E-mail Me! Click Here!
Louisville Music News.net
September 1993 Articles
Cover Story
Bob Bahr
Features
Paul Turner
Paul Moffett
Columns
Henry C. Mayer
Berk Bryant
Jan Winders
Paul Moffett
Earl Meyers
Keith Clements
Todd Hildreth
Elaine Ford
Jimmy Raney
Bob Bahr
CD Reviews
Kory Wilcoxson
John Goodin
Mark Clark
Allen Howie
Staff
Kory Wilcoxson
John Goodin
Kory Wilcoxson
Michael Campbell
Bob Bahr
Performance Reviews
Deborah Joyce Williams
Paul Moffett
John J. Bochan
Paul Moffett
Berkley Harrington, Jr.
Calendar
Staff
Staff
News Item
Staff
Paul Moffett
Jean Metcalfe
Preview
Bob Bahr
Opinion
Deborah Joyce Williams
Photos
Jean Metcalfe
Eddie Davis
LASC
Jonathan Miller
Michael Layman
Ray Yates
Jean Metcalfe
Michael Layman
Bookmark Louisville Music News.net with these handy
social bookmarking tools:
del.icio.us digg
StumbleUpon spurl
wists simpy
newsvine blinklist
furl blogmarks
yahoo! myweb smarking
ma.gnolia segnalo
reddit fark
technorati cosmos
Available RSS Feeds
Top Picks - Top Picks
Top Picks - Today's Music
Top Picks - Editor's Blog
Top Picks - Articles
Add Louisville Music News' RSS Feed to Your Yahoo!
Add to My Yahoo!
Contact: contact@louisvillemusicnews.net
Louisville, KY 40207
Copyright 1989-2024
Louisvillemusicnews.net, Louisville Music News, Inc.
All Rights Reserved  


Issue:September 1993 Year: 1993
this one
Debut (Elektra)
Bjork

Someone needs to tell Bjork that since she has it she might as well flaunt it a little more.

After listening to her aptly titled first solo album, I have to wonder why she split with her Icelandic mates, The Sugarcubes. They had a good thing going, although things had settled down from their fiery debut in the late '80s.

It was obvious Bjork could do better things without the constraints of the Sugarcubes, which de-evolved into a standard Euro dance band. But this sure isn't it.

There's going to be a lot of expectations placed on this album and there's sure to be a lot of disappointed fans. It's as if Bjork was given so much musical freedom she's not sure what to do with it.

Bjork's total package is her oh-so-sweet voice. Her flexibility is amazing and she can sound completely innocuous and totally sensual in the same note.

And we get a glimpse of that on Debut, especially in the first two songs, "Human Behaviour" and "Crying." Both have strong backing beats that let her voice shine and believe me, she can do things to make you tingle.

But that doesn't happen enough. Many of the remaining songs are exactly what she left behind — strict, definitive dance tracks. Her ethereal vocals are lost in the technology of "One Day" and "Violently Happy." She lollygags her way through "Like Someone In Love" a slow, jazzy number that would have sounded better — and more appropriate — coming from Harry Connick Jr. Bjork sounds as disinterested as the listener most surely is.

Nowhere to be found is the type of song on which Bjork should be flailing away — good ol' down-and-dirty rock and roll. Did you check out the 'Cubes version of Sailcat's "Motorcycle Mama" on Elektra's 40th Anniversary compilation, Rubaiyat? That totally jammed and Bjork was obviously having fun and sounded better than humanly possible.

But the stuff on Debut is just too darn artsy and Bjork sounds as if she's laboring. Producer Nellee Hooper can probably be blamed for that. Instead of focusing Bjork's talent, Hooper lets her wander too much and Bjork never seems to want to give the listener what they came for.

Debut is sedating when it should have been intoxicating. That's good if you're trying to go to sleep, but not so good if you want to be rocked or just rolled.

Bjork is like a good actor in a bad movie. She does what she can, but she just isn't given much to work with.

Bookmark and Share