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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Vespertine
by Bjork
Bjork's follow-up to 1997's 'Homogenic' and last year's soundtrack to Dancer In The Dark is closer in sound and mood to the latter, taking a quieter, more ambient approach. Produced by San Francisco-based electronic artists Matmos, 'Vespertine' utilizes mainly electronic instrumentation, much of which was recorded by Bjork in Iceland. The lead single is "Hidden Place."
| LABEL: |
Elektra/Asylum |
| RELEASE DATE: |
28 August 2001 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Alternative, Electronic |
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...
95
Nude As The News
A beautiful, magical, mystical soundtrack; similar to Homogenic, but in a sense, more light-hearted and full of love.
90
Dot Music
It's unlikely you'll hear anything as near to perfect, magical and downright lovely all year.
90
CDNow
With Vespertine, Bjork has constructed a whispering wall of wonders, and instead of forcing everyone out, has invited the world to look through the cracks.
90
All Music Guide
Vespertine isn’t so much a departure from her previous work as a culmination of the musical distance she’s traveled...
90
The Wire
In the end, Vespertine commits its magic by daring to go places more obvious and more human than one would have ever expected. [#210, p.52]
90
Ink Blot Magazine
While Homogenic, Post, and Debut were emotionally frenetic and often musically confrontational, Vespertine is rich in its tranquillity and spiritual divinity, full of astute observation and patient acceptance.
90
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Her best album to date.... Vespertine is an album of small gestures, one almost challenging in its stillness.... The cumulative effect is an album both timeless and of the moment, an avant-garde electronic-pop exploration of classic themes.
90
New York Magazine
Her new album, Vespertine, is the singer's most complete and compelling expression of that wondrous worldview yet.
90
Drawer B
As difficult as it is gorgeous, Vespertine ranks among Bjork’s finest albums.
90
Billboard
This intimate, often breathtakingly beautiful collection (primarily produced by the artist herself) finds solace in the calm after the storm.
90
PopMatters
The best album of Björk's career
89
Austin Chronicle
This is breathtaking, life-affirming music with the power to heal and restore. It's that beautiful.
88
Spin Cycle
The most introspective and slow-tempo collection in Björk's catalog, "Vespertine" proves to be a rousing showcase of her captivating vocal talent.
83
Entertainment Weekly
When it all comes together, as on ''Hidden Place'' or ''It's Not Up to You,'' Björk and her electronica collaborators create moving interplanetary chorals. ''Vespertine'' is also her most erotic work....
83
E! Online
Björk's latest is as delightfully eccentric as her choice in outfits, blending scratchy electronic programming with tinkling music boxes and squeezing her formidable voice into ancient-sounding harmonies or futuristic whispers.
80
Playlouder
This is a Warp-inspired wonderland of intricate glitches, murmuring glacial low-end smoothness, and subtle, filmic orchestration.
80
Blender
Vespertine is her most intensely private and intimate-sounding work, a journey through an interior world that is quietly ecstatic, erotic and playful.
80
Village Voice
Vespertine is an album for small curtained establishments, for taking your "little ghetto blaster" onto back streets, for intimate and precious occasions.
80
Uncut
She uses her voice as well as she ever has, giving the moods light and shade. [Sep 2001, p.104]
80
Sonicnet
1997's Homogenic, also a mixture of heavy beats and strings, was not as varied or complete as this album, and while Selmasongs, last year's soundtrack to "Dancer in the Dark" (in which Björk starred), was lovely in its own sweeping, cinematic way, Björk has surpassed herself with this new work.
80
Neumu.net
Björk continues to mine the fine line of minimalist lushness that her last album gave birth to; with tiny, crackling, skittery beats weaving open-toned ambient beds in which her breathy, pushed-forward vocals lithely lay, the closeness and drama of her every syllable commanding attention.
80
Rolling Stone
The best solo record of her career... Vespertine is the closest any pop-vocal album has come to the luxuriant Zen of the new minimalist techno, even beating Radiohead's nervy Kid A. Where Kid A sounded like a record of risk, the work of a band on unfamiliar ground, Bjork sings here as if she owns and knows every inch of space and shadow in these songs.
80
Alternative Press
Vespertine isn't immediately accessible, but after repeat listens, a smoldering heart of emotion and a true pop sensibility reveal themselves. [Oct 2001, p.77]
80
Mojo
A gorgeous reverie. [Sep 2001, p.99]
80
Q Magazine
Vespertine quietly proves that cutting-edge production and human contact aren't mutually exclusive. [Sep 2001, p.109]
72
Pitchfork
While undeniably beautiful, Vespertine fails to give electronic music the forward push it received on Björk's preceding albums. Rather than designing sounds never before imagined, the album merely sounds current, relying on the technology of standard studio software and the explorations of the Powerbook elite.... Still, Vespertine makes for an intriguing listen, and manages to hold its own after hours on repeat.
70
Almost Cool
If there's one question to be raised with the album, it's that it's all simply so lush and nice that on some levels it fails to excite.
60
Armchair DJ
The entire LP takes on a sort of plodding sameness even as the overall sonics soar.
The average user rating for this album is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 46 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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