Greatest hits albums are almost always a gamble. Some wind up fantastic, cohesive compilations, while others include nothing more than one or two favorite songs that listeners skip to each time they turn on their CD players.
Bjork’s new album, “Greatest Hits,” is one of the former. Though weighted with a banal title, the album carries Bjork’s finest moments with Bjork’s signature appreciation of aesthetics.
The tracks, compiled through a survey on Bjork’s Web site, include songs from “Debut,” “Homogenic” and “Vespertine.” Some may dispute grand omissions from “Selmasongs,” the soundtrack to her film “Dancer in the Dark,” but the album traipses happily along anyway, not missing a beat.
Rather than emulating other hits albums, which are organized in chronological order, the songs are shuffled together randomly. This provides a pleasant feel when listening to the album — one doesn’t notice the progression of Bjork’s musical style, and this allows the album to be taken in as a final representation of Bjork’s music.
The album is truly the best of Bjork. It is wholly eclectic, from the swaggering fluke minimix of “Big Time Sensuality” to the emotional urgency of the string-driven “Joga.” It begins with “All is Full of Love,” a dreamy boat ride of a song that prepares the listener for the journey ahead. The album includes the ferocious “Army of Me,” powered by Bjork’s hot-coal vocals and is topped off by the previously unreleased “It’s in Our Hands,” an upbeat ditty with the mandatory ambivalent lyrics.
“Well, now aren’t we scaring ourselves/ Unnecessarily/ Aren’t we trying too hard/ ‘Cause it’s in our hands,” Bjork sings in “It’s in Our Hands.”
Like Radiohead, the voice is the most important instrument in the music. Without Bjork’s piercing, ethereal voice, her songs would simply be well-constructed techno, as the lyrics are often nonsensical and appear to be chosen because of their musical value. But the oddball songbird with the magical vocals produced a compilation showcasing her talent at the height of her artistry and rivals another greatest hits album released in the past few weeks, The Rolling Stones’ “40 Licks.”
“Greatest Hits” delivers with unrestrained enthusiasm. It is difficult to go wrong with a catalogue of songs as extensive and lush as Bjork’s, and the gems the fans chose sparkle.
And though greatest hits albums are not for every artist, Bjork deserves one. Perhaps she knows she will continue to evolve musically, and released the compilation to mark the end of an era. Perhaps it is a favor for her fans. Perhaps it is out of boredom. It does not matter. The album is nonetheless fantastic and affirms one of music’s most unusual and enchanting creatures is here for a long time to come.