GREATEST HITS

Normally I don't do compilations, but for Bjork I made an exception. How did Bjork select the tracks for this release? She held a survey on her website in which her biggest fans selected the tracks online. This insured that her most loved tracks (not always her biggest hits) made it on to the album. This album goes from strength to strength, classic to classic.

So why would anyone want this, if they plan to get her albums? For one, you get the video version of All Is Full Of Love that was released as a single, which is much different from the one that closes Homogenic. (Both versions are great, and no Bjork fan can be without either.) You also get the track she recorded for this album, It's In Our Hands, an excellent song that doesn't feel out of place. Finally, the remix version of Big Time Sensuality on here is superior to the original version on Debut.

Okay, so what hits are missing? The one I miss the most is Birthday, which was recorded with the Sugarcubes before she went solo. It's a tremendous song, among her best, and it's clear that she had a big future beyond the confines of that group. Her hits Violently Happy, Play Dead (her first solo hit, a non-album song from a film soundtrack) and It's Oh So Quiet are missing as well. If there's ever a disc 2, I'm sure at least the former will be on it; as for the latter, it's more of a novelty song, and one that many don't like. The other tracks I miss the most are some of the deep cuts from her albums, particularly Unravel (a haunting masterpiece! perhaps my favorite song by her; Radiohead's been known to cover this one from time to time), It's Not Up to You, Undo, and Aurora. Also sadly missing are the key tracks from Selmasongs, which for some reason she didn't consider eligible for this release. Finally, missing are those excellent tracks she recorded with others, including Plaid's Lilith (one of her best) and two tracks for Tricky's Nearly God album (Yoga and Keep Your Mouth Shut). One could easily make a second disc from this era up to 2002 and still not have enough room for everything essential by Bjork.

But not a single one of the 15 tracks on this release doesn't belong here. If Venus As a Boy, Hyperballad, Pagan Poetry, Isobel, Joga, Hidden Place, Hunter and all the rest aren't ear candy to your ears, then Bjork's probably not for you. This is a great place to start as an introduction to Bjork's singular world.