Vespertine

I am not a fan of Björk. Like... REALLY not a fan. She tries too hard to be weird for the sake of being weird and the music suffers for it. This lo-fi, chamber-chill, trip-track album is rough enough without Bjork's whispery, wavery, warbling vocals. She goes out of her way to avoid anything resembling a song structure or an actual melody, instead choosing to wander around aimlessly like a wino on a three-day bender. This album is utterly pointless. I fail to understand how it has garnered so many awards and accolades. I can only assume it's some sort of Emporor's Clothes situation where the pseudo-intellectual music critic crowd wants to appear smart so they gush about the beauty of something that nobody actually sees just because it's Bjork so they're supposed to like it.

This is a surprising one for me. I knew of her most popular songs, but never checked out a whole record. This was enchanting and made me want to become a fairy in the forest. Which is impressive considering I was actually suffering in rush hour traffic and sweating like a pig.

Bjork crafts these wonderful pieces of music with so much purpose, you can hear it in her production. I'd like to think she is primarily a vocal artist, with her voice at the forefront. This makes the music all the more purposeful, being built around the central driving force of Bjork's singing (which is wonderful, by the way). As such, there's a lot of beauty here in this album, with some of the compositions reminding me of one of my favorite albums of all time (Actor by St. Vincent). It's a wonderful body of work, I don't think I can find anything bad to say about it. Well done, Bjork.

Holy mother of god this album is astounding. This could be the best-sounding album on this entire list. Amazing, lush, ethereal textures make this album fabulously enchanting and captivating. This album was definitely outside of my comfort zone but I was quick to warm up to it. I haven’t heard anything else of Byork’s solo stuff, what a good introduction to an artist I keep being disappointed by reviewers on this website, they tend to have awful biases against anything even slightly unorthodox. This album is monumental but has a fairly mediocre rating here. The only criticism people can think up is very lame and unjust: “I don’t like her voice” or “the song structures are unorthodox” or “she’s trying too hard to be weird”. It is so stupid to say an artist is trying too hard when they actually achieve something unique and amazing. Were the Beatles trying too hard to be weird when they recorded Sgt Pepper’s? Were the Beach Boys trying too hard to be artsy on Pet Sounds? I think that the aesthetic this album achieves is basically unparalleled. What an experience this is. I just relish the experience of being IMPRESSED by an album, which is a rare experience

I should start by saying that I admire Bjork much more than I enjoy her music. She typically has more ideas in one album than most artists have in their entire careers. She is painstaking in her professionalism and attention to detail. There is nothing lazy or half-hearted about her music. She is perhaps the most committed artist I know of and utterly fearless. And she draws inspiration from a bewildering array of sources. Given how strange her music is, I'm both shocked and grateful that she's had such a long and successful career. She's made room for tons of artists who aren't nearly as daring as she. So why don't I like her better? Probably because her eclecticism and general weirdness overwhelms my poor aged brain. Which is why Verspertine is such a surprise. Not that the album lacks ideas, but they're all pressed into the service of a singular and coherent vision. Listening to Vespertine is like listening to a teenager sing her diary in her attic bedroom at three in the morning, the needle on a record player repeatedly glitching at the end of an album, rain pattering on the window. Bjork's voice rarely rises above a whisper, but she sings with naked emotional intensity. She uses pre-recorded sounds heavily, the way Portishead did on Dummy, but Bjork takes it much further, recording antique music boxes, doors closing, and other found sounds, in addition to musical loops. In addition to the music/found sound loops, Bjork also employs percussive instruments like harpsichord and xylophone, and a full orchestra. It's a unique mix, extremely detailed like all of her work, and a lot to absorb in one sitting. More than any other album I've listened to recently, the music of Vespertine seems designed to support Bjork's vocal performance and lyrics, rather than be an end in itself. So, to really do justice to Vespertine in an review, I would really have to grapple with her lyrics and evaluate how well the musical accompaniment enriches them. That's too much work for me, but I can give my impression, which is that Vespertine is a very accomplished piece of work. Confessional and intimate, atmospheric ballads aren't really my thing, but Vespertine is pretty darned good.

I can appreciate the thought and care that went into this and the production is pretty good, but got to be honest I just can't get into her voice and her weird infantile fairy thing.

Sounds like Dolores O’Riordan held a knife to Avril Lavigne’s throat and told her to sing like Fergie trying to be Alanis Morrisette.

Original, emotional, introspective, magical. Recommended season: Autumn

Hi- Hidden Place, Pagan Poetry, Aurora, Unison Weaving the hollow and empty with grandiose and dramatic, synthetic with natural, the devious with the naive, listening to Björk is like watching a crystal-clear video stream glitching out on a flaky connection; It's poetic, flowing, and jarring. This kind of evolution of Björk's tapestry of duality is interspersed throughout Vespertine, bizarre, beautiful and disastrous. Hidden Place is an other-worldly (a term all too often associated with Björk's work) track that sets the tone for the 50 minute journey that follows, with Björk's signature struggled breathy crooning (Pagan Poetry) vs her wild belting of notes that echo off the back walls of time (Aurora), it's endearing as much as it is unsettling. Unison is both claustrophobic and expansive, just more opposites that get played off of each other which are part-and-parcel for a vacation through the strange world of Björk, a world that simply couldn't be anyone else's.

I love this album. I had never heard it before, but it was such a good listen. I will put it in rotation from this point on. I had really only heard Björk's second album previously, and this album isn't similar at all. It seems to be heavy influenced by a more minimal electronic sound, and i really really like it. The album is quite same-y, but in a really great way, if flows from beginning to end, you never feel the weight of it being over 55 mins. It kind of reminds me about what I love about REM's Up, and OK Computer and maybe slightly some Sigor Ros. For me, albums like this are what this list is all about. It's great As for a rating, I feel like I have to go with a 5, you could argue a 4, but i think it's just such an enjoyable experience and it sounds outstanding, the production is amazing, her voice is unreal. I just love it 5/5

Not my usual thing but I respect what Bjork is doing. I overlooked her music in the 90's because the media focused on her portrayal as a kooky manic pixie dream girl and I assumed that her vocals were heavy on screeching and yowling. I was pleasantly surprised to listen to this album that was crafted with layers of texture, and now I think that (as with most female artists from the 90's) Bjork was overlooked in favour of her male peers.

I love Bjork. So strange and unique, yet still catchy and listenable. This album is no exception. 4 stars.

Bjork's voice is something else. Between the timbre, meandering around the scale, qne formless lyrics, it's confusing and gripping at the same time. Production wise, it's quite modern and would fit well with today's pop trends. The metallic synths are very much 21st century dream pop while the sparse de-emphasized rhythms are still distinctively 90s. Weirdly, I would definitely give this a re-listen.

Seems like Bjork is singing her emotions which so that you feel her music rather than just hear it.

Bjork's unique diction and style of singing sound vaguely like how I'd imagine Lorde would sing if she were Werner Herzog's daughter. The instrumentals and production on this album were most likely a significant early influence on the low-fi alternative genre. Overall a surprisingly enjoyable and original album for anyone who doesn't mind Bjork's unconventional singing style.

I'm not a Bjork fan but this is the most cohesive album of hers that I've ever heard. I still can't really get past her voice or the shoehorning of lyrics into spaces where they just don't fit. But as Bjork goes...not bad.

I try not to say "artsy" music like this is bad, because I feel like I just don't get it, and that's my fault. But man, this is kinda bad. I guess I can appreciate the alien sound. It almost seems like something the belters from The Expanse series would listen to - just totally foreign to my ears. Anyway, I probably won't be returning to the album.

This album remind me a lot of the Joni Mitchell album where the background music isn't really doing anything but she's saying something it's just I'm not there to really understand it and it's not my forte

Like listening to a DJ mixing two tracks that have nothing in common while standing next to freeway hearing traffic go by.

An album that not only exudes its love lyrically, but becomes the pinnacle of this feeling of feeling safe in one's arm via the mixture of strings that make you swoon and synths that make you feel as though you are lifting off, all perfectly illustrated by the album cover. Its sensual, its personal, its even got this tinge of sadness in its coldness, but its the type of freezing that makes you excited for the fireside, window view of falling snow with the love of your love. Every part of this makes me feel an emotion that it captures perfectly. Similar to Radiohead's Kid A, Bjork is so ahead of her contemporaries, that this still sounds light years ahead of any music being created now, and is really its own thing. Sure, perhaps it blends at points, but isn't that what you want out of this sort of album? To be infused with it, rather than a bystander, you are feeling the pure and utter love that Bjork has for her partner, and whilst that tinge of sadness only grows stronger with the knowledge that Vulnicura is about the very person this album is about, but in the moment this is bliss incarnate.

Love

Before listening I checked the top reviews and found exactly what I expected to find. It got me worked up, I was gonna ramble on about them, but then the music calmed me down. Will leave it for another time. Saw somebody call this album an "adult lullaby", beautiful description. Enchanting voice, cool chill beats, awesome balls. This album is pure sex

This is slowly becoming my favourite of hers (I say that after listening to every Bjork album)

bjork rules and this is her best album. somber, thoughtful, eerie, transcendent. i have a recurring dream, folks.

Beautiful album with high replay value

This was my introduction to Björk, and at the time I had never heard anything quite like it. I remember being struck by how the music could be so soft and subtle but incredibly lush and layered

Cold, haunting, but all around beautiful. The often spaced out soundscapes match perfectly with bjork's incredible voice. Although admittedly a little too long for my willingness to stick with this sound, I can see why many consider this one of her finest works. Favorites: Cocoon, It's Not Up To You, Aurora

Its very much like sound as texture. like ASMR. Its cool but I am not quite sure what it makes me feel. I feel sort of lost in these sounds, can't quite predict how the songs will go. Its Not Up To You is a good track. Pagan Poetry is intense. Good album to have on in the winter. Yea this album is a lot about getting busy, and the songs themselves individually don't have the same impact as the whole thing in its totality.

Of course I know Björk but not this album. I never was a true fan (for some reason I viscerally hate "It' Oh So Quiet"), mostly because of the Marmite vocals that can border on vocal acrobatics to my ears. BUT I not so in this album, which I liked. All songs are good (I like the last one best I think), atmospheric, and this album definitely has a place among the 1001.

Hard to describe what this album is about but I feel it. Takes some warming up but eventually you realize you are in her world and her emotions come through leaving me feeling it all without fully understand it. I step out of this album as if I just left a theater. I experienced a piece of art that I want to go back to and experience once more. There’s more there and I’m excited to go back in.

I'm torn on how to rate this. 100% absolutely beautiful and unique music. But, I'll probably never listen to it again.

I love the uniqueness of her voice, the production values and the quirkiness of her music. On the flip side, it was rather maudlin overall, which was a barrier to engaging with it more. "Heirloom" gets a shout out for featuring some kind of Casio keyboard percussion track but making it work

The music was great really high

Bjork at her most Bjorkish. Wears a bit thin in places, no real standout tracks, and it was about this time that Goldfrapp took it to a more interesting place.

Vespertine is unconventionally and hauntingly creative, with moments of beauty for me. However, overall, it's not something I would listen to again. I respect Bjork's work, but don't gravitate to her art.

Day 30 of Albums You Must Hear... Vesterpine is the fourth studio album from Icelandic singer Björk, an artist that has been creating since age 11. Vesterpine is part art pop, part trip hop and part electronica. Björk’s voice is very similar to Portishead’s singer Beth Gibbons. The sound of the vocals has a quiet and comforting ambience to it. The production is very good and it definitely had that trip hop quality to it, sonically. While the majority of Vesterpine is a tad too emo for my personal taste, I can see why some fans call it her best album to date. The songs that I liked were Hidden Place, It’s Not Up To You and Heirloom. Lastly, Björk got a lot of attention for the swan dress that she wore to the 2001 Oscars, she is also wearing that dress on the cover of Vesterpine. Anyhow, next album please!! Please share your thoughts, memories and opinions!

Warning/Spoiler Alert: There are 2 more Bjork albums in the list of 1001.

izza friggin mastahpeez

Björk!

Nakon što mi je Homogenic, njen album iz '97 dugo vremena bio najdraži, ovaj album je to potukao jednom zimom prije 3-4 godine. Jednostavno na zimu ove instrumentale slušati na ovakav glas, podsjeti te na neki kristalni zvuk, na led, na magiju neku ledenu? Kakav Frozen, samo Vespertine! P.S. Do yourself a favor i ako ti ne bude pasalo sada, poslušaj kad zazimi, tokom dana onak. pogotovo Frosti. mhm.

Amazing!

Bjork and this album are both magical.

It amazes me how she creates this mystical world where she reigns supreme.

so this was class.... ive tried to get into bjork before but i could never really get past venus as a boy, so i was a bit hesitant about this album but about halfway through i was like oh this is amazing i want to listen to this over and over again preferably while on various substances.

https://youtu.be/p3iDtps7dL8

I love this 4 Like one long, dreamy thought of sorts. 5 And still enjoyable. Oh what a pleasure.

Perfect

Não é dos mais acessíveis da Bjork, mas a produção e muito complexa e feita com elementos da casa dela. Feito no período do "Dancer in the Dark". Assistir também o show incrível na Royal Opera House

A masterpiece I’ve long relished from start to finish!

Belleza y poesía.

Wow

Hasta me da miedo no ponerle 5

Love this album. Instant 5 stars.

There is truly no one like Björk

A masterpiece

Björk’s masterpiece. A stunning, sensual, beautiful record, delicate and stirring. Minimalist beats gently pulse, celestial chorus soar and Björk’s incredible vocals hold all together. It’s hard to think of a more imaginative artist working today, exploring her own passions, never following the fashion. But here she is, wowing the listener with an extraordinary album quite unlike any other.

This is my favorite Bjork album.

Superb album. Unique and wonderful.

Never listened to Björk before and had no idea what to expect, but I absolutely loved it. I found her voice tantalizing and the music both relaxing and stimulating. I will absolutely listen to this and other Björk albums again. Actually, I'm going to listen to another Björk album right now.

I found this one difficult to get into on first release - I'd loved Homogenic and this was an abrupt turn. Over time I've grown to love it and all its quiet intricacies. It's one to be actively listened to (not background music) and when I'm in the right mood it's magnificent. Hovering between 4 and 5 stars... and I'm in the right mood for it today.

Beautiful and sublime. Epic

Wau.

good

Beautiful

Beautiful, weird album

Wow, why haven't I listened to this before. SO good.

While it initially appears less aurally confrontational than her other work, the layering on this thing is just incredible. A real grower, and still sounds fresh.

Never listen to this before but it was a perfect vibe for today.

I fucking love Bjork. Such interesting and moving music. Even the songs I'm not so into I respect cos its just such great music. Not on this album but Unravel is one of the best songs of all time

Has to be in my top ten. Made me go from a Bjork fan to an obsessive fan boy. I still get the chills listening even years later. Flawless and an essential listen

one of the best albums. bjork is a legend and bright. beautiful voice. this album is the peak of her career.

Bjork being Bjork.

My favorite Björk album. From the intimate ”Cocoon” to the sprawling ”Pagan Poetry”, the album combines orchestral strings, choir song, assorted twinkling instruments, electonic production and Björk’s umistakable voice into a cohesive, enveloping and deeply personal expression. The ticking and shuffling electronic percussion used also appeals to me personally.

Love this. Just needed a reminder.

Ethereal and otherworldly, of course, because it's Bjork. I have a strange fascination with her and her works. They poke at a part of me I didn't know was there and they make me feel exuberant. 'Debut' is the standard she set, and she set it high. I've listened to some of her other albums before, not this one, and felt like they didn't completely live up to the expectations of her first. However, 'Vespertine' felt like a return to exceptional form. There's a purpose to each of the songs, and you can feel the emotion and time put into each of them. Some people might just dismiss the songs because of how she manipulates her voice, but that doesn't give Bjork enough credit. Inventive, strange, and exceptional, I loved this album.

I've already heard it, love it <3

listened to while high, i was floating through space and time letting the stars guide my way

Deep and intimate. By turns breathy and dreamy then suddenly out-front and powerful, you hang on every note for an irresistable listen.

The music has a very alien and other-worldy quality, which I found very interesting.

I've only ever heard of Bjork because of her - shall we say - out-there dress at the Oscars in 2001. So it almost comes as no surprise that she is donning that exact dress on the cover of Vespertine. This album was an overall nice surprise, as what little press I'd heard of Bjork was all about the swan dress, and how strange it was. Of which I then formed a pre-conceived notion of what her music sounded like, and that it wouldn't be something I would enjoy. The ethereal like quality to her music, draws you in with her understated beats and unique voice, of which I would liken to someone like Norwegian artist Aurora, paired with the sensuality of FKA Twigs. Best: Aurora Worst: Heirloom

Not my favorite Bjork, but the album I’d play for anyone who wanted to understand Bjork (if that’s possible). Varied, ambitious and overflowing with ideas and strategies.

ну просто замечательное, красивейшее музло, с прекрасным голосом

Bjork is fantastic. Fantastic is Bjork. Such a recognisable sound.

Oh fuck yeah, this is one of my favorite albums Really captures that surreal, dreamy experience Incredible album - 10/10

Superhieno! 5/5

Amazing Album

Melodic genius. Never afraid to take chances with rhythm and cadence. A true joy.

Amazing never listened to bjork before

damn this bitch horny

Fellow Icelander

My goodness, Bjork is an absolutely fascinating artist in every way. I really hadn't actively listened to much of her work before this project, and I'm glad it's introduced me to a few of her albums. This album might be my favorite of hers thus far. Her sense of melody and harmony, her writing and composition, and her personal style of vocal delivery all add up to such an intriguing layering and texturing of music. I don't even like hearing such synth-heavy music on a regular basis, but she makes it work so well. By the end of the album, things felt a little jarred to me but I think that's due to her use of unusual rhythms, especially in her melodic delivery.

Ovo mi je naprosto jedan od najdražih albuma i nevjerojatno koliko dobro zvućči dvadesetak godina kasnije.

Okei mitä helvettiä ja mitä kummaa, miks oon skipannut just tän Björkin levyn aiemmin. Osuu nimittäin todella herkkään paikkaan tämmöselle 00-luvun alun olohuoneteknon ystävälle. Plus siihen päälle, että Björk vaan osaa tehdä maagista musaa. Alkupuoli on jo tosi kova, mutta erityisesti yllätti, miten loppupuolella esim. Aurora, Heirloom ja Unison pystyy vielä viemään hommaa eteenpäin. Sanoisin 4.5/5 mut pyöristetään nyt ylöspäin, ku niin kiva yllätys.

Великолепно! Мой любимый альбом Бйорк!

4.5

Had not fully invested in this album at the time: it was always Homogenic and then Post. But last year Debut turned out to be much better than I remembered. And this year the same is even more true for Vespertine, the 2nd 1001 album from Bjork on the list for me.

Really inspiring and creative

In most of her work, Bjork's voice takes center stage. Which makes sense, considering that her voice is the Icelandic version of a cowboy swagger. On this album, the mixing takes center stage, with perfectly placed notes of piano doing enough to offset the darker beats. I'd love to be in that mixing room. I'd also love to hear all of the parts separately. My guess is that each would be interesting on its own, but together create something greater than the sum.

Top tier Bjork album for me, along with Debut and Homogenic.

10/10 Björks best and one of the best albums I’ve ever heard overall