Debut (Björk album)

Debut is the international debut studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk,Template:Refn released in July 1993 by One Little Indian and Elektra Entertainment. It was produced by Björk and Nellee Hooper. It was Björk's first recording following the dissolution of her previous band, the Sugarcubes. The album departed from the rock style of her previous work and drew from an eclectic variety of styles, including electronic pop, house music, jazz and trip hop.

Debut received critical acclaim from British music critics, though American reviews were mixed. It exceeded sales expectations, charting at number two in Iceland, three in the United Kingdom, and 61 in the US. It was certified gold in Canada and platinum in the US, where it remains Björk's best-selling album.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Five singles were released from Debut: "Human Behaviour", "Venus as a Boy", "Play Dead", "Big Time Sensuality" and "Violently Happy". All charted in the UK, with only "Human Behaviour", "Violently Happy" and "Big Time Sensuality" charting on dance and modern rock charts in the US.

Background and production

Björk performing in Japan with the Sugarcubes. Debut departed from the rock music of Björk's former bands.

While performing as the vocalist of Icelandic alternative rock group the Sugarcubes, Björk approached Ásmundur Jónsson of Bad Taste and producer Derek Birkett of One Little Indian Records with a demo cassette of her own songs.<ref name="Pytlik63">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Pytlik52">Template:Harvnb</ref> The demo included versions of songs that appeared on Debut, including "The Anchor Song" and "Aeroplane".<ref name="Pytlik52" /> After the Sugarcubes went on hiatus, Björk moved to London, England, where she and Birkett worked on the details of what would become Debut.<ref name="Pytlik63" /> The Sugarcubes' music did not fit Björk's taste, and her contact with London's underground club culture of the late 1980s and early 1990s helped her find her own musical identity.<ref name="timemomainterview">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Björk said in a 1993 interview that the guitar-driven rock in her previous work felt outdated, and that house music was "the only pop music that [was] truly modern… where anything creative [was] happening [at the time]."<ref name="i-d">Template:Cite magazine</ref> She said that "Kate Bush has really influenced [her]" as well as Brian Eno, acid house, "electronic beats" and "labels like Warp."<ref name="timemomainterview" />

Björk had already written half the songs for Debut, but had nothing recorded.<ref name="Pytlik64" /> She had written many of them years before moving to London, including "Human Behaviour", which she wrote as a teenager when she was in the Sugarcubes.<ref name=bjorksite>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ig8">Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> She had put aside the songs as "I was in punk bands and [the songs] weren't punk".<ref name=bjorksite /> With no producer, she composed songs with 808 State member Graham Massey in a friend's home in Manchester, where she also wrote songs included on later albums, including "Army of Me" and "The Modern Things".<ref name="Pytlik64">Template:Harvnb</ref>

While creating electronic tracks with Massey, Björk developed a desire to work with a jazz producer. Paul Fox, who had worked with the Sugarcubes, introduced her to jazz harpist Corky Hale.<ref name="Pytlik64" /> Hale had planned to decline to work with Björk until her stepson, a Sugarcubes fan, insisted that she take the job.<ref name="Pytlik64" /> Björk recorded a handful of jazz standards with Hale in 1991, including "I Remember You" and an early version of "Like Someone in Love"; the latter song was included in DebutTemplate:'s track listing.<ref name="Pytlik64" /><ref name="saga">Template:Cite web</ref> Fox also introduced Björk to Oliver Lake, with whom Björk recorded another jazz standard, "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries", with Lake's jazz group for the John Hughes film Curly Sue.<ref name="Pytlik65">Template:Harvnb</ref> Hughes turned down the recording, but it led to Debut being produced by Fox and arranged by Oliver Lake.<ref name="Pytlik66">Template:Harvnb</ref> Björk contracted Lake to work with session saxophonists in London for Debut;<ref name="Pytlik66" /> Lake's contributions are heard on tracks including "Aeroplane" and "The Anchor Song".<ref name="Pytlik66" />

Björk intended to have several producers work on the album.<ref name=bjorksite /> She planned to have the album produced with Fox until she was introduced to producer Nellee Hooper by her boyfriend Dominic Thrupp.<ref name="Pytlik67">Template:Harvnb</ref> Hooper had produced albums by Soul II Soul and Sinéad O'Connor which made Björk skeptical about working with him, stating: "I thought Nellee was too 'good taste' for my liking. But then I met him, got to know him, [and] got to hear about his fabulous ideas."<ref name="Pytlik67" /><ref name="Whitely211">Template:Harvnb</ref> Björk and Hooper's recording ideas were similar, which led to her decision to end production with Massey and Fox.<ref name="Pytlik67" /> Hooper introduced Björk to studio technology and studio programmer Marius de Vries, who gave Debut a modern style with keyboards and synthesizers.<ref name="Whitely105">Template:Harvnb</ref> He produced the first ten tracks on the album, while Björk co-produced "Like Someone in Love" with Hooper and produced "The Anchor Song" alone.<ref name="albumNotes">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Björk and Hooper spent many sessions in the studio working on Debut until the album was finished in early 1993.<ref name="Pytlik68">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Composition

Template:Listen Debut draws on an eclectic variety of sources.<ref name="allmusicreview" /> Treblezine described the album as "[melding] alternative dance and electronic with a graceful flow."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is said that the album "[shook] the status quo" of the contemporary musical climate, in the sense that its eclectic experimental pop leanings distanced it from the music "primarily being made by men with guitars" that was popular at the time, such as grunge and the burgeoning Britpop.<ref name="celebrating" /> Michael Cragg of The Guardian described it as an "indefinable conflation of electronic pop, trip-hop, world music and otherworldly lyrics".<ref name="guardian314">Template:Cite web</ref> AllMusic described the album as "creative, tantalizing electronic pop."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The New York Times wrote that "Debut often recalls the early '70s jazz-fusion of bands like Weather Report. But where these fusionists combined jazz harmony with funk and acid rock, Björk marries her scat-vocalese and off-kilter melodies with the futuristic textures and programmed percussion of today's techno and acid house.<ref name="NYTimes" /> The FaceTemplate:'s Mandi James felt Debut was "a delightful fusion of thrash metal, jazz, funk and opera, with the odd dash of exotica thrown in for good measure."<ref name="face93">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Billboard described the album as "an art pop masterpiece".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Björk also took influence from the music of Bollywood and "the buzz of London nightlife."<ref name="celebrating"/>

Debut incorporates dance music, reflecting the contemporary styles of London's club culture, with which Björk had established close ties.<ref name="id96"/> While elements of subgenres such as Euro-house, acid jazz, worldbeat and IDM are present, "they hadn't yet broken free from the primal thump of four-on-the-floor house music."<ref name="stereogum"/> Tom Breihan of Stereogum wrote that "even as dance music took on all these new sounds, that basic pulse was still the most important thing about it, and that pulse reverberates all through Debut."<ref name="stereogum"/> Björk said: "A lot of the songs on my record have dance beats, but I think they're beats that are more reflective of daily life—like life in the middle of the day in a city, as opposed to the night life of the clubs."<ref name="rs93"/> The four on the floor style, typical of house music, is evident in songs such as "Human Behaviour", "Crying", "Big Time Sensuality", "There's More to Life Than This" and "Violently Happy".<ref name="Whitely105" /><ref name="Whitely110">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Being a fan of dance music since the early days of acid house, she used it as the framework for her songs.<ref name="i-d"/> She told Rolling Stone that she "was more influenced by ambient music… and by things that were happening way back in Chicago and Detroit".<ref name="rs93">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Björk's embrace of England's dance culture also extended to her image, considered representative of 1990s acid house fashion.<ref name="sleenatasha"/><ref name="whatwewore"/>

Hooper had been a member of Bristol's "Wild Bunch", a group that took from acid jazz, funk and hip hop and helped create trip-hop.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The less dance-oriented electronic Debut tracks have a more trip-hop style sound<ref name="allmusicreview" /><ref name="Taylor37">Template:Harvnb</ref> and a "more delicate atmosphere".<ref name="allmusicreview" /> i-D noted that Debut—and Björk's subsequent album Post—integrate ambient techno and jungle, stating that they "couldn't have existed without Aphex Twin, Black Dog, A Guy Called Gerald, LFO and all the other producers who reshaped the language of music since 1988."<ref name="id96">Template:Cite magazine Available at bjork.fr</ref> Also present are elements of jazz, with WUOG stating that "while many see Debut as Björk's clubbiest album, it may also be her jazziest."<ref name="wuog">Template:Cite web</ref> Brad Shoup of Stereogum wrote that "though her electronic bent gets the most attention, it's her interest in jazz that courses through the set."<ref name="bradshoup">Template:Cite web</ref> Tim Perlich of Now felt Debut "bridges jazz and pop",<ref name="now93">Template:Cite news Available at bjork.fr</ref> and Simon Reynolds characterized it as "jazzy love songs tinged with an oceanic feeling."<ref name="NYTimes"/>

Songs

The lyrics of Debut contain themes of love.<ref name="NYTimes" /> They range from "flesh-and-blood passion" for another person to the love of life itself.<ref name="NYTimes" /> According to i-D, with a couple of exceptions, the songs of Debut fell into two types: "those where Björk addressed the listener as someone in pain and told them fireworks would light their nights and all would be well;" and "songs where she sang about her own pain."<ref name="id96"/> The Face stated that the album's lyrics "[consolidated] her love affair with language,"<ref name="face93"/> while The Sunday Times felt that Björk "rigorously [avoided] the obvious" by using lyrics that do not rhyme.<ref name="sundaytimes94">Template:Cite news Available at bjork.fr</ref>

The first track "Human Behaviour" features a "bouncing riff" sampled from Antônio Carlos Jobim, with "its syncopated beat consigned to a venerable orchestral instrument, the timpani."<ref name="guardian15">Template:Cite web</ref> Its lyrics refer to Björk's experience as a child, finding the behaviour of adults "rather chaotic and nonsensical," instead finding harmony with other children, nature and animals.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Inspired by naturalist David Attenborough, she sings from the point of view of an animal,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with its opening line being "If you ever get close to a human/And human behaviour/Be ready, be ready to get confused".<ref name="guardian15"/> Following track "Crying" shows a contradiction between its "bubbly, shiny-surfaced acid disco-pop" sound and lyrics that describe the turmoil of feeling alienated in a big city.<ref name="debutlegacy"/> "Venus as a Boy"—considered an ambient track by Rolling Stone<ref name="rs93"/>—reflected Björk's newly found interest in Bollywood, having befriended people of Indian origin in London, most notably tabla player Talvin Singh.<ref name="timemomainterview"/> In a spontaneous fashion, the song's strings—and also those of "Come to Me"—were recorded by a film studio orchestra in India, thanks to Singh.<ref name="timemomainterview"/> The lyrics of the track are about the sensitivity of her then boyfriend Dominic Thrupp, with lyrics that have been described as "sweet and just the slightest bit naughty."<ref name="allmusicreview" /><ref name="Pytlik196">Template:Harvnb</ref> In the dancefloor-oriented "There's More to Life Than This", Björk leaves romance behind, with "her mischievous side [coming] to the fore".<ref name="debutlegacy"/> Its lyrics were inspired by a party she attended and promptly left.<ref name="Pytlik194">Template:Harvnb</ref> "Like Someone in Love" is one of the several jazz standards she recorded with Corky Hale,<ref name="debutlegacy"/> with her voice "cradled in harp and swoony strings."<ref name="NYTimes"/>

"Like Someone in Love" is followed by the techno-tinged "Big Time Sensuality" in an "intentionally startling" leap.<ref name="celebrating">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="debutlegacy"/> An "anthem to emotional bravery," it contains lyrics described as "simple but passionate", concerning Björk's relationship with her co-producer Nellee Hooper.<ref name="AM_BTS">Template:Cite web</ref> The songs "The Anchor Song", "One Day", and "Aeroplane" draw on what Björk refers to as her more "academic, clever side".<ref name="Taylor37" /> "One Day" also presents a sudden shift of mood, featuring a "gently pulsing bass" that builds into an "itchily impassioned, housey pop euphoria."<ref name="debutlegacy"/> "Aeroplane" is one of DebutTemplate:'s most musically complicated pieces with off-kilter arrangement from Oliver Lake;<ref name="Pytlik170">Template:Harvnb</ref> its backdrop is inspired by exotica music.<ref name="allmusicreview" /> This song is also about Thrupp, written when he was living in the United Kingdom and Björk still lived in Iceland.<ref name="Pytlik170" /> "Come to Me" features a "hazy musical backdrop of raindrop synths, padded drums and sweeping strings";<ref name="guardian314"/> lyrically, it explores a "sensually intense need to nurture."<ref name="debutlegacy"/> "Violently Happy" is the most hardcore techno track on the album.<ref name="debutlegacy"/> In the song, over "brisk house beats" Björk sings in a stammering fashion, as she "struggles to express feelings of excitement so intense she seems on the brink of leaping out of her skin."<ref name="NYTimes"/> As a gesture to inexpressible feelings, the song samples one syllable and "[turns] it into a stuttering vocal tic."<ref name="NYTimes"/> The closing track "The Anchor Song" is the only one in the album solely produced by Björk. One of the three songs to appear on her first demo cassette of 1990, it features Oliver Lake playing the saxophone, in an arrangement that replicated the "ebb and tide of an ocean's peaking tops, an image reinforced by Björk's fiercely patriotic lyrics."<ref name="Pytlik171">Template:Harvnb</ref> The album's version of "The Anchor Song" was recorded with session saxophonist Gary Barnacle.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Release

When Björk announced the release of her international debut in 1992, she called it with the title Björk's Affairs. However, it was later changed to Debut since it marked Björk's first album of self-composed material.<ref name="saga"/> Debut was released on 5 July 1993 on compact disc and cassette on One Little Indian Records in the United Kingdom and 13 July 1993 on Elektra Records in the United States.<ref name="Strong" /><ref name="allmusicreview" /><ref name=bjorkPromo>Template:Cite web</ref> One Little Indian estimated that Debut would sell a total of 40,000 copies worldwide based on a guess of the Sugarcubes fan base at the time.<ref name="Pytlik71">Template:Harvnb</ref> However, within three months of Debut's release, over 600,000 copies had been sold worldwide.<ref name="Pytlik73">Template:Harvnb</ref> On the album's initial release, it charted in the United States, peaking at number one on the Top Heatseekers chart and at number 61 on the Billboard 200.<ref name="charter">Template:Cite web</ref> In the United Kingdom, Debut entered the charts on 17 July 1993, peaking at number three and spending 79 weeks on the chart.<ref name="ukcharts">Template:Cite web</ref> Overseas in Japan, Debut was released on 26 September 1993.<ref name="japanesecharts"/> Debut has been re-issued several times in different formats. In November 1993, the album was re-issued in the United Kingdom with the bonus track "Play Dead", a song written for the film The Young Americans, shortly after Debut's completion.<ref name=bjorkPlayDead>Template:Cite web</ref> The album was later issued on vinyl and DualDisc formats.<ref name="allmusicreview" /> The Japanese version of Debut included two bonus tracks: "Play Dead" and "Atlantic".<ref name="allmusicJapan">Template:Cite web</ref> The DualDisc release featured the full album on the CD side while the DVD side included the album with superior sound quality and the music videos for the singles.<ref name="allmusicDD">Template:Cite web</ref> On 5 May 1994, The Canadian Recording Industry Association certified that Debut had sold over 50,000 units making it a Gold record in Canada.<ref name="cria"/> On 31 August 2001, the RIAA certified that Debut had sold over one million units making it a Platinum record in the United States.<ref name="riaa"/> As of January 2015, Debut had sold 930,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Worldwide sales of the album stand at 4.7 million copies.<ref name="nme">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1994, Björk was sued by Simon Fisher, a musician she collaborated with in 1990. Fisher's claim stated that he had co-written "Human Behaviour", "Venus as a Boy", "Crying", and "Aeroplane" and sought damages of over £200,000.<ref name="Pytlik80">Template:Harvnb</ref> Hooper and Björk went to court with Fisher shortly after the release of Björk's album Post.<ref name="Pytlik97">Template:Harvnb</ref> Judge Robin Jacob found Fisher only seeking credit for one song instead of four and cleared Hooper and Björk of all charges stating that Fisher's charges rendered him "unreliable, diffuse, and vague".<ref name="Pytlik97" />

Singles

In 1993 Björk contacted French director Michel Gondry to create a music video for "Human Behaviour" after seeing a video he made for his own band Oui Oui.<ref name="Pytlik70">Template:Harvnb</ref> "Human Behaviour" was the first single taken from Debut, and was issued a month before the album's release in June 1993.<ref name="Strong">Template:Harvnb</ref> Three more singles were released from Debut in 1993. "Venus as a Boy" was the second single, released in August with a music video directed by Sophie Muller.<ref name="Strong" /><ref name="Pytlik196"/> "Play Dead" was released in August 1993 as a non-album single, that would be included on later releases of the album.<ref name="Strong" /> "Play Dead" had an accompanying music video directed by Danny Cannon.<ref name=bjorksite /> The final single released in 1993 was "Big Time Sensuality" remixed by Fluke with a music video by Stéphane Sednaoui.<ref name="Strong" /><ref name=bjorksite /> A further single, "Violently Happy", was released in March 1994 with an accompanying video by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.<ref name="Strong" /> All five singles from Debut charted within the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart while only "Human Behaviour", "Violently Happy" and "Big Time Sensuality" charted on the US Billboard charts.<ref name="ukcharts"/><ref name="charterSingle">Template:Cite web</ref>

Critical reception

At the 1994 Grammy Awards, Michel Gondry's music video for "Human Behaviour" was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video, but lost to Stephen Johnson's video for the Peter Gabriel song "Steam".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="grammy">Template:Cite web</ref> At the 1994 Brit Awards, Björk won awards for "Best Newcomer" and "Best International Female".<ref name="Pytlik79">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Critical reaction to Debut was generally positive. The British music press spoke positively about the album, with Q giving it four out of five stars calling it "a surprising, playful collection" while the NME wrote that Debut was "an album that believes music can be magical and special."<ref name="NME93" /><ref name="Q93" /> The Independent gave Debut a favorable review noting that Björk had "fashioned an amazing array of contrasting arrangements, whose musical diversity never interferes with their clarity of vision."<ref name="TIreview">Template:Cite web</ref> American reception was more mixed. Musician magazine praised the vocals of the album, stating "what makes [Björk's] singing memorable isn't the odd assortment of growls, moans and chirps she relies upon, but the emotions those sounds convey."<ref name="Musician">Musician: 90. July 1993. "...what makes her singing memorable isn't the odd assortment of growls, moans and chirps she relies upon, but the emotions those sounds convey..."</ref> The New York Times described Debut as "an enchanting album".<ref name="NYTimes">Template:Cite news</ref> A negative review came from Rolling Stone, who gave the album two stars out of five, labelling the album "utterly disappointing" and blaming producer Nellee Hooper, suggesting he "sabotaged a ferociously iconoclastic talent with a phalanx of cheap electronic gimmickry."<ref name="RSreview"/> Michele Romero of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a C, saying, "On a few songs, [Björk's] breathy mewl is a pleasant contrast to the mechanical drone of Sugarcube-like techno-tunes. But most of Debut sounds annoyingly like the monotonous plinking of a deranged music box. Wind it up if you like – eventually it will stop."<ref name="EW">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Debut rated highly in British end of year polls. The NME ranked Debut at number one on their list of "Top 50 LPs of 1993".<ref name="NMETop">NME: 66. 25 December 1993. "Ranked No.1 in New Musical Express' list of the 'Top 50 LPs of 1993' – "Debut is a musical treasure chest of organic techno beats, twinkly jazz serenades and otherworldly nursery rhymes, disregarding categories and [displaying] a bewitching faith in pop's ability to challenge...""</ref> Melody Maker placed the album at number six on their list of "Albums of the Year for 1993" calling it "a fantastic debut".<ref name="MM93">Melody Maker: 76. 1 January 1994. "Ranked No.6 in Melody Maker's list of 'Albums of the Year' for 1993Template:Snd"a fantastic Debut""</ref> In 1994, Q included the album on their list for top fifty albums of 1993.<ref name="QTop">Q: 85. January 1994. "Included in Q's list of 'The 50 Best Albums of 1993'Template:Snd"...an album of tantalising contrasts....manages to be bubbly, exhilarating, brazenly dance-oriented and satisfying all at once...""</ref> In 2000 it was voted number 77 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.<ref name="Larkin">Template:Cite book</ref> Björk reacted to the positive reviews hesitantly, stating that if she'd "delivered exactly the same album and I came from Nottingham, I'd have got completely different reviews, normal down-to-earth ones" and that Debut "was a bit of a rehearsal and it's really not that good. I can do much better."<ref name="Pytlik78">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Later reception was also positive. In Spin magazine's alternative record guide, the album received a rating of nine out of ten stating that the choice of Nellee Hooper as producer was a "stroke of genius" and Björk's vocals were "awe-inspiring".<ref name="SpinGuide" /> Heather Phares of AllMusic gave the album a five-star rating, stating that Debut is "Possibly her prettiest work, Björk's horizons expanded on her other releases, but the album still sounds fresh, which is even more impressive considering electronic music's whiplash-speed innovations."<ref name="allmusicreview" />

Legacy

Template:Quote box Debut is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of 1993 and the 1990s in general.Template:Citation needed In 2013, John Hamilton of Idolator called the album "highly influential", and wrote "in spite of its advancing age, DebutTemplate:'s futurism has aged exquisitely."<ref name="idolator">Template:Cite web</ref> The album has also been credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop.<ref name="stereogum">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="idolator" /> StereogumTemplate:'s Tom Breihan wrote: "House music didn't quite have critical respect before Björk came along, and plenty of American writers didn't know what to make of the sound of Debut when it came out. [...] Debut didn't just establish Björk; it helped make sounds like that cool to a segment of the music-dork universe that might've remained deaf to its charms otherwise. At this point, it's virtually impossible to imagine a big publication slamming an adventurous dance-pop album for 'cheap electronic gimmickry,'Template:Refn and Debut is a big part of that change."<ref name="stereogum"/> Björk's embrace of England's dance culture also extended to her looks, her style at the time considered representative of 1990s acid house fashion.<ref name="sleenatasha">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="whatwewore">Template:Cite book</ref> Celebrating the album's twenty-year anniversary, Emily Mackay of NME wrote the album "put the lie to the post-grunge assumption that heartfelt, passionate solo artistry came in the form of acoustic guitar and heartbreak, creating a new breed of singer-songwriter."<ref name="debutlegacy">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Dubbing it an "influential masterpiece", she found influences of the album in the work of musicians such as M.I.A., Grimes, These New Puritans and Tune-Yards, writing: "It's in fascinatingly individual artists like those that you'll find [Björk's] influence – not, as many would have you believe, in every pretty-faced girl with a big voice."<ref name="debutlegacy" /> Mackay also noted that the album's legacy echoes through dance-pop artists like Lady Gaga and Robyn.<ref name="debutlegacy" /> Debut was also included in books such as 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2013, Michael Cragg of The Guardian wrote that "two decades after its release, the Icelandic artist's first album has never sounded more relevant."<ref name="celebrating"/> He argued that Debut "reconstructed pop music", also writing that "while pop in 2013 looks back to the early 90s for inspiration, Björk's ability on Debut to innovate by using disparate genres without losing a sense of her own identity should be the blueprint for any new artist with desires to break the mould."<ref name="celebrating"/> In the album's entry in their list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"—where the album was included at number 46—NME claimed that "Debut achieved the remarkable feat of turning an idiosyncratic vocalist from a feted cult band into a significant global pop star, without losing one iota of the experimental mindset and creative cool that made her so special."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2005, Björk stated that she thought the album was not as strong as her later works: "It's hard to judge yourself but I don't think [Debut and Post are] my best. Debut was the album that went the highest up there in terms of what is 'Bjork music'. But I think that the persona I created, which was entirely accidental, is better captured on the later albums."<ref name="times">Template:Cite news</ref>

Track listing

Notes<ref name="albumNotes" /><ref>"Tracks sampled by Björk". WhoSampled. Retrieved Aug 8 2023.</ref>

• "Human Behaviour" contains a sample from "Go Down Dying" written by Antônio Carlos Jobim.
• "Venus as a Boy" contains a sample from "Music for Shō" by Mayumi Miyata (1986).
• "One Day" contains samples from "Put Your Love (In My Tender Care)" by The Fatback Band (1975), "Always There" by Ronnie Laws (1975), and "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins (1972).
• "Aeroplane" contains a sample from "Dahil Sayo" by Arthur Lyman (1958).
• "Play Dead" contains a sample from "Footsteps in the Dark" by The Isley Brothers (1977).
• ^{Template:Note} signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Musicians

• Björk – lead vocals, arranger, programmer, basslines, keyboards, brass programming
• Garry Hughes – keyboards, Hammond organ, programming
• Oliver Lake – music arranger, reeds
• Corky Hale – harp
• Gary Barnacle – brass
• Marius de Vries – keyboards, programming
• Nellee Hooper – percussion, drums
• Luís Jardim – bass, percussion, drums
• Talvin Singh – director, tabla
• Bruce Smith – percussion, drums
• Martin Virgo – keyboards, programming
• Paul Waller – keyboards, programming
• Jon Mallison – guitar
• Mike Mower – brass
• Jhelisa Anderson – backing vocals

Technical personnel

• Björk – producer
• Paul Corkett – engineer
• Nellee Hooper – producer, engineer
• Howie B – engineer
• Hugo Nicolson – engineer
• Brian Pugsley – engineer
• Al Stone – engineer
• Mark Warner – assistant engineer
• Paul Wertheimer – engineer
• Goetz Botzenhardt – assistant engineer
• Jim Abbiss – engineer
• Dave Burnham – engineer
• Jean-Baptiste Mondino – photography
• Pete Lewis – assistant engineer
• Jon Mallison – assistant engineer
• Mike Marsh – mastering
• Tim Dickenson – assistant engineer
• Andy Bradford – assistant engineer
• Oggy – assistant engineer
• H. Shalleh – engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

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Weekly chart performance for Debut

Chart (1993–1994)	Peak position
European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	5
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	8
Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	2
Irish Albums (IFPI)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	9
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref name="japanesecharts">Template:Cite web</ref>	65
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	4
UK Independent Albums (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
US Cashbox Top 100 Albums<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	57

Chart (2025)	Peak position
Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	12

Year-end charts

1993 year-end chart performance for Debut

Chart (1993)	Position
European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	87
UK Albums (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	21

1994 year-end chart performance for Debut

Chart (1994)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref name=aria94>Template:Cite web</ref>	96
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	38
European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	21
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	65
Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	3
UK Albums (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	30

References

Bibliography

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External links

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• Template:Discogs master
• Debut statistics, tagging and previews at Last.FM
• Debut mini website