Homogenic

Homogenic was recorded and released at possibly Bjork's most controversially intense point of her career, as many have stated she was something of a media uproar throughout the years since her remarkable Debut and Post albums, but in regard Homogenic is surprisingly reflective of this period in the sense that it plays down that huge style schizophrenic productions of her previous masterpiece albums Debut and Post which appeared to range from Trip-Hop to House to R&B to Folk and Rock and all in between with her distictfully raw and unusual deliver of her crisp vocals. Homogenic delivers something of a minimalistic production and works all the better for it rather than trying to out-do and out achieve her previous recordings it matches itself by being(like the two albums) and absolutely distinct fully remarkable album that can stand on its own strength.Homogenic forces Bjork down a musical path of exploration and discovery as well as a much more darker use of trip-hop at the genre's most brutally honest and thumpy, due to this alongside Bjork's previous albums Homogenic becomes one of the most absolutely exceptional albums from the 90's decade and remains as fresh and as exciting from when the album was released in 1997. An era that showed spiritual discoveries within the entertainment industry with movies from directors such as David Fincher,Wes Creven,Robert Zemeckis and Quentin Tarantino amongst others creating such revolutionary films during the 90's that shwoed the focus being on artistry and skill and focus of the future (Fight Club,Forest Gump,Toy Story,Pulp Fiction,Se7en,Reservoir Dogs and more to name!) and Bjork is one of those music artists that managed to achieve that with her pure minded musical journies and alongside Queen Of Pop Madonna(Erotica,Ray Of Light,Music and collaboration on Bedtime Stories),Nirvana,Moby(Play),Tori Amos,Kate Bush(The Red Shoes album) to name a few who really encaptured that direction of the decade and will ALWAYS be instantly recognised for their works and achievements throughout their recordings.Homogenic is a pure staple and an almost filmlike journey of an album by one of the most artfully surrealist artists of my generation and was one of the artists who ensured that the 90's were and exceptional time to grow up in.An album that demands more than one trip and listen, this is a journey worth re-taking again,and again. 10/10

A more consistent album than her earlier debut, Bjork's "Homogenic" demonstrates a degree of originality and maturity which immediately explains the fascination with her music that so many jazz musicians have had. Whilst there are a few tracks that perhaps don't quite work, the better material on this record (about 80% if the content) transcends pop music as the Icelandic singer / composer started to demonstrate her ability as one of the last great songwriters of the 20th century. "Alarm call" is the most obviously "poppy" track. The disc concludes with "All is full of love" in a different mix from the single yet another example of quality songwriting.The opening five tracks represent some of Bjork's strongest material. "Hunter" remains a potent arrangement and it is no surprise that this tune was little altered within Travis Sullivan's version recorded by his Bjorkestra. I love the menacing quality of this track. "Batchlorette" is perhaps the most significant piece of song-writing on the disc and almost as good as "Unison" which I think is her masterpiece. The disjointed rhythmic feel of much of the music and the way in which the lyrics are stretched and pulled over the melody lines is a huge appeal for me and with the passage of time, "Homogenic" seems more like an attempt to produce thought-provoking and innovative music than the pop music it once was. I think that Bjork's distinctive voice is also well served by some startling arrangements which accentuate the odd-ness of the music. As a whole, I am not really too keen on pop music and tend to listen to the kind that is more closely aligned to jazz which I think has been a crucial ingredient in ensuring the results are musically interesting . With Bjork the influences are probably more wide ranging but she remains a true original as well as an artist who has had the reverse effect of inspiring jazz musicians.

Bjork has always had impeccable taste when it comes to those she chooses to collaborate with. Looking through her catalogue, it's like a who's who of the cream of underground electronic performers. Her singles are always worth getting as they're choc full of remixes by great producers, in fact the singles from each album when put together are of more interest to me than the albums themselves. Homogenic is her first album which breaks this trend, it is an immaculate piece of work. She has teamed up with Mark Bell from techno artists par excellence LFO and his presence is made clear in the leftfield electronic landscape. My favourite tracks are the few that have the Icelandic String Octet performing, the juxtaposition of organic strings with icy electronics results in sonic excellence and originality, particularly on 'Joga' and album highlight 'Bachelorette', acoustic and electric together resulting in brilliant work that is greater than the sum of its parts. Let's not forget that unique voice, the delivery is confident and I believe it to be her best vocal performance, the lyrics are expectedly bonkers enough to leave you puzzled for a good few listens, I'm still trying to fathom them out. Unfortunately I don't think she ever matched or bettered this album, without doubt her greatest work.

Bjork cannot put a foot wrong for me! This album seems slightly more complex than Post or Debut but still has the melody just before she got more experimental on later albums,very classy,varied album,never disappointed with this true artist.

Good album, classic Björk

I'm a Bjork virgin. Besides her fabulous songs in Dancer in the Dark and It's All So Quiet I haven't heard anything else from her. Homogenic is a strange album but very interesting. Some tracks are almost unlistenable on first listening (Pluto) whilsts others are spectacular (Joga). She's a truly unique artist and it's refreshing to hear some unconventional music for a change.

my cd case was cracked :/