Product Description

'Volta' is the sixth studio album from Bjork and sees her return to the more commercial, upbeat sound of her early work. Written and produced primarily by Bjork herself, the albumalso features collaborations with a range of influential artists including Timbaland, LFO's Mark Bell and Anthony And The Johnsons' Anthony Hegarty, all of whom help to add their own unique stamp on Bjork's experimental pop sound. The Timbaland produced single 'Earth Intruders' is featured.

Track Listing

1. Earth Intruders
2. Wanderlust
3. Dull Flame Of Desire
4. Innocence
5. I See Who You Are
6. Vertebrae By Vertebrae
7. Pneumonia
8. Hope
9. Declare Independence
10. My Juvenile
11. I See Who You Are

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9623 in Music
• Released on: 2007-05-07
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review

Björk's main asset as a musician is her fearlessness. Since the end of The Sugarcubes and the pop-dance of Debut, she has released progressively more experimental records. But after well over a decade of going further and further out, Volta steps back. Make no mistake; this is Björk, and so it's still fabulously weird. Like 2004's mesmerizing Medúlla and the 2005 soundtrack for Drawing Restraint 9, the songs are blissfully peculiar, with narratives about love, offspring, aliens...you name it. Yet melodically and philosophically, Volta recycles more than it innovates; the driving pulse of "Declare Independence," for instance, reminds us of Homogenic's "Pluto," and the lead single "Earth Intruders" sounds like Post's "Army of Me" on steroids. And just as Medúlla oriented itself around a certain instrument--the human voice--this one concentrates on horns.

Still, the transition between her early work and the avant-garde bender she's been on since Vespertine is pretty harrowing, and it's satisfying to hear Björk revisit her more accessible self. Uber-producer Timbaland pitches in here and there, most successfully on "Innocence," which uses a fat, disjointed pulse to drive the euphoric vocals forward. Elsewhere, the hyperactive sitar sample on "I See Who You Are" provides texture for the song's theme of enjoying each other while there's still "flesh on our bones." And "Pneumonia" makes fantastic use of the horn section with a soft arrangement that compliments the song's lyrical melody.

So while it's a bit of a stall, Volta is a lovely pause. It reminds us how much we appreciate the laboratory of Björk’s imagination, but also how much we missed her back when she was just goofing around. --Matthew Cooke

Customer Reviews

Dreary,dull and TUNELESS
What the gibbons has happened to Bjork? She wants to be different and 'unique' and she used to be those things BUT for all the right reasons.
To my ears it seems that,whereas on most of her previous albums (Medulla not included),she came up with great tunes and then wrote the song around the tune,now she seems to be doing it the other way around but forgetting to include any cohesive TUNE in the final mixes.It's such a shame because,let's face it,she is,after all a very,very talented musician and vocalist (i have seen her live in Manchester and her singing is so much better live)and songwriter.Medulla stretched me to fever-pitch whilst trying to find its attractions and,difficult as it turned out to be,i finally succumbed to my internal pressures of frustration and found myself enjoying it BUT i had to be alone to do so (not one of my friends,my family or my partner could sit in the same room as i persevered with it!!)
However,i just cant find any passion for this trite and tuneless drivel...she's tested me too far this time and i can only get any satisfaction from about 3 songs at most...and 2 of those were singles.
AND,there is now nothing different about her work because,looking back at her career,in retrospect,even she has done it all before.She desperately needs to find a fresh and innovative approach to presenting her music instead of the tried and tested 'bang/crash' and squelchy keyboards of at least four of her albums ('Post','Homogenic','Vespertine' and now 'Volta')
It's ok to keep introducing a few touches of strange and beautiful orthodox instruments here and there but she now seems to constantly swathe them in this aforesaid method.
It's the songs and the tunes that are important and without those being strong and memorable,she will continue to baffle and alienate potentially loyal fans such as myself.I certainly will always keep my ears open in the future but this is a bus stop too far for me and for now,i'm getting off.....

A Small Light in a Dark Place
2007 saw the arrival of both a new album and a refined direction from Bjork.
Each of the eleven songs presented to us here has a visceral certainty and emotional clout unparalled in her previous work.

It is as if everything had been moving slowly towards this moment - a musical journey lived always close to the edge.

What we have come to expect is all here in spades.

Innovation; the shifting precarious balance between universal and intensly personal themes; the voice leaping between the delicacy of a butterfly's wing and a jagged knife blade.

Her essential musicality shines through in these compositions.
The ability to bring together diverse talent in a dazzling array of emotional soundscapes.

From the dark corporeal interior worlds of 'I See Who You Are' and 'Vertebrae by Vertebrae' to the catacylsmic mahem of 'Declare Independence'; the stomping earth-mother anthem of 'Earth Intruders' to the aching brass chorale of 'Pneumonia'.

Hope, loss, resignation, defiance - all of what it might mean to be human is here.

One can only dare to imagine where Bjork will lead us next.

I'm afraid I just don't get it.
I've been a big fan of Bjork for years. Not only is she stunning, her music has always been top notch - with the Post CD being the pinnacle.

This CD leaves me not wanting to play it again. I can't pick out a single track I enjoy - or would want to listen to again. I just find it all a bit weird. I had a similar feeling when I played Aerial by Kate Bush.

I know artists like to experiment but for me this is one experiment that should have remained in the lab/studio. All but the last track (11) comes across as noise rather than music - it all just seems a bit random and disjointed.

I hope future projects are better than this. Sorry Bjork - this one just isn't for me !