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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Medulla
Universal acclaim
Based on 39 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 92 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Elektra/Asylum
Release Date: 31 August 2004
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Alternative, Rock
Summary
What the Icelandic singer's fifth album lacks in instrumentation (although there is a bit, provided by members of Matmos, Mum, and other collaborators), it makes up for with voices--lots and lots of voices. Think everything from beatboxing (including contributions from The Roots' Rahzel), choirs and Inuit throat-singing to, well, Mike Patton.
Also By This Artist: Drawing Restraint 9 OST SelmaSongs: Music from the Motion Picture Dancer in the Dark Vespertine Volta Voltaic [Live]
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly
One of her best efforts. [10 Sep 2004, p.161]
Junkmedia
The album, impressive in its scope and sense of adventure, is a further reinvention in Björk's already massive discography.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
Medulla may divide Björk's audience, but, combining intellectual rigour and sensual ravishment, it is brave and unique.
Read Full Review >E! Online
Fans of the Icelandic wonder's more orchestral tunes might think there's something missing here. Well, unless they're too busy being totally blown away.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine
Especially when heard on headphones, Medulla is an overwhelming sonic bliss-out, Phil Spector’s wall of sound channeled through the voice box.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
Bjork’s great achievement with Medulla is in taking a self-imposed limitation and managing to craft a full-bodied, multilayered work from such a basic toolset.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
Though hardly Björk's most pronounced statement, Medúlla is definitely a highlight of her already illustrious career.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
To me, Medulla is an experiment in transforming the primal power of the human voice into a 21st century context. It's an amazing effort, and it's one of the best albums of the year.
Read Full Review >Splendid
The question is not whether Medúlla is brilliant; insofar as this can be objectively asserted, it most certainly is. The question is really, Do you like Björk? Do you like her a lot? Obviously, a Björk a capella album is going to be lost on you if you never really liked her vocal style in the first place.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
Björk weaves into Medúlla a palpable longing for a simpler world--a world predating smart bombs and collapsing towers, a world in which life revolved around the expressive raising of one’s voice, both solitarily and in concert with others.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
Björk has transcended any pop plinth she may (incorrectly) have been placed upon, to become, probably, our greatest contemporary female vocalist since Diamanda Galas.
Read Full Review >Flak Magazine
No matter how the sounds are made, it is with captivatingly sincere intent that they are never boring and, above all, always enjoyable.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
The ice from Vespertine has melted, and Bjork's voice sounds reborn like a phoenix from the flame. [#7]
Los Angeles Times
The luminosity of her performance counters the album's tendency toward dry formalism. [5 Sep 2004]
Read Full Review >Lost At Sea
Björk shrouds Medúlla in mystery and darkness, but it's far from gloomy.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
It continues Björk's run of releases that sound nothing like their predecessors, yet is, as ever, particular to her.
Read Full Review >Spin
It's no mere gimmick. [Oct 2004, p.111]
Dot Music
Everything, you suspect, that people hate about Björk is multiplied a thousandfold here. But by the same measure, to her fans, “Medulla” is an intimate, ecstatic wonder.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
This disc may have a wilder sense of love-and-adventure about it, and may offer the thrills of an unpredictable ride, but, in its capriciousness and incongruousness, the thing Medulla rarely feels like is an album.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
Bits of Medulla sound similar to Vespertine, but there’s a marked distinction in the means of delivery and enough change to keep things interesting.
Read Full Review >Urb
[A] powerful statement. [Oct 2004, p.101]
The New York Times
While the album might seem to be a conceptual stunt, it finds gorgeous and startling new ways to extend Bjork's longtime mission: merging the earthy and the ethereal. [29 Aug 2004]
Read Full Review >Village Voice
Where 2001's Vespertine was erotic, Medulla is reflexive and awestruck.
Read Full Review >Filter
Doubtless the closest she'll ever come to letting you dance in the madfields of her mind with her. [#12, p.94]
Mojo
Not only the bravest record she's ever made, it's also one of the strangest and most uncompromising by a major artist to get a commercial release. [Sep 2004, p.93]
Delusions of Adequacy
This record is so far beyond anything that she has done in the past that it is absolutely certain to alienate the majority of the listening public and more than a few of her fans.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
A notch below the genius of 'Debut' or 'Homogenic' but precious nonetheless. [4 Sep 2004, p.73]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Once its novelty factor fades, Medulla settles down as a stirring, nuanced album that takes a while to take hold.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
A fractured LP, compelling and convincing in its intent, but just plain less satisfying than Vespertine or Post.
Read Full Review >The Wire
Possibly the most daring record she's ever made... [but] Medulla is not a complete success. [#247, p.53]
Q Magazine
The few electronic beats and textures are deft, discreet soundbeds for the lush intimacies of the vocals, which slip from soothing to strident. [Oct 2004, p.120]
Amazon.com
Without a doubt the most challenging collection of music she has ever released.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Both the most extreme record Bjork has ever released and the most immediately accesible. [16 Sep 2004, p.79]
Blender
It's conceptually daring, but beyond a few ecstatic moments... the sound is familiarly Bjorkish. [Oct 2004, p.113]
Planet
The replay moments on Medulla are the tracks where Bjork reconnects with perennial producer Mark Bell. [#8, p.78]
Austin Chronicle
All in all, though, Medúlla is far too busy. Even when you're experimenting, the less-is-more rule still applies.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 92 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Panos K. gave it a10:
Totally mind-blowing!!!!This album sounds more arresting and beautiful than a whole orchestra. It's so brilliant in its simplicity from the very first listen. Might be her best work!
Victor L. gave it a10:
My fav Bjork album!Very brave,unique,complex...The only song I don't like is Ancestors.
ipse d gave it a9:
It takes a being who adores innovation to accept this album wholly; only a person like Bjork can truly love tracks like 'Ancestors'. This album is not for the average. Art.
Cougan S. gave it a10:
Bjork's best album to date. Original, mind-blowing, emotional, beautiful. Gorgeous.
Enzo P. gave it an8:
A very obscure album that makes anybody fall in love with Bjork's voice.
marina gave it a10:
The main argument against it is " it's too dificult. heavy to the head, rare"... But we could also call it " elaborate, misterious, creative"... not everyone can understand music of this level, but once you do you just love it.
dil h. gave it a7:
This is one of bjorks strange album. i thought track 3 where is the line was very creepy but overall i gqave it a 7.
