Post

It's good, except for Army of Me

First off, what the actual fuck is with the mixing on Army of Me! There is like a hiss, or a tone, or something under Björk's vocals that is absolutely fucking excruciating to me. It's really apparent in the chorus when she starts singing loud, I think it took a few listens to notice, but once I did, it ruined the entire song for me. Am I the only one who hears it? The mixing on the rest of the album is great, so why does this exist? Everything else about the song is great, which is the only reason I gave it any points seeing as I literally can't bear to listen to it. The noise is on every version I've found so far, if anyone knows a version where it isn't present I'd love to hear where to find it.

Anyway

All in all this is a good album, a better one than her debut. It isn't quite as front-loaded with all the good songs, and it feels like a much more cohesive experience. I appreciated the strange risk-taking on Debut, but I think sticking largely to a single style was beneficial to the experience. Not that it isn't weird, It's Oh So Quiet made me feel like I was in Ratatouille until Björk started screaming, but that is different than back-to-back Venus, More to Life, and Someone to Love weird. The songwriting is consistently high quality as well, and of course Björk's vocals were phenomenal. I am pleased with where she has taken her music, and I'm looking forward to her next two albums, which i've heard are some of her best work.

Favorite Tracks:
1. It's Oh So Quiet
2. Hyper-Ballad
3. Isobel