Von (album)

Untitled

Von (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈvɔːn], Hope) is the debut album of Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós.

The production of the album took a long time, and the end result sounded significantly different from the original recordings. The band considered scrapping the final result and starting all over again, but decided not to because it would have made the process too long. In exchange for recording time, Sigur Rós painted the studio they recorded in.

Von was originally released in Iceland to moderate critical acclaim, but went relatively unnoticed abroad. In the first year following the release, Von sold only 313 copies in Iceland. Following the band's popular international releases, Ágætis byrjun and ( ), it was re-released in the United Kingdom in September 2004, and in the United States a month later. In December 2005, Von and Ágætis byrjun were declared platinum albums in Iceland, signifying domestic sales of over 5,000.

The sixth track consists of 18 seconds of silence, and gave name to Sigur Rós's official website, eighteen seconds before sunrise. The last track starts with six minutes and fifteen seconds of silence, then consists of a portion of "Myrkur" played backwards, hence the name of "Rukrym."

Track listing

No.	Title	English translation[*]	Length
1.	"Sigur Rós"	Victory Rose	9:47
2.	"Dögun"	Dawn	5:50
3.	"Hún Jörð …"	Mother Earth	7:18
4.	"Leit að lífi"	Search for Life	2:34
5.	"Myrkur"	Darkness	6:14
6.	"18 sekúndur fyrir sólarupprás"	18 Seconds before Sunrise	0:18
7.	"Hafssól"	The Sun's Sea	12:24
8.	"Veröld ný og óð"	Brave New World	3:29
9.	"Von"	Hope	5:12
10.	"Mistur"	Mist	2:16
11.	"Syndir Guðs (Opinberun frelsarans)"	Sins of God (Revelation of the Savior)	7:38
12.	"Rukrym"	ssenkraD / Darkness	8:59

• ^* English translations not official.

External links

• Official page about the album
• Selected tracks from album available on group's website
• Von and Ágætis byrjun go platinum in Iceland