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Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - Volta
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $16.99
Your Save: $ 2.99 ( 15% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0075678998980
Label: Atlantic / Wea
Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Atlantic / Wea
Release Date: 2007-05-08
Studio: Atlantic / Wea
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Editorial Reviews:
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Bjork returns to her iconic, innovative and rhythmic roots with Volta. Featuring her own infamous beats and collaborations with Timbaland, Antony Hegarty, Brian Chippendale and an all-female Icelandic brass section, the end result is an explosion of beats and an amalgamtion of sound and visuals that give Volta a life of its own, like the world hasn't seen from Bjork in years.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A poor album from a great artist.
Comment: I'll admit, I have never been too big of a fan of Bjork. I mean, I like a lot of her work, but not enough to consider myself a fan or an avid listener. I always feel like her albums are good, or sometimes even great, so I always buy just one more in the hopes that it will trump the last one I listened to. I now own four Bjork albums, and I think I was easily the most disappointed with Volta. In fact, I'd say this is the biggest disappointment of the year so far. And it's not like I dislike Bjork, once again. Homogenic and Vespertine are both great albums that I really like a lot, and in comparison to those, Bjork has taken a creative nosedive into oblivion.
I feel like XRTs "Regaler Guy" here, because my vocabulary is somewhat limited and my tone is very blatant. But I won't lie about this one. Volta sucks because it sucks. There isn't any one particular reason for the mediocrity of this album besides sheer lack of creative drive or enjoyable songs. Before Volta came out, I heard Bjork perform on Saturday Night Live and I was really impressed. One thing I will give Bjork at this point is that her vocals have not gotten any worse since the early nineties when she first started out. Her range is really fantastic and she gets out some downright beautiful notes on stage. So with that I felt optimistic about Volta, and yet it ends up being pretty mediocre. I think it's one of those albums that I really, really wish could have worked out because it just works so well on paper. It is a little bit themed, in that it seems to capture, or at least try to capture that atmosphere of tropical islands. To some extent, she make this apparent. The lead single Earth Intruders actually sounds very fresh with it's jungle beat and eclectic instruments. But then when the song finally ends, it proves itself unfit for playlist inclusion and leans on the sounds of large steamboats for about a minute and a half. Either way, it's a good start and a nice opening song.
And then the next song, Wanderlust actually sounds alright too. Bjork can get away with rather brutal sounding techno by laying her voluptuous voice over it, and the result is actually pretty good. But after that, things severely melt down. First, she does an eight minute long duet with some guy named Antony Hegarty, who is apparently fairly well known and respected, but I really dislike his lispy voice. The words are, as usual, pretty cheesy. I can't stress enough how much I wish Bjork would sing in her native language like her fellow Icelandic compatriots Sigur Ros. And then the unbalanced vocalists sing about...some dull flame of some sort for seven minutes and it is really annoying. It's just bad. The rest of the album is equally disappointing. I've always depended on Bjorks musical and vocal talent to outdo the lack of melodicism in her words, and unfortunately she just can't pull off the musical part here. The songs Innocence and Declare Independence are both very obnoxious and uninteresting. On Hope, she tries interspersing some more exotic instruments to very mixed success. This was the idea she should have tried to bring to the forefront and stress more often, and maybe this would have worked back in her heyday when she was more poppy and less dark.
It has it's moments. I really enjoy Pneumonia, and to some extent My Juvenile even if Antony makes a similarly mediocre comeback because the words are very lovely. But for the most part, this album is just very mediocre. I won't go into individual detail on every song, but honestly, there is very little good material here. Bjork fans seem to like it though, so who knows. If you are a casual fan, like me I guess, you are better off going for some of the more revered Bjork albums instead, namely Homogenic and Vespertine.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mediocre for Bjork
Comment: Just to give a brief summary as to where I stand as a Björk fan before I dive in...I think her first two albums (Debut/Post) are both great records. Yet, she was a little more naive at the time and didn't have as much control creatively. But she was learning. With her next two releases, Homogenic and Vespertine, she began to break away from the poppy sounds of the first two and began to write (she began having more control over the writing), darker, bleaker records. So not only did she begin to define her sound and really become the unique artist she is, but they where also simply brilliant, amazing records. With Medulla she came up with an interesting concept, yet it was simply too hard to listen to in the context of a record. For me atleast.
My point is, Björk has been getting better and better, up until Medulla where things simply got TOO weird. It hurt the record and I think she crossed the line in that aspect. In her newest release, Volta, she returned to square one and tried to create something more in the flavor of a modern day Post. Well, this made perfect sense. Now I know she won't make another Vespertine, but with the creative control she's had to define her sound over the past 10 years then we should get a great return to form...right? Not so.
Three problems with Volta. 1.) Vocals are not very well written. None of the lyrics are catchy and just don't carry the emotional impact Björk put into them in the past. She just kind of rambles, which is unusual for her. 2.) The albums does not have it's own unique SOUND, as her past records have each had. The asian strings/brass/horns almost make that happen, but just don't dominate enough of the record. 3.) Her vocals are mixed WAY too high. Whoever mixed the album needs to be shot. Considering how sharp and high pitched her voice can be, it's easy for her to overpower the electronics. In Homogenic, the electronics/beats where mixed to be just about as loud as her voice, which also gave the listener a feeling of an overwhelming sonic attack on the senses. There is some great instrumentation on Volta, it's just not implemented correctly.
To touch on a few tracks, I think Earth Intruders is sort of average compared to some of her past works. A weak single. Wanderlust is much better, and features the L.F.O. infected sound of Homogenic with fast paced, slicing electronics. Problem is...the vocals on it are weak for Bjork, with the electronics mixed too low under them to the point where they don't provide the correct "punch". Innocence is a strong track of similar nature, packing a repetitive rhythm crunch that totally smacks you in the face, and the vocals are actually very good. The Dull Flame of Desire and Vertebrae both feature beautiful orchestration and better vocals, but the former is a little drawn out and is too long. Pneumonia is also very nice and relaxing, making good use of horns and rain effects. The HUGE letdown of Volta is Declare Independence, seeing how it is a collaboration with producer Mark Bell, who helped make Homogenic such a great record. It's easily one of, maybe the worst song she's written. The closer, Hope is kind of bland.
Overall, a mediocre album from Björk. She has, and can, do better than this.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One half star
Comment: Where to begin? I managed to get through most of the songs, but had to skip through parts of some. The Dull Flame of Desire, which I was ready to pronounce the worst Bjork song ever after listening to it isn't actually the worst Bjork song ever. There are worse songs after it on this disc. It's horrible. While there are times where her singing is vastly improved over Medulla and sounds almost as good as some of Homogenic, the songs themselves are utterly artless at best, and at worst - terribly grating. There is not a good song on this disc. The only good thing I've heard from this period is the Mark Bell remix of I See Who You Are. Although "good" is being really really generous there, it was the one song that didn't make me cringe.
Bjork still has plenty of singing talent which shows here, but the songwriting, lyrically and musically, is at the bottom of the barrel. It can't really get any worse than this. She needs to find a really talented producer, composer, and lyricist who will write the material for her. Her voice is still there. The music isn't.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Voltage
Comment: Be it not for the little slices of heaven on this LP:
"Declare Independence"
"Earth Intruders"
this collection would be refuse.
Timbaland is a joke. I don't like the way Björk has travelled here.
Be it not for her voice, and the two tunes mentioned, this LP would receive 1 star.
I still love you Ms. Gudmunsdottir, and I look forward to meeting you again, on your next adventure.
Customer Rating:
Summary: play a volta!
Comment: i have always enjoyed bjork for what she gives to the world through her music. i don't ever want to take her too seriously or overanalyze her. i'm sure she doesn't enjoy that either.
i appreciate her encounters with timbaland, particularly 'innocence'. that song is a lot of fun and i can't wait for the remixes to start spinning at the clubs. it's going to make for some great, saucy dancing!
i also got a huge rise out of the song 'vertebrae by vertebrae'. the insistent stamping and those accents on the second beat are delicious!
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