base talk Hot take: Bjork actually sucks, why?

[Brishka]

Your thread sounds like a bunch of contrarian bullshit. 

[BlackoutZone]

This dispute and absurd takes are so funny when they come from users who most of the time worship music of late 00s/early 10s as if it wasn’t the most awfully overproduced generic garbage and the lowest time for mainstream pop ever

Not all Bjork albums are great (or even “listenable”) but the rest is and she remains the standard as evident.

[MotoPapi]

I agree 

 

she just screams nonsense 

 

people like her for clout and to appear cool

[JoeAg]

i love her so much but i don’t find myself listening to her quite as much as i did in 2015-2019. Post and Homogenic are both easy 10s for me, everything just comes together so well! she has some of the greatest string arrangements in pop music ever in some of her songs  i mean Venus as a Boy, Hyperballad, Hunter, Jóga, 5 Years… so many euphoric, enlightening musical moments

her voice is honestly the most polarizing alt girl voice. all of my friends have warmed up to Kate and Joanna and Fiona… but Björk is easily, significantly, left behind in terms of what my friends who aren’t exactly alt fans will learn to love. i think in addition to the alt girl affectations, it’s the gutturalness of her voice sometimes that can throw people off. i think in general her music grows on the listener

 

that being said, Utopia is one of those rare albums that extremely grew off of me. i mean i LOVED it for about 6 months after it was released and then i could stand it less and less and less and now it’s easily my least favorite album of hers 

[JoeAg]

also Unravel is one of my favorite songs of all time, it is simply perfection

Björk is to Unravel what FKA twigs is to Pendulum, imo

[Alex]

the lashings in here ouuu

[Both Sides Now]

[Solaria]

The lack of taste hunny….

[Daddy]

6 hours ago, fauxtography said:

north west gays with mustaches

DRAG. ME. 

[Into The Void]

6 hours ago, fauxtography said:

I've been sitting on this thread for a bit, mainly out of fear of offending the north west gays with mustaches, but I don't think I can refrain from opening this can of worms.

 

I spent a lot of years convincing myself Bjork was a genius - and her music was iconic and groundbreaking, and of a higher intelligence. I came to this conclusion because a.) the pretentious music gays i usually am fully on board with - believe this of Bjork, and b.) I was really basing my opinion on a couple of songs that are actually good.

 

But I always remember I don't actually like her when I see actual fans discussing her albums and discography and I'm over here like, Vespertine is pure garbage and I really couldn't match any songs with song names except her most popular. ANYWAYS, I've broken down the reasons why I think Bjork sucks ass below:

 

1.) The few great songs in her discog sound nothing like her actual catalog.

 

 

Maybe you're like me, and Joga was your frame of reference. The song is pretty spectacular, once you get over her usual grunting and moaning of syllables, the production immaculate, the song is beautiful and pretty timeless.

 

Homogenic is NONE of those things.

 

The album is like an hour of no melody, bjork grunts, and nintendo wii music. Is there someone out there who actually enjoys 5 years? My nephew, a toddler, has a 3 note plastic keyboard that makes better songs than this.

 

 

 

2.) She's not as influential as you think.

 

I feel like Bjork is always credited for the indie/singer-songwriter girlies but I don't think that checks out. Even the current "Avant Garde" artists of today have stronger ties to the likes of Kate Bush, an artist who actually broke the mold in the 70s/80s, instead of Bjork, who started in the 90's. There's actually a mile long list of artists more influential in the 90's than Bjork, here's some for example.

 

Fiona Apple is more influential than Bjork.

Alanis Morrisette is more influential than Bjork.

Vanessa Carleton is more influential than Bjork.

Natalie Imbruglia is more influential than Bjork.

S Club 7 is more influential than Bjork.

 

And the list goes on and on.

 

3.) Her only listenable album is Post, released in 1995.

 

 

 

 

And thats unfortunate, huh? You'd think after 12 attempts over 4 decades that ANYTHING else would be a solid effort. Giving credit where credit is due that she has remained a full time musician for so long, but I’m gagged there are people who can listen to any album outside of Post, and maybe Debut, and actually enjoy it start to finish? 

 

 

Obviously, that is just my opinion. So I'd like to reopen my mind to Bjork and hear from actual fans of her work:

 

What is the appeal of Bjork?
Am I neglecting some genius tracks that might be buried in her discography of pings and pongs and mating calls?

What do you think is her best album?

 

 

 

 

Sweetie none of her music is listenable 

[Eric.]

6 pages on ATRL? Only for the Queen! She has y'all bothered!

[Heldenzeit]

I don’t do drugs, so yes I agree that she sucks. 

[sourtwink]

[Solaria]

Also I’ve said this before and I will say it again: yall are always quick to put the ‘unlistenable’ ‘dated’ ‘noisy’ stamp on loud electronic music and its annoying. There is more to music than just acoustic / playing a live instrument

[mandynasty]

Some of her albums suck (not really into Volta, Biophilia or Utopia for that matter)

 

But the pearl-clutching reactions to her ITT are literally just people coming to electronic music like it's a foreign language. I can't believe I'm seeing people describe straightforward songs like Hyper-ballad, 5 Years, All Is Full Of Love(!!!) like they're unlistenably abstract harsh noise. Get out.

 

She has the voice of an angel btw.

[Thinking Of You]

I remember randomly finding the story about her obsessive fan that killed himself on camera. So weird. It scared me. It didn’t help I was watching a video about it at night 

[Eric.]

47 minutes ago, JoeAg said:

Björk is easily, significantly, left behind in terms of what my friends who aren’t exactly alt fans will learn to love. i think in addition to the alt girl affectations, it’s the gutturalness of her voice sometimes that can throw people off. i think in general her music grows on the listener

Not to mention most of her music has gotten way less alternative and less melodic and more avant garde/experimental with each new album. 

She really is an acquired taste and the best way to introduce someone to her music is indeed chronologically. That Debut-Post-Homogenic album run is perfection. 

 

Ngl, the first Björk album I ever bought was Volta and it was such a departure from all the alt pop music I had been used to from her that I got a little buyers remorse. 

Her latest three albums are good, but they're also like an impressive museum exhibit (Biophilia was literally an app too). You experience them once, enjoy them a lot, but don't really have an urge to go back to them.

Edited June 15, 2022 by Eric.

[Jack!]

I think she’s not got everyone, and I guess I would be included in that. She has a small selection of tracks that do make it into some of my playlists, but (and I’m sure I’m gonna get dragged I’m sure for making this comparison) I think there’s other acts like iamamiwhoami/ionnalee who do what she does a bit better/more subjectively enjoyably.

[Cloudy]

She doesn't. She's a very interesting artist both sonically and visually. I would be lying if I said I enjoy ALL of her material but she has awsome songs and albums like Pagan Poetry, Joga, Possibly Maybe, Bachelorette, etc.

 

 

[John Slayne]

OP is the music equivalent of adults whose favourite food is chicken nuggets 

[jqnetto]

what a weird and groundless take

 

her debut album is an accessible collection of underground gay bops

 

 

[Beautiful Garbage]

To each their own.

 

My boyfriend also can't get his head around her work, although he does enjoy It's Oh So Quiet. 

 

I adore her - I find her a genius in terms of production, lyricism and I just love how raw and relatable her craft can be. It just resonates with me. 

I also feel like if you had the chance to see her live you'd change your mind. She's brilliant in concert. There is not much interaction with the public but listening to her voice and the instrumentals of her songs live is an otherworldly experience.

[jqnetto]

 

imagine sucking like that

 

 

[terrorblade]

she really does

[wehavetostan]

1 hour ago, MotoPapi said:

I agree 

 

she just screams nonsense 

 

people like her for clout and to appear cool