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Ágætis byrjun [au̯ɣai̯tʰɪs pɪrjʏn] is het tweede studioalbum van de IJslandse post-rockband Sigur Rós. Het werd in IJsland uitgebracht op 12 juni 1999 via Smekkleysa Records. In overig Europa volgde het album op 14 augustus 2000 en in de Verenigde Staten op 15 mei 2001.

Het album stapt af van de ambient van Von en gaat meer richting de symfonische post-rock. Ágætis byrjun werd wereldwijd positief ontvangen en betekende de doorbraak van Sigur Rós in de Verenigde Staten en Europa. Ook werd het in IJsland uitgeroepen tot het 'Album van de Eeuw'. Twee singles werden er uitgebracht: "Svefn-g-englar" en "Ný batterí".

Ágætis byrjun (Icelandic: [ˈaːucaitɪs ˈpɪrjʏn], A good beginning) is the second studio album by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, released on 12 June 1999. The album was recorded between the summer of 1998 and the spring of 1999 with producer Ken Thomas. Ágætis byrjun represented a substantial departure from the band's previous album Von, with that album's extended ambient soundscapes replaced by Jónsi Birgisson's cello-bowed guitar work and orchestration, using a double string octet amongst other chamber elements.

Ágætis byrjun was a commercial and critical breakthrough for the band. It received a 2000 release in the United Kingdom and a 2001 release in the United States. According to their label Smekkleysa, the album sold 10,000 copies on its first year of release in Iceland, earning the band platinum status. It won numerous awards, and has appeared on multiple critics' lists of the best albums of the 2000s.

Ágætis byrjun is the band's first album to feature keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson, and their last to feature drummer Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson, who left the band several months after the album was released. Gunnarsson was replaced by Orri Páll Dýrason in the same year.