My musical tastes all lies in the heavy/punk genre. The first CD I bought with my hard-earned allowance money was “Smash” by Offspring back in 6th grade. I was listening to Deftones, Korn, and other underground bands in the mid-90s. Of course, all of these bands have found a mainstream audience by now. But, while I was listening to all of these hardcore bands, I came across a vibrant, fun music video on MTV one dark, lonely night. This was “Its Oh So Quiet” by Bjork. Her music, her video, and Bjork herself enthralled me that I immediately bought her CD, Post, the next day. I was listening to it over and over again. Her music was incredibly refreshing and it just inspired and enlightened me. It was simply breathtaking. Well, like all pre-teens, I forgot about Bjork and moved on with my life listening to other groups such as Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Coal Chamber and so on. Bjork became a distant memory. Until I came across, several years later, a new music video by this beautiful and intriguing artist. This time, I saw “Bachelorete” on MTV. Her newest music video had awoken my hunger and passion of Bjork that I quickly rediscovered my Post CD and I bought her other CDs. Well, the rest is simply history. I became a huge Bjork fan. Her music, her character, her art has shaped my life for the better. She inspired me in ways that no other celebrity has done so. Her music saved me from following the trends, from listening to others. As a result, her music led me in being myself.
In writing about my most influential album, I was battling myself in which Bjork CD to pick, so I decided to write about “Volumen”, a collection of her 14 music videos ranging from her first 3 solo CDs. These videos and the music accompanied by the videos were very influential because it introduced me to the art of filmmaking and to creative freedom – that being original and daring is not a crime. Her videos opened my mind and heart into the realm of filmmaking.
“Human Behavior” directed by Michel Gondry
Music Video: 8/10
Song: 10/10
“Human Behavior” launched her career as an international solo artist. After experiencing several successful years in the group Sugarcubes, Bjork was ready to move on with her life. Her first video was “Human Behavior” directed by Michel Gondry. Like a lot of his videos, it is very random. It tells of a story of Bjork who dreams about giant teddy bears, bugs, a hunter, and so on. One moment she almost gets run over by a car, the next she is on the moon implanting a CCCP flag. By the end of the music video, she gets eaten by the giant teddy bear. It is a wonderful video through its schizophrenic randomness. It is very unpredictable, very cartoonish, and it is beautiful to watch the scenes unfold while listening to the music.
“Venus as a Boy” directed by Sophie Muller
Music Video: 7/10
Song: 8/10
This video was inspired by “Story of the Eye” by Georges Bataille. It is her favorite book and it had inspired her that there isn’t any limit in human nature – either for positive or for bad. I had the pleasure of reading this classic French erotic novel. The egg along with the eye is symbolically used in the book. For this video, Bjork used the imagery of the egg in singing “Venus as a Boy”. She suggestively fondles the egg while singing about copulation. It is a very simple video of her cooking and playing with an egg.
“Play Dead” directed by Danny Cannon
Music Video: 5/10
Song: 10/10
This is her worst video because it just follows the trends of MTV. “Play Dead” was written for an American movie so the video consist of her singing, a clip of the movie, her singing some more, a clip of the movie. Well, you get the point. It is like a lot of the videos being shown on MTV. The song is amazing – very dark, angry and powerful. Unfortunately, the video fails to visually capture this amazing song. Nonetheless, the scenes with Bjork singing are very beautiful. Filmed using a dark, bluish tone, it brings out the music to new levels. Its just too bad the rest of the video is just terrible.
“Big Time Sensuality” directed Stephane Sednaoui
Music Video: 6/10
Song: 6/10
At first, this music video works because Bjork is very playful with the camera. But, it quickly grows repetitive because it’s just her aimlessly dancing and singing a remix version of this song. The video is just her and a stationary camera on a truck. Bjork is than left to creatively interpret the song herself by having her dance in front of the camera in the middle of New York City. Also, the music isn’t the original version of the song but some lame remix of it. Along with the video and the terrible remix, this is one of the few downfall with this DVD collection.
“Violently Happy” directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondione
Music Video: 8/10
Song: 8/10
Jean-Baptiste Mondione is a French photographer who was responsible for the cover of “Debut”. He decided to direct the music video for “Violently Happy”. In this video, he puts several insane characters in a mental institution. Filmed using a stationary camera, we are voyeurs looking inside a madhouse. We see Bjork and the other actors cutting their hair, destroying stuff animals and dolls, and just simply going insane. Jean-Baptiste used great colors (bright greenish color) and the fashion is inexplicable. This is a great video and it adds a lot to this song.
“Army of Me” directed by Michel Gondry
Music Video: 9/10
Song: 9/10
The second video by Michel Gondry is a wild and random ride in the future. The track is about telling someone who is full of self-pity and doesn't have anything together to get a life and stand up: “'And if you complain once more, You'll meet an army of ME!' So, Bjork and Michel decided that she should drive a huge truck/tank to try to wake this person who’s asleep. Along her journey, she runs into metallic teeth, a gorilla dentist, a giant diamond, and so on. This video further explores his creative randomness. A notable moment in this video is during the museum scene. The director’s use of mirrors and reflection is very original. Overall, this is one of her greatest videos.
“Isobel” directed by Michel Gondry
Music Video: 9/10
Song: 10/10
This black and white clip, in reminiscent of the classic 1920 movies, tells the story of a girl living in a forest to discover the big city with all its useless and futuristic things invented by adults. The song is called “Isobel” (connecting the word isolation…clever Bjork). While her character explores the dark world of mankind, she sings: “In a tower of steel/Nature forges a deal/To raise wonderful hell/Like me, like me”. As she lives her life isolated, the buildings, planes, light bulbs grow out of the ground. She is overwhelmed and shocked by all of this useless techonology. This is a very poetic music video about nature in relation to technology. The director also uses great use of lighting and the black and white palette beautifully expresses the message behind this video.
“It’s Oh So Quiet” directed by Spike Jonze
Music Video: 9/10
Song: 7/10
Spike Jonze directed her most mainstream music video. This is also the video that introduced me to Bjork’s fascinating world. The video was shot in a typical American surrounding. They decided to make a musical out of this song. So, the colors are very vibrant and Bjork looks like she is having a lot of fun making this video. At one point the video is slow and relaxing and than it immediately becomes hectic as the “big riot” part starts. It is very cartoonish and creative. It is a fun and lighthearted video, which is perfect for the American audience. It won an MTV Video Award for best choreography.
“Hyperballad” directed by Michel Gondry
Music Video: 9/10
Song: 10/10
“Hyperballad” is a very hard video to explain. Just imagine what your world would look like after you take a heavy dosage of acid and play video games immediately afterwards. Even that quick explanation can’t give justice to this completely insane music video. The director uses a variety of techniques from holograms to TV rendered images to God knows what else. It is almost as if the rave scene was directly influenced by this music video. With that said, “Hyperballad” is a wonderful video and a very unique way of expressing a song – a must see.
“Possibly Maybe” directed by Stephane Sednaoui
Music Video: 10/10
Song: 9/10
“Possibly Maybe” is the second video directed by Stephane Sednaoui (Big Time Sensuality). This video is amazing with its use of contrasting colors, a variety of costume changes and Bjork’s amazing performance. In the beginning, the director used very bright, flashy colors in relation to monotone colors. It is virtually impossible to describe this video – seeing is believing. Also, Bjork is very sensual as she eats and licks the watermelon and put lip stick on. This video showed a whole new side of her. The song and video are amazing.
“I Miss You” directed by John Kricfalusi
Music Video: 10/10
Song: 9/10
John Kricfalusi is best known in being the creator of Ren and Stimpy, Bjork’s favorite cartoon. Because of her love of his cartoon, Bjork wanted him to direct her newest music video. This is one of the funniest and most original music video. John blended the Ren and Stimpy world and Bjork’s world into a wild and fun music video. It is completely unpredictable, raunchy, and artistically violent. From watching Bjork take a bath, Bjork violently tearing apart a cartoon character and so on, this video never fails to impress me after seeing it over and over again.
“Joga” directed by Michel Gondry
Music Video: 7/10
Song: 10/10
“Joga” is one of her simplest music video. It is mostly computer generated videoclips of Iceland and a computerized characterization of Bjork. Shot partly in Iceland, there were months of post production to do the graphics. It’s a fascinating ride over Iceland’s landscape directed on the beats of the song. The rocks dance, the land moves all in rhythm of the music. As the video comes to an end, we are introduced to a computerized Bjork on top of a mountain. The camera enters her and we are introduced to more nature. This is simply saying that we must be one with nature. We are connected to the grandeur and majestic power of nature, so we must respect it. Even though the music video is beautiful, it gets repetitive after several viewing.
“Bachelorete” directed by Michel Gondry
Music Video: 10/10
Song: 10/10
Now, this is the greatest music video ever. I love this video so much that I don’t even know where I should begin. “Bachelorete” can be seen as the sequel to “Isobel”. The innocents, naïve girl entering the big, corrupt city. The song Bachelorete is about fame and the downfall of fame. By taking the themes of the song, Michel Gondry made an amazing video criticizing fame. By the end of the video, nature ultimately takes over this corruption. Nature can overcome anything. I can go on forever on why this is my favorite music video of all time, but I will simply just say one thing – see it for yourself.
“Hunter” directed by Paul White
Music Video: 7/10
Song: 8/10
“Hunter” is the last video in this collection. This video is very simple in that it features a bald Bjork morphing into a polarbear. The music is very trippy and moody so it accompanies the visual feel perfectly. Visually the music video is outstanding, but again, this video gets repeptitive in the sense that not much is going on. It is just a bald Bjork turning into a polar bear. But, its definitely worth checking out once because this video proves that Bjork is willing to do anything for pushing herself artistically.
Through out her career, Bjork has collaborated with some of the greatest artist in the world such as Michel Gondry, John Kricfalusi, and Stephane Sedanouis. While all of the mainstream artist trust their videos with trendy directors like Hype Williams, Bjork decided to hire non-mainstream but brilliant directors. The director’s vision along with Bjork’s remarkable music is such a perfect combination of mixing two of greatest form of expression – music and filmmaking. “Volumen” is the greatest music video collection ever released. Because of its originality on every artistic level, it will blow everyone who will give this DVD/VHS a chance.
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This epinion is part of the “Albums That Changed Your Views On Music W/O”. MagnumForce did an amazing job in hosting this wonderful write-off, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for letting me participant in this write-off.
And, if you think my review sucks, just check out the other participants. The reviews they wrote were awesome.
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