Takk

Sigur Rós | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B000AJJNPY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (205 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,010 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Miscellaneous > Experimental Music
  • #2 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Ambient Pop
  • #3 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Chamber Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Just when this Icelandic crew seemed stuck in loud/soft/loud/ soft rut a la Mogwai or Godspeed You Black Emperor, they release their most beguiling, subtle and beautiful album yet. This album, allegedly the group's first sung in Icelandic rather than their own made-up "Hopelandic" (not that this listener could tell the difference) is relentlessly joyous, unaffectedly rad and inventive but never just for its own sake. Strings hold an ever more prominent place in the music, and this is a good thing. Songs unfold slowly as usual, but they take unexpected turns as often as not. The brilliant "Glósóli" burbles with as much melodic invention and anything by their fellow Icelanders Mum. Takk is a delight from start to finish, managing to be both their most accessible and experimental album yet. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description

Takk is the fourth album from Sigur R¢s. Written, performed and produced by the band (along with co-producer Ken Thomas) at their studio in Alafoss, Iceland, Takk is the record to justify every amazing claim ever laid at this exceptional band's door. Huge and intimate, orchestral and gossamer-light, rich layered and essentially simple, Takk is a work of a band operating at the very top of their game. It accomplishes what maybe they haven't done since they first appeared, which is to make the avant-garde appear to be straight ahead pop music, or, perhaps more accurately, invest pop music with a sense of magic long since lost in the mists of time and imagination. MCA. 2005.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

185 of 207 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of 2005: If you could see their music... you would see heaven September 20, 2005

By Manny Hernandez HALL OF FAME

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Words will never suffice to adequately describe the music of Sigur Ros. Coming from Iceland, in a little more than five years, they've made the universe their stage, with a sound that doesn't repeat anywhere else in nature and touching some of the deepest fibers you could ever imagine to be found inside of you.

With a balance of instruments and ethereal voices that doesn't know barriers or limitations imposed by musical genres, their fourth album, "Takk...", exceeds all expectations by their previous fans, leaving their previous production, "( )", in the dust. It will take you in a trance you will not want to leave and it will force those riding with you in the car to tag along with you, something that they are not likely to regret.

If you think I am exaggerating, take a pick: there's almost no part of this album that you can go wrong with. Whether you want to call their sound post-rock or any other name you care to give it, it doesn't matter. The truth is, if you could see their music... you would see heaven.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tears after the most beautiful album November 3, 2005

By J. P. Moragrega

Format:Audio CD

I came to know them while being in Australia when meeting my Icelandic girlfriend at the time... she gave me as a present Agaetis Byrjun. When I played it, it was the most beautiful and soothing sound I had ever heard. The brilliantness of Staralfur made me feel a chill through my bones and Vidrar put tears in my eyes the very first time I heard it. I couldn't believe how it was possible that people produced such beautiful sounds. Their music made me dream, made me feel. Music is not music if you can't feel it and Sigur Rós's sound makes you drift away to a different world. A world different from us, a wolrd only possible when listening to these beautiful sounds.

Then ( ) came into the light. It was completely different from Agaetis. More sober, more obscure bust just as beautiful. Untitled #1 is haunting and despite everyone saying that it is kind of depressing, I find it highly cheerful and happy. Another song that when the moment is right brings tears into my eyes.

But Takk... Takk... is heaven. Takk's sound is the most cheerful album the band has ever made. The striking intro to Glósóli and how the song delivers its climax is brilliant. Takk is beautiful, Takk is celestial voices. Takk's beauty cannot be described with words. Hoppippolla follows with a piano arrangement that goes deep into the mind to explore and to illuminate even the most darkest of caves. For myself, I can't help but shed some tears everytime I hear this album.. it doesn't matter which song because every single one is absolutely brilliant and beautiful in its own way. Takk is a celebration for life, a celebration for all the beautiful things that are present in this world. Even people who are not Sigur Rós fans will find this album highly listenable and enjoyable....

Takk will be hard to top... everytime I listen to it, I cannot satisfy myself with any other type of music. It's just that beautiful. The best disc so far, and for me, one of the greatest of all time by one of the most incredible groups ever to be present on this earth. Who would say that this foursome who play the guitar with violin bows, the bass with drum sticks and uses xylophones and bells would produce the most beautiful sounds of the earth? Read more ›

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Exhiliarating, Takk is an unqualified improvement September 14, 2005

By Emily

Format:Audio CD

It's not a joke to say that "Takk . . ." is Sigur Ros's most accessible album, but anyone who heard its cryptic predecessor, "()," knows that the Icelandic quartet has a long way to paddle to reach the mainstream.

Specialists in abstract soundscapes that sometimes coalesce into melody, singer Jonsi Birgisson and his cohorts don't construct verse-chorus-verse rockers or loop-and-thump ravers. But the band, working with co-producer Ken Thomas, has brought new focus and presence to its wispy music on "Takk . . . " (which means "Thanks"). While such fantasias as the 10-minute "Milano" resemble a mash-up of Eno, Sibelius and Radiohead, the pretty (and relatively compact) "Hoppipolla" has moments that suggest a Nordic interpretation of circa 1966 Beach Boys.

The group has playfully labeled "Takk . . . " its rock 'n' roll album, and the drums and guitars are more emphatic than before; "Glosoli" even builds to a climax that crashes and burns like My Bloody Valentine. Devotees of Sigur Ros's breakthrough release, 1999's "Agaetis Byrjun," may find this one too extroverted. Yet there are many familiar timbres, starting with Birgisson's falsetto and including twinkling keyboards and slithering bowed instruments (guitar and violin). What has changed is the sense of dynamics, which doesn't alter the band's fundamental design. It's just that many of this disc's loveliest passages are set off by roars rather than whispers.

Hell, even if you tried, a serious, involved listen to Takk... will blow that can right open. It's that well-constructed, thoughtful, emotionally provocative and cathartic.

Takk is one of the very few ways major labels get it right. Music like this deserves a wide audience, for its sheer audacity, skill, and penetrating beauty....

This is simply the best of Sigur Ros. Read more ›

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind-numbing, out-of-this-galaxy music March 19, 2006

By IcemanJ VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've been extremely engrossed by "Ágćtis Byrjun" and "( )" before. Ágćtis Byrjun was one of the stepping stones for my entire discovery of post-rock. It was probably the most unique music I've ever heard at that point. ( ) had a great concept, was a great follow-up and a re-defined sound for the band but 2 or 3 songs on the second half were dragged on a little too long for me. But this... is a whole new level of Sigur Ros' unimaginable talent of creating out-of-this-world, or galaxy, even... sound. They have ironed out the very few flaws from before and have truly achieved nirvana here.

The first song, "Takk..." is a simple, two-minute angelic, ambient intro.

Next is "Glosoli," a rather relaxing track for the majority of the duration, with light, alien-like vocals, floating bells, and a strange faint marching kind of sound for rhythm, painting a nostalgic, child-like image (maybe the video is giving me that image, but...). About two-thirds into the song, the intense buildup is foreshadowed and all of a sudden that powerful, heavier rock sound is released, creating that familiar yet refreshing transcendent sound that no other musicians can produce.

Next is "Hoppipolla," starting out with a simple piano melody, soon adding string instruments for a very welcoming, uniting feeling. I have no idea what he is saying but that has no bearing that this is some of the most joyful music I've ever heard, and delivers such a warm feeling despite the origin is the frigid lands of Iceland. This song is shorter and has a bit more structure than most Sigur Ros songs. "Meo Blodnasir" feels like it is the ending to the previous song; it has the exact same sounds, not sure why it is split up....

"Se Lest" begins with some distorted electronic bleeps which slowly morphs into a delicate, nostalgic, icy melody of bells, quickly introducing that familiar, alien-like light vocal style and starts overlapping itself. Some brass instruments suddenly emerge for a little twist after a period of extreme ambience. It's a very quirky addition to an otherwise very laid-back song. However that will start paving the way for the splash of genius that is the next song...

"Saeglopur" is probably my favorite song on the album and it seems like most agree. It begins with a delicate, somewhat cold piano melody quickly adding vocals, bells and very idiosyncratic, playful little percussion. This continues on for a minute or so, gets you used to the sound which is reminiscent of the long track before, then the piano melody suddenly backflips into something more menacing and darker, and ascends into a heavy wall of arcane sound with the wailing vocals and general melody staying the same if you listen closely. The vocals here are truly phenomenal as they soar just as far from our galaxy as the rest of the music. Just when you think the song will come crashing back down, it retains that phantasmal feeling for most of the song. After a while, the wall of arcane sound is overcome and the music gradually calms down into a limbo between the heavy side and soft side, and slowly fades out. Absolutely brilliant.

"Milano" takes its time to emerge, introducing the next joyful melody the band has concocted. It kind of reminds me of Viđrar vel til Loftárása, a melody that basically continues on for 10 minutes, but it's so good it doesn't get old. It also keeps changing from upbeat to calm, with the perfect buildups of course, but I'd say the majority of the song is quite relaxing.

"Gong" is my second favorite song, a slightly different style than the rest. It begins with a simple string melody for about 10 seconds to point the listener in the wrong direction, and then starts to introduce the main theme. The majority of the song has a very upbeat and fractious rhythm, and more straightforward vocals expressing a darker feeling instead of such a joyful fuzzy feeling like most songs. There are so many different sounds intertwined and interweaved together here it is really a much needed change of pace and a puzzle for your ears to unravel. My only complaint is the song isn't long enough. It's so good I usually play it twice in a row.

"Andvari" ...this song is very soothing and hypnotic... so much that the entire song just went by and I didn't write a single word during it and it was over all of a sudden. "Svo Hljott" is another very calming song. The entire song is one big crescendo, like weather going from a dull, foggy, cold morning to a sunny and warm afternoon. "Heysátan" ends the album with a satisfied feeling... doesn't end with a bang, doesn't really fade out softly, but a happy medium.

If you're new to Sigur Ros... I think it's obvious that the band is very much an acquired taste. I remember finding the hype of Sigur Ros on Amazon.com and listening to Svefn-g-englar a few times and absolutely hating it. A few months later Ágćtis Byrjun was in my hands. You've got to give them an honest chance and you'll be happy when you do. Read more ›