There seems to be some contention that over the past ten years Björk's musical output has been becoming more and more avant garde and divisive. The assumption is, that at one point, she had been creating pop hits.

A couple of the members of the LiveJournal community "Björkish" recently posted a couple of entries that derided "Volta" as a piece of trash, boring, or otherwise unlistenable. More incomprehensible was the amount of agreement that sprang forth from these threads. People took turns lambasting the album, and as much as I try to understand where they are coming from, I do not agree with their summations that Volta may be Björk's worst album to date.

After my first listens to the leaked tracks "Earth Intruders" and "Innocence" I too was a little scared. Here were these edited, poor sound quality representations of songs, which on the album, are full bodied and gigantic. Much of the sound had been removed in the process of editing, compressing, up and downloading and what emerged from my Mac speakers was comparable to weak tea, and weak tea that tasted weird.

From these samples, fans kept referring to "Volta" and it’s lack of poppiness compared to "Debut" or to the to the manic energies of "Post." These fans don’t seem to remember that both of those albums were extremely different than anything that was happening on the music scene at that time and even now. And each of those albums took some time to find their audience. Video helped, collaborations helped, and overall time helped. By the time "Homogenic" was released, the global audience had time to adjust and enjoy the new sounds and vision coming from Björk. And it was hailed a masterpiece. No one seemed to mind that the structures of the songs were built on volcanic/electronic beats and strings - a recipe that would have spelled disaster had "Homogenic" been released as her first album. It took time for audiences to mature, and mature with Björk for "Homogenic."

I remember the release of "Vespertine" as a time when fans, who were still in afterglow of "Homogenic," didn't understand the direction that microbeats and panoramic strings were supposed to take. Fortunately, two things helped audiences quickly adjust and accept "Vespertine." The microbeat of Vespertine had been purposely chosen for the appeal improvement that laptops, a technological device that was appearing very rapidly at the time, have on the album. The sound of "Vespertine" was made better, or at least didn't suffer from experiencing it on the music player of choice - minispeakers on laptops in bedrooms. Secondly, "Vespertine" was adopted by audiences in part because of it's very positive, simple, and warm lyrical content. It was like reading a postcard from Björk in the middle of winter. Additionally, “Vespertine” contained the basic ingredients (albeit in different ratio) as “Homogenic” – namely strings, beats, and voice(s).

In as much as "Vespertine" was a showcase for Björk's love of strings and microbeats, "Medulla" demonstrated Björk's fascination and reverence for the human voice. Considering fans adoration of the singer's own distinct singing style, this shouldn't have been such a leap of faith for fans to make. The lyrical content of the songs was as simple and emotional as ever, with a aesthetic bent on creating a primordial palette of tracks that demonstrate the history of the sounds of the human voice that is contained in each of us. This album also was the first alum where Björk became overtly political. This political element makes sense in the context of the aesthetic vocal component, or maybe the aesthetic component makes sense in relation to the "personal is political" current running throughout. With a multi-cultural collaborative cast and track names that are questions ("Who is it?" "Where is the line?"), Björk seems to be challenging the listener to flip a middle finger at political parties and borders, and define their own sources of bliss.

As an aside, after "Vespertine" fans were treated to a few years of Björk retrospectives, DVDs, and re-releases. This time was both embraced for it's release of hidden treats as well as criticized as a time with no new material. Fans and critics accused Björk for resting on her laurels and releasing so much old stuff as an obvious dig into fan wallets. No one seemed to notice that this was also a time when Björk gave birth to a child, performed a tour, and scored a film. The demands for the new album proper would be great. And, for eager and slightly pissed off fans, the result of years of waiting was "Medulla."

Fan reaction to "Medulla" seemed to be a collective "WTF?" People wanted more "Vespertine" "Homogenic" or "Post".

Fans got hung up. Too much was made of the inaccessibility of the vocal experimentations. I remember reading reactions and speaking to friends and fellow Björk fans that thought this was Björk being intentionally obtuse and trying to test their faith. In retrospect we were reaching a similar point as when "Debut" was released. Both were fairly basic starting points after long periods of other musical directions (The Sugarcubes in the case of "Debut"). Both contained a large component of folk influence (tablas and other percussive devices in "Debut" and the human voice in "Medulla"). What separated and prevented wide audience acceptance of "Medulla" was the lack of other facets of the album to grab hold of. The format of the collectible single has dwindled. Interesting videos were made but MTV as an avenue for connecting with video audiences is dead. And no tour came after this album. "Medulla" stalled, finding it's audience and supporters at a much slower rate than "Debut" or "Post."

When "Volta" was announced as an energetic, collaborative with pop players, and with instruments(!) fans defaulted to expecting the last loud Björk record. Fans began to gear up for hearing another "Hunter" or "Pluto." Unfortunate for them they were delivered a horse of another color. This horse seems to have some of the same political components of "Medulla" the energy of "Homogenic" as well as the vocal experimentations of "Medulla" the sentiment of "Vespertine" but this time with the beautifully morose aesthetic of a steam-vessel, high seas adventure. The sounds of water permeate as readily as the sounds of winter did on "Vespertine." The horns of "Volta" remind me of the patriotic strings on "Homogenic." What's so hard to take about that?

Are fans not appreciating "Volta" because of their knee-jerk reactions and recollections to the past few releases? Have fans closed their borders and stopped maturing with Björk? Are they requiring a definite "Homogenic 2" before they feel comfortable with opening their borders to Björk again?

Is that possible for Björk to achieve?

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