Ágætis Byrjun | List Price: $13.98
Discount Price: $9.68
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Binding: Audio CD
Release Date: 2001-05-22
Why does this album not have a 5 star average? [Posted on 2008-06-24]
I am at a loss, attempting to understand how any human with ears and emotional capabilities could give this album any less than the full 5 stars. This music is on the very fringe of being able to be described through language... The best I can muster is surreal, ethereal, intricate, awing... This album contains both my first and second favorite songs ("Viðrar vel til loftárása" and "Svefn-g-englar", respectively)... both of these tracks actually moved me to tears.
Upon my first listen of this album, I knew it was something special. But alas, it required numerous listens to REALLY get down to the core of this deep album, as good music should. All I can say is that you must give the album a fair chance, and always listen to it in its entirety. It is not a haphazard collection of individual tracks, clumsily sewn together. While I earlier mentioned particularly adoring 2 tracks, really, this album functions as 1 whole unit, and it begs for your full attention- so turn off your shuffle and truly dedicate yourself to appreciating and lavishing this masterpiece.
This album is a profound adventure through a breathtaking soundscape. Do yourself a favor and get this album. If not.. just know that there will be a gaping void festering in your life until you do. This album is a necessity.
Through an album darkly [Posted on 2008-06-29]
I see from many other reviews here that the "pretentious" part of the discussion has been covered in (occasionally cutthroat) detail. I'll skip it and go straight to the album.
I freely admit that I'm a music nerd. Obscure languages don't put me off. Long tracks with no discernible structure? No problem. And yet I _still_ had to work in earnest to figure out anything on this album other than "Staralfur." This is thick, opaque, inscrutable stuff. It doesn't stand up well at all to casual listening.
If you can give the album several close listens, however -- and if the unsettling edge to the preteen-sounding, sunlight-deprived vocals doesn't put you off completely -- it's worth investing the time to get to know the music better. While the tracks divide up the album in traditional rock style, _Agaetis Byrjun_ more closely resembles a classical symphony. There are some gorgeous passages buried in the second half of the album (sometimes several minutes into single tracks). Once these spots become recognizable, the rest of the album will begin to fall into place. It's not a small effort on the listener's part, but the reward is considerable.
My three-star rating would be much higher on the music's quality alone. I wish that the artists had shared even a sliver of information about the album's lyrics, though. They're sung with such sincerity and feeling that it's a shame to be shut out of their poetry due to a language gap. While I respect the artists' desire to make a statement through their choice of language (and through their creativity in making up their own), the vocal lines are too structurally important to be ignored in the liner notes. Come on, Sigur Ros. Won't you give us non-Hopelandic speakers just a few hints?
Other than that, this is a dense and satisfying album that's worth the study time. Great way to find out what Sigur Ros is all about.
Agaetis Byrjun - Sigur Ros [Posted on 2008-07-28]
True, Agaetis Byrjun, is both fascinating and brilliant: but its also a much more modestly scaled, fuzzily intimate record than some of the work that came after (imagine ambient electronica recorded in a cave filled with tinkling icicles). This was the 2001 break out for Sigur Ros, a band that many have since come to love for their soaring evocations of wind blasted Icelandic landscapes, their soulful melodies and imaginative song arrangements using bowed guitar, string quartet, keybord, bass and drums. All in all, it's great stuff. My favourite track is Staralfur. A song that builds to a sweeping and majestic climax. There is something broken-hearted but incredibly pure here; a melancholy that is transmuted into deeply satisfying art. For those that are interested, the song, treated somewhat diffrently, but with equal beauty and luminosity also appears on Hvarf/Heim ... a somewhat grander version, but still deeply affecting.
Good Stuff! [Posted on 2008-08-08]
We should probably all bow down to Bill Perez as he is undoubtedly the all knowing god of all critics. Don't mind him, he just needs a hug.
Anyway, about the album. Its great stuff. Different. Trippy. Beautiful. Listen to some of their stuff first. If you don't like it, don't buy it.
I rated it 4 stars because it is MY PERSONAL OPINION. It just means its great but I like other things better.
More than a good start to Sigur Ros' international success [Posted on 2008-11-10]
The Icelandic band Sigur Ros, by this point in their career, have redefined and expanded their sound enough times to completely avoid categorization. Are they rock? Are they ambient? Or are they simply some breed of sophisticated pop? The only thing for certain is that Sigur Ros aren't afraid of being themselves, and have an awe-inspiring artistic freedom. Throughout this sprawling sophomore album, Sigur Ros created possibly their most accessible and simultaneously memorable album of their careers. The strategy utilized on Ágætis Byrjun is the same that was used on Von and would be used on future albums () and Takk. That strategy is simple. More means more. Which is ironic, because the opening introduction track is exactly the melody that the listener would want expanded on to about five minutes. This may seem like a pretentious move, but many have mistaken Sigur Ros' all-over-the-place style and relentless experimentation for pretentiousness only to gradually realize that it is true beauty and the art of learning while writing songs. Really, it is quite impressive how consistent this album stays. The bands style here is to combine subtle atmospheric instrumentation with emotive, soaring melodies. These songs sound huge, both in length and in scope, and the result is surprisingly warm. This also sounds very unlikely, almost too good to be true. But what do you know, Sigur Ros pull it off, against all odds. From the opening Svefn-G-Englar, vocals are given extremely relaxed treatment and strings and a lovely melody is gradually explored. It's hard to believe it, but every track is standout. Around the middle, the album shifts into a more dark, melancholy mood for the extent of two songs, Ny Batteri and Hjartao Hamast, which help to make Ágætis Byrjun Sigur Ros' most representative album. The extent of my gruff is that the band repeats themselves a little here and there, but who doesn't like more of a good thing? Happy, sad, lovely, dark, bright, relaxing, urgent. Sigur Ros are all of these things and more on their many albums, and this is the one that just happens to be the best. Sigur Ros is a wonderful band with myriad wonderful sounds. Start here.
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