Product Description

As one of modern music's most enigmatic and consistently entertaining personalities, Bjork has never shied away from the edge. Whether making straight ahead dance music, exploratory modern rock, or even show-tune-calibre drama, her vision has always remained innovative and original. Her voice jumps, in the space of a syllable, from a kitten-like purr to a banshee's howl, and is never anything less than captivating. HOMOGENIC, her latest musical endeavor, finds her plunging headlong into electronica, a form well-suited to her intense,offbeat phrasing and tone.
From the skittering breakbeats and ghostly wails of the opening "Hunter" to the all-out electronic crash that is "Pluto", HOMOGENIC explores the melding of human and machine. The drama of "Bachlorette" finds alush, rich string section following a tripping electronic beat, giving way to the Icelandic wonder's trademark wail. The juxtaposition of thoroughly modern sounds with conventional elements, such as symphonic arrangements, pipe organ, and accordion, form a central theme, to which HOMOGENIC's title undoubtedly refers. On HOMOGENIC, the traditional and the technological find their meeting point in Bjork's soaring, otherworldly voice.

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6063 in Music
• Released on: 1997-09-22
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Headline-grabbing personal upheavals turn into introspective surges on Homogenic, the third album by Icelandic singer Björk. Driven inward after a bizarre year accented by a much publicised mail bomb, airport cat fight and brawl between ex-lovers Tricky and Goldie, Björk gets lost in a wash of strings and minimalist techno patterns on her latest outing. The eccentricity and stylistic schizophrenia of Debut and Post have been cast away in favour of darker, more sublime edginess. Filled with songs about paranoia, heartbreak and lost faith, Homogenic not only showcases more mature themes, but a more uniform mood. Notch that up to Björk's decision to produce the album herself. Aside from a few nominal collaborations with Mark Bell of obscure techno outfit LFO and the Icelandic String Octet, this is the purest representation of the artist's vision. Little did we know that such a quirky personality would have such a bleak world view. Homogenic is almost too heavy to take in sitting, and songs, like the grating "Pluto", are downright unlistenable. But there are moments of inspiration that burn through the dark clouds, particularly on the contemplative "Joga" and the uplifting "Bachelorette". --Aidin Vaziri

Customer Reviews

Brilliant Record
1. Hunter. 10/10
2. Joga. 10/10
3. Unravel. 9/10
4. Bachelorette. 10/10
5. All Neon Like. 10/10
6. 5 Years. 10/10
7. Immature. 9/10
8. Alarm Call. 10/10
9. Pluto. 10/10
10. All Is Full Of Love. 10/10

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10
1997 was a brilliant year. Janet released 2The Velvet Rope", Prince released the not so great "Crystal Ball" and Michael released the c**p release "Blood On The Dance Floor & HIStory In The Mix". Bjork was a international phenomenon and in 1997, released the stunning "Homogenic". Not one of the songs is 2nd rate, all are brilliant. The only reason I gave "Unravel" a 9 becuase it is very slow and "Immature" is very repetitive.

Beautiful, bold, breathtaking Bjork
At her most experimental, eschewing the conventional commercialism of some of her earlier work, this album stands out as possibly the best of the decade, by anyone, in rock/pop. The album needs to be heard as a whole; for its mood and sound is constant. Turn out the lights, put on your phones, and drift off into the sublime ambience of Bjork's grand imagination. The most important solo artist of the 90s at her peak. Batchelorette is unlike anyting else in popular music; I've never heard accordions used like this anywhere before, except perhaps in some imagined, idyllic France. Pure brilliance.

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Seemingly taking inspiration from Aphex Twin's Richard D. James Album released a year before, Homogenic sees Björk completely shed the quaint image she gained through her debut and embrace the unknown, the spacey and the just plain weird. I've already mentioned my love for the amateurish side of Björk, but the glitchy oddness of this album has a metallic sheen to it that very few records have managed, even ten years after its original release. Beats stutter cautiously alongside menacing strings; the production on this album flawlessly allowing the natural weirdness of Björk to roam free. 'Pluto' is way more aggressive than anything she's ever released, and it's made all the more incredible as it's followed by the beautiful 'All Is Full of Love'; the video of which sees demented genius Chris Cunningham show a much more sensitive side to his film-making, with two robots gettin' down to a bit of hanky panky. There's a handful of jaw-dropping moments on this album, but they're too few and far between for me to call this one of the classics of the '90s. Nonetheless, those scattered moments see one of the most distinctive singers in recent history at her natural best. You can't ask for more than that.