- Critic score
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Takk... is still very much a Sigur Rós album, due in large part to the ever-present, otherworldly vocals, but also because the only real changes are the activeness of some arrangments.
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Although the album isn't groundbreaking, it does contain several new wrinkles in sound for the group, and most of them work quite well.
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Alternative PressThe cohesion that made their previous records so captivating has been significantly diminished. [Dec 2005, p.204]
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BillboardWhile there are no surprises in its technique or approach, Sigur Rós has succeeded in making a startlingly beautiful record. [17 Sep 2005]
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BlenderOn [Takk...], the band opens up emotionally, warming up their lengthy jams to a slow burn to create intoxicating, meditative rock. [Oct 2005, p.143]
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Well-constructed, thoughtful, emotionally provocative and cathartic.
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It is surely intoxicating.
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Takk is sharper and more direct than anything the band has previously churned out, but that is not to say it’s by any means accessible by normal standards.
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People will be Takk-ing about this truly amazing album for years to come.
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Entertainment WeeklyAt times Takk almost rocks--as much as tiny ice-crystal elves from the magical land of Narnia can rock, but still. [16 Sep 2005, p.88]
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FilterThe results are compact, near-pop micro-anthems. [#17, p.93]
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Los Angeles TimesToo little progress and too much mood. [4 Sep 2005]
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It will, absolutely and deservedly, reside among the best of the year, but, when given space, can ruminate indefinitely in one’s consciousness and soul.
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MagnetTakes a baby step toward the mainstream. [#69, p.108]
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MojoUninhibited where "()" felt constipated. [Oct 2005, p.99]
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Takk does what Agaetis Byrjun did by burrowing into the consciousness and snuggling down to bed there, purring. Each listen brings out another mood, another thought. It's gorgeous.
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Sigur Rós piece together breathtaking orchestrations that sound like they're singing to you from another world, telling you why your world is not so bad, that even in all the miserable monotony, something beautiful perseveres.
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If you imagine the noise God makes just before he eats a slice of cheese on toast, then comparably, that’s how satisfyingly yearning the 65 minutes of 'Takk…' sounds.
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Certainly, it feels as though Takk emerges from a group who, despite arriving at the zenith of their capability, has, at least for the time being, run out of things to say.
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The tendency to descend into new age goo is still present, and Takk, like all of Sigur Rós' discography, is not for the viscerally-minded. Regardless, the record is more than just meaningless wisps.
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It is undeniable that they can produce beautiful sounds with their equipment, it's just that they do not seem to be able to orchestrate it to any purpose afterwards.
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Takk... is in no way a departure for the band, and it's easy to forget that though the music is very different from most of what's out there, we've heard it from Sigur Rós before.
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Q MagazineTakk... [is] a thing of... supple, muscular beauty, throwing off the stultifying air of reverence that has sometimes surrounded them. [Oct 2005, p.116]
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Takk . . . suggests a far more abstract Coldplay stripped of their stadium bombast.
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Shifts into a cruise-control comfort zone, blissfully coasting on what has come before.
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As music that's beautiful simply for the sake of being beautiful, Takk… is an unqualified success.
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SpinThere is no more transportive band working in music. [Oct 2005, p.140]
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Their expanded sound, with its explosions of noise and romantic swells, deserves reconsideration by fans and skeptics alike.
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I always felt as if those moments of triumph in the band’s music were the focal points, the “good stuff” you waited for and wanted to arrive and then stay forever. This time around though, they appear to have taken a backseat to the band’s darker impulses, and staggeringly, Takk sounds all the better for it.
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So, while it's easy to imagine most of the songs on Takk... sitting comfortably on previous albums, the ebb and flow would be damagingly disrupted if any of the 11 tracks were moved around, omitted, or added to.
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Sigur Ros's sudden accessibility doesn't tarnish their mystique, but deepens and colours it.
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The New York TimesOn past albums, Sigur Ros has forged songs into hermetic sanctuaries, but on "Takk..." it expands its music toward both the abstract and the corporeal. [13 Sep 2005]
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Sigur Rós are still significant, but Takk sounds safe.
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Takk... resembles the movie The Aristocrats: a narrow selection of material given killer performances.
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UncutSigur Ros' alien beauty prescribes its own definition. [Oct 2005, p.112]
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Under The RadarA wonderfully unified and realized effort, showcasing a band that has never sounded more sure of themselves. [#11, p.112]
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UrbEventually the payoff makes all the setup completely worth it. [Dec 2005, p.99]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 184 out of 208
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Mixed: 14 out of 208
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Negative: 10 out of 208
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Aug 22, 2010perfection
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marcOct 7, 2005
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BatAgaetisByrjunSep 13, 2005As beautiful as Agaetis Byriun