Greatest Hits (Björk album)

Infobox Album | Name = Greatest Hits
Type = Compilation album
Artist = Björk


Released = November 4 2002
Recorded = 1993-2001
Genre = Electronica
Length = 72:19
Label = One Little Indian
Producer = Björk, Nellee Hooper, Mark Bell, Graham Massey, David Arnold, Danny Cannon, Drew Daniel
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3698s33wa39g link]
*"Blender" Rating|4|5 [http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=867 link]
*Pitchfork (9.2/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/15468/Bj%C3%B6rk_Greatest_Hits link]
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=bjork link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bjork/albums/album/118973/review/5945772/greatest_hits link]
*"Slant Magazine" Rating|3|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=228 link]
Last album = "Vespertine"
(2001)
This album = "Greatest Hits"
(2002)
Next album = "Family Tree"
(2002)

"Greatest Hits" is a compilation album released in November 2002 featuring the songs of Icelandic singer Björk. Although not all of Björk's singles are included on this collection, all of the songs on "Greatest Hits" were released as singles. The tracks were selected by fans through a survey on Björk's website. "Greatest Hits" presents the songs in descending order of most-popular votes, with the exception of "It's In Our Hands" which was a new song and appears at the end of the compilation.

There were in fact two online surveys preceding the release of "Greatest Hits". The survey that gave the tracklist was one where fans voted for their favourite single-tracks. Another one was conducted simultaneously where fans could vote for their favourite of all her songs, albums tracks as well as b-sides. This sometimes is the cause for some confusion about the authenticity of the fan-selected tracklist concept because interestingly enough the results from the single-track survey doesn't always match with the overall survey. For example, "Hyperballad" was the song receiving most votes from Björk fans on the overall survey, but appears as the second track on "Greatest Hits". The results of both surveys can be seen on Björk's website. [ [http://www.bjork.com/news/?id=276;year=2002#news bjork.com / news ] ]

Several of the songs are presented in their radio (or single) remixed forms, most notably "Big Time Sensuality" (the Fluke version featured in the promotional video, and not the shorter "Minimix" as featured on the single). "Possibly Maybe" includes the famous electronic sounds that were temporarily deleted off the "Post" version of the track, and "All Is Full of Love" is presented in its single version.

As with many greatest hits compilation albums, some of Björk's biggest singles were absent. The most obvious omission is "It's Oh So Quiet", her highest-charting UK hit. Also missing are "Alarm Call", "I Miss You", "Cocoon" and "Violently Happy" as well as any pre-"Debut" material.

The tracks "Human Behaviour", "Big Time Sensuality", and "Venus as a Boy" are taken from Björk's 1993 album "Debut". "Play Dead" was originally released on the "Young Americans" movie soundtrack (1993) but was included on some editions of "Debut".

"Hyperballad", "Army of Me", "Isobel", and "Possibly Maybe" are from the 1995 "Post" album.

"All Is Full of Love", "Jóga", "Bachelorette", and "Hunter" are from her 1997 "Homogenic" album.

Finally, "Pagan Poetry" and "Hidden Place" are found on her 2001 "Vespertine" album.

The artwork on the CD was produced in collaboration with Icelandic contemporary artist Gabríela Fridriksdóttir. It is the only one of Björk's album covers that includes both a logo and a title.

"Greatest Hits" was released on the same day as Björk's "Family Tree" box set, which contained a "greatest hits" disc on which the songs were chosen by Björk. "Greatest Hits" and the greatest hits "as chosen by Björk" have seven tracks in common.

Track listing

# "All Is Full Of Love" (Björk) 4:47
# "Hyperballad" (Björk) 5:22
# "Human Behaviour" (Björk/Nellee Hooper) 4:12
# "Jóga" (Björk/Sigur Jon Birgir Sigurdsson) 5:05
# "Bachelorette" (Björk/Sigur Jon Birgir Sigurdsson) 5:15
# "Army Of Me" (Björk/Graham Massey) 3:56
# "Pagan Poetry" (Björk) 5:14
# "Big Time Sensuality" "(The Fluke Minimix)" (Björk/Nellee Hooper) 4:55
# "Venus As A Boy" ( Björk) 4:40
# "Hunter" (Björk) 4:15
# "Hidden Place" (Björk) 5:28
# "Isobel" (Björk/Hooper/De Vries/Sigurdsson) 5:47
# "Possibly Maybe" (Björk/Nellee Hopper/De Vries) 5:05
# "Play Dead" (Björk/David Arnold/Jah Wobble) 3:55
# "It's in Our Hands" (Björk) 4:15

Charts

External links

* [http://unit.bjork.com/specials/gh/ Greatest Hits mini-site]

References