― Mike Hanley, Tuesday, 24 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Melissa W, Tuesday, 24 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Sean, Tuesday, 24 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― scott p., Tuesday, 24 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― ambrose, Tuesday, 24 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― , Tuesday, 24 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― PhilT, Tuesday, 24 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― ethan, Tuesday, 24 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― JC, Tuesday, 24 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
She consistently makes it so easy to produce a stock soundbite about the record before release - "... Matmos, Matthew Herbert, Napster, Korine..." - that noone actually bothers to listen to it?
The likelihood of her coming anywhere topping 'Selmasongs' is, frankly, very low.
― JDC, Tuesday, 24 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Omar, Wednesday, 25 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― ethan, Wednesday, 25 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Tim, Wednesday, 25 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― gareth, Wednesday, 25 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Mike Hanle y, Wednesday, 25 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Lyra, Wednesday, 25 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
No, I'll go to Morpheus for it.
― Mike Hanley, Saturday, 28 July 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
"How much did she even do" you ask. Good Lord, what a stupid question. Bjork composed and produced the bulk of this album herself, on her laptop computer. She then arranged to have brilliant musicians, such as the great Zeena, and Matmos to add there talents to the album. Make no mistake: 'Vespertine' sounds exactly the way she wanted it to sound. She's is the driver seat the whole time.
― , Monday, 27 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― stevo, Monday, 27 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― heronette, Thursday, 30 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Omar, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― dleone, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Dan Perry, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ryan White, Thursday, 6 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― palpable, Friday, 7 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Vespertine is undoubtedly Bjork's most exquisite work to date. From start to finish, there exists nothing more creative, more original, more awe-inspiring, more unique.
She teaches us that passion and spirit can be derived as easily from a 60-piece orchestra as from almost nothing whispers. With every listening, feel free to soar higher and higher. For there is nothing better.
― John F Danbury III, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
A "Lovers midnight sleigh-ride across a pristine Narnia snowscape" ur sumthin'.
― DavidM, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Melissa W, Monday, 10 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― John F Danbury III, Tuesday, 11 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Tim, Tuesday, 11 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Melissa W, Monday, 17 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Melissa W, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
And face it, we all secretly love children's choirs.
― Ryan White, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
I think this album, moreso than the others, requires a particular set of moods. I adore the album to death, but the last time I played it I was vaugely annoyed and coming home from a night club with my wife, one of her best friends (who'd just turned 30), and the 19-year-old boy he'd gotten thrown out of the bar for. The album was bizarre and jarring for me, while the two "lovebirds" in the back were making moon-eyes at each other and drowning in each others' souls.
It's very context-specific music.
― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Pennysong Hanle y, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― hans, Tuesday, 18 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
me, i think this is her best work yet. even if you hate or love bjork, you have to admit one thing.... it is her, and it is totally unique. its so personal... i dont know how the hell you people can say its just the other people doing her work for her, you really need to get a clue. Look at any other pop artist and you can find maybe 2 or 3 songs actually written by them (most of the time just cowritten) nevertheless produced. and i really dont care what anyone says, but her lyrics and her melodies are very original and interesting (not to mention they suit each other perfectly).
So i dont know... we are all entitled to our own opinions, but keep the facts straight -Rex
― Rex Gregory, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― stevo, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Melissa W, Monday, 24 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
yeah, it's my favorite too. and like Dan said, I like all of them!
haven't heard Volta except for 'Earth Intruders", which I liked and which sounded very different than anything on Vespertine. The vinyl is like $53 at my store!
― sleeve, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 03:28 (sixteen years ago) link
earth intruders is the worst track off it. which doesn't mean the album is awesome or something. haha. cryptic... you should listen. it's interesting.
― Surmounter, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 03:29 (sixteen years ago) link
There is no way "Earth Intruders" could ever possibly be worse than "The Dull Flame Of Desire".
― HI DERE, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 05:13 (sixteen years ago) link
ha!
― Surmounter, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 05:16 (sixteen years ago) link
Both those songs are awesome (except the latter has Too Much Antony). Cut the mentalism! That being said, there is some dull-ass shit toward the end of that record.
Oh and btw, Verspertine rox, whoever said it sounds like a crystal music box otm.
― The Reverend, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 05:31 (sixteen years ago) link
"There is no way "Earth Intruders" could ever possibly be worse than "The Dull Flame Of Desire"."
We are not going to agree on the subject of the Bjork. This song is the only reason to listen to Volta!
― admrl, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 05:44 (sixteen years ago) link
respectfully.
yes true, that is in fact the only song on the album i remember, it is quite lovely
― akm, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 06:23 (sixteen years ago) link
I think I've listened to the entirety of "The Dull Flame Of Desire" exactly once, mostly because I kept thinking "Is this ever actually going to end??????????"
― HI DERE, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 11:19 (sixteen years ago) link
it's a toughie. i just like how it goes into Innocence (it does right?)
that's awesome
― Surmounter, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 12:36 (sixteen years ago) link
TOTAL VICTORY
after obsessing high school and taking a nearly decade-long break starting with vespertine (i didn't dig it at the time at all), i've been on a big bjork kick lately. but while going back to debut and post and homogenic is like going back home in a sense after a long musical journey (boring story but i didn't listen to music for the first half of my life and bjork was one of the very first artists i ever got heavily into), vespertine is like this whole other house i didn't realize i had. "Unison" is so so awesome.
― need to impressive a girl? (Z S), Monday, 6 December 2010 21:20 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, funny that a lot of longtime fans at the top of this thread seemed to really dislike it when it came out. it's probably my fave bjork album, really gorgeous from start to finish.
― tylerw, Monday, 6 December 2010 21:28 (thirteen years ago) link
holy moly, it's been 9 years since Vespertine? I wonder if i'll like it more now. Will try today.
― brotherlovesdub, Monday, 6 December 2010 21:36 (thirteen years ago) link
this is suddenly all I want to listen to. the tension between the intimate & the epic is in most bjork, the way she puts herself into songs/the world, there's a similarly paradoical magical domesticity about this record, something relaxed and enchanted, otherworldly and everyday. I'm increasingly appreciating music which is comforting, nourishing, centreing, and this is v clearly that, a sort of withdrawal.
― ogmor, Sunday, 16 July 2017 20:19 (six years ago) link
No love lost if all of the very first batch of posters on this thread are DEAD. Vespertine is a stone cold classic, I seek it out a couple of times per year and it always gets to me. Not sure if I'd call it relaxing, but enchanted, withdrawn, nourishing: absolutely. Also magical.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Sunday, 16 July 2017 20:28 (six years ago) link
Yeah, it's a great record and there's so much shit being talked at the beginning of this thread.
(xpost)
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Sunday, 16 July 2017 20:32 (six years ago) link
it's not relaxing but I think bjork seems perhaps at her most relaxed, less of that blank-eyed imperious wizard biz. like a lot of melissa's complaints, I more or less agree but think they are positive: delicate sweet bells and strings, less drama, shapeless. it's not up to you is my favourite, there's something overwhelmingly humane about it, forgiving and warm. despite all the frosty icelandic cliches I think it's a very warm album.
― ogmor, Sunday, 16 July 2017 20:40 (six years ago) link
has Melissa changer her mind?
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Sunday, 16 July 2017 20:53 (six years ago) link
"Undo" is my favourite. I like that Bjork is healing through this record, it seems a long ways off from Homogenic which is insular, caustic and full of distress.
― Paisley Window Pane (Ross), Sunday, 16 July 2017 21:03 (six years ago) link
Vespertine and Homogenic are her two masterpieces. Two of my favourite albums of all time.
― kitchen person, Sunday, 16 July 2017 21:29 (six years ago) link
Homogenic will always be my favourite album of hers, but Vespertine is very close.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Sunday, 16 July 2017 21:32 (six years ago) link
has Melissa changer her mind?― dance cum rituals (Moka), Sunday, July 16, 2017 3:53 PM (forty minutes ago)
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Sunday, July 16, 2017 3:53 PM (forty minutes ago)
Not really! But I was just thinking that I probably haven't heard this album in full in over 15 years. I'm glad/embarrassed that all my initial thoughts on the album when I was 17 are preserved in amber on this thread. I don't really disagree with my past self, but I probably wouldn't phrase my thoughts as dramatically now.
― Melissa W, Sunday, 16 July 2017 21:39 (six years ago) link
Homogenic is my fav too. 5 Years and Unravel rule
― Paisley Window Pane (Ross), Sunday, 16 July 2017 21:46 (six years ago) link
Funny to see I posted to this thread in '01 with a positive opinion. As I recall, I initially thought Vespertine was disappointing compared to the amazing Homogenic, but I guess I liked it from the get go! Maybe I confused my actual opinion with the ILM hivemind opinion. In any case, I'd put this right up there with Homogenic nowadays. Best comment upthread: "this sounds like ice"
― Vinnie, Monday, 17 July 2017 01:38 (six years ago) link
Also, hey there Melissa, miss seeing your posts on this site
― Vinnie, Monday, 17 July 2017 01:51 (six years ago) link
I love himI love himI love him
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 July 2017 02:44 (six years ago) link
I love him
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Monday, 17 July 2017 03:40 (six years ago) link
I love himI love himI love himI love him
I
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Monday, 17 July 2017 03:41 (six years ago) link
she loves himshe loves himshe loves himshe loves him
― nice cage (m bison), Monday, 17 July 2017 03:47 (six years ago) link
best bjork thing ever period, dont @ me
― nice cage (m bison), Monday, 17 July 2017 03:48 (six years ago) link
as an amateur bedroom electronic music person, this is one of the most influential records for me
upon further, still total victory
― Karl Malone, Monday, 17 July 2017 03:54 (six years ago) link
cosign the love, probably my favorite overall record of hers. Although the insane peaks of Homogenic top any individual moment here, the record flows so well and is so integrated. Plus, Zeena Parkins.
― sleeve, Monday, 17 July 2017 03:55 (six years ago) link
Really, that Björk has basically the top 2 greatest albums ever recorded, is there any real need to decide which of the two is greater?
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Monday, 17 July 2017 04:05 (six years ago) link
this is the only Bjork album I've ever really listened to, it sounded wonderful on a snowy day.
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Monday, 17 July 2017 04:08 (six years ago) link
it's also interesting to hear this record at the peaks of valleys of love in your life. the mood is completely changed depending on how you're feeling. it's natural to hear things through the filter of your own emotional state, and some albums can take on a more powerful meaning if the listener is in a certain life state (like yo la tengo's atntiio and depression+divorce).
i don't know wtf i'm talking about but eventually i was trying to argue that vespertine has at least several different distinct emotional/life/sound ties like that, at least for me, and it seems otherworldly and always refreshingly current and relevant for that reason
― Karl Malone, Monday, 17 July 2017 04:09 (six years ago) link
great post Karl
I hate to say this is the last I really was invested in Bjork. The Royal Opera performance of Vespertine is essential as well.
Vulnicura revived my love in her though
― Paisley Window Pane (Ross), Monday, 17 July 2017 05:16 (six years ago) link
This is probably her best album.
― chap, Monday, 17 July 2017 11:09 (six years ago) link
― Karl Malone, Monday, July 17, 2017 4:09 AM (twelve hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Goddamn right and expressed so eloquently. The album can hit you in a myriad of ways, soundtracking both the peaks and the valleys of love. Thinking about this further I have a hard time coming up with an album, or even a single song, that does this. Take 'Pagan Poetry'. The whole gut-wrenching 'I love him, I love him' sequence is equally applicable to both the euphoria of love as the utter destruction of it all falling to bits. Embracing love with such force and swallowing it whole, opposite the lamenting and hysteria of love that died/is dying. That song alone has accompanied me in both sides of the spectrum.
(fp'd you for saying 'I don't know wtf I'm talking about' bcz, clearly, you do)
― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 17 July 2017 16:35 (six years ago) link
Went to re-listen to this. Receipt for my first pack of condoms sitting under the CD tray. Oof.
― maffew12, Monday, 17 July 2017 17:08 (six years ago) link
I think she would be happy about that.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Monday, 17 July 2017 17:44 (six years ago) link
final track on this record is my favorite bjork song of all time. i can remember thinking i didn't like this as much as homogenic at the time but now i v much feel the contemporary consensus. imo homogenic feels like it's always trying to explode where vespertine seems like it's always trying to be quiet. her best record along with medulla (which i like more than most)
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Monday, 17 July 2017 18:27 (six years ago) link
Medulla's when her quailty control started slipping - all her records since have been patchy.
― chap, Monday, 17 July 2017 18:30 (six years ago) link
I like this album a lot but I never listen to it, whereas I go back to Post and Homogenic (and selected songs from Medulla and Volta) a lot.
― this iphone speaks many languages (DJP), Monday, 17 July 2017 18:31 (six years ago) link
I think the original title for Vespertine gives us a nod to why it's so quiet - Domestica
― Paisley Window Pane (Ross), Monday, 17 July 2017 18:53 (six years ago) link
Anyone heard the Vespertine opera, any good? It's now released on CD:
https://www.galileomusic.de/cover/400/oc978.jpg
― Siegbran, Wednesday, 7 August 2019 07:46 (four years ago) link
Funny to see the intital lukewarm reaction to this now ILX certified classic.
― chap, Wednesday, 7 August 2019 12:47 (four years ago) link
that is weird. IMO it's clearly her best album and also the last album of hers I really loved.
― akm, Wednesday, 7 August 2019 12:59 (four years ago) link
I'd agree, except maybe with the 'clearly'.
― chap, Wednesday, 7 August 2019 13:03 (four years ago) link