Life's Too Good

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox album Life's Too Good is the debut studio album by Icelandic alternative rock band the Sugarcubes. It was released 25 April 1988<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> by One Little Indian in the UK and Europe and in May 1988 by Elektra Records in the US. The album was an unexpected success and brought international attention for the band, especially to lead singer Björk, who would launch a successful solo career in 1993.

Consisting of veterans of Reykjavík's early 1980s rock culture, the band took elements of the post-punk sound that characterised the scene, intending to create a humorous take on pop music's optimism, which is reflected in the album's title. Despite never having intended to be taken seriously, and because of the success of their debut and their contractual obligations, the Sugarcubes went on to release two further studio albums.

Release

The Sugarcubes in 1988

The lead single "Birthday" was released on Derek Birkett's One Little Indian Records in August 1987.<ref name="Pytlik38">Pytlik, 2003. p.38</ref> After influential magazine NME declared it "Single of the Week", the Sugarcubes, especially lead singer Björk, unexpectedly got the attention of the British music press.<ref name="Pytlik38"/> Across the following months, the band reluctantly appeared on the covers of the United Kingdom's most prominent pop magazines<ref name="Pytlik38"/> and experienced "massive hype" which generated a wave of interest from the press and the public.<ref name="Pytlik39">Pytlik, 2003. p.39</ref> Despite offers by major labels like Warner Bros. and PolyGram, none of these labels were willing to give the Sugarcubes complete creative control, so the band decided to record the album themselves and release it on One Little Indian.<ref name="Pytlik40">Pytlik, 2003. p.40</ref> Life's Too Good was finally released in April 1988.<ref name="Pytlik41"/> "Coldsweat" and "Deus" were issued as singles prior to the album's release in January and April 1988 respectively, while the Jesus and Mary Chain's remix of "Birthday" (subtitled the "Christmas Mix") was released as a single in August 1988. "Motorcrash" followed as the album's final single in November 1988.Template:Fact

While recording Life's Too Good, the Sugarcubes had befriended Howard Thompson, who worked in Elektra Records' A&R division; he orchestrated a licensing deal and the album was released in the United States.<ref name="Pytlik41"/><ref name="Pytlik42">Pytlik, 2003. p.42</ref> "Birthday" proved to be very successful on American college radio, before crossing over to mainstream radio.<ref name="Pytlik42"/> To the band's frustration, the American media also focused on Björk.<ref name="Pytlik42"/> At the end of 1988, the Sugarcubes undertook an American tour, which evolved into an international tour catapulted by the album's growing sales.<ref name="Pytlik44">Pytlik, 2003. p.44</ref>

Music

Robert Ham of Paste Magazine assessed: "In the hands of this pale quintet from Reykjavik, led by the intoxicating vocals and pixie-ish presence of Bjork Gudmundsdottir, post-punk, jazz and folk were twisted into multi-colored braids of arch pop and seamy revelations about untoward relationships between a bearded gent and a little girl, the joys of sex and gawking at a car crash."<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Artwork

Paul White of Me Company designed the artwork for Life's Too Good.<ref name="graphic">Template:Cite book</ref> The figures depicted in the artwork are derivations of a signature he had which consisted of a character "made up of just a face, legs and a [penis]."<ref name="graphic"/> White stuck to using flat-color backgrounds; this discipline was born out of the need to keep printing costs as low as possible, and had previously been followed for the sleeve designs of the "Birthday" and "Coldsweat" singles.<ref name="graphic"/> The album was issued in various color schemes, including green, yellow, blue and pink.<ref name="graphic"/>

Critical reception

Life's Too Good was released to largely positive reviews,<ref name="Pytlik41">Pytlik, 2003. p.41</ref> receiving acclaim from the British and American press.<ref name="rsbio"/> In his review for NME, Steven Wells gave the album an unconventional score of fifty out of ten, awarding ten points each for "cheekiness", "naughtiness", "sexiness", "silliness" and "scariness".<ref name="nme"/> Nancy Culp of Record Mirror said that while the Sugarcubes' music is not particularly innovative, "their approach is fresh and their energy indisputable."<ref name="rm"/> Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn commented that "Life's Too Good has the feel of an impact album: one of those rare debuts—like the first X or Talking Heads albums—that not only influence the creative underground but stretch the overall boundaries of rock."<ref name="lat"/> John Dougan praised Björk's vocals and the album's "strong" songs in a retrospective review for AllMusic, and considered that the album "lived up to all the advance hype."<ref name="allmusic"/>

Less impressed was Robert Christgau from The Village Voice, who wrote that the band's "sense of mischief isn't just playful—it's experimental and a little wicked. It's also so imperfectly realized that you have to infer it out from underneath their breathy swoops, willful shifts and starts, and translated lyrics—so imperfectly realized that most of their fans, critics included, barely notice it."<ref name="vv"/>

Legacy

Life's Too Good is credited as the first Icelandic album "of its breed" to have a worldwide impact.<ref name="Pytlik41"/> Robert Ham of Paste Magazine wrote: "For many listeners, the debut by The Sugarcubes was an introduction into the singular universe that is the Icelandic music scene. It’s a place where, at the time, the various strains of influence from Europe and North America collided but were jumbled up gloriously in translation."<ref name=":0" /> In 2014, Treble wrote that the album "[generated] a larger interest towards the country’s popular and alternative music scenes alike."<ref name="treblezine">Template:Cite web</ref> The album is considered a definite influence on all subsequent Icelandic popular music, and on international acts such as Savages and Florence and the Machine.<ref name="treblezine"/> Since its release, Life's Too Good has generated a dedicated following, and is nowadays cited as an important cult classic.<ref name="gigwise">Template:Cite news</ref> The album helped in regarding the Sugarcubes as "the biggest rock band to emerge from Iceland."<ref name="rsbio">Template:Cite web</ref> "Coldsweat" was covered by the industrial rock band Diatribe on the 1993 album Shut Up Kitty: A Cyber-Based Covers Compilation.Template:Citation needed In 2025, Radio X included the album in its list of "The 25 best indie debut albums of the 1980s".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accolades

Accolades for Life's Too Good

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
Best	France	Albums of the YearTemplate:CN	1988	10
Christophe Brault		Top 20 Albums by Year 1964–2004Template:CN	2006	15
Gilles Verlant		300+ Best Albums in the History of RockTemplate:CN	2013	*
Musik Express/Sounds	Germany	Albums of the YearTemplate:CN	1988	13
RoRoRo Rock-Lexicon		Most Recommended AlbumsTemplate:CN	2003	*
OOR	Netherlands	Albums of the YearTemplate:CN	1988	24
Rock de Lux	Spain			19
Melody Maker	United Kingdom	Albums of the Year<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>		2
NME		Albums of the Year<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>		13
Q		Albums of the YearTemplate:CN		*
Sounds				11
Robert Dimery	United States	1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	2005	*
KCPR		Top 100 Records from the 80sTemplate:CN	2002	35
Treble		The Best Albums of the 80s, by Year<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2006	5
The Village Voice		Albums of the YearTemplate:CN	1988	35
(*) designates lists that are unordered.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Life's Too Good.<ref name="AV">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

The Sugarcubes

• Bragi Ólafsson – bass
• Sigtryggur Baldursson – drums
• Þór Eldon – guitar
• Björk Guðmundsdóttir – vocals, keyboard
• Einar Örn Benediktsson – vocals, trumpet

Additional personnel

• Engineering – Brian Pugsley, Gail Lambourne, Gerard Johnson, Ken Thomas, Kjartan Kjartansson, Mel Jefferson
• Production – Derek Birkett and Ray Shulman
• Sleeve – Paul White
• Copyright – One Little Indian Records
• Publishing – Second Wind
• Design – Me Company
• Distribution – The Cartel

Charts

Chart performance for Life's Too Good

Chart (1988)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	64
UK Albums Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	14
UK Indie Albums Chart<ref name="Indie Hits S">Template:Cite web</ref>	1
US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	54

Sales

Sales for Life's Too Good

Region	Sales
United States	500,000<ref name="sales">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Worldwide	1,000,000<ref name="sales"/>

External links

• Template:Discogs master
• Template:Url statistics, tagging and previews at Last.fm
• Life's Too Good at Rate Your Music