Bjork:Greatest Hits

Looking back on this retrospective, I realize how much the "cute factor" was employed early on. Cute, as in "oh, Bjork looks cute cooking an egg, or look at her eat that slice of watermelon." Not to say that Venus as a Boy or Possibly Maybe were bad videos. The one video that has weathered the worst, in my mind, is Violently Happy. Basically, it's one big euro-trash cliche, by a director that had much greater success with Madonna. I understand the whole insane-asylum concept, but cutting up a teddy bear, and shaving your heard, and clipping Raggedy Ann is too cliched for me.

The first really good video is Army of Me. We must be thankful that this wasn't released post-9/11...I can only think of how the conservative right would have had a field day with this. This was a dark moment in Bjork's life (yes, she b@#^h slapped that reporter). It's interesting how she saves an Asian man...
I can't help but feel that there's a political message there.

Another fantastic video is Isobel, with its sepia tones. Wonderful concept.

From her third album, Joga is kind of a downer, not enough Bjork in there, but Bachelorette and Hunter are superb, especially Hunter, with Bjork unleashing her inner animal. I was blown away the first time I saw it. The main draw from this period, though is All is Full of Love. Someone I know says its disturbing, because underneath our skin we are just bones, not too different from the half-assembled robots in the video.

Alarm Call, despite being a collaboration with bad boy designer Alexander McQueen, is kind of a letdown. There are wonderful green colors thoughout the video, but the concept is too straightfoward. It's in Our Hands ups the ante, with Bjork cavorting in the dark with other nocturnal animals.

The dud video of the latter half is Hidden Place. After 30 seconds, that whole migration of bodily fluid becomes a boring concept, and we have to endure it for the rest of the video! Pagan Poetry and Cocoon are better, especially Cocoon, which I'm sure just baffled the hell out of the critics.

Well, Bjork could never be accused of being boring. This is the best evidence, on the whole, of how music videos can be art forms.

So, I took the chance and bought the DVD. I'm happy to say that this collection of videos is amazing! The clarity in the picture, the sound, the editing, and the choice of videos is excellent.

Bjork hasn't changed that much. Video #1 (Human Behavior) is so cute and she seems to be really innocent. But in others like "Possibly Maybe", "Play Dead", "Pagan Poetry" and "Hunter"...they are all so different. Bjork never looks the same way twice. She's such a chameleon, and she's really pretty too! I love her facial expressions, which do happen to bring out a hidden beauty about her.

I think my favourite video of all, is the one for "Possibly Maybe". This song in general is so dramatic, and I love the lyrics. The image of her floating in the screen with big hair is so lovely! The way they made her up in 6 different ways, and the lighting effects they used for the background is all really stunning! I love the way they gave her the puffed up hair, when she gets to the "Electric shocks...i love them..." part. Her makeup is so dramatic, and I have never looked at her as an image of beauty until now.

The entire DVD is quite long, considering there are some really short DVDs out there. But this one is perfect. It's like a real long story, and each song is a new chapter.

This is the tracklist and a little thought on each one:

Human Behavior: I like seeing her in a remote scene like this. It's really simple, yet we get the idea of what she's trying to tell us.

Venus as a boy: I love it! She's cooking an egg, and getting all warm and fuzzy inside, thinking about this guy. She's really erotic and it comes out in this one. I love the way she playfully inspects the egg frying!

Play Dead: Cool video! I didn't know that Harvey Keitel was in it! Bjork really goes nuts with her voice. It's so dramatic!

Big Time Sensuality: I like the original version of the song better! For a video, this one would have been a lot better with the fast, original version. But it's still good!

Violently Happy: Weird! Totally Weird! All that hair being cut, and the doll at the end, saying "I'm the baby...I'm the baby!"

Army of Me: Excellent video, and it's really funny! The Gorilla dentist and the large monster truck driving...it's got to be Bjork!

Isobel: My second favorite song of Bjork. I like the video, but it's not the most interesting!

It's oh so quiet: Wow! What great choreography! No wonder this one won an award! I love the way it goes from really hush to absolutely nuts. Can't believe I never saw this video before!

Hyperballad: Neat video. I like her side profile in the mountain. Even here, you see a naturally beautiful edge to Bjork. I noticed she blinks her eyes when she gets to the part where she says "And will my eyes be closed or open?"

Possibly Maybe: Excellent song and video! I love the neon glow on everything! Bjork is so well made up in this one. It's really dramatic and so like her to lick the pile of yellow sand on the floor! :-)

I miss you: Weird! I'm not too crazy about the old-fashioned cartooning. She's portrayed as a funny, bouncy red-headed chick with the tendancy to rip creatures apart. How sickly weird is that?

Joga: I don't know what to say about this one yet!

Bachelorette: The landscapes of Iceland are beautiful, but it seems to turn into some computerized game at parts, when the land splits apart. I wish that we saw more Bjork in this one!

Hunter: The way they computerized Bjork's transformations is hirlarious. She seems to be shaking off the graphics like some kind of flies on her ears! This one took a lot of work to do, I imagine!

Alarm Call: My third favorite. The remix is great, and it's really amusing. The scenery is perfect, and i wish they didn't edit the F-Word out like that. Sheesh...I'ts got a "parental advisory" sticker on it, after all!

All is full of love: I love this one too! It's way up there, tied with the "Possibly Maybe" video. This is incredible how they made the robot's faces move like Bjork's own face. This one should have won many awards!

Hidden Place: This one is really weird, with all that elcrified goo going in and out of her nose, computer generatedly.

Pagan Poetry: Ouch! That must be really painful! Imagine wearing a dress made entirely of pearls and thread, sewn into your torso. We see Bjork's naked chest, and I think this is the one of the most dramatic videos that she has made!

Cocoon: She looks so old, with her hair done up in that "Granny Roll" on the front. It's way too weird to be at the end of the DVD! :-)

It's in our hands: Don't know what to say about it yet.

Nature is Ancient: I think this one is really weird...watching a sperm fertilize an egg. It's the most original of all the videos, but we don't see Bjork at all.
What a way to end a DVD!

So, now that I have given my 2 cents worth, for each song, I feel that you should go and buy this DVD. Bjork is really the most original female artist I've ever heard of. She's not afraid to express herself. I don't think she's the type that will be chewed up and spit out like some of the trashy commercially produced women in music today.

Hope my review helps you!