Alarm Call - not what I expected
07/27/1999
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I ordered this box set of singles hoping for the typical surprise of how many ways Bjork can make one song sound so diverse. I was impressed with almost every remix, but my biggest problem with it, is that it was censored! The line, "I'm no f***ing Buddhist" was dubbed over in 8 of the 9 remixes. Since that is one of the more powerful lines in the song, the remixes were partially ruined for me. The "Alarm Call" video was amazing. Bjork was at her finest, with her sexy scary moves. I enjoyed the video the most, even though it was also censored."
NOT SURE WHAT TO RATE THIS
old_hyperbolic_squiggly | 03/29/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Holy cow, I paid $60 for this thing when it was first released!! I think most of us by now have caught on to the Homogenic-era marketing scheme. First release pricey box sets including videos... then release all the tracks on cheap EPs later!!!! Atleast Amazon's price is more fair.CD1 -- The Radio Edit is more upbeat than the original song, but also more commercial sounding. The Rhythmic Phonetics remix by Matmos is one song I consider an all-time Bjork essential. It is amazing what new rhythms were created in the splicing and dicing of Bjork's voice and arranged most expertly in a new era of remixing. This song is pure genius!! It also has a lot of sound effects and is overall quite silly. The "Bjeck" mix - despite it's cute name - is total trash. It's like Beck tried to be avant-garde and somehow missed the point.CD2 -- All of these Mark Bell dance remixes sound very similar. With all of their French names and dubs and what-nots, the end result is very listenable, enjoyable, upbeat, French-sounding dance music. One thing to be clear on is that as with most Homogenic remixing, these all sound *very* similar to each other, unlike the Bjork remixes of old.CD3 -- The sound here gets more "hip" but sad to say, truly there is nothing memorable on this disc. They don't even measure up to the vibes from the Dobie mixes of Possibly Maybe or even the Blue mix of Bachelorette, for that matter.The Video -- Fires up some, perturbs others. She's on a raft in the jungle singing and such and then playing with a snake and eventually by the end of the video there is implied sexual behavior with the snake that personally is repulsive and a bit disturbing to me. Ahh, such is Bjork. A true Magenta. (her aura, i mean)Real nth-level diehards will buy the whole thing. I myself am pretty diehard; but in retrospect, I wish I could've just gotten CDs 1 & 2."
Track Listings (3) - Disc #1