Greatest Hits (Björk album)

Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Icelandic musician and singer Björk, released on 8 November 2002 through One Little Indian. 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.

Greatest Hits
Standard cover[lower-alpha 1]
Greatest hits album by
Björk
Released8 November 2002
Recorded1993–2002
GenreElectropop[1]
Length72:19
LabelOne Little Indian
Producer
Björk chronology
Vespertine
(2001)		 Greatest Hits
(2002)		 Family Tree
(2002)
Singles from Greatest Hits
  1. "It's in Our Hands"
    Released: 9 November 2002
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA[3]
Pitchfork Media(9.2/10)[4]
Robert ChristgauA−[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
Slant Magazine[7]

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 does not 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.[8]

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 Friðriksdóttir. 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; from Homogenic, 1997)BjörkBjörk4:46
2."Hyperballad" (from Post, 1995)Björk
5:23
3."Human Behaviour" (from Debut, 1993)
  • Björk
  • Hooper
Hooper4:14
4."Jóga" (from Homogenic, 1997)
5:04
5."Bachelorette" (from Homogenic, 1997)
  • Björk
  • Sjón
Björk5:18
6."Army of Me" (from Post, 1995)
  • Hooper
  • Massey
  • Björk
3:57
7."Pagan Poetry" (from Vespertine, 2001)BjörkBjörk5:14
8."Big Time Sensuality" (The Fluke Minimix Video Version; from Debut, 1993)
  • Björk
  • Hooper
  • Björk
  • Hooper
  • Fluke (remix)
4:56
9."Venus as a Boy" (from Debut, 1993)BjörkHooper4:41
10."Hunter" (from Homogenic, 1997)Björk
  • Björk
  • Bell
4:16
11."Hidden Place" (from Vespertine, 2001)
Björk5:28
12."Isobel" (from Post, 1995)
  • Hooper
  • Björk
5:49
13."Possibly Maybe" (from Post, 1995)
  • Björk
  • Hooper
  • De Vries
  • Hooper
  • Björk
5:07
14."Play Dead" (from The Young Americans soundtrack, 1993)
3:57
15."It's in Our Hands"Björk
4:15
Total length:72:19

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for Greatest Hits
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[26] Gold 20,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[27] Gold 50,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[28] Gold 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes
  1. Some editions include the album's title with the same lettering as the singer's name at the center with a smaller drawing.

References
  1. Blender Staff (May 2003). "500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die!". Blender. New York: Dennis Publishing Ltd. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  2. Allmusic review
  3. Feliciano, Kristina (2002-11-08). ""Family Tree"; "Greatest Hits" Review". Entertainment Weekly. p. 106. Retrieved 2012-04-28.
  4. "Björk: Greatest Hits | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 13, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  5. "Robert Christgau review". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
  6. Edwards, Gavin (2002-09-26) Bjork Greatest Hits. Rollingstone.com. Retrieved on 2013-09-15.
  7. "Slant Magazine review". Slantmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-11. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
  8. björk.com/news 2002. bjork.com.
  9. "The ARIA Report: Issue 663" (PDF). The ARIA Report. No. 663. 11 November 2002. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-22. Retrieved 16 July 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "Austriancharts.at – Björk – Greatest Hits" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  11. "Ultratop.be – Björk – Greatest Hits" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  12. "Ultratop.be – Björk – Greatest Hits" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  13. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 20, no. 49. 30 November 2002. p. 12. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Björk – Greatest Hits" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  15. "Italiancharts.com – Björk – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  16. ビョークのアルバム売り上げランキング [Björk's album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  17. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  18. "Swedishcharts.com – Björk – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  19. "Swisscharts.com – Björk – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  21. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  22. "Bjork Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  23. "Bjork Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  24. "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on September 2, 2004. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  25. "Year in Music – Top Electronic Albums". Billboard. Vol. 115, no. 52. 27 December 2003. p. YE-66. ISSN 0006-2510 – via Google Books.
  26. "Discos de Oro y Platino" (in Spanish). Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  27. "Canadian album certifications – Björk – Greatest Hits". Music Canada. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  28. "Japanese album certifications – ビョーク – グレイテスト・ヒッツ" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 11 July 2020. Select 2002年12月 on the drop-down menu
  29. "British album certifications – Björk – Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
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