1. Intro
2. Svefn-g-englar
3. Staralfur
4. Flugufrelsarinn
5. Ny Batteri
6. Hjartao Hamast (Bamm Bamm Bamm)
7. Viorar Vel Til Loftarasa
8. Olsen Olsen
9. Agaetis Byrjun
10. Avalon

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Not sure if I completely get this music?!
I must admit that I don't know if I completely understand this music (yet?). It's kind of like new age Pink Floyd with an Icelandic twist. The reason I say that is because it has such a broad expanse of sound which I do like. I must admit the middle of the album is really worth buying it for - there is such a lot going on it's awesome. However on the down side I feel that some of the tracks are a bit long and seem to have these very strange endings where a load of odd unrelated sounds seem to be tagged on as an after thought. Apart from that it has really grown on me and I think if you like something a bit out of the norm then this may well be for you.

Genius
Id never heard of this 4 piece band until recently and have since purchased 3 of there albums its so unique

Human music beamed in from a distant galaxy
Hearing Sigur Ros for the first time , as most of us did when hearing Agaetis byrjun, is akin, i imagine , to not just hearing music beamed down from another planet but hearing music beamed across from the far side of a far distant galaxy. The sort of thing Star Trek "Voyager" might have heard on their sojourn through the delta quadrant.( the cover , featuring a ballpoint pen drawing by a friend of the band further ratifies the music's alien ambience) The nearest comparison, and i realise that i am being far from being original here, are The Cocteau Twins , though even their celestial otherworldliness does,nt really compare to the Icelandic quartet.
Agaetis byrjun (Icelandic for An alright start) was originally released in June 1999 and is actually the bands second album , though i was under the misconception for some considerable time that it was their debut. With reference to the Cocteau Twins comparison their actual debut "Von Brigoi" is actually more like them mixed in with ambient drifts not unlike certain Eno or Seefeel. This album though is virtually unique. The astonishing falsetto vocals of Jon Birgisson soar over his cello bowed guitars and the diffuse keyboards of Kjsrtan Sveinsson . Abyss plunging bass lines keep the whole anchored somewhere adjacent to terra firma.
Further enhancing the music's obtuse quality's are degrees of self-reference. The first track "Intro" is,nt listed on the packaging and while most of the songs are sung in Icelandic ( though , even in English they would be indecipherable i feel) "Olsen Olsen" is sung in the gibberish language Vonlenska- which the band used for the entire follow up album ( ). The band also pull off sly technical tricks like making the strings in "Staralfur" palindromic or the fact that "Avalon" is in fact the aforementioned tracked played at a quarter of it,s speed.
Putting all this clever muso mumbo jumbo to one side though the real glory of Sigur Ros is the breathtaking emotional clout of the songs. "Svefn-g- englar" ( It translates as sleepwalkers) is consummately spine tingling -the sort of track i never ever tire of hearing . "Staraflur" has lump in the throat panoramic strings while on "Flugufrelsarinn" ( The Fly Freer) they are more sombre and elegiac like a Morricone soundtrack.
Agaetis byrjun remains Sigur Ros,s finest achievement, certainly better than the sombre ( ) and while "Takk" was a return to form it never matches the grace and insidious alien textures of this album. Whatever planet, galaxy , cosmos Agaetis byrnum is beamed from it remains a vital thrilling human experience.



ethereal and dreamy...
After debut album Von appeared domestically, this one was expected to be Sigur Ros' global take over and yes... it was; definitely a perfectly crafted piece, it placed the boys as best current artsy band. Close your eyes and loose yourself over it... pictures of Iceland will come to your head, sometimes as sweet as a lullaby (Svefn-g-englar), sometimes playfully explosive (Olsen-Olsen); a soundtrack for heaven?... I hope so, it would be great to ascend heavens with a score like this... If you are to start with Sigur Ros, get this one first and share it with as much people as possible, you will never regret and you will put some light into the darkness.

Best place to start
I cannot add any further to what the previous 70 odd reviewers have already said, but being a big fan of Sigur Ros for some years I can advise anyone wishing to purchase this bands music for the first time that this album is the finest place to start. Previous and Subsequent albums are still full of their high quality individual material, but just lack in the variety of content of Agaetis Byrjun.

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