Bjork Homogenic CD

Personnel includes: Bjork (vocals, keyboards); Gavin Wright, Wilf Gibson, Peter Oxer, Roger Garland, Jim McLeod, Ben Cruft (violin); George Robertson, Peter Lale, Roger Chase, Bill Hawkes (viola); Martin Loveday, Helen Liebmann, Paul Kegg, John Tunnell (cello); Helen Tunstall (harp); Alasdair Malloy (harmonica); Yasuhiro Kobayashi (accordian); Jeff Bryant (horns); Mark Bell (keyboards, programming, drum programming); Guy Sigsworth (keyboards, clavichord, organ); Chris Laurence, Paul Pritchard (bass); Steve Henderson (timpani); Frank Ricotti (military snare); Trevor Morais (electronic drums); Markus Dravs (programming, drum programming); Richard Brown, Marius DeVries, Howie B. (programming); The Icelandic String Octet.
Producers: Bjork, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B.
HOMOGENIC was nominated for a 1998 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance.
"Bachelorette was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.
Personnel: Björk (keyboards); Helen Tunstall (harp); Una Sveinbjarnardottir , Perry Mason, Mark Berrow, Peter Oxer, Jim McLeod, Maciej Rakowski, Wilfred Gibson, Sif Tulinius, Sigrun Edvaldsdottir, Perry Montague-Mason, Sigurbjorn Bernhardsson, Vaughan Armon, Ben Cruft, Roger Garland, Gavyn Wright (violin); Hrund Hardardottir, George Robertson, Roger Chase, Moeidur Anna Sigurdardottir, Bill Hawkes, Peter Lale (viola); John Tunnell, Sigurdur Bjarki Gunnarsson, Jon R. Ornolfsson, Paul Kegg, Helen Liebmann, Martin Loveday (cello); Alasdair Alloy (harmonica); Yasuhiro Kobayashi (accordion); Mike Thompson , Jeffrey Bryant , Jeff Bryant (horns); Guy Sigsworth (clavichord, keyboards); Mark Bell (keyboards, programming, drum programming); Trevor Morais (drums, electronic drums); Frank Ricotti (snare drum); Alasdair Malloy (glass armonica); Steve Henderson (timbales, timpani); Markus Dravs (programming, drum programming); Richard Brown, Howie B, Danny Joe Brown Band, Marius de Vries (programming).
Audio Mixers: Howie B; Mark "Spike" Stent.
Photographer: Nick Knight.
Arrangers: Deodato; Björk.
By the late '90s, Björk's playful, unique world view and singular voice became as confining as they were defining. With its surprising starkness and darkness, 1997's Homogenic shatters her "Icelandic pixie" image. Possibly inspired by her failed relationship with drum'n'bass kingpin Goldie, Björk sheds her more precious aspects, displaying more emotional depth than even her best previous work indicated. Her collaborators -- LFO's Mark Bell, Mark "Spike" Stent, and Post contributor Howie B -- help make this album not only her emotionally bravest work, but her most sonically adventurous as well. A seamless fusion of chilly strings (courtesy of the Icelandic String Octet), stuttering, abstract beats, and unique touches like accordion and glass harmonica, Homogenic alternates between dark, uncompromising songs such as the icy opener, "Hunter," and more soothing fare like the gently percolating "All Neon Like." The noisy, four-on-the-floor catharsis of "Pluto" and the raw vocals and abstract beats of "5 Years" and "Immature" reveal surprising amounts of anger, pain, and strength in the face of heartache. "I dare you to take me on," Björk challenges her lover in "5 Years," and wonders on "Immature," "How could I be so immature/To think he would replace/The missing elements in me?" "Bachelorette," a sweeping, brooding cousin to Post's "Isobel," is possibly Homogenic's saddest, most beautiful moment, giving filmic grandeur to a stormy relationship. Björk lets a little hope shine through on "Jòga," a moving song dedicated to her homeland and her best friend, and the reassuring finale, "All Is Full of Love." "Alarm Call"'s uplifting dance-pop seems out of place with the rest of the album, but as its title implies, Homogenic is her most holistic work. While it might not represent every side of Björk's music, Homogenic displays some of her most impressive heights. ~ Heather Phares
As one of modern musiRolling Stone (10/16/97, pp.103-104) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...she leaves home and investigates love's bumpier back roads....celebrates difference and challenges listeners to explore the joys of contradiction with open ears and vivid imagination....one of the boldest--and most exciting--albums of the year."
Spin (1/98, p.86) - Ranked #4 on Spin's list of the "Top 20 Albums Of The Year."
Spin (10/97, p.135) - 9 (out of 10) - "...the 31-year-old Reykjavik native's new album delves deeply into hip-hop, flies in orchestras, and proves that the electronic generation will yield much more than a string of dance epiphanies..."
Entertainment Weekly (9/26/97, pp.76-77) - "...may be Bjork's most audacious move in a career filled with them....On roughly half the album she and coproducer Mark Bell...take two seemingly incompatible genres--techno and classical--and weld them together. It's like sneaking a boom box into a chamber recital and seeing what happens..." - Rating: A
Melody Maker (12/20-27/97, pp.66-67) - Ranked #33 on Melody Maker's list of 1997's "Albums Of The Year."
Village Voice (2/24/98) - Ranked #9 in the Village Voice's 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.
NME (Magazine) (12/20-27/97, pp.78-79) - Ranked #15 in NME's 1997 Critic's Poll.
NME (Magazine) (9/20/97, p.54) - 9 (out of 10) - "...her third solo album, HOMOGENIC, is probably her most weird, it is also her best....It is here...that Bjork has delivered her most emotional, highly-charged and groovy record, as well as a stinging triumph for the spirit of adventure."