Euro-pop, slightly camp vocal style. But even if I were, I don’t think he does a particularly good job of it. His vocals are pretty dreadful throughout. He adds nothing to the album and actually detracts from it. When you put him next to one of the greatest singers who ever lived, the contrast is just too jarring. So I would have kept quiet if I were him. Other than that, it’s pretty great.

The only thing I know about The Sugarcubes is that it was the band that Björk was in before she went solo. I've heard good things about this, so I am excited. 01. Traitor Actual jumpscare holy shit. It's a cool opener that I didn't expect. Cool lyrics, but didn't give it a heart. 02. Motorcrash Weirdly upbeat considering the lyrics. Sounds pretty boring, the lyrics being the only interesting part to me. 03. Birthday Something about this song is just really pretty to me. It also introduces the countless metaphors that Björk loves to use. 04. Delicious Demon My favorite so far. Best sounding, with my favorite lyrics. 05. Mama #BigWomenAreHot 06. Coldsweat The hardest rock so far, and honestly I didn't expect Björk to fit so well over it! This is great! 07. Blue Eyed Pop A pretty catchy song about Viagra (?)! Really pleasant. 08. Deus Just kind of a fine song. I liked it, but it didn't blow me away. 09. Sick For Toys I don't have a God damn clue what this song is actually about. All I know is that it fuckin' rocks. 10. F***ing In Rhythm & Sorrow Is a super fun way to close this off. Actually my favorite sonically. I had a good time. About half the tracks I didn't really care for too much, but that other half is really damn fun.

A sort of Talking Heads sound with B-52’s vocal dynamics. 2.5/5.0

Been to listen to more Bjork. Lets hear her origin story. I love this accent. Is she Swedish? Idk. It almost sounds Spanish. Weird. Oh yeah she's Icelandic. I do actually like this. It's weird and fun. What the hell is this song about. What are we doing. Just hooting and hollering. Is she causing the crashes? Is she the one that crashed?? What is happening? Bjork is just kinda screaming which I assume is pretty in character. She screams quite well. This is kinda hurting my head. I don't think this is playlist music but I do really like it. Oh I don't like the guys voice. They're just kinda saying words. Favourite: Mama Least favourite: Sick for Toys

I don’t like Björk as a singer at all. Same with the Sugar Cubes. (Listened to it on Apple Music)

B-52s + U2 with Icelandic humor, what wait, did they just say God doesn't exist…huh, maybe I need to take this more seriously. Baby Bjork and the lads make a pretty good record in their 2nd language. Bonus points for that.

die bjork kan zingen... ze zou solo moeten gaan... leuk!!

I was just thinking yesterday that I should do a discog dive on Bjork, so this is a great time to start. Bjork clearly is the standout on this album, her sing is great (a lot better that the dude on here), but the songs are a little lacking. I wasn't really expecting New Wave, but some of the songs here are pretty good. I think this may be closer to a 3, but I'll give it a little bump because I love Bjork. Low 4.

I have a lot of unlistened albums picked by the name as it should be poppy, put the record on and I heard Bjork on a pop rock band...weird. The band is fabulous and the lyrics are funny, you can tell people are having fun in it...but why is it on the list? Ah Bjork, thats why! I mean, you can tell she steals the show, but I bet it is not everyone who finds her screeching fun. 3/5

I enjoyed the youthful energy, Bjorks obvious potential and the general high quality indie of the 90's. Its patchy in places and is a starting point, nit N end point but it was great fun

Björk’s Töö Gööd

Interesting to hear where Byork began and some interesting poppy/post punk singles but didn't really hook me in.

Art pop before it was a thing. Infectious.

Saw them on this tour.

Sugarcubes come in small doses but are too good!

Nope. Bjork is as ethereal and interesting as ever, but the music completely grated against me.

Bjork is great here, but Einar is a legend! Whenever he speak/sings I feel so entertained. Classic Einar quotes: "When the revolution takes place I'lI be late...and I'll be shot...as a traitor." "When the sun rises, I will not see. I regret nothing. It was worth it - going through life without a timepiece...did pay off. " "He put me in a bathtub...made me squeeky clean...really clean!" Liked Songs Added: Traitor Motorcrash Birthday Deus

More Bjork! Less of that guy..

This was not bad as far as new wave goes (assuming that's what this is). The guitar playing was the main highlight for me, whether it was a rhythm guitar part reminiscent of the Talking Heads, or a melodic part with the dreamy chorus effect that I like. The female vocalist also has impressive chops. The whole album was pretty chaotic with a lot of variation, but that helped keep the listening experience interesting. There were a few weaker tracks, and while the production was pretty good, I also don't love how far away everything sounds with a lot of reverb, so I'm gonna settle on a solid 3 for this album

I don't mind the growling vocals, but the female singer is clearly the shining star here. The male vocalist and the instrumentals are just average. A lot of influences from different types of rock, but nothing too inventive. I think Bjork was being held back creatively at this point. Seems like a worthy addition to the list, to show where Bjork started, and I enjoyed the variety of songs.

So-so

I am one of the many people delighted to discover pre-Bjork Bjork's Icelandic alternative rock band. I really enjoyed this even though I don't like Bjork's solo music, it just scratched the right spot in my brain.

Better than I expected, combined with a forgotten hit, Birthday. Good stuff, I continue to be surprised by Bjork.

This was great. I love bjork so much and this is an amazing introduction to her.

Life may be too good, but unfortunately this album is not.

Before she became the blueprint for all weird art pop ladies who followed her in the 90s and beyond, Bjork was the lead singer of Iceland's biggest alt rock band. There's hints of her eventual singular weirdness here, especially on the album's biggest single, "Birthday," though most of this album is quite conventional by Bjork standards. Her unmistakable does the heavy lifting for the big single and the album as a whole as it swan dives, tumbles and somersaults all over the slightly swinging(?) alt-rock instrumentation. She hasn't quite mastered her instrument here, so this album definitely gives you the feeling of seeing a masterful singer evolve in real time. Honestly, the weirdest thing about this album is hearing Bjork sing over conventional rock music. Her aside, the most distinctly Scandinavian thing about this is how much the songwriting owes to Swedish pop, with melodies so sweet it justifies their Sugarcubes moniker. Definitely something to check out if you want to hear how alt rock was being toyed with in Scandinavia, and to listen to what Bjork was up to before Debut. Key Tracks: Birthday, Cold Sweat, Blue Eyed Pop

one tune

Cool listen. I liked the vocals. Birthday is pretty iconic and my favourite track off this. Almost a little too trendy 80's vibe but just alternative enough I didn't get sick of it.

I originally had this album generated on day 25 before joining a group and having my progress reset. It was my first experience with Bjork and I ended up giving it a 4/5 because it was just a really fun and weird post-punk album. I’ve actually listened to this a few times since I had it generated and still feel the same about it now. I actually really love Bjork’s voice on a lot of these songs. It’s incredibly unique.

That band was one of my first Spanish obsessions, right around the time that I got into They Might Be Giants. I'd love it if the band would get back together

Day1008 - had some typical weird bjork stuff but you could tell she’s the star

Wasn't sure what to expect, but pleasantly surprised. A kind of post-punky new wave, exactly my kind of thing. Bit of Zombies-like singing too. Is the guy German? Sounds like Kraftwerk Saying that, halfway through the album and while I'm enjoying it, no single track grabs me. Female lead singer sounds like Bjork! (Post-note: it was!) Best track - Traitor, Sick for Toys 4 stars

What in the knockoff B-52s is this

ok

A glimpse of what more there is to come from Björk!

strong indie pop album with also nice björk vocals

This is absolutely wonderful! Bjork can do no wrong, and the band is high energy and compliments her so well. One of my favorite discoveries at just about 300 albums in.

Bjork is in this band

This is a solid 3. I like Bjork, though, so it was fun to listen to for her voice :) 3/5

blech, I do not understand the draw of Bjork

I like cold sweat, but the rest of it was annoying. I don’t think this style really fits Björk’s voice, I do like some of her other work though.

"Icelandic B-52's with Bjork as lead singer" was a great way to describe them. Sounded like Bjork was on the band Aqua... very odd pairing. Like seeing a wild animal in a parking lot. It made me appreciate her creativity more and the band was good too. The guy's lyrics were hilariously basic like "I have a toy. I want a new toy. Getting rid of old toy. Oh boy." Good to experience but won't be going back to this much.

new wave, 1988 -> 2

I’ve not been the biggest fan of Björk’s solo albums that we’ve had, but I really enjoyed this. I think her vocals work so well with the band. I think the instrumentation is great as well. There are moments where it gets a bit weird for me, but overall I really enjoyed it. Fav song: Birthday Least fav: Sick for Toys

I like band bjork much more than her solo stuff. She still goes a bit weird in this but it’s nice to dilute the craziness, although sometimes it is just amplified with more weirdness. Not wholly unlistenable though, and a great cover. Specific rating - 2.1 Fav song - motorcrash Least fav- F***ing in rhythm and sorrow / sick for toys

Ok

Hey that sounds a lot like Bjork. Oh 4/5

Björk man

Is this the annoying Bjork version of the B52s?

Forgettable indie rock with Bjork's annoying voice on top.

Stand-out tracks: Traitor, Birthday, Coldsweat, Blue Eyed Pop, Deus Very much a hit or miss album for me. Most of the tracks are pretty catchy, but not all of them are really my vibe. Especially the last few I feel are the weakest. Overall, I did enjoy the variety on this album and ofcourse Bjork's unique vocals definitely add a touch of madness to the whole thing. Would rate it a 3.5 if I could, but because of Bjork it can be a 4 :)

Highlights: Motorcrash, Birthday, Delicious Demon, Blue Eyed Pop, Fucking in Rhythm and Sorrow On the surface it has this pretty typical British new wave style to it so it isn't anything really fresh. But in fact I liked that bit. It leans into it with a playful twist while also adding wacky Nordic pronunciation and an abundance of sexual innuendos. The lyrics are your usual Björk oddities to put it nicely. I liked it more than I thought I would. It's good as a whole and I wouldn't mind listening to it again anytime soon. There were a few tracks I was split on, so it was almost edging on great. Judging from what I've heard from Björk so far, I prefer it when she sticks to more traditional genres with her twist on it (a la this, Debut and Post).

It’s okay, had some interesting songs but didn’t really caught me

Boring dream pop rock. Surprisingly normal for Bjork which I appreciate. I did not like her raspy singing though. The male "vocals" are even worse.

Björk is barely good enough to save this album from Einar.

The Sugarcubes are just a B52s knockoff, with some strange Björk vibes thrown in.

Here we are, album 1089. When I started this project, my now wife was only my girlfriend. Now we are expecting our first child any day. This list has introduced me to so much great music that I have either never heard of before or didn't give a proper chance to including: Drive Like Jehu, the Pixies, Sigur Ros, Kraftwerk, Buena Vista Social Club, Isaac Hayes, among many others. This list, in my opinion, needs a lot more country, blues, and jazz representation. There's far too much Brit Pop/Rock/new wave, and a lot of the albums post-2000 are misses. But, hey, it's not my list. I am sure there would be a lot of issues with my 1001 top albums. This project has expanded my musical taste and helped me listen to music in a different way. I am glad I stuck it out. Now what? The Sugarcubes - 3 stars, shoutout Bjork

yayayaya shes painting huge boooobs

All these years of Bjork being present in my life and I've never listened to a Sugarcubes album. It was generally quite solid and inventive. Not sure I'd go back to anything besides Birthday which was a 120 Minutes classic, but that's alright. Rounding up just for that one.

I prefer this to Bjork's solo stuff, but still not really my thing.

I don't remember how I heard about the Sugarcubes, but I picked up 1989's Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week! when I was 14 and was immediately perplexed by it. Life's Too Good was probably the better starting point, but I'm sure my adolescent self would've been just as perplexed—though at least this album has "Birthday." That song is great because of Björk, which I think goes for the Sugarcubes in general. As with a lot of art-rock, it was probably more fun to make than it is to listen to, because "Sick for Toys" is a goddamn chore. I think I'll stick to the poppier moments on Björk's solo albums, thanks.

Some OK moments. Could do without the Aqua reject male vocalist. Some of Bjork’s stuff is really good; some of it not so much to my liking.

I like björk’s voice actually better in this setting. There is indeed a strong b-52/talking heads vibe but to me this sounds a bit more coherent. Nice pull!

Fucking phenomenal. The band is great but Björk just takes over this whole record. Her infectious vocals transcend this album, the world is blessed to be on Earth at the same time as Björk

It's not very good. Muddy, messy production, everything mixed too far back, too much reverb, no structure to some songs, wailing. It's just kind of annoying and nothing sticks in the mind after it's finished. Björk sounds really shrill and piercing here in a lot of songs which kind of hurts my ears. There's some dude who also sings for some reason. It sounds like lots of independent parts that they think would work when put together but like, it just kind of doesn't. It just comes across as kind of annoying and tiring. I guess I just don't like most 80s alternative music, it's all mixed weird and trebly and reverby and annoying.

You can have this one back. I'll stick with 1000 albums.

So much fun. Bjork has such an amazing voice. And yes, these are the Icelandic B-52's with a bit of The Cure thrown in for good measure. Birthday and Deus are the highlights.

A woman is yelling very loudly into my headphones, and I don't feel very comfortable.

Hat mir eigentlich sehr gefallen

I should have listened to this WAY before now. It's just great. So much fun energy and post-punk cool. Some immediate additions to my playlist. I wanted to give it five, because I love Bjork and I love the genre, but there are probably two tracks I'd always skip. So, despite loving the vibe, I'm being strict.