I first heard this album, probably the year after release, on a coach while accompanying a party of sixth form students to Paris, and found it infectious. I acquired a tape of the album, knowing little about this strange Icelander, and have enjoyed it ever since, without delving too deeply into her subsequent work. It’s another old favourite I grabbed on CD when I saw it cheap in a charity shop.
From the off, it’s a great pop album, well constructed songs, delivered in Björk’s individual style, whether it’s the livelier, bouncier numbers, like Crying, There’s More To Life Than This, Big Time Sensuality, or slower ones like the lovely Venus As A Boy, the minimalist sax heavy Anchor Song, the gentle Come To Me, or the harp accompanied Like Someone In Love. Yet the arrangements are far more imaginative than in most pop music, drawing from global influences, beats and instruments.
However, Björk’s voice is very much a matter of taste, and to me, after a while it seems to grate, especially where she seems to be trying too hard, such as on Aeroplane, where the power of her voice drowns an interesting accompaniment. But, on the whole, it’s an enjoyable album, where I don’t think there’s a duff track. But unless her voice really works for the individual listener, the whole album in one sitting might be more that enough.
4* - it’s an imaginative debut album, by someone not afraid to be different.
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