Debut by Björk

Debut, Björk's first recording after the Sugarcubes came apart, came out on 5 July 1993 on One Little Indian and Elektra, and it's a flat-out rebirth. Björk produced it with Nellee Hooper, and together they ditched the rock of her old band for a glittering grab bag of electronic pop, house, jazz and trip hop.

The Icelandic singer's voice does everything at once, purring, yelping and soaring, and the music follows wherever she goes: skittering beats, jazzy swirls and pulsing club rhythms. "Human Behaviour" stomps along on a big, tribal drumbeat, "Venus as a Boy" has a tender, exotic sway, and "Big Time Sensuality" is pure giddy house-music joy. "Play Dead" and "Violently Happy" rounded out five singles, every one of them a UK chart entry, and three of them made the dance and modern rock charts in America.

British critics swooned; American ones were more divided. It sold better than anyone expected, peaking in the US at 61, in the UK at number three and at home in Iceland at number two, went gold in Canada and platinum in America, where it remains her best-selling album.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.