Biophilia [+Digital Booklet]

Bjork | Format: MP3 Music

Product Details

• Original Release Date: October 11, 2011
• Release Date: October 11, 2011
• Label: Nonesuch
• Copyright: 2011 Wellhart ltd./One Little Indian ltd., under license to Nonesuch Records Inc. for the United States and Canada.
• Record Company Required Metadata: Music file metadata contains unique purchase identifier. Learn more.
• Total Length: 1:03:56
• Genres:
  • Alternative Rock
• ASIN: B005Q2YE86
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,452 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 63 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Intersection October 25, 2011

By Douglas King VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

When Bjork released her first adult solo album, "Debut", in 1993, Bjork's ecstatic voice and unique songwriting offered a refreshing take on dance-pop music. Since then, Bjork has released seven more albums, most of which towed a fine line between highly creative pop music and experimental, even otherworldly songs.

Bjork's new album, "Biophilia" is her most ambitious, intuitive, and non-commercial album to date. (And considering Bjork's catalog, that's really saying a lot.) If you are looking for catchy, easily digestible pop music, than this is not the album for you. Even for a hardcore Bjork fan like me, it took a few complete listens to start to wrap my head around this album. At first listen, it seemed amelodic, difficult, and inaccessible. But once I gave in to it, the songs began to slowly reveal themselves to me. And I found myself in a strange, beautiful, and yet somehow familiar world.

"Biophilia" is an intersection. Thematically, the entire album is about science. With "Vespertine" (my all-time favorite Bjork album), Bjork explored the human condition through music about intimate human relationships. With "Biophilia", Bjork explores the human condition through the context of our place in the natural world. "Biophilia" exists at the intersection between science and music, between human beings and our environment, between classical music and modern electronica, between emotion and instinct.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars DR9 Meets The Universe November 1, 2011

By jameswho

Format:Audio CD

At last Björk has mananged to make something lasting. This is her "Night of Hunters"; in many ways, it harks back to "Homogenic" (her masterpiece), but it also forges new ground. The brass of "Volta" makes an appearance, but it also has some of the more pensive and... well, different elements of "Drawing Restraint 9". Yes, some of the same things appear in "Volta", but they just managed to make the album feel uneven, like it didn't quite know what it wanted to be. On here, everything works towards the common goal.

"Moon" is probably one of the most wonderfully realised songs she's written in a long time, and a perfect introduction to the feeling of the album. And then you listen on and WHAM: "Virus", "Sacrifice", and "Mutual Core". These three are perhaps among the best songs she's ever written: "Virus" is outstandingly beautiful, "Sacrifice" starts off unassuming and then hits you, and "Mutual Core" just blows you away.

We seem to forget how few albums Björk has actually made; "Volta" was a fun album, with a dark edge, and yes it was uneven, but it was right after "Medulla", which probably her most interesting album, if also slightly uneven.

And then she produced this. "Biophilia" is her most modern and accomplished work. She's back, not that she ever really went away. Brilliant.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bjork at her best October 15, 2011

By J. D.

Format:Audio CD

I really cannot understand why this Cd has been reviewed so highly by critics and so poorly by customers. Well, I have to agree with the critics: This is a great album, some of Bjork's best, and one of the only modern music that is worthy of some attention. All tracks are masterpieces. Moon is minimalistic, but is all about Bjork's voice. The other stand-outs are, in my opinion: Cosmogony, Mutual Core and Sacrifice. All great. I hope the rating gets higher with time. Admittedly, as it often happens with Bjork, this album needs time to grow, but when it does, it becomes wonderful.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Björk is back at her zenith on Biophilia! January 11, 2012

By Tenchi Masaki

Format:Audio CD

Though it seems like everybody has said what I wanted to say about this album, I feel like I have to still throw my two cents in since I've been a devoted fan of Björk's since I was a teen. Björk has always been in top form when it comes to lyrics, so my review focuses more on Biophilia's music style and explains what each song sounds like or represents.

Leave it to the genius of Björk to take music to the next level by making an interactive app; the first app album ever actually. I don't know if it was a strategic ploy to sell more of Biophilia, but no matter, the app allows the listener to get closer into Björk's vision while also letting the listener experiment with some of the songs and sounds themselves.

Biophilia for me is Björk's most fulfilling album since Vespertine. The album echoes vocals from Medulla, instruments similar to Vespertine and Volta, and the technology that made Homogenic so groundbreaking; Björk is back at her zenith on Biophilia.

1. MOON contemplates emotional rebirth, explores lunar cycles, the tides, and human biological rhythms. MOON is a calm, tranquil song that features the harp and some of Björk's famous wailing.

2. THUNDERBOLT is the thirst of miracles - a track forged from arpeggios of lightning. THUNDERBOLT's rhythm mostly comes from Björk's specific vocals and features a choir, and a teslacoil bassline.

3. The spatial aspects of both crystals and music unite our internal and external worlds in CRYSTALLINE. CRYSTALLINE is a really fun song with an epic ending that will blow your mind away. The song features a gameslete and will have you constantly repeating, and dancing.

4.... COSMOGONY explores the different myths and theories of how our universe might have come to be. COSMOGONY takes you on a mesmerizing journey through our universe with a bass, choir, and Björk; beautiful and emotionally moving.

5. Breath is a spirit that pervades the cosmos, and the invisible "DARK MATTER" pervades the universe. DARK MATTER is mostly vocals and an organ type instrument. The song echoes something from Medulla and is pretty creepy and slow.

6. HOLLOW is inspired by Bjork's own genetic ancestry. The song is about DNA, ancestors, and biological connection through time. HOLLOW is a song that you will either understand or not. Thanks to Björk's interactive app that I purchased, I absolutely understood what Björk was going for in this song. Each beat represents the flow of blood and cells that are created and regenerated throughout the body; very scientific then again this whole album is.

7. A love song reveals the dangerous relationships between VIRUS and host (between lovers). The sound on VIRUS is definitely a throwback to Björk's past albums Homogenic and Vespertine. It's one of the most memorable tracks on the album, and once again features the gameleste and choir; one of Björk's most beautiful songs ever.

8. To surrender, to forgo, for the love of another you must SACRIFICE. SACRIFICE starts out serene and goes into another epic middle and end; song features a sharpsichord.

9. Geography, geology, geothermal activity become a metaphor for human relationships in MUTUAL CORE. MUTUAL CORE is another highlight on Biophilia that is divided by different rhythms which feature an organ and choir. The song echoes hardcore Björk songs from the past.

10. SOLSTICE celebrates light and the changing seasons produced by the tilt of the earth in its orbit around the sun. SOLSTICE ends the album nicely. The song is similar to Moon and features some of Björk's distinctive wailing and a pendulum. Read more ›