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CRITIC REVIEWS
90
To put it briefly, I’ll claim that Volta is Björk’s best album yet. It is the most perfect and the most immaculate, beyond any doubt in my mind.
83
Volta is a weird mess of an album, but it's also Björk's most approachable and immediate since Homogenic.
80
It’s an album defined by its identity crisis – dizzily slipping, as it does, from metal-electronica one moment to spooky chamber-pop the next.
80
This is no sidestep, despite the recalling of past achievements; it takes one step back to fly a dozen forward, and leaves the listener bewildered at its incredible execution.
80
Volta could very easily sound scattered, but this isn't the case. Instead, it finds the perfect balance between the vibrancy of her poppier work in the '90s and her experiments in the 2000s.
80
Volta is a hotch-potch, a heady brew of strange and unsettling ingredients hop-scotched around by an artist who, a decade and a half since launching her solo career, still sounds like no-one else.
80
There are no eargasms along the lines of "Hyperballad", "Bachelorette", or "5 Years", but the whole thing is agreeable.
80
Volta is a strong album with memorable, remarkable tracks that have great variety, so much that the album loses cohesion.
80
From icy beatings to warm brass, this is glacial disco at its best.
70
She channels that avant-trad feeling into the brassy arrangements, suitable for both a medieval Viking fortress or contemporary concert hall.
70
By no measure is Volta a great album, but it is quite good. And, the deeper you delve, the more it has to offer.
70
Volta is arguably Bjork's loosest and most ruminative record, and though it touches on everything she's ever done, it's not as gripping or coherent as her best stuff.
70
Every song on Volta sounds like it was birthed in no fewer than 10 months, if not five years.
58
Where even her most divisive albums have managed to push her artistic boundaries, Volta feels limp and strangely empty-- almost unfinished.
49
Volta is one of those pretty-bad records that may stick around, may sound better in a few years.
This is way too overhated. But i agree, this cover is horrible.
I've seen a lot of people putting this in the bottom slot of their ranking of Björk albums, and i just don't see where they're coming from.
Maybe when i finish Björk's discography i'll see issues with this album, but until then...
!?!?!?!?DECLARE INDEPENDENCE!?!?!?!?
Favorites: Earth intruders, Wanderlust, Innocence, I see who you are, Pneumonia, Hope, DECLARE INDEPENDENCE, My juvenile
Least favorites: The dull ... read more
I've seen a lot of people putting this in the bottom slot of their ranking of Björk albums, and i just don't see where they're coming from.
Maybe when i finish Björk's discography i'll see issues with this album, but until then...
!?!?!?!?DECLARE INDEPENDENCE!?!?!?!?
Favorites: Earth intruders, Wanderlust, Innocence, I see who you are, Pneumonia, Hope, DECLARE INDEPENDENCE, My juvenile
Least favorites: The dull ... read more
Great
I don't think this is her worst by any means. In fact, this album really wow's me with its instrumentation style. Much like Utopia, there's this aesthetic focused on one single instrument throughout the album. Utopia has the flutes, and Volta has the HORN SECTION. As a saxophone player, I appreciate the experimentation with notes and tones on the horn lines. It gives the music a warm and soft feeling on tracks with horns.
Color: Red
FAV TRACKS: The Dull Flame of Desire, Hope, Earth ... read more
I don't think this is her worst by any means. In fact, this album really wow's me with its instrumentation style. Much like Utopia, there's this aesthetic focused on one single instrument throughout the album. Utopia has the flutes, and Volta has the HORN SECTION. As a saxophone player, I appreciate the experimentation with notes and tones on the horn lines. It gives the music a warm and soft feeling on tracks with horns.
Color: Red
FAV TRACKS: The Dull Flame of Desire, Hope, Earth ... read more
After the CHAOS of today, I took the time to wisely study all releases BEFORE listening to any other Björk again, in order to find the TRUE Diego-approved LP. I mean, at least now people won't randomly post my Instagram photos in replies anymore (yep, it happened).
Unsurprisingly enough, this is Björk's 2nd least popular album here in AOTY - but I'm actually curious of the reason for that! The electronic vibes surrounding the tracks made the album more vivid and pleasing, fitting ... read more
Unsurprisingly enough, this is Björk's 2nd least popular album here in AOTY - but I'm actually curious of the reason for that! The electronic vibes surrounding the tracks made the album more vivid and pleasing, fitting ... read more
♫ Start your own... CURRENCY!
Make your own... STAMP!
Protect your language
(and trees, obviously) ♫
Make your own... STAMP!
Protect your language
(and trees, obviously) ♫
a change in production for bjork, but for the better. volta shifted bjork from her traditional style to a sound that was more in the with modern times. she had her breathtaking vocals to back herself up, which helps a lot when youre the best singer of all time. at this point, its basically bjork doing what she does best, and thats why its a great album. there are a couple shortcomings, like the crazily messed up production on declare independence, but those can easily be overlooked by the ... read more
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Year End Lists
| #12 | / | musicOMH |
| #19 | / | Q Magazine |
| #24 | / | MOJO |
| #24 | / | Treble |
| #30 | / | Paste |
| #40 | / | No Ripcord |
| #42 | / | Gigwise |
Track List
- Earth Intruders
- Wanderlust
- The Dull Flame Of Desire
- Innocence
- I See Who You Are
- Vertebrae By Vertebrae
- Pneumonia
- Hope
- Declare Independence
- My Juvenile
In Library (81)
stereogum.com
Video: Björk – “Tabula Rasa” pitchfork.com
Björk Announces New Concert Performance Cornucopia consequenceofsound.net
Björk returns to Jools Holland for first TV performance in eight years 
Added on: June 14, 2011
