| Debut Live | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 1 June 2004 (2004-06-01) | |||
| Recorded | 7 November 1994 17 June 1995 | |||
| Genre | Acoustic | |||
| Length | 43:03 | |||
| Label | One Little Indian | |||
| Producer | Various | |||
| Björk chronology | ||||
| ||||
Debut Live is a live album byIcelandic singerBjörk. While featuring live versions of songs fromDebut, the album does not feature the songs as performed during theDebut tour from 1993–1994. Instead the majority of the CD comes from an acoustic performance ofDebut on theMTV Unplugged television program. Originally released in the 5 discLive Box set in 2003,Debut Live was later released separately on 1 June 2004 byOne Little Indian records.
Björk was unhappy with theDebut tour, her first solo concert series after leavingthe Sugarcubes. As she explained in the documentaryMinuscule, "I did auditions and hired session people and everybody did what they were told. We rehearsed very well and the first show was like that and all the other shows were like that. So it was very nailed down. And I made a promise through that tour that I would never do that again… because most of all if I had told everybody what to do and how to do it I walk on stage and I'm bored stiff." In 2002 when she began combing her archive of live material to be released the following year,[1] she settled on a special performance ofDebut for MTV's iconicUnplugged series of concerts. This show was performed a month after the Debut tour concluded in late 1994 and features wildly different instrumentation and interpretations of theDebut songs.
Several artists joined Björk onstage, includingTalvin Singh on tabla,Corky Hale on harp,Oliver Lake, the South Bank Gamelan Orchestra, and two artists who would become frequent collaborators:Guy Sigsworth andLeila Arab.[2] Another collaboration would soon prove fruitful, that with deaf Scottish percussionistEvelyn Glennie.[3] She and Björk went on to record a session together but only two of the songs have been released: "My Spine" (found on Björk'sPost remix albumTelegram in 1996) and "Oxygen" (found on Glennie's greatest hits album released in 1997).
The concert was held on 7 November 1994 in London. The set list included all of the songs fromDebut except "There's More to Life Than This".Debut eraB-sides "Atlantic" and "Play Dead", regulars on the Debut tour set lists, were not performed. Many of the songs were taken multiple times to perfect them for the TV broadcast, and the night was capped with a cover ofRodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine", a song Björk has never recorded in studio.
Björk's MTV Unplugged concert was released on DVD as part of the collectionMTV Unplugged / Live on 9 February 2002.
Most of the tracks fromDebut Live are taken from the MTV Unplugged show. For reasons unknown, Björk replaced the MTV show's performance of "Venus as a Boy" with her 1995 performance of the song atLater with Jools Holland. Her performance of "My Funny Valentine" has never been released, nor has the MTV Unplugged version of "Venus as a Boy". Six songs from MTV Unplugged had previously been featured in a special promotional CD calledCelebrating Wood and Metal. It was a free gift to the first 20,000 members of the official Björk fan club in 1997. The two CDs contain noticeably different mixes, particularly the audience applause which is nearly absent from the earlier promotional CD.
Debut Live was originally released as part ofLive Box in 2003, a collection of Björk's first four live albums, in a period where Björk was releasing several compilations and side projects on CD and DVD. The collection was met with mixed reception; while critics praised Björk's performances and reinventions of her material, many felt the seemingly endless number of releases were simply a way to milk money from die-hard fans.[4] A stand-aloneDebut Live CD was released on 1 June 2004, months before Björk's fifth studio albumMedúlla.
AllMusic called it "a must for Björk fans" and commented that the eclectic group of instruments, "allow Björk's voice to masterfully guide the songs."[5]Pitchfork was slightly more critical. While praising both Björk and her multi-cultural musicians, contributor Scott Plagenhoef felt that these stripped down versions of theDebut songs felt "muted" and that the singer let the new arrangements take center stage over her own performance.[6]
All songs taken from Björk'sMTV Unplugged concert from 7 November 1994 except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Human Behaviour" |
| 4:09 |
| 2. | "One Day" | Björk | 6:09 |
| 3. | "Venus as a Boy" (Later with Jools Holland, 17 June 1995) | Björk | 2:33 |
| 4. | "Come to Me" | Björk | 3:45 |
| 5. | "Big Time Sensuality" |
| 5:08 |
| 6. | "Aeroplane" | Björk | 4:03 |
| 7. | "Like Someone in Love" | 4:01 | |
| 8. | "Crying" |
| 4:12 |
| 9. | "The Anchor Song" | Björk | 3:25 |
| 10. | "Violently Happy" |
| 5:44 |
| Total length: | 43:03 | ||
| Studio albums | |
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| Remix albums | |
| Live albums | |
| Collaboration albums | |
| Concert films | |
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| Documentaries | |
| Performances | |
| Other recordings | |
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| Exhibitions | |
| Bands and labels | |
| Related articles | |
