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: "Homogenic"
Released: September 22, 1997
Label: One Little Indian
Running Time: 43:35
Track Listing:
1. Hunter
2. Joga
3. Unravel
4. Bachelorette
5. All Neon Like
6. 5 Years
7. Immature
8. Alarm Call
9. Pluto
10. All Is Full of Love
Expectations: In all honesty, I have yet to be all that impressed with her work on a lasting level. Yes, she is ambitious and I admire that, but I also cannot find much to enjoy out of her music. Still, between "Debut" and "Post," I have found that to my chagrin there have been a few tracks here or there that I have had stuck in my head throughout the day. However, I do worry that we're entering an even weirder and less accessible period for the artist. Also, the art work is a little off putting and I don't know if I really care about weird right now. We'll have to wait and see.
Best Song: "Alarm Call"
I am not sure if this is the burnout on trying to comprehend Bjork so rapidly in succession, but this album started off a little weak to me. Yes, there was plenty to admire, but it wasn't until this song came on that I begun to fully appreciate what was going on. In the supposed "singular" vision, she mixes atmosphere with infectious calls and a lot of great instrumentation. Overall, the song captures a joyous and delightful vibe that I wish that I had accepted for the rest of the album. If anything, it makes me want to give this album another shot sometime down the line.
Worst Song: "Hunter"
I think that this was an example of simply being burned out on Bjork at this point. While the past two albums have been pretty good, there's something disarming about not fully embracing something that is so odd. You almost feel hopeless in doing so. However, the album's choice to start off with an electronic song mixed with strings was not quite the mood that I was expecting to get. It's a fine song on yet another fine album, but I am waiting to have her acquired taste make sense in a way that greets me with enthusiasm.
Overall Thoughts:
I have been reading reviews and this is allegedly her best album according to fans. That should prove problematic based on the ratings that I am about to provide. However, I found that once the album got going that I felt like I was simply misunderstanding its appeal and that it would work upon repeat listens. I don't love the album and feel like this successive listening may be hurting me overall in finding the merits of Bjork's music. However, I don't hate it entirely yet, which is a good sign. Though I worry that if this is the best that the remainder is going to prove to be a treacherous road.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Do I LOVE Bjork Yet?:
I think she's interesting, but I cannot really claim to even more than admire her at this point. She is doing very interesting things, but there's still something off putting about it.
Ranking:
1. "Post" (1995)
2. "Debut" (1993)
3. "Homogenic" (1997)
4. "Bjork" (1977)
UP NEXT: "Vespertine" (2001)
Track Listing:
1. Hunter
2. Joga
3. Unravel
4. Bachelorette
5. All Neon Like
6. 5 Years
7. Immature
8. Alarm Call
9. Pluto
10. All Is Full of Love
Expectations: In all honesty, I have yet to be all that impressed with her work on a lasting level. Yes, she is ambitious and I admire that, but I also cannot find much to enjoy out of her music. Still, between "Debut" and "Post," I have found that to my chagrin there have been a few tracks here or there that I have had stuck in my head throughout the day. However, I do worry that we're entering an even weirder and less accessible period for the artist. Also, the art work is a little off putting and I don't know if I really care about weird right now. We'll have to wait and see.
Best Song: "Alarm Call"
I am not sure if this is the burnout on trying to comprehend Bjork so rapidly in succession, but this album started off a little weak to me. Yes, there was plenty to admire, but it wasn't until this song came on that I begun to fully appreciate what was going on. In the supposed "singular" vision, she mixes atmosphere with infectious calls and a lot of great instrumentation. Overall, the song captures a joyous and delightful vibe that I wish that I had accepted for the rest of the album. If anything, it makes me want to give this album another shot sometime down the line.
Worst Song: "Hunter"
I think that this was an example of simply being burned out on Bjork at this point. While the past two albums have been pretty good, there's something disarming about not fully embracing something that is so odd. You almost feel hopeless in doing so. However, the album's choice to start off with an electronic song mixed with strings was not quite the mood that I was expecting to get. It's a fine song on yet another fine album, but I am waiting to have her acquired taste make sense in a way that greets me with enthusiasm.
Overall Thoughts:
I have been reading reviews and this is allegedly her best album according to fans. That should prove problematic based on the ratings that I am about to provide. However, I found that once the album got going that I felt like I was simply misunderstanding its appeal and that it would work upon repeat listens. I don't love the album and feel like this successive listening may be hurting me overall in finding the merits of Bjork's music. However, I don't hate it entirely yet, which is a good sign. Though I worry that if this is the best that the remainder is going to prove to be a treacherous road.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Do I LOVE Bjork Yet?:
I think she's interesting, but I cannot really claim to even more than admire her at this point. She is doing very interesting things, but there's still something off putting about it.
Ranking:
1. "Post" (1995)
2. "Debut" (1993)
3. "Homogenic" (1997)
4. "Bjork" (1977)
UP NEXT: "Vespertine" (2001)
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