Björk: Greatest Hits - Volumen 1993-2003

Rating:
Summary: The goods, and the not so good.
Review: Having bought Volumen on VHS, I didn't feel too cheated when I bought Greatest Hits on DVD, even though most of the material was the same. I'm sure that some fans would have liked some interviews, a la Vessel, but this is a tremendous amount of music on one DVD, so it's hard to complain.

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.

Rating:
Summary: The goods, and the not so good.
Review: Having bought Volumen on VHS, I didn't feel too cheated when I bought Greatest Hits on DVD, even though most of the material was the same. I'm sure that some fans would have liked some interviews, a la Vessel, but this is a tremendous amount of music on one DVD, so it's hard to complain.

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.

Rating:
Summary: Totally worth the Money!
Review: I bought this DVD for many reasons. One reason is because I wanted to see Bjork's videos. I have never seen a full Bjork Video, ever since I heard of her. She's got this great sound, which pulls me deeper and deeper into her music, but I haven't had a good visual interpretation of her.

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!

Rating:
Summary: Bjork's Best
Review: I don't really have much to add here. The other reviews seem to sum up my feeling about this DVD. My only complaint is the lack of attention given to the Main Menu. It just gives the listing of the contents of the DVD with the ability to hear the Vespertine vids in 5.1(which is awsome by the way). I would have liked to see the little duck floating along the screen as it does on her website,or some other kind of animation. A bit of music here would have also helped. "Frosti" would have sounded nice here. The sound is very good,if not excellent. All of her videos are nothing short of classics. If you are a Bjork fan or not, you will enjoy this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: The Genius of Bjork
Review: I have been into Bjork and her music by the time Medulla came out. I have always been enchanted by her eccentric personality about her even before i listened to a single song of hers. Now that i am into her music, i feel so inspired by the genius of Bjork. First of all, this woman is one of the very, very few artists out there who feels very committed to her vision, and seems to NEVER feel intimidated by pop's oversexed image with all the pop muppets out there today. She's also one of the very few artists who are actually DARING. Not daring in terms of trying to act lesbian, dress half naked, or act like a stripper on stage to get ratings and controversy like majority of pop stars do these days. But daring in terms of always challenging her listeners, and in being controversial in a way where it's artistic and very bold. I have purchased this DVD yesterday, and i absolutely LOVE it! These are the videos i thought were very exquisite and are truly images of what real artistic music videos are made of.

1. PLAY DEAD- This is one of my fav. songs by Bjork. It's so raw and deep. One thing i love about Bjork is her voice. It's fused with so much passion, so much eroticism in it, so much innocence, and anger as well. The video is plain and simple, but yet dark and just very affective, just like the song itself.

2. ISOBEL- This is a wonderful song, and the video is just beautifully made.

3. IT'S OH SO QUIET- This is just a cute and catchy song and music video. So full of color and life.

4. HYPERBALLAD- I love the images that are emulated in this music video. Seems like a personal and meditative music video in the mind of Bjork.

5. HUNTER- This song gives me chills, and the music video is quite incredible. I love the concept of Bjork changing into her inner animal.

6. ALL IS FULL OF LOVE- Second to "PAGAN POETRY", i think this is truly the most artistic and profound music video of Bjorks. When watching this music video, it makes you think of how robotic lovers love no different than the way human lovers do. Somewhat chilling as well.

7. PAGAN POETRY- This is the most chilling, controversial, and just very deeply hypnotic and erotic music videos of Bjork. I almost want to close my eyes when she stitches pearls into her body so graphically. This video is sensual in such an artistic way. Each time i watch it i seem to catch something that i haven't seen before.

The rest of the music videos are also exceptionally good. Even her "whacky" ones like "Human Behavior" and "I Miss You" are great, not her best, but just simply entertaining in a weird way, lol. Bjork is just awesome. She's such a tiny and petite young woman with a mind that is a world in it's own. I recommend this DVD to those who are fans of Bjork, and even to those who are just curious about Bjork and her music.

I also recommend MEDULLA and the MEDULLA documentary called The Inner Part Of A Plant Or Animal Structure.

Rating:
Summary: must see
Review: I'm a big fan of Bjork's music, but had never really seen any of her full videos until a friend showed me this DVD. I had to go out and buy it the same night. The surrealism and diversity of the videos makes for a DVD you can watch straight through without getting bored. It's difficult to pick a favorite video, but I was most impressed with Pagan Poetry because of the way she really sewed pearls into her skin, tugs on the strings, etc. While a lot of the other videos are impressive for their costumes and surreal effects (among other things), Pagan Poetry is especially raw and hypnotizingly bold in its erotic imagery.

My friend also showed me the Inside Bjork DVD, which is a documentary. I'm going to be picking up that one soon, too. I recommend it if you enjoyed this DVD, it gives more insight into the "characters" Bjork was in for each album.

Rating:
Summary: Greastest female video artist
Review: it took me a while to get into Bjork and as peoples tastes in music vary shes not for everyone but one thing i must say is after carefully watching her videos i must say she is the best female video artist. Sorry Madonna,Sorry Janet and Cyndi i have to go with Bjork. Everyone should just watch them once too see how amazing these videos are

Rating:
Summary: This Is Art
Review: The work & creativity that was put into the music & videos on this collection is immeasurable. It should be clear by now that everything Björk touches turns to gold. The elements in the music combine with the elements in the video so well, & you can notice that in many videos the beats in the music & the images on the screen are strongly linked. This might sound obvious to mention, but it's not when most music videos today are made up of bland clichés. This DVD brings back memories from a time when MTV actually played quality art (I'm not joking), when videos by artistes such as Radiohead, Björk, Beck & Peter Gabriel were all part of the channel's regular play-list. Actually, I remember that when the Post & Homogenic videos were new they were played very frequently, compared to the following videos which were only played on MTV:New or not at all ("Nature Is Ancient" was never played in its entirety for all I know). It's a shame that the prevalent idea nowadays is that new music is always good, when in fact it's mostly the opposite. Then again, the result is artistes releasing DVD compilations such as this one. It contains one of the best videos of all time, "Bachelorette". I just can't separate the song from the video, together they create such an overwhelming feeling of deterioration, which along with its clever plot are extremely rare in modern art. Most certainly, this is a must in every art lover's collection.

Rating:
Summary: A superb collection of promotional videos...
Review: This collection includes all of Björk's visually stunning videos from her solo career; highlights include "Pagan Poetry," "It's Oh So Quiet," & "Human Behaviour." Each and every video on this collection proves that Bjork is one of the only truly innovative artists in music today.

Rating:
Summary: All The Videos
Review: This DVD cost me $40 and its well worth the price.
I had previously only seen two of her videos and they were good but some of the others were even better.
Her videos are all very intricate and breathtaking.
My favourite is "All Is Full Of Love".