Hello everyone and welcome to the latest miniseries called Do I LOVE Bjork Yet? Over the course of the next week, I will run through all eight of the Icelandic singer's solo albums and determine if she is in fact more than just a weird little performer with an equally strange voice. This will also feature a continual ranking of each entry as well as various thoughts on the music and occasionally production of her work. This is all leading up to her latest album "Vulnicura," which has been receiving critical praise. But will I LOVE it? Tune in every day to find out.
Album: "Debut"
Released: July 5, 1993
Label: One Little Indian
Running Time: 52:22
Track Listing:
1. Human Behaviour
2. Crying
3. Venus as a Boy
4. There's More to Life Than This
5. Like Someone in Love
6. Big Time Sensuality
7. One Day
8. Aeroplane
9. Come to Me
10. Violently Happy
11. The Anchor Song
12. Play Dead
Expectations: After an unmemorable debut which clearly doesn't feel indicative of the other music by her, I am hoping that things pick up with this album that already seems charming for being called her debut. I don't know why this is, but it does feel like it is the first professional album and thus is the one that I will start discussing the LOVE debate in more openly. For now, I am looking at the song names, and they are wild and out there. Also, the 90's was odd in its retro psychedelic ways, so this may end up being an interesting trip to say the least.
Best Song: "There's More to Life Than This"
There's plenty of legitimate arguments to be made that there's way better songs on "Debut" than this. However, it is the only one that I felt encapsulated what has so far attracted me to Bjork's music effectively. There's a narrative done through this raw voice over polished productions about escaping. There's an idiosyncrasy that comes with the supposedly live performance at a toilet. I am a sucker for audio tricks in music such as this and it gives her immediate personality. In an album that is rich with diversity but at times monotonous, this is the perfect intersection between the tolerable tracks and the ones that unfortunately felt like caricatures.
Worst Song: "Human Behaviour"
It is hard to really find much fault in the song, but it served slightly as a warning of what was to come. There's the raw voice over infectious production in a track that sounds like Alanis Morissette on helium. The issue was that at times it felt monotonous and the ambient pop element wasn't doing much. It's a perfectly fine song that actually feels reined in compared to her other songs, but there's something that bothered me too much about it. There was something unsettling in a way that at least made it memorable. Not an awful song, but this album definitely was a challenging listen and this song set up warning slowly.
Overall Thoughts:
We have officially entered Bjork territory and I am not entirely sure what to think. When categorizing the songs I liked to dislike, I came up evenly matched. What initially impressed me more than the singing was the production which had a slick perfection to it that was counterbalanced with the imperfect melodies of Bjork's voice. In fact, she may be the most acquired taste of the components at play because while she compliments the ambient pop, it does manage to stray into novelty a little much. This isn't to discredit her lyrics, which can be interesting glimpses into intimacy and longings that sound more psychotic than the cheerfulness would imply. I liked the album enough to feel like it wasn't a total waste, but I feel like it is more grading on the attempts more than personal interests. As her Wikipedia page says, she doesn't think that her early work is that great or indicative of her as a performer. I can only hope I agree, though it makes me worried for "Post" tomorrow.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Do I LOVE Bjork Yet?:
Simple answer is no, though I am intrigued to see what she is like on subsequent albums. To be honest, I like that she exists and adds a weird charm to the music industry. Part of me would be fascinated to see how people reacted in 1993 when she was new. Also, it just feels weird because the early 90's were especially raw and edgy, so it makes sense why Bjork fit into a middle ground. I just hope that she's something more.
Ranking:
1. "Debut" (1993)
2. "Bjork" (1977)
UP NEXT: "Post" (1995)
Track Listing:
1. Human Behaviour
2. Crying
3. Venus as a Boy
4. There's More to Life Than This
5. Like Someone in Love
6. Big Time Sensuality
7. One Day
8. Aeroplane
9. Come to Me
10. Violently Happy
11. The Anchor Song
12. Play Dead
Expectations: After an unmemorable debut which clearly doesn't feel indicative of the other music by her, I am hoping that things pick up with this album that already seems charming for being called her debut. I don't know why this is, but it does feel like it is the first professional album and thus is the one that I will start discussing the LOVE debate in more openly. For now, I am looking at the song names, and they are wild and out there. Also, the 90's was odd in its retro psychedelic ways, so this may end up being an interesting trip to say the least.
Best Song: "There's More to Life Than This"
There's plenty of legitimate arguments to be made that there's way better songs on "Debut" than this. However, it is the only one that I felt encapsulated what has so far attracted me to Bjork's music effectively. There's a narrative done through this raw voice over polished productions about escaping. There's an idiosyncrasy that comes with the supposedly live performance at a toilet. I am a sucker for audio tricks in music such as this and it gives her immediate personality. In an album that is rich with diversity but at times monotonous, this is the perfect intersection between the tolerable tracks and the ones that unfortunately felt like caricatures.
Worst Song: "Human Behaviour"
It is hard to really find much fault in the song, but it served slightly as a warning of what was to come. There's the raw voice over infectious production in a track that sounds like Alanis Morissette on helium. The issue was that at times it felt monotonous and the ambient pop element wasn't doing much. It's a perfectly fine song that actually feels reined in compared to her other songs, but there's something that bothered me too much about it. There was something unsettling in a way that at least made it memorable. Not an awful song, but this album definitely was a challenging listen and this song set up warning slowly.
Overall Thoughts:
We have officially entered Bjork territory and I am not entirely sure what to think. When categorizing the songs I liked to dislike, I came up evenly matched. What initially impressed me more than the singing was the production which had a slick perfection to it that was counterbalanced with the imperfect melodies of Bjork's voice. In fact, she may be the most acquired taste of the components at play because while she compliments the ambient pop, it does manage to stray into novelty a little much. This isn't to discredit her lyrics, which can be interesting glimpses into intimacy and longings that sound more psychotic than the cheerfulness would imply. I liked the album enough to feel like it wasn't a total waste, but I feel like it is more grading on the attempts more than personal interests. As her Wikipedia page says, she doesn't think that her early work is that great or indicative of her as a performer. I can only hope I agree, though it makes me worried for "Post" tomorrow.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Do I LOVE Bjork Yet?:
Simple answer is no, though I am intrigued to see what she is like on subsequent albums. To be honest, I like that she exists and adds a weird charm to the music industry. Part of me would be fascinated to see how people reacted in 1993 when she was new. Also, it just feels weird because the early 90's were especially raw and edgy, so it makes sense why Bjork fit into a middle ground. I just hope that she's something more.
Ranking:
1. "Debut" (1993)
2. "Bjork" (1977)
UP NEXT: "Post" (1995)
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