Agaetis Byrjun

If your a fan of the more experimental radiohead or simply a person who enjoys beautiful music you should not be without this album. Listen to Svefn-G-Englar (track 2) and let your mind drift away into a blissful state of pure ecstasy.


why i was given ears.....   July 6, 2003
30 out of 31 found this review helpful

i dont understand what he's singing

i dont know what instrument is playing....

but i've never known any music like this....

i thought radiohead were experimental... until i heard this iceland gem....

i'm blow away to the point where i cant move when this cd plays, every note goes through my body like a bullet, i'm humbled by the vast knowledge that this group can offer just by one track.
this cd breaks me and manages to rebuild me inside out

and i may sound dramatic, i may be hyping up this album alot...
understand i dont usually buy male artists, i gave up on male frounted groups (with the exception of grandaddy, spaklehorse and radiohead...) but my god this blew me away,

his voice is at times almost an instrument of it's own,

i recomend this cd to any music lover, to anyone who is open to interpatation and has an imagination...
get lost in this cd
and then track down those other equally amazing haunting albums...

like mini films in your mind this cd washes over me leaving tiny lil shellfish in my soul

i love it!


Stop reading and buy this album   November 24, 2001
51 out of 54 found this review helpful

Sigur Ros are a 4 piece outfit from Iceland, whose second studio album is quite simply the most jaw dropping, heart stopping piece of music that these ears have heard in ages and ages. If not ever. The sound of their music defies my desire to afford it suitable description. One review of this album that I read on the Net described it as 'the soundtrack to a Heavenly afterlife'. I will offer little that is more fitting than that.

However, reviews require comparisons and I would be failing you if I didn't provide one - however inadequate.

Imagine the sound of Air's 'Moon Safari'. Add the sound of Radiohead at their evocative, powerful best. Mix in the sort of piano and string work that would make you weep for joy if you heard it at Cafe Mambo. Then roast in the oven for 40 minutes at gas mark Melody. Double it and you have the defining album of this, or possibly any, summer.

10 tracks. One second short of 72 minutes. Chilled to the bone rhythms meet haunting instrumentation and ethereal 'Hopelandish' vocals to produce sheer emotion distilled into crescendo after slowly building crescendo. Pick a fine summer's evening, light a barbie, get some mates round; eat, drink and then watch them all fall apart as your new Sigur Ros cd melts even the hardest of their hearts.

If only one of you buys this album and, in short time, comes to agree with me then the mission that I currently feel I am on will have been satisfied.

"Agaetis Byrjun" apparently translates roughly as "A new beginning". Buy it. Treasure it.


Brilliant   August 3, 2006
Alan (Leeds, UK)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

Beatiful. Majestic. Awe-inspiring. These are just a few of the words which can be used to describe this LP. This band immerse themselves totally in their surroundings - the beautiful landscapes of Iceland - and use it as their inspiration.

every other review of this album is spot on, so I won't make this any longer than it needs to be. One of the most interesting things that I find when I read other people's reviews is the variation in "favourite" tracks. Svefn-g-englar seems a popular choice, but the beauty of this album is that everyone sees something different in it. I've heard people say that their personal favourites are the title track, Svsfn-g-englar, Olsen Olsen, Ny Batteri... in fact, I've heard different people citing pretty much every track on the album as a highlight (except maybe the intro, for obvious reasons). My personal favourite is Staralfur, with its sweeping strings and haunting acoustic guitar.

In my opinion, the strongest Sigur Ros album - slightly edging out () and Takk...

Incidentally, people who look at my other reviews may notice that there are a great many 4 star ratings but only one 5 star rating - this one. I tend to only review albums that i like, but i try and avoid the two extremes - 1 star or 5 stars. i try to be objective with my reviews, so, believe me, if i think an album is deserving of 5 stars then take it as red that i wholeheartedly think that album is utter brilliance.

Buy it now.