''Von'' (, ''Hope'') is the debut studio album by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, released on 14 June 1997 by Smekkleysa Records. Production lasted over two years, and the end result sounded significantly different from the original recordings. The band considered scrapping the final result, but decided not as 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 positive reviews from critics, but went relatively unnoticed abroad. In the first year following its 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 2004, and in the United States a month later. In 2005, ''Von'' and ''Ágætis byrjun'' were declared platinum albums in Iceland, signifying domestic sales of over 5,000.

Composition

The sixth track consists of 18 seconds of

silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the c ...

, 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." The tracks "Hafssól" and "Von" were later re-recorded with different arrangements, the former released as a B-side to the ''

Hoppípolla "Hoppípolla" () is a song by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós from their 2005 album '' Takk...''. It was released as the album's second single on 28 November 2005. The song title is a univerbation of (the ''-a'' in ''hoppa'' is not pronou ...

'' single and both appearing on 2007's '' Hvarf/Heim''.

Artwork

The cover depicts Jónsi's sister Inga Birgisdóttir as a baby.

Track listing

Personnel

Jón Þór Birgisson Jón is an Old Norse common name still widely used in Iceland and the Faroes. According to Icelandic custom, people named Jón are generally referred to by first and middle names and those without a middle name are referred to with both first nam ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

Georg Hólm Georg "Goggi" Hólm (; born 6 April 1976) is the bassist of the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is the most prominent member of Sigur Rós in the English press, as he does significantly more press than the other members due to him being ...

– bass * Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson – drums

References

External links

Official page about the album

Selected tracks from album available on group's website

''Von'' and ''Ágætis byrjun'' go platinum in Iceland
{{Authority control 1997 debut albums Sigur Rós albums