Life's Too Good
studio
Artistthe Sugarcubes
CoverThe Sugarcubes - Life's Too Good.png
Released25 April 1988
StudioStudio Sýrland, Reykjavík · Berry Street Studio, London · Orinoco Studios, London[1]
Genre
Length33:05
LabelOne Little Indian · Elektra
ProducerRay Shulman · Derek Birkett
Next year1989

Life's Too Good is the debut studio album by Icelandic alternative rock band the Sugarcubes. It was released 25 April 1988[4] 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 lead single "Birthday" was released on Derek Birkett's One Little Indian Records in August 1987.[5] 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.[5] Across the following months, the band reluctantly appeared on the covers of the United Kingdom's most prominent pop magazines[5] and experienced "massive hype" which generated a wave of interest from the press and the public.[6] 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.[7] Life's Too Good was finally released in April 1988.[8] "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.[citation needed]

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.[8][9] "Birthday" proved to be very successful on American college radio, before crossing over to mainstream radio.[9] To the band's frustration, the American media also focused on Björk.[9] At the end of 1988, the Sugarcubes undertook an American tour, which evolved into an international tour catapulted by the album's growing sales.[10]

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."[11]

Artwork

Paul White of Me Company designed the artwork for Life's Too Good.[12] 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]."[12] 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.[12] The album was issued in various color schemes, including green, yellow, blue and pink.[12]

Critical reception

Life's Too Good was released to largely positive reviews,[8] receiving acclaim from the British and American press.[13] 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".[14] Nancy Culp of Record Mirror said that while the Sugarcubes' music is not particularly innovative, "their approach is fresh and their energy indisputable."[15] 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."[16] 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."[17]

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."[18]

Legacy

Life's Too Good is credited as the first Icelandic album "of its breed" to have a worldwide impact.[8] 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."[11] In 2014, Treble wrote that the album "[generated] a larger interest towards the country’s popular and alternative music scenes alike."[19] 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.[19] Since its release, Life's Too Good has generated a dedicated following, and is nowadays cited as an important cult classic.[20] The album helped in regarding the Sugarcubes as "the biggest rock band to emerge from Iceland."[13] "Coldsweat" was covered by the industrial rock band Diatribe on the 1993 album Shut Up Kitty: A Cyber-Based Covers Compilation.[citation needed] In 2025, Radio X included the album in its list of "The 25 best indie debut albums of the 1980s".[21]

Accolades

Accolades for Life's Too Good
PublicationCountryAccoladeYearRank
BestFranceAlbums of the Year[citation needed]198810
Christophe BraultTop 20 Albums by Year 1964–2004[citation needed]200615
Gilles Verlant300+ Best Albums in the History of Rock[citation needed]2013
Musik Express/SoundsGermanyAlbums of the Year[citation needed]198813
RoRoRo Rock-LexiconMost Recommended Albums[citation needed]2003
OORNetherlandsAlbums of the Year[citation needed]198824
Rock de LuxSpain19
Melody MakerUnited KingdomAlbums of the Year[22]2
NMEAlbums of the Year[23]13
QAlbums of the Year[citation needed]
Sounds11
Robert DimeryUnited States1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[24]2005
KCPRTop 100 Records from the 80s[citation needed]200235
TrebleThe Best Albums of the 80s, by Year[25]20065
The Village VoiceAlbums of the Year[26]198835
(*) designates lists that are unordered.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Life's Too Good.[1]

The Sugarcubes

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Life's Too Good
Chart (1988)Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[27]64
UK Albums Chart[28]14
UK Indie Albums Chart[29]1
US Billboard 200[30]54

Sales

Sales for Life's Too Good
RegionSales
United States500,000[31]
Worldwide1,000,000[31]

References

  1. ^ The Sugarcubes (1988). Life's Too Good. One Little Indian Records
  2. ^ Mackay, Emily (29 October 2013). "25 Years On: Life's Too Good By The Sugarcubes". The Quietus. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  3. ^ Gerard, Chris (15 April 2024). "The 100 Best Alternative Songs of the 1980s". PopMatters. Retrieved 26 December 2024. ... the Sugarcubes’ debut album Life’s Too Good, a strikingly brilliant collection of oddball pop...
  4. ^ "Advertisement". Music Week. London, England, U.K.: Spotlight Publications, Ltd. 23 April 1988. ISSN 0265-1548. Archived 9 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 16 January 2024. "Released 25th April"
  5. ^ Pytlik, 2003. p.38
  6. ^ Pytlik, 2003. p.39
  7. ^ Pytlik, 2003. p.40
  8. ^ Pytlik, 2003. p.41
  9. ^ Pytlik, 2003. p.42
  10. ^ Pytlik, 2003. p.44
  11. ^ "The 30 Best Albums of 1988". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
  12. ^ Bucher, Stefan (1 February 2006). All Access: The Making of Thirty Extraordinary Graphic Designers. Rockport Publishers. pp. 52–53. ISBN 1592532772.
  13. ^ "Björk Biography". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  14. ^ Wells, Steven (30 April 1988). "Life's Sweet Riches". NME. p. 34.
  15. ^ Culp, Nancy (30 April 1988). "The Sugarcubes: Life's Too Good". Record Mirror. p. 34.
  16. ^ Hilburn, Robert (12 June 1988). "Sugarcubes' Demons, Doubts and Humor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  17. ^ Dougan, John. "Life's Too Good – The Sugarcubes". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 July 2004.
  18. ^ Christgau, Robert (29 November 1988). "Christgau's Consumer Guide: Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  19. ^ Blyweiss, Adam; Bossenger, Alex; Grotepas, Nicole; Speranza, Greg; Terich, Jeff (5 June 2014). "10 Essential Iceland albums". Treble. Treble Media. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  20. ^ Butler, Will (9 September 2015). "From Fugazi to Madvillain: the Best Cult Albums of All Time". Gigwise. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  21. ^ "The 25 best indie debut albums of the 1980s". Radio X. Retrieved 2025-09-09.
  22. ^ "Albums of the Year". Melody Maker. No. 24/31 December. 1988. p. 56. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  23. ^ "NME's best albums and tracks of 1988". NME. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  24. ^ Robert Dimery & Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
  25. ^ "Treble's Best Albums of the '80s: Part Two". Treble. 11 September 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  26. ^ "The 1988 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". Robert Christgau. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  27. ^ "Chartifacts – Week Ending 1 March 1992 Issue No.109 (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 109)". ARIA. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  28. ^ "Official Charts > Sugarcubes". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  29. ^ "Indie Hits "S"". Cherry Red Records. Archived 2009-07-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  30. ^ "The Sugarcubes - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  31. ^ Tilli, Robert (8 February 1992). "Marketing The Music - Sugarcubes". Music & Media. p. 21. Retrieved 17 February 2023.