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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Volta
by Bjork


7.6

based on 35 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 94 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Official Artist Site

The typically eclectic guest lineup on Bjork's first studio album in three years includes Timbaland, a ten-piece all-female horn section, and members of Konono No. 1, Lightning Bolt, Antony & The Johnsons, and LFO.

LABEL:	Atlantic
RELEASE DATE:	08 May 2007
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Alternative, Rock

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...

Stylus Magazine

As with much of her past work, it’s almost embarrassingly human, sometimes sounding too close to you to believe it’s not your own.

Tiny Mix Tapes

Volta is Björk’s best album yet.

Dot Music

It's probably Bjork's most succinct and inventive statement yet.

Filter

You have not only a Bjork that's fun again, but an album that is simultaneously politically charged, esoteric and glossy with mainstream appeal. [#25, p.88]

Los Angeles Times

Even as the music settles into some of the visionary Icelandic artist's familiar contours, she stirs in enough new ingredients to keep things moving.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Volta is a weird mess of an album, but it's also Björk's most approachable and immediate since Homogenic.

All Music Guide

It finds the perfect balance between the vibrancy of her poppier work in the '90s and her experiments in the 2000s.

Hartford Courant

An album so confident in its experimental spirit that its eclecticism seems nothing short of captivating, even though its charms are subtle enough to require a little time before they become apparent.

Sputnikmusic

Volta is a strong album with memorable, remarkable tracks that have great variety, so much that the album loses cohesion.

Playlouder

It's in the vein of 'Debut' in terms of songwriting but there are a lot more samples of foghorns on this record.

New Musical Express

'Volta' is another amazing statement of intent - full of hope, eccentricity and wonderfulness.

Uncut

She's rarely sounded more alive. [Jun 2007, p.92]

Mojo

Volta bristles with life. [Jun 2007, p.102]

musicOMH.com

Björk's mind remains artistically open to just about anything, and on this album she sounds like she's enjoying recharging it with another tranche of skewed new ideas.

BBC collective

The result is less cohesive than Vespertine or Medulla but the fun’s in the exuberance, the jolting between musical styles.

The Guardian

Volta lacks the unity of vision and enveloping sensuality of Vespertine and Medulla, but no one else could have made this record, voracious in its synthesis of world music.

Drowned In Sound

Initial listens leave the impression that Volta is a top-heavy release, but as with Vespertine repeat visitations see the record smoothing and flattening out, with consistency becoming apparent over a shorter period of time than with many a Bjork LP before it.

Rolling Stone

Volta is arguably Bjork's loosest and most ruminative record, and though it touches on everything she's ever done, it's not as gripping or coherent as her best stuff.

Observer Music Monthly

Listen intently, repeatedly, and you'll hear much to widen your consciousness... But listen for, you know, enjoyment and you'll be left wanting.

Slant Magazine

Every song on Volta sounds like it was birthed in no fewer than 10 months, if not five years. "Fun" hardly has an opportunity to enter the picture when Björk's now seemingly permanent fastidiousness remains her métier.

Delusions of Adequacy

Volta is her most accessible album in years, even if it is sometimes at the expense of its own best interest.

Dusted Magazine

As rich as this stuff sounds (it’s hard to think of a working musician with classier production values) or how much she emotes on the mic, it’s calculated, cerebral and a little bit cold.

PopMatters

By no measure is Volta a great album, but it is quite good. And, the deeper you delve, the more it has to offer.

Under The Radar

While Bjork's past sounds are arguably better than most, Volta is perhaps the first Bjork effort that looks backwards instead of forward into the future. [Summer 2007, p.79]

Blender

Even if nobody's made a record that sounds much like this before, she's given her performance here too many times already. [Jun 2007, p.106]

Spin

Her vision is worth the price of submission. [Jun 2007, p.90]

Prefix Magazine

As she sets her sights on bigger targets, namely war and terrorism, it's hard not to wish she'd remained as narrowly focused on the politics of personal freedom.

Austin Chronicle

Beyond the interstellar electro-club vibe, it's still distinctively Björk on the ballads.

Entertainment Weekly

Volta isn't nearly as groovy as it sounds on paper.

Boston Globe

"Volta," much like "Medulla," is an appealing series of collaborations and musical ideas that do not quite jell in their final, recorded versions.

Billboard

Even Björk's misses are more exciting than most of what we currently call hits. [12 May 2007]

Hot Press

Nothing Bjork does is ever less than provocative... Just don’t expect to it to force you out of your seat.

Pitchfork

Where even her most divisive albums have managed to push her artistic boundaries, Volta feels limp and strangely empty-- almost unfinished.

cokemachineglow

An album of pasty songs, severe missteps and bizarre overreaches, but an album nevertheless shimmering occasionally with the inherent sometime-genius of its creator, Volta is one of those pretty-bad records that may stick around, may sound better in a few years.

NOW Magazine

Fans might find it a fascinating revelation, and Madonna will likely swipe a few ideas, while everyone else is left wondering what happened to the tunes.

The average user rating for this album is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 94 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chris K gave it a10:
Bjork is my favorite singer of all time. The only problem with her is that she is soo ahead of her time it is ridiculous and that is why alot of people(including myself when i first heard her) don't get her music.... but after seeing her live performing volta i was blown away..... if you want to hear volta at its best download the mp3 of her at coachella 2007.

ixat a gave it a10:
one thing needs to be clarified here - this is not a pop album. don't get ur mind confused when knowing that timba's workin with her n this one.. he's merely putting beats on 3 of the numbers here... not a poplover material this one, i say.. n only real fans of hers will know how to appreciate this album

Aaron R gave it a4:
Bjork seems to have been aiming at musical abstract art with this album(as with Medulla) instead of real musical art, as her previous albums were. Most of the songs on this album sound make you feel like you're in an art gallary, watching a bunch of wealthy socialites admire a canvas with random pocka dots all over the place. I must say, I don't get it, and I question the sincerity of those who think the album is awesome.

Khalid B gave it a10:
First time i listened through the cd, i thought it was a complete dissapointment, then i listened it again, it was possibly one of the most amazing things ive listened to this year (besides The Con,Ga Ga Ga,Maths and English etc.) i think a high light is the duets with Anthony, it showed how much emotion she can sing with, it was soo haunting, so original, it almost brought a year to my eye when i first heard the song, it was soo amazing. Bjork, good job, another great success. I hope you put the dull flame on your greatest hits cd (which i expect will be out in the following years)

C P gave it a2:
Prior to Medulla, I can scarcely remember even thinking of skipping a song on a Bjork album. I have loved them all -- almost equally. Volta is an utter disappointment for me. The arrangements are far too sparse and for the love of god -- where is the melody? Earth Intruders is a decent song, but after dozens of listens over a week, I've felt no urge to listen to any of the remaining tracks on this Volta. I'm blown away ... just shocking.

Jorge S gave it a6:
Good album... but a little disappointing because it does not contribute anything new and it is not as original as the previous one.

Qimmah N gave it a10:
I am a big fan of Volta. But like all of her last 3 albums -it had to grow on me as I grew in my ability to appreciate such a unique musical mind. I truly see her music as an inspirational, heart melting brilliance. She is consistently genius and if you can see that, you just don’t get it!

Volta by Bjork

Volta
by Bjork