First off, if you haven't seen the movie yet don't get this cd. The soundtrack has to be listened and understood within the context of "Dancer in the Dark". It's possible for the cd to stand on its own, but it gains in emotional power if you know what happens in the movie.

With that being said I was highly disappointed that it wasn't fully faithful to the movie version of the songs. While I enjoyed hearing Catherine Denueve on 'Cvalde' I would rather have had Peter Stormare's vocals for 'I've Seen It All' and the original version of 'Scatterheart' You'll find some lyric switching between Yorke and Bjork in 'I've Seen It All' and the lyrics for 'Scatterheart' barely resemble that which was sung in the movie.

The greatest tragedy of all with this cd is the omission of 'The Next to Last Song'. A powerful moment in the movie is completely lost on this cd, rendering '107 Steps' and 'A New World' not as powerful as they were in the theater. Don't get me wrong though, you'll still find yourself moved by these tracks, but the moment is not complete without 'The Next to Last Song'.

I can only hope that somewhere down the line a more complete soundtrack will be released or the DVD will offer a music only track. While this is a terrific soundtrack and one that any movie music lover should own, it's not complete.

Bjork is poised to become a multi-media superstar. Her latest album, "Selmasongs" doubles as a collection of songs from her first movie, Dancer in the Dark. She has won critical acclaim for her work in the film as a mother who works in a factory and labors to save her son from a disease that will cause him to go blind. The premise of the seven songs on this EP deals with her character's ability to keep her spirits up by fantasizing about musicals. The songs sound like something out of a postmodern Rodgers and Hammerstein with Bjork's careening vocals lending weight to compositions that fuse industrial clatter and dream-like, sweeping string arrangements. Whats more significant is that these songs feel as if they come from a created persona that Bjork fully embodies in both the film and throughout the soundtrack. She never breaks from character and the songs soar because of the emotion she has invested in each track. Bjork's co-star Catherine Deneuve makes a vocal cameo for the track "Cvalda". Thom Yorke's duet with Bjork, the moody "I've Seen it All" is a warm moment where he the question is posed, "What about China? Have you seen the Great Wall?" Yorke responds, "All walls are great if the roof doesnt fall." This statement unknowingly parallels the plight of Bjork's charachter, Selma who seems cute and carefree in the film's outset only later to be seen as dilusional and the victim of the wall she has constructed against her own crushing reality. Her imagination/wall cannot save her from the life she must face. As the album continues, it reaches its emotional zenith with the glorious, "In the Musicals 1&2". Then, the album finds closure with the companion piece to the album's opening, "Overture", the cascading "New World" finds Bjork cooing a few verses over spiralling strings and raindrop beats echoing the opening melody. The album's songs feel like the soundtrack to some feverish mid-afternoon nap with Bjork's voice playing the part of the woman you encounter in your dreams repeatedly and whose name you never seem to learn. Selmasongs tracks cut and flow effortlessly like oil on the bearings of a well made machine. It is only fitting that Bjork finds herself the beating heart at the middle of the glorious clickety-clacking.

This review is for people who loved Bjork in Dancer in the Dark, know very little about her musical talent, and want to know if this is the album they should buy. If you liked the music in the movie; beware that these SelmaSongs are not taken directly from the movie. Bjork sings almost all the parts (no Joel Grey, for example) and several lyrics are altered (to not give away plot points in the movie, I guess), and some songs are extended. Anyway, it's a *great* CD for people who already love Bjork's music (even though it is a short set of songs), but only a *good* CD for people who are just intrigued by Bjork and liked the music/her singing in the movie. SO, my recommendation to those of you who are not yet hardcore Bjork fans (and you want to get your money's worth while introducing your ears to Bjork's personal style) is to buy any one of these three Bjork albums: "Debut", "Post", or "Homogenic". Debut was her first solo album, and while it is still great after all these years, it is slightly dated. Pick this one if you prefer the melodies on top of flat-beats type of dance music. My general recommendation however, is "Post". It showcases Bjork's wide range of styles, contains what many people consider to be her most beautiful song ("Hyperballad") and has more driving beats that keep you tapping your fingers after the song is over. For the more adventurous, you might choose the light-industrial/electronica-packed "Homogenic". Bjork's emotions on this album are the closest to what you might expect if you have only seen Dancer in the Dark. This is her 'edgiest' album though, with a spot or two that is difficult to take... a bit of screaming that goes on too long even though it compliments the poetry of the song, and (I must warn you moms out there) the F-word is used once - but this is the only time I know of her cussing in an album. All three albums are great, and you should eventually get them all. Avoid the remix album "Telegram" until you have sampled the aforementioned 3 albums... then you might find it a nice treat IF you like remixes. Bjork almost always re-sings her lyrics on her remixes so that can be a real treat! Then I would recommend you buy this Dancer in the Dark "soundtrack" to complete your Bjork collection of major releases. Don't believe me? Ok, then buy this one AND "Post" and tell me what YOU think :)

Bjork considers this album to be her best work ever. I agree. As a person who has tirelessly followed her career since her Sugarcubes days, I am stunned at how Björk has managed to lift her music another notch and become truly other-wordly. Its albums like this that make me wonder why I ever thought Tori Amos was a demi Goddess, or that Fiona Apple was as good as they come. 'Selmasongs' is a revelation, and also a showstopper - I doubt anything on Björk's new album 'Vespertine' could rival the musical genius of this CD.

That said, this is meant to be a review of the CD and not a critical analysis of the artist's musical growth, so lets move on. I must emphasize that this album is best appreciated only if you've actually seen the movie. If you haven't, don't go here. And while its true that Selmasongs is NOT a soundtrack in the real sense of the term (all the songs are studio-sung and barely resemble the songs on the screen), it is also not an EP or a regular album. Once again, our Icelandic diva has managed to triumph over genre and typecasting to create something so new and revolutionary, that it takes your breath away.

1. Overture : The theme to the film is also the tune to 'New World' and 'The Next to last Song'. It opens the movie, in a long drawn sequence that is meant to evoke the sentiment that life is one big open canvas.

2. Cvalda : The equivalent to 'Its Oh so Quiet' but more musically creative. 'Zing boom' becomes 'Clatter Crash', and when Catherine Deneuve steps in to give Bjork a hand with the vocals, you know that this is an instant masterpiece. Using electronica, machinery, and industrial harmonies, Bjork has managed to do what Tricky and Goldie could not - to create the ultimate example of factory-blend alterna. 'Cvalda' is the perfect song to kick off the soundtrack, and is also the first musical number in the movie.

3. I've seen it all - Despite being sung by a different male voice (Thom Yorke, in this case), the track retains its freshness, and while it is certainly novel, it seems rather contrived and formulated - guess they had to have one track on here that stuck with convention and modern rhythm. Lars Von Trier is said to have monitored the making of this song keenly and all the over-interest has not managed to kill it off totally. Its a wonderful orchestral and vocal piece, and the lyrics are beautiful.

4. Scatterheart : While this is the most chilling songs on the screen, Bjork insisted on rewriting it for the soundtrack. The result is a hacked, lyrically different version from the one on film. The haunting child vocal ('You just did what you had to do') is replaced by the more pensive 'You just have to find out for yourself' sung by Bjork. This is not bad, but I did miss the original version. The new song also doesn't reveal as much of the storyline as the movie version's does. But of course.

5. In the Musicals : This has become one of my favorite Bjork tracks. It is unique and breathtaking, and I have played it over, imagining how Bjork must have constructed such a multi-layered song from scratch. One on hand, the song serves as a fantasy for Selma as she sits in the courtroom while people decide her fate. On another, its a 50s style musical number, the likes of which have not been seen ever. On yet another, its a spiritual hymn thats both uplifting and devastating in its' simplicity. I was awestruck the first time I saw this on screen, and the faithful reproduction on CD is wonderful. Look out for the Gene Kelly-style dance interlude.

6. 107 Steps : If you've seen the film, you'll know what happens during this sequence. I can't help skip this track, although beautifully rendered as it brings back too many memories of the film and I am afraid I do not have the strength to sit through those emotions a second time. 'Dancer in the Dark' is the most powerful movie I have ever seen.

7. New World : The best song Björk has ever recorded. Period. Listeners have noticed that this song is actually 'The Next to last song' with instrumentation and a different meter and placing. Its a soaring ballad, sung from the point of view of a blind woman. Her imagery and sense of perception are so touching and heartbreaking. When the chorus soars as Bjork wraps up the second verse, you know that this is what music is all about. Its not about Madonna, or Eminem or Rolling Stone. Its about being able to breathe and live yourself through your music, and Bjork has done that with this CD. Brilliant and a masterpiece.

I initially agreed that this CD was overpriced, but I have come to realize that it is well worth the full price of the album. A small price to pay for such a divine gift. Stunning, a work of art.

Take heed from a guy who never owned a Bjork CD before buying this "soundtrack": this is great stuff.

Someone had passed me a Bjork single of a Deodato mix of "Isobel" years back and I liked it and recognized her talent, but it took this film and the accompanying 'score' to wake me up and take notice (as I bark like Catherine Deneuve does in the opening scene of the film, a sly reference itself to 'The Sound of Music' - the last musical anyone in America allowed to be a musical without dismissing it).

Yes, I do wish Selmasongs was in the truest sense a 'soundtrack' of "Dancer in the Dark"... maybe that one is in the pipeline someday soon. Bjork has remixed and dubbed many of the songs to be different than heard in the film, itself an agonizing, witty, frustrating, iconoclastic, and at-times brilliant and self-reflexive meditation on the cultural murder of the musical by Industry and the 'chic cynicism' propogated by a media that would rather seduce people into buying SUVs, and look down on smaller cars, rather than have them feel deep and beautiful things. All that said, Bjork still provides 37 quality minutes of a modern musical.

It's subjective of course to choose a highlight here, but for my money it's "I've Seen It All", a lovely duet with Radiohead's Thom Yorke. I do regret the male chorus is missing from the film musical segment (possibly one of the most exquisite moments in cinema of the last ten years this side of Kieslowski). Siobahn Fallon's counting on "107 Steps" chills for anyone who has seen the film as Bjork marches bravely towards the Death of the Musical. The bulk of the material is orchestrated grandly by Vince Mendoza (the genius on Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now") and the underlying techno-beat emerges from Bjork's film role-plight as a lowly worker in a hellish sink factory.

"Selmasongs" moved me to research previous Bjork efforts, many of which I like and will purchase. As for its length and truncation, well, the lady is still a brilliant artist. It's quality, not quantity, or has that wisdom been trained out of us along with our spontaniety to suddenly get up, sing and dance?