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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Ágætis Byrjun
Universal acclaim
Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 69 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Pias / Fat Cat / Bad Taste
Release Date: 15 May 2001
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
This sophomore effort from Icelandic quartet Sigur Ros (which translates to "Victory Rose") appeared on numerous year-end Best Of lists in 2000, despite not receiving an official release in the United States until the following year. Imagine one of Radiohead's recent albums -- or better yet, Spiritualized or My Bloody Valentine -- but with everything sung in Icelandic. This album garnered the band the 2001 Shortlist Prize for Artistic Achievement In Music.
Also By This Artist: () Hvarf/Heim Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust Takk... Von
Also On The Web: Shortlist Awards
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...
Nude As The News
Agaetis Byrjun stands up in overall artistic merit to any record ever made.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Sigur Rós effortlessly make music that is massive, glacial, and sparse..... They are the first vital band of the 21st Century.
Read Full Review >Armchair DJ
Each song drifts in and out of focus like snatches of street noise on a half-awake Sunday morning - no need to get up, just lie there and listen quietly.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
As foolish as it seems to say that any music is 100 percent new, I've never heard anything like this before.
Read Full Review >CDNow
A 72-minute haul into a cold, stirring, private space where the post-punk isolation of Joy Division is redefined and softened with mesmerizing doses of melody and romantic longing.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
At its best, the album seems to accomplish everything lagging post-shoegazers like Spiritualized or Chapterhouse once promised. However, at its worst, the album sometimes slides into an almost overkill of sonic structures
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
Sigur Ros's second album proper features this astonishing opener ["Svefn-G-Englar"] and 10 others which, while surprisingly diverse, each reflects their penchant for apocalyptic serenity, overdriven guitars and teenage singer Jonsi's Birgisson unique Hopelandish language.
Read Full Review >Trouser Press
When the music is fully operational... the potential for greatness is obvious.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
They evoke folks as diverse as Led Zeppelin and My Bloody Valentine, but the gently woozy Sigur Ros don't sound like anything or anyone else so much as a classic-rock band bewitched by white magic.
Read Full Review >Sonicnet
Agaetis Byrjun is an impressively unself-conscious record that would have been difficult to make in a trend-obsessive center like London or New York. It is sincere and though its influences may be familiar, its beauty and tenderness are refreshingly new.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
'Post-rock', which Sigur Rós most assuredly are, may be little more than the shoegazing of a decade ago in an ironic T-shirt, but that's no reason to dismiss it outright. For a start, much of it is very lovely.
Read Full Review >Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
A thematically linked work where some of the sonic landscapes were entrancing (although not warm).
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Waves of unidentifiable noise, dulcet vibraphone pulses and singer/guitarist Jonsi's ethereal singing (more like some ghostly instrument than any conventional vocal, borne out by Jonsi's fictional 'language', Hopelandish, which he often sings in) mesh to create an elegant, grand music that's equally ambient and epic.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
Ágætis Byrjun is one of the most sublimely immersive albums to come along in ages.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 69 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jimmy H. gave it a9:
truly moving album, it evokes sonic textures that leave impressions in you mind that will have these songs ringing through your ears for weeks, perhaps months after listening. Flawless except for the Overdrawn Ny Batteri, if it didn't take so long to get to anything good in that song then this entire album would be perfection. a must buy.
Joshua S. gave it a9:
First of all, if you find Radiohead dull, and any song longer than seven minutes long; you aren't gonna like this. Also, if you are a Blink-182 obsessive or a Metallica worshiper or a casual fan of Drop Dead Gorgeous, Enter Shikari and the like, you won't like this album. sorry, but this music is more than "tunes"...it's multi-dimensional, and I guess some people just won't ever get it.
Bob R gave it a10:
Gah... this album's making me stay up late - -;;;... but yeah, it's awesome stuff... Catches your attention right from Svefn-g-Englar. Recommended for Radiohead fans. Now i'm attempting to sing along :(..
dna 13 gave it a9:
Beautiful and ancient. New and utterly original. Trippy and grounded. Of this world and another...... This music is oxymoronic in more ways than a critique could ever validate.
Devyn M gave it a10:
this is one of my favorite and probablly will always be because of its beauty and original sound that sigur ros created. The use of the bow makes this album so much different then von or () because of its mellow and sleek noise it gives off. This album deserves its rating
Kris S gave it a10:
To all who posted "0"s, NO, Nickelback is NOT the greatest band in the world... XP~
Mike h gave it a10:
this is a ridiculously good album. anyone looking for a breath taking direction on rock and shoegaze need look no further, sigur ros have forged one of the most beautiful sounds in modern music history, and even though it feels pretentious to say that, one listen of Svefn-G-Englar justifies any foolish overblown statements. definitely one of my favorite albums of this decade so far.
