Medúlla
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LP / Format
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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
One of her best efforts.
100
Medulla may divide Björk's audience, but, combining intellectual rigour and sensual ravishment, it is brave and unique.
90
Instead of singing over interesting beats and scattered rhythms, BjΓΆrk uses her voice to dictate where the music goes.
90
Bjork has taken the high road with Medulla, the journey back into innocent fascination.
90
The ice from Vespertine has melted, and Bjork's voice sounds reborn like a phoenix from the flame.
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7mo
90
Medúlla arrives at a time when every last one of us would do well to remember the indomitable power of the human voice.
12y
84
It's an outrageous conceit from Iceland's most notorious experimental export, and a huge risk for her career after the relatively conventional, diehard-pleasing Vespertine.
12y
83
On Medulla, her voice is in constant motion, in sync with the beat, rather than battling it, whether she's running uphill (the orgasmic gasps of "Pleasure Is All Mine") or just bobbing weightlessly ("Vokuro").
80
Basically, bits of Medulla sound similar to Vespertine, but there's a marked distinction in the means of delivery and enough change to keep things interesting.
12y
80
A notch below the genius of 'Debut' or 'Homogenic' but precious nonetheless.
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1y
80
Very few performers in the history of pop have possessed the gift of making records which are instantly, recognisably theirs, at the same time as sounding like no other music previously made on this earth. If anyone out there still doubted that Bjork was one of these people, this extraordinary album will soon set them straight.
80
It's not an immediate album, but it is a fascinating one, especially for anyone interested in the world's oldest instrument being used in unexpected ways.
12y
80
Not only the bravest record she's ever made, it's also one of the strangest and most uncompromising by a major artist to get a commercial release.
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1y
80
Although the most commercially viable pieces might be those with funky hip-hop, garage or trip-hop beats ... the most satisfying tend to be those which either showcase her serpentine lead vocal lines ... or which surround her lead vocal with the comforting, feathery susurrus of the Icelandic Choir.
1mo
77
A fractured LP, compelling and convincing in its intent, but just plain less satisfying than Vespertine or Post.
70
Bjork’s seventh studio album is a shocker, the kind of record that’ll stop those who overhear it and make them ask, “What the hell is that?” Medulla is both the most extreme record Bjork has ever released and the most immediately accessible.
60
The few electronic beats and textures are deft, discreet soundbeds for the lush intimacies of the vocals, which slip from soothing to strident.
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1y
60
It is the curious marriage of glottal outpouring and emotional candour to microscopically detailed and often utterly illogical arrangements that keeps her music vital and unpredictable.
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1y
60
Medúlla is ahead of its time, and its failures are in the minority, but only time will tell if the album can earn a spot in heavy rotation the way Debut, Post, and Homogenic have.
40
It's an intriguing concept and she's got some excellent vocal technicians helping out, but the slowly unfolding songs just seem incomplete, like a cappella demos sorely in need of instrumental support.
A deep exploration of motherhood while Bjönk is beatboxing her way into your heart.
I wanted to listen to this album for a while now, considering the fact that it's one of the most adventurous projects in her discography. The concept of this album sounded very intriguing to me, So I had some high expectations going into this, But honestly, Who the fuck am I kidding, Of course its gonna be incredible its a damn Björk album.
On this album Björk executed one of her most daring ... read more
Shout out to Indiana University's Victoria Malawey, who has written multiple fascinating papers about this incredible album (possibly my favorite record of all time).
[Björk Album Discography Dive #5/10 - Medúlla (2004)]
Björk making an almost entirely acapella album is an absolutely ridiculous concept but one that makes total fucking sense after thinking about it for just a few seconds. It’s Björk for crying out loud of course it’s going to work.
Medúlla literally strips away all of the sweeping instrumentals and electronic doo dahs we’ve experienced in every project that came before it to offer a completely ... read more
This album is definetly Björk's most experimental project to date. This album is her most interesting concept to me, a vocal album. It's an amazing concept, almost every sound on this project is made by a human voice, and it's truly impressive.
Although I love a lot of songs on this album, some songs are just good in concept and are a bit too weird or boring for me. But when this album does it good, it does it great.
HIGHLIGHTS: Pleasure Is All Mine, Vökuró, Who Is It, ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | Pleasure Is All Mine 3:26 | 89 |
| 2 | Show Me Forgiveness 1:23 | 78 |
| 3 | Where Is the Line? 4:41 | 91 |
| 4 | Vökuró 3:14 | 84 |
| 5 | Öll Birtan 1:52 | 75 |
| 6 | Who Is It (Carry My Joy On the Left, Carry My Pain On the Right) 3:57 | 92 |
| 7 | Submarine 3:13 | 79 |
| 8 | Desired Constellation 4:55 | 88 |
| 9 | Oceania 3:24 | 93 |
| 10 | Sonnets / Unrealities XI 1:59 | 83 |
| 11 | Ancestors 4:08 | 73 |
| 12 | Mouth's Cradle 3:59 | 88 |
| 13 | Miðvikudags 1:24 | 76 |
| 14 | Triumph of a Heart 4:04 | 90 |
Total Length: 45 minutes
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Added on: July 2, 2011