Greatest Hits (Björk album)

Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Björk
Released 4 November 2002
Recorded 1993–2001
Genre
Length 72:19
Label One Little Indian
Producer
Björk chronology
Vespertine
(2001)		 Greatest Hits
(2002)		 Family Tree
(2002)
Singles from Greatest Hits
  1. "It's in Our Hands"
    Released: 25 November 2002
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyA[2]
Pitchfork Media(9.2/10)[3]
Robert ChristgauA−[4]
Rolling Stone[5]
Slant Magazine[6]

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.

Information

There were two online surveys preceding the release of Greatest Hits. The survey that gave the track list was one where fans voted for their favourite singles. Another one was conducted simultaneously where fans could vote for their favourite of all her songs, album tracks as well as B-sides. This sometimes is the cause for some confusion about the authenticity of the fan-selected track list concept because 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.[7]

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.

The Greatest Hits album was also listed on Blender magazine's "500 CDs You Must Own".

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "All Is Full of Love" (Video Version)BjörkBjörk 4:46
2. "Hyperballad"  Björk
 5:23
3. "Human Behaviour"  
  • Björk
  • Hooper
Hooper 4:14
4. "Jóga"  
 5:04
5. "Bachelorette"  
  • Björk
  • Sjón
Björk 5:18
6. "Army of Me"  
  • Hooper
  • Massey
  • Björk
 3:57
7. "Pagan Poetry"  BjörkBjörk 5:14
8. "Big Time Sensuality" (The Fluke Minimix)Björk
 4:56
9. "Venus as a Boy"  BjörkHooper 4:41
10. "Hunter"  Björk
  • Björk
  • Bell
 4:16
11. "Hidden Place"  
Björk 5:28
12. "Isobel"  
 5:49
13. "Possibly Maybe"  
 5:07
14. "Play Dead"  
 3:57
15. "It's in Our Hands"  Björk
 4:15
Total length:
 72:19

Charts and certifications

Charts

Country Peak
position
Argentina
Australia 84[8]
Austria 64
Canada
Sweden 52
Switzerland 24
U.S. Billboard 200 115
U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums 2

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[9] Gold 20,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[10] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Gold 100,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Feliciano, Kristina (2002-11-08). ""Family Tree"; "Greatest Hits" Review". Entertainment Weekly: 106. Retrieved 2012-04-28.
  3. ↑ Ott, Chris (2002-11-26) Björk Greatest Hits: Elektra 2002 . Pitchfork.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-15.
  4. ↑ "Robert Christgau review". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
  5. ↑ Edwards, Gavin (2002-09-26) Bjork Greatest Hits. Rollingstone.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-15.
  6. ↑ "Slant Magazine review". Slantmagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
  7. ↑ björk.com/news 2002. bjork.com.
  8. ↑ "ARIA Report Issue 663 – 11 November 2002". Pandora Archive. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  9. ↑ "Argentinian album certifications – Björk – Greatest Hits". Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers.
  10. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Björk – Greatest Hits". Music Canada.
  11. ↑ "British album certifications – Björk – Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Greatest Hits in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

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