Customer Reviews

Takk (Spec)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So you're here wondering whether to sink however many bucks into the latest Sigur Ros album. You're either a bona-fide fan looking for affirmation that this latest effort doesn't suck before purchasing it (it doesn't, buy it now), or you're a fence-sitter, having heard them before, and thought their sound was beautiful and wonderfully weird, occasionally inspired but also occasionally incredibly self-indulgent and, well, pointless.

I'm here to offer my opinion that Takk is Sigur Ros' most focused and joyous album to date, and my personal pick of the bunch (I do have all their previous albums). Songs- indeed, you can even classify them as songs instead of moods and atmospheres- have structure and momentum that reaches satisfying conclusions. Some even had me rockin' in my chair. All are beautiful as only songs crafted by this bunch of Icelanders can be.

Will Takk, then, be able to convert a non-fan? I'm not sure; after all, it is another Sigur Ros album, with all that implies. And if their other albums invoked a terrible sense of pretentious, faux-art, hipster nonsense in you, then this latest effort will hardly change your mind. But if you wonder what Sigur Ros have been doing in the 3 years since their previous album, and are willing to give these lads some leeway for their indulgences, I'd say this album is well worth a gamble.

As a side note, the special edition packaging is a thing of beauty and I urge you to choose it over the normal CD case.

I give this album 5 stars, triple platinum, a sweep at the Grammys, a 30 minute time slot on late night television, a 2.5 hour uninterupted network concert broadcast and a key to the world.

The calming, self-titled intro "Takk" leads into what is arguably the best composition Sigur Ros has ever produced thus far in "Glosoli". The first time I heard it I played it like 30 times in a row as I couldn't get enough of Jonnsi's falsetto and bowed guitar. I saw Sigur Ros open with this song in Philly in September 05 and it was very powerful.

Every song on this album is fantastic and it has a very good pace in that (unlike U2's last two albums)you're not slammed with 5 slow songs in a row. The strings that conclude "Soeglapur" flows nicely into the crisp piano that leads into "Milano." "Gong" picks up the pace a bit and places itself in perfect sequence followed by the masterpeice that is "Anvardi." An absolutely stellar performance on this track. "Heysatan" concludes this work as if Sigur Ros are saying "Takk" for the very last time.

Without a doubt the best album Alternative music has seen since Radiohead's OK Komputer. This CD will be a classic album palettable for generations.

More about the concert - I had been salivating to see these guys live for the last three years. I can honestly say that this was a concert like none other that I've seen before. My wife began crying at points in the show because the music was so beautiful. At the conclusion of the show, Sigur Ros took two curtain calls in the midst of a 7 minute standing ovation. I couldn't keep a dry eye during the ovation as I felt such strong gratitude in witnessing Sigur Ros' playing their hearts out in what was a powerful and emotional performance.

I bought this on a throwout table outside a boring local record shop. I had heard a few things by Sigur Ros before but nothing that really impressed me. I bought this because the cover was so cool. Then I listened to it. Absolute magic. The best thing I have heard for a long time. I have not yet taken out of the CD player and it has been 3 days. Like being dragged through some fantastic dream by a team of naked angels on opium. Before you leave this miserable planet listen to this record, things are not so bad after all.

I thought Sigur Ros' previous three albums were spectacular, but this thing- it throws the curve. I mean, I gave the other albums five stars, so this album gets seven. Every single song is magic, and the album flows together better than the previous ones. This is still not radio friendly, but it's definitely more accessible to new Sigur Ros fans. If you are just now checking them out, you should buy this album first; you WILL like it, and you WILL want to buy their previous releases. I guarantee it.

I was able to catch Sigur Ros in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago. The Cd is.. amazing, I mean the last few albums have been not only groundbreaking musically, but.. very emotionally charging and inspiring music.

Then I saw Sigur Ros live.

heh, I don't care waht your favorite genre is, or what kind of music you prefer... do your a self a favor, pick up atleast this album, as it is in my opinion, the most accessable of any previous Sigur Ros album. and for god sakes, see them live... you'll never forget it.

this album is amazing, the whole thing just fills you up with happiness. every track is flawless. it's a solid album. if you want to make you life better you should buy it.

Takk means "thank you" in most Scandinavian languages. After listening to Sigur Ros's new album, Takk..., they are the ones who should be thanked.

Takk... is without question what modern music can be. Listening to this gives one the feeling of listening to the possibility of music on the edges; of what music can be in the future. But Sigur Ros doesn't peer forward without understanding and internalizing important elements of their musical past.

Takk... incorporates lush orchestrations, chants, children's xylophones, soundtrack ambience, mesmerizing falsetto choruses, tape samples, Pink Floyd-ish musical sequences, old-time brass bands, and countless other influences. I'll admit, I fell for a similar review of that caused me to buy an album by The String Cheese Incident only to find out it was pretentious, disjointed, and technically, not that great. Not so with Sigur Ros.

In many ways, I react to Takk... as I would to a Mahler or a Bruckner symphony: awed and sometimes confused but always satisfied with the resolution at the end. And they require repeated hearings to grasp all the sides. But I'm just as comfortable with Otis Redding, Buddy Miller, Wynton Marsalis, and Steve Reich. That seemingly impossible blending of the various styles and techniques being done so professionally is what people will appreciate about Sigur Ros.

Their music rests on a foundation of complexity and harmony that builds toward an ultimate simplicity and beauty. This is not background music; it will draw you in and cause you to forget what you were working on. And don't be retentive about needing to know about the lyrics, because there is no help here. This is about the music.

It is modern and it is influenced by European roots. So some won't like it, although I think many of them would respect it. It may become one of your instant favorites. If you're not crazy about it at first, you'll know enough to save it for a later day, because you might consider it one of your favorites by then.

The music is hypnotic.It drifts in and out of your conscience and leaves you spellbound. There really isn't a proper way to describe how this music sounds , it is such an eclectic mix of many elements.Soft and loud at the same time. Gentle and abrasive, smooth and rough. All seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum , yet it flows seamlessly. Buy one Sigur Ros release, and I would be very surprised if you didn't then seek them all out.