Björk has been a lifelong project and conquest campaign for Iceland’s Björk Guðmundsdóttir. Fiercely independent, daringly experimental, and, contrary to popular belief, always looking to achieve commercial success, she is one of the greatest musical artists of all time.

While immensely successful, Björk’s discography is anything but worth classifying as “easy listening” material. It’s challenging, brave, and expressive. It can scare off many novices to the art-pop icon’s music.

That’s why I’ve assembled a top 10 list of Björk’s greatest, most important songs.

Greatest 10 Songs by Björk

10. “Atopos”

By the time of her 2022 album “Fossora,” her tenth solo release, there was little Björk needed to prove. What was still left to achieve, however, was more subtle. Björk proved that she was still interested in experimenting with electronic beats, musical textures, and expressive lyrics.

“Atopos” was the finest song off this album. It featured Indonesian artist Kasimyn. And it was yet another foray into the outer reaches of experimental techno music for Björk.

Long-time fans were delighted with how little of the artist’s daringness had changed over the years.

9. “Hyper-Ballad”

Björk had been an alternative-rock star in the musical underground before she became a pop celebrity. By the time of her solo work, however, few rock influences still made an appearance.

Instead, on the “Post” album and on “Hyper-Ballad,” Björk is interested in cutting-edge electronic sounds. The acid house beats are, however, married to highly revealing lyrics about the singer’s own insecurities and sources of frustration. It was a hit with both critics and audiences.

8. “Pagan Poetry”

If Björk ever feared losing her audience, little of her work showed that anxiety. The artist’s early electro-dance records were great sellers. She did not, however, attempt to simply replicate those sounds later in her career.

On “Pagan Poetry,” Björk experiments with old music boxes, dark wave beats and lyrics about lovers tied to each other for eternity.

It’s a powerful and unnerving sound, really. This, together with the music video, proved controversial enough that MTV banned it in 2001. That’s quite the badge of honor.

7. “Jóga”

What may strike you if you should live, even briefly, in Iceland is the togetherness and friendliness of people. That may not be what you associate with Nordic countries, but it’s true.

Björk wrote “Jóga” about her best friend. And she wrote it for the “Homogenic” album, a stylistic departure from her early dance records.

Instead, “Jóga” is a blend of almost orchestral music married to ambient and electronic ideas. Fans quickly embraced the change.

6. “It’s Oh So Quiet”

Frankly, casual listeners were only happy to support a more conventional jazz number sung by Björk. The rest of her material, after all, bore little resemblance to the kind of tunes that made the Top 40 charts at the time.

There’s a hint of irony to the fact that this is the singer’s biggest hit, sure. But without the exceptional, expressive singing and Björk’s striking scream (a great sound effect in itself) this wouldn’t have had the appeal that it did.

5. “Big Time Sensuality”

It was titled “Debut,” yes. And it quickly became a phenomenon, not least of all for the fact that it was an avant-garde pop record rampaging through the charts.

Still, geeky record collectors might’ve known that Björk recorded her first album in 1977, at 11 years of age. They also likely knew of The Sugarcubes, the Icelandic alt-rock band in which she’d sung.

Yet, none of that sounded like “Big Time Sensuality.” Nor had the singer ever exhibited quite the quirkiness and confidence that she did in the memorable music video for the song.

“Big Time Sensuality” made music critics suddenly reassess and take dance-pop records seriously. None were, however, more intriguing than this one.

4. “Hunter”

“Hunter” was a song about embracing chaos and using it as energy. Björk had learned a thing or two about this since moving to London and becoming a pop star.

It was also a song that showed the artist was determined to continue her electronic music experimentation. The days of trip hop and house beats are gone here. Instead, Björk manages to marry orchestral strings to folktronica grooves and adds her unique, expressive vocals to the mix.

3. “Venus as a Boy”

There was no type of music that solo artist Bjork refused to touch. The only exception, perhaps, was the kind of music she’d already made with The Sugarcubes.

“Venus as a Boy” is a masterwork in record production. It seamlessly blends electro beats, confessional lyrics, strings and, especially, Bollywood-styled Indian motifs.

Still, its Bjork’s child-like way of singing the tune which provides the secret ingredient and helps make it one of her best.

2. “Army of Me”

For a while, it seemed like Björk was on the same route as her contemporaries, but just a few years ahead of them. She’d been, after all, one of the first pop stars to embrace house, acid, and trip hop. And that was years after she’d played in punk and avant-garde rock groups.

There was plenty of excitement for her sophomore solo pop star record, “Post.” And “Army of Me” is a good way of condensing the artist’s intentions at the time.

This is an anti-grunge, industrial sounds-inspired tune. The techno beat is married to Björk’s unusually angry lyrics. But her anger is directed toward nihilism, and the moral is to go wash up and try to make the best of life.

1. “Human Behaviour”

Björk did, in many ways, tackle her “Debut” as an alien who understood little about the human condition and thus saw no need for playing by the world’s rules.

“Human Behaviour” is an anxiety-filled house song about seeking distance from other people. Björk sings, whispers and screams it out, in an unorthodox vocal performance that instantly won her approval with early adopters of alternative music.

There is plenty of groundbreaking material in Björk’s discography. “Human Behaviour” may just be the artist’s finest hour and one of the greatest songs of all time.