Bjork's new program "Vespertine" Total Victory or Total Failure?

Strangely, apart from the "no songs" accusation, most of what you say about Vespertine is true. But misses the point. I can't really explain it, but all the yardsticks by which one previously judged a Björk record just don't seem to be of any use with this album. AND it sounds gorgeous into the bargain.

Record of the year so far, then.

I was wondering about that too, until I saw a promotional shot of Bjork wearing the same dress as on the cover. If you look at it very closely, you'll notice it's the head of the swan.

Why is Vespertine un-Bjork-y? Why do you think she has ceased to be herself? Sounds like she's writing exactly the songs she wants to and doing it exactly the way she wants to to me, so I think Vespertine is Bjorky, but even moreso than normal.

Why is it OK for Radiohead to put out albums that don't sound like Radiohead but it's not OK for Bjork? (Okay, don't answer that one, that was a low blow, but I'm still curious about the first question.)

a) The strings are actually wonderful. No, the arrangements and compositions are all wonderful The opening few seconds of "Harm Of Will" are a triumph and maybe the best 5 seconds of pop this year. But I can't argue your point here so we'll have to agree to disagree.

b) Okay, I take exception to this. You seem to be boxing Bjork into what you think she should be here. Why does Bjork have to be the things you've said? I reckon if you're distilling and reducing the essence of Bjork's charm to "alien and passionate" then maybe you don't like the other albums so much. Surely she has more going for her than that? I find lots of things I love about Bjork on Vespertine in greater quantity than on, say, "Post".

c) The reason I bought up Radiohead is because this exact same criticism (which I imagined you might use) surely applies to half of Kid A and some of Amnesiac too. But it doesn't apply to Vespertine. "Heirloom", "It's Not Up To You" and "Unison" even have hooks for heaven's sake! HOOKS! Or are those verboten? Please further qualify "energy" - really how energetic is "Headphones"? Or "All Neon Like"? Not very energetic AT ALL but still great songs. The same applies to "Coccoon" and "Undo" or whatever other songs you think aren't energetic.

d) As for (B). You're boxing Bjork into your narrow pre-conceived perceptions of what she should be doing. Oh heaven forbid she should say, NAY EXCLAIM "I love him!". Of course, if it were "I just need to explode this body!" that'd be OK, I'm sure.

HOWEVER, I reserve the right to completely change my mind about this, as "Post" took weeks and "Homogenic" possibly *months* to worm their way into my favour. I thought they were mostly rubbish at first (and I've only had the new one a fortnight or so).

OK, so Melissa doesn't like "Vespertine". So what. I think it's amazing. So do lots of other Bjork fans. That's enough for me.

And Sean, I'm fine with people not agreeing that Vespertine is a triumph, but I just can't understand Melissa's reasons for disliking it so. I'm genuinely curious.

I just wanted to say to all those who didn't like Vespertine : you don't have a heart!! This album is one of the most original and creative albums I have ever heard. To say that bjork is a genious is un understatement, because no other contemporary artist has been or is as innovative as she is especially since Homogenic, another great album. Sometimes I wonder if this lady is human, because I'm not sure that humans are capable of writing such amazing, touching, annoying but still incredibly human words, so if she's human then I'd say that she's surely unique and one of a kind. enough said about bjork, let me go back to Vespertine.

To begin with Hidden Place is an incredibly well done song, and I agree with her choosing it as the first single. This is my second favorite song on the album.

Cocoon : I found it disturbing in the beginning but after hearing it 4 or six times I started loving it and its explicit erotic lyrics.

It's not up to you : a beatiful song, one of the rare sing along songs of the album and the choir is just awsome.

Pegan Poetry : the hightlight of the album and my favorite one. It's a haunting, touching and powerful love song. I have never heard a woman singing about love in this way, it's deeply original. Even when she bursts out at the end saying I love him I love him.

well I can't go on reviewing the rest of the songs because I haven't heard them enough.

PLease don't hate bjork and be grateful that artists like her exist in a world full with purely commercial music and singers like britney spears and jlo

I'd agree, except maybe with the 'clearly'.