VON

While Sigur Ros did become one of the leaders in musical innovation, and a masterpiece machine to boot, they didn't quite get it right the first time around. In fact, it was very far from right. Far left, I suppose. Or is it wrong? I get confused with contexts far too much! Anyhow, the band's debut, Von, is more of a tolerance test than an album. Much of this album is amibence, some of it draws from shoegazer music, and the rest is somewhat psychadelic. The lush sound backdrop was attempted here (the abysmal production more or less defeats the purpose), and Jonsi's voice is what it is, but other than that this bears practically no resemblance to the Sigur Ros we know and love today. And that time I mean it in a bad way. The only track worth keeping is the title track.

Apparently the band originally paid for this album by washing windows at the studio they recorded it at. Neat story, but don't let it fool you into thinking you should own it! My advice is to steer clear of this one, start with their first proper/good full-length Ágætis Byrjun. Everything from that one on is brilliant (and well-produced)! History has its place, and often times that place is history. Such is the case with Von. It's hard to give out one-star reviews, because often times there is some good in an album, or it will please some people. But here, in addition to the fact that I would score every album after this with at least four stars (probably even going straight fives), I'm going to give this one the dreaded single-star score. Don't look into this album unless you are already familiar with the band's other material!