 |
 |
|
|
buying more than one thing? (uses Multi-Item Price Optimization™) ...or |
||
 |
 |
intereact!Sigur Rós
Retail Price (not our price): $13.98
Release Date: 2002-10-29
Manufacturer: Mca
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...
| Disc 1 |
Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
1) Amazon.com
Are Iceland's Sigur Rós the saviors of 21st-century rock or true heirs to the silk-robed-and-platform-booted, pompous progressive rock of the '70s? On their third album (first for a major label), they are a little bit of both. The group continues to mix the most interesting aspects of U2 (the anthem), Low (the maximalist slow-mo thing), Radiohead (the utter lack of irony in the quest to make meaningful art for stadium crowds), and My Bloody Valentine (guitar as texture), while not sounding like anyone else on this planet. The average song length on the eight untitled tracks is eight minutes, with cascades of moaning, bowed guitars colliding with low-end keyboards while the lovely, alien-registered vocals of singer Jónsi float on top. Dynamics are employed spectacularly, but half of the album is spooky soundtrack music that never really goes anywhere. However, the actual songs on Two Sausages Kissing (or whatever you want to call it)--the third, sixth, eighth, and especially fourth tracks--are mind-blowers, spectacularly worth the price of admission. If they just stopped trying to reinvent the wheel all the time, Sigur Rós could really be a band for the ages. --Mike McGonigal
Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
1) Music for mosquitos [Rating: 1 out of 5]
I became interested in Sigur Ros () after finding a YouTube video segment of a live performance of Track 7. I wish that I had not spent money on this album.The first few tracks really set the tone for the album. Music for mosquitos, with Asian influences. As is noted by other reviewers, the lead singer repeats a nonsense word/phrase over and over, throughout the album. The music is conventional and droning. The first tracks contain something that is very reminiscent of a mosquito buzzing my ear while I try to sleep. This has more in common with jazz than rock, more like what a rock band might do if they had to fill an hour jam session with atmospheric stuff.This isn't electronic, its too annoying to be ambient, and has too much conventional rock to be "post-rock." I recommend Debussy's Jeaux, and Jean-Michel Jarre's Zoolook to this. (Right now I'm listening to Corsican Chant to get this out of my head.)2) Ros at their 100% minimalist best [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This is one of my most favorite albums of all time.To those who are saying that it's not innovative,well it is and it isn't;what truly IS innovative these days? most everything's been done by now from steve roach to gg allin.it's hard to do.the sad thing is that this album seems to have gotten so much publicity from all the wrong places--this isn't the type of music anyone can just dive into because gweneth paltro or whoever else in hollywood or otherwise likes it.this is music that requires the listener to take the time to sit down and experience it from an asthetic viewpoint:it's not fast-food pop music.if you have a receptive attitude towards it you'll probably like it.compared to ros' other albums () is a head above the rest because it has a perfect continuity from start to finish,like classic albums from the past had such as dark side of the moon,relayer,harvest,etc.the other ros albums are too jarring in transitions from song-to-song in my opinion,and that takes away from the experience of going to another mindset.i can't wait for the day sigur ros make a 60+minute,one track/one song opus...it's bound to happen!3) Ability to bring out even the deepest of emotions [Rating: 5 out of 5]
For a long time I covered everything up (after all, that's what we do when we're hurt, we just dig over it and scar it up). I never cried even though I wanted to, and I became very robotic and indifferent. One night after having a huge fight with my (then) girlfriend, I took a long drive to sort it all out, and I popped in ( ). It brought everything to the surface, all of the emotions that were buried, all of the hurt, the shame. I exploded into tears as the music burst into beautiful orchestral waves of mania and melancholia. I hadn't cried in years. It felt so damn good. This music brought me to my knees and I saw my inner child, aching to get out. That cold night I realized that I can be human again. I am a living, breathing, colorful soul. Sigur Ros has a gift that most bands can not posess. If you're looking for beautiful, spiritual, mind-inducing music - look no further. It's like a musical drug that soothes and helps you.4) SUICIDE MUSIC [Rating: 1 out of 5]
Ok, I will be one of the few that will point out that "the emperor is not wearing any clothes". Based on a couple of tracks of their music and reading all the overwhelming positive reviews of Sigur Ros, I went and in one fell swoop, purchased most of their albums. With the exception of only one or two songs overall, this is the most boring, depressing, monotonous, droning band I have ever heard make it this far in the music industry. Granted, it must be depressing as hell to live in Iceland and as a musician myself, this is probably the drivel I would write if I were subjected to such a place on the planet. Most of the tracks seem as if the band members were bored and stuck inside the house and just experimenting with cool sounds and "concepts". These concepts and sounds are loosely arranged into "songs" but they are merely more akin to someone at a music store experimenting with a new keyboard on the showroom floor. I think many reviewers here on Amazon read the reviews and are influenced to go with the mainstream and offer a similar review. This music is creative, yes, but lacks any diversity which is truly the hallmark of a gifted musicians and composers - something that Sigur Ros is NOT! Their work is not really music, per se. It's simply..... well... the perfect music to blast on your stereo right before you take your life....5) Wandering but Brilliant [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Sigur Ros' 2002 album has no real name, and all the songs are also untitled. There are no actual lyrics, all the vocals are in a nonexistent language. The booklet consists of several blank pages the band encourages listeners to write their thoughts in. Taken altogether, ( ) can seem kind of pretentious. It doesn't really matter though, it's about the music and it's pretty great.( ) has two distinct parts, a light first half and a more intense second half. The first half is all about atmosphere. There's a lot of piano, especially in the third track which has a nice plunking tune, while the rest of it is more ambient pleasantness. They use distorted guitar to create texture instead of melody, and it's very dissimilar from the music you're probably used to hearing. It's best to not try and listen to it in quick bursts, and instead have it on when you're doing something else or just relaxing.Where I think the album gets really interesting is the second half. It focuses on the build and release of tension, and with the time they take to get where they're going they can really create immensely enjoyable moments throughout. It takes them quite a while to get to the point, but once they get there it can be a transcendent listening experience. Some of it sounds like Radiohead at their spaciest, but Thom Yorke and company rarely get as climactic. The various songs can seem sort of similar in the way they work up to the big moments, but it doesn't make it less interesting or powerful. After the seventh track it seems like it's winding down, but before the final song ends it breaks into the hardest guitar you'll find on the record in a very satisfying conclusion.The use of drums is much more important in the second half, as they set the intensity level almost by themselves, along with how passionate the vocalist sounds. Back to him, he's pretty good but I have a bit of an issue. Just because he's singing in a fake language doesn't mean it can't get repetitive. He sings what sounds phonetically like "You sigh on" or some close variation nearly constantly throughout the whole thing, and it can get irritating if you pay too much attention to him. It is this minor annoyance plus the very long amount of time it takes to get to the really good moments that keep the album from being truly excellent, in my mind. One could argue that the buildup makes the eventual payoff even sweeter, but I think it's still an imperfect way to make music.