Oft imitated, never duplicated. There is simply no experience in electronic music (or any music) like Björk.
Debut
- "Big Time Sensuality," both versions of it - the bouncy, dance-pop album version,
and the video version aka the "Fluke Minimix," which goes full techno and becomes an exhilarating rush. - She uses a harp arrangement to completely reinvent the old standard "Like Someone In Love."
- "Human Behavior" lurches forward with a kind of primal bass and percussion (apparently it's a sample from an Antônio Carlos Jobim record), where Björk looks at humans from the POV of animals. It's hella cool, so is its inspired music video, and also its memorable remix by Underworld.
- "Army of Me." Imagine "Head Like a Hole" remade in Björk's image - a dark, murky bassline of her own, with a half-speed, more menacing tempo. On top of that, her alternate version with Skunk Anansie is probably one of the most confrontational things she's ever recorded.
- "Hyperballad," a breathtaking achievement. It's a weird, disturbing story of venting one's frustrations with a troubled marriage, set to what starts as a slow, skittering, beat that gradually becomes some kind of orchestral Trance music.
- The Black Sheep Hit "It's Oh So Quiet," a cover of Betty Hutton’s 1951 song of the same title (which was itself a cover of the German song "Und jetzt ist es still"). Björk lulling you into a slumber with a sleepy melody before blowing the roof off with a flashy Broadway-style number. "WOOOOOOW BAM!!!"
- "Jóga" has a haunting arrangement that demonstrates her ability to seamlessly blend a dirty, distorted drum machine and strings.
- The undertones of abuse detailed on "Bachelorette" mixed with an aching vocal and incessant beat make for one of Björk's saddest songs.
- The spartan, yearning album track "Unravel", featuring only some choice strings and Bjork's voice layered so she sings a duet opposite herself. Thom Yorke of Radiohead called it one of his all-time favorite songs and he's even covered it on piano during the band's livestreams.
- The album closer, "All Is Full Of Love." An open-hearted ballad capping off the album's particular flavor of electronica, the song is one lengthy verse and one truly epic chorus, with Björk belting it out like her life depends on it.
- The album as a whole is one-of-a-kind. She made what can best be described as a capella techno, complete with electronically processed beatboxing throughout the entire record. What have you done?
Volta
- "The Dull Flame Of Desire" and "My Juvenile", both featuring ANOHNI. This album was many people's introduction to ANOHNI, whose voice is beautiful and distinctive in its own right, and hearing her duet with Björk, who's already very idiosyncratic, is something special.
- "Declare Independence," a gurgling bassline, gradually surrounded with noisier and noisier synths, and a jagged snare that cuts in out of nowhere and sounds like it'll blow your speakers. Björk gets louder as the song does, until she's screaming for the listener to "start your own currency" "make your own flag." Even by her standards, this song is absolutely nuts, and it actually got Björk banned from China because she dedicated the song to Tibet.
Biophilia
- "Crystalline" is borderline robot funk - with a glockenspiel - that's a fun little pop delight, right up until the final minute of the song, where it suddenly transforms into a distorted drum & bass attack, as if Aphex Twin suddenly took control of the production.
Utopia
- "Arisen My Senses" with its concentrated blasts of synths waking the listener up, is probably one of her best album openers ever.
Fossora
- "Ancestress" is a 7-minute long celebration of her mother Hildur Rúna's life, featuring strings and traditional Balinese rhythms which give the song a solemn yet heartwarming tone. Notably, Björk's son Sindri Eldon provides backing vocals, harmonizing beautifully with his mother's voice in the choruses.
