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Voltaic [Live] Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 49 Ratings

  • Summary: The live CD features live recordings after the release of 2007's "Volta."
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. As Bjork no doubt hoped it would, the result--long on material from that year's Volta but also featuring such oldies as 'Army of Me' and 'Pagan Poetry'--captures both energy and detail.
  2. The recordings on the CD are crisp and clear, and do a lot to highlight both Bjork’s expansive singing and the borderline-insane arrangements around it.
  3. This CD/DVD set of tour extras might make you feel like your brain's doing sit-ups.
  4. Those looking for a live greatest hits-style album will be a bit disappointed by the CD portion of Voltaic, which misses as many of Björk’s big songs as it hits. The DVD, however, manages to get to almost all of them.
  5. So let’s file Voltaic, released by Nonesuch a couple of weeks ago, under the category of Things We Didn’t Think We Needed.
  6. The package itself is labyrinthine in how it houses so many layers of content, but it's too bad that much of the material isn't quite essential, making this a release for die-hards only.
  7. This second-hand facelessness runs throughout Volta, which still reads oddly rote and cold with this addendum. Even with its hulking abundance, Voltaïc is flesh without bone.

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
  1. [Anonymous]
    Jul 31, 2009
    10
    A really great offering it mixes Bjork's classics with her new material.
  2. Jul 24, 2017
    9
    This live versions of her songs are reworked for brass instruments. So some of the songs, like "All is Full of Love", become very warm. AndThis live versions of her songs are reworked for brass instruments. So some of the songs, like "All is Full of Love", become very warm. And the tracklist is coherent, clear and generous. Expand
  3. Oct 29, 2013
    8
    Turmoil! Carnage! Tracks like 'Earth Intruders' and 'Innocence' work much better as live numbers. The in the meantime classic combination ofTurmoil! Carnage! Tracks like 'Earth Intruders' and 'Innocence' work much better as live numbers. The in the meantime classic combination of Hyperballad/Freak Pluto Declare Independence is as powerhouse on the DVD as it is in real life. Expand
  4. Oct 28, 2013
    7
    Voltaic excludes some of the amazing performances from the visually dazzling Volta Tour like "Who Is It?", "Hyperballad" and "Pluto", butVoltaic excludes some of the amazing performances from the visually dazzling Volta Tour like "Who Is It?", "Hyperballad" and "Pluto", but otherwise offers a harmonic but somewhat lifeless delivery of songs. Expand
  5. Sep 1, 2015
    0
    I don't understand how people like Bjork. Her voice sounds like a goat and her music is barely threaded together as she sings half-a**ed overI don't understand how people like Bjork. Her voice sounds like a goat and her music is barely threaded together as she sings half-a**ed over the track. Her live is even worse! Expand