#19 - Ryan & Steve

Sigur Rós

( )

2002

Ágætis Byrjun, the band’s second release, astonished the United States. The band just sounded so alien not only because of its foreign cinematic compositions but largely because of Jonsi Birgisson’s otherworldly and inhuman vocal delivery. These Icelanders captured our ears with something we had never heard before. A few years later they released their third record, ( ).

Some may call this pretentious for several reasons. First of all, you can’t pronounce the name of the album. None of the songs have titles. And most interestingly, Birgisson’s lyrics are in a nonsensical language the band refers to as Hopelandic. I retort, that Sigur Rós is simply maintaining the mystical aura around themselves. That was always the appeal of this band for me.

The thing that brings me back to this album over and over again is actually a single track. The eighth and final song is one of my favorite of all time. I still remember the day I first heard it. Back in high school while some of us were listening to the likes of Staind, Linkin Park and System of a Down, Steve would sit aside and listen to Sigur Rós on his iPod. We all thought it was a pretty weird sounding name but then Steve played ( ) for me on his record player one day. We were in his basement and he spun the last song on the record. The song builds slowly, beginning with the strumming of a guitar over an ethereal sounds from a guitar and bow. It takes about two minutes before Jonsi joins in with the glacial build. The percussion remains ever so steady and subtle. It’s at about the 7:45 mark where the song begins take on a new tone. The vocals reach higher pitches. It’s more inflected, fluid and foreboding. The drums begin to pound and the guitars are progressively more ominous. And then at 9:20, the song explodes and continuously does so until the end. This song gives me chills every time I hear it. -R.C.

If you’ve ever dreamed about playing in a rock band inside 20,000+ capacity stadiums, listen to this album… you will surely feel inspired. The tracks on this album each soar with anthem-like power, but they never become tiresome or formulaic. Sigur Rós is very good at understanding song placement for albums, resulting in a record that achieves their own “maximum capacity” of greatness. - Phil