I’m gonna drop a patented TMT hot take here: too many album anniversaries pass by without absurd reissue box sets, deluxe editions, or retrospectives. Where’s my 10th anniversary reissue of Discovery’s LP? What about a 40th anniversary edition of the indisputable second best Talking Heads record, Fear of Music? Why hasn’t anyone filled the gaping void in the market where a 10-disc box set of outtakes from Madonna’s I’m Breathless sessions should be? It is an outrage, over and over, every time an anniversary of an album release passes by without MORE CONTENT!
Luckily, Sigur Rós are still kickin’ around with some of that famous Icelandic hospitality to give us a much-needed 20th anniversary limited edition, all-around deluxe box set of their landmark breakthrough album, Ágætis byrjun!
But before you dust off that Duolingo icon to brush up on your Hopelandic, you probably want to know exactly what you can expect from this Ágætis byrjun reissue. Well, the Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set™ will, in addition to the album on 2xLP, hit you straight in the face with an 84-page cloth-bound book, a 2xLP live set from 1999 at Íslenska óperan, and three LPs of “demos, rarities, and early live recordings” (plus digital download)! Oh, and the first 1999 are numbered (presumably, although not confirmed, from 1 to 1999). Other editions — including a CD expanded edition, an LP edition, a digital deluxe edition, and a digital edition — are also available…with a lot less cool stuff!
The 20th anniversary Ágætis byrjun box set drops like a rock June 21, and you can pre-order all variations of the reissue at the digital deluxe edition of Sigur Rós’s website here. This is the kind of respect we need for cultural touchstones, people! (I still can’t believe Charli XCX and Troye Sivan failed to reference “Svefn-g-englar” in their hit global smash “1999”.)
Heed my words: we gotta celebrate every acclaimed cultural artifact from our past, every single time 365.25 days go by, or I will friggin’ lose it!
1999 Deluxe 7 x LP numbered limited edition tracklisting:
3 x LP - Demos and Rarities:
Side A
01. Svefn-g-englar (Live at Popp í Reykjavík, 1998)
02. Starálfur (Original speed version)
Side B
01. Flugufrelsarinn (1998 Demo)
02. Ný batterí (Instrumental)
Side C
01. Hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm) (1995 Demo)
02. Viðrar vel til loftárása (Alternative ending)
Side D
01. Olsen Olsen (1998 Demo)
02. Ágætis byrjun (1998 Demo)
Side E
01. Hugmynd 1 (1998 Demo)
02. Hugmynd 2 (1998 Demo)
03. Hugmynd 3 (1998 Demo)
Side F
01. Debata mandire (Live at Laugardashöll, 1999)
02. Rafmagnið búið (From Ný batterí EP, 2000)
2 x LP - Live Íslenska Óperan 1999:
Side A
01. Intro
02. Von
03. Syndir Guðs
Side B
01. Flugufresarinn
02. Olsen Olsen
03. Ágætis byrjun
Side C
01. Viðrar vel til loftárása
02. Svefn-g-englar
03. Ný batterí
Side D
01. Nýja lagið
02. Hafssól
2 x LP - Original album
4 x CD:
1 x Rarities / 2 x Live Íslenska Óperan 1999 + Rarities / 1 x Original album
2 x LP:
Original album + download code of Demos and Rarities + Live Íslenska Óperan 1999
More about: Sigur Rós
