I don't buy that Björk is ever "artsy for the sake of being artsy". I feel she pretty much creates exactly the type of music she is feeling at the time; it's just that she's, well... weird. Her discography shows progression and experimentation from album to album - with the possible exception of Volta (which seemed like a bit of a step back). She clearly is not interested in creating traditionally structured pop or dance songs anymore. She has moved on. Sometimes I can go with her - like on Fossora, other times I struggle - such as with Utopia.
Fossora shows an absolute mastery with the use of space in music, and the melodies, although micro-styled and mostly unstructured, are always there. I can see how some would be frustrated with modern Björk, but for others, she challenges and expands our ideas of how music should sound.
If that sounds pretentious, so be it. I can't always go with her - I just didn't enjoy a lot of Utopia, but here she's more grounded. To paraphrase one review, Björk moves to her own beat, but on Fossora she's paused, and turned around to check we're all still there.
The run from tracks 7-13 on Fossora is perfect by the way... (I struggle a little to enjoy Ancestress for the full 7 minutes).

Album Rating: 2.5

Johnny sure does make a lot of assumptions and / or huge generalisations. I mean, there’s an absolute fuck-ton of people who appreciate Bjork on some level, are you going to find those that fit any criteria you choose to critique? Well yeah, most likely. There’s also the potential that any popular ‘groundbreaking for the mainstream’ artist will have fans that do not venture further afield into similar (obscurer) areas.



I’m yet to encounter ANY Bjork fans who hold her up as an unparalleled example of greatness throughout her discog, or those who would dismiss any artists doing similar things.



Idk I’m tired and lacking words right now, but that whole argument seemed nonsensical and not entirely based in reality to me… maybe Johnny has done some far-reaching surveys and come to different conclusions?

Album Rating: 3.5

i do also believe bjork is genuinely invested in her visions for every era, she's just too indulgent at times

Album Rating: 2.5

That's a fine evaluation, Mark. I really don't feel as tho her recent 3 albums are vastly different from one another though (certainly not distinct to the degree Homogenic is from Vespertine and biophilia). There's a certain blandness/sameness to her last two albums in particular. I don't even know how exactly to pinpoint it: her older knack for melody and atmosphere seems all but gone to me now, and the cool electronics are mostly gone too or just erratic and nondescript sounding now. I'm gonna try to give the new album a fair shake but the singles have done pretty much nothing for me. I still stand by my original statement, it really does feel like she isn't as inspired anymore, maybe that seems unfair to some but it's just how I feel and I def agree with Johnny that her fanbase seems a bit rabid at times and wont to defend every single thing she does as artistic brilliance. And agreed 7 mins is way too much for ancestress; it just seems to go round and round with no real destination and I feel this way about a lot of her recent music

Gyro, there are a lot of cool electronics throughout the back half of Fossora. I do agree that some of her fanbase can be a little blinkered at times, but there's nothing as bad here as say, Sue Me from Utopia. I genuinely enjoy at least something about all of these songs, and there's a slew of exciting new ideas, sounds and layers all through this.
My favourite since Vespertine right now, but then I liked Utopia a lot more in the first week than I did a year later, so we will see...

Album Rating: 3.5

t/t is fun yea

Album Rating: 4.0

verdict: better than those who are dreading it are expecting, not as good as those who are hyped want it to be.



the better songs are the ones with more sparse arrangements imo

Album Rating: 4.0

fav was probably "Sorrowful Soil"

johnny is generalizing a huge portion of the population based solely on sputnik metalheads lmao

every Björk fan knows Björk has at least two weak albums*, it‘s exactly which two that is left up for debate.

(note DR9 and Selmasongs are excluded from eligibility.)

Album Rating: 4.0

it's Volta and Volta 2

It’s UTOPIA and BIOPHILIA for me.

Album Rating: 4.0

it can't be

Album Rating: 2.5

Hopefully with a 1/5 review!

Album Rating: 2.5

So I'm going to despise the third track, got it!

Album Rating: 3.5

that's what he meant

Album Rating: 3.5

rip

imagine calling biophilia a weak record smh

Album Rating: 3.5

all I was saying, and I’m not sure to what extent this was addressed on the last 2 pages, is that it’s a cheap and kind of malicious tactic to call into question an artist’s intent or sincerity behind their music instead of just explaining what you dislike about the music itself. if you know anything about Bjork in general or read anything she’s said about this album, or like, just listen to the lyrics on Ancestress, I think it’s very clear that she is inspired and making the music she wants to make, as she’s always done. to say she’s attempting to be “artsy” for the sake of it or that she’s uninspired (basically implying she’s just in it for the money) is cheap because it paints a false narrative of a musician who is clearly extremely passionate in how she expresses herself through her music and obviously has a lot of ideas that she’s trying to convey through it. someone like Bjork has dedicated her whole life to music just for people to sit at their computer chair and lazily say “she’s just trying to be artsy” because it’s easier to make something up about the artist than it is to actually critique something on musical terms

thanks pizza i knew you'd have my back bro

Album Rating: 4.0

bjork intentially made this album