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DVD: U2 one of handful of bands to take advantage of DVD possibilities
By Mike Prevatt
Despite the bells-and-whistles treatment of film that DVD has been celebrating for the past five years, the music video arena hasn't fully explored the format's potential. While record companies and artists alike have wasted no time flooding the market with DVD releases of video compilations and concert films, most of those packages offer little beyond their videocassette counterpart. Only a few artists have used the seemingly boundless nature of the DVD format--superior sound and video quality, director/band commentaries, documentary supplements, alternate perspectives--to present their visual aesthetic, both in the quantity and quality departments. Such visionaries include the Beastie Boys, Moby, Nine Inch Nails and Bjork.
Add U2 to the list. Its 2001 concert video, Elevation Live in Boston, was so technologically sensitive that Interscope didn't even bother with a VHS version. This year, the band goes even further with its video collection The Best of 1990-2000, released in tandem with the CD of the same name. While the CD version suffers from unsatisfactory re-recordings and an unbalanced tracklisting, the DVD is nearly flawless. Each of the songs on the album has a video equivalent here, from 1992's "The Fly," to this year's newbies, "Electrical Storm" and "The Hands That Built America." Not only do these visual images pump more life into the otherwise skeletal approach of the CD, but each one comes with an optional director commentary (save the three live footage videos). Better still, seven "bonus tracks" not featured on the album are included. All but one ("Mofo," taped from the band's 1997 PopMart tour) allow for a director commentary option.
The commentaries are required listening. Almost every director has something revealing and engaging to say about their video, most of all Stephane Sednaoui, who can't stop cracking up during one of the band's most irreverent videos, "Discotheque." Some tricks are divulged, too. Jonas Ackerlund says during "Beautiful Day" that the planes that appear to be taking off above the band on the runway were digitally added after shooting.
Also included are three documentaries, including "The Story of One," which enlightens us on why three different videos for the band's memorable ballad, "One," were made, and "Missing Sarajevo," an account of the band's historic concert in the war-torn city during the PopMart trek. And if you bought the CD version with the ancillary B-sides disc, the "History Mix" DVD that also came with it is given a jewel case here, fattening this already goodie-filled package.
Thursday, January 02, 2003
Copyright ? Las Vegas Mercury
DVD: U2 one of handful of bands to take advantage of DVD possibilities
By Mike Prevatt
Despite the bells-and-whistles treatment of film that DVD has been celebrating for the past five years, the music video arena hasn't fully explored the format's potential. While record companies and artists alike have wasted no time flooding the market with DVD releases of video compilations and concert films, most of those packages offer little beyond their videocassette counterpart. Only a few artists have used the seemingly boundless nature of the DVD format--superior sound and video quality, director/band commentaries, documentary supplements, alternate perspectives--to present their visual aesthetic, both in the quantity and quality departments. Such visionaries include the Beastie Boys, Moby, Nine Inch Nails and Bjork.
Add U2 to the list. Its 2001 concert video, Elevation Live in Boston, was so technologically sensitive that Interscope didn't even bother with a VHS version. This year, the band goes even further with its video collection The Best of 1990-2000, released in tandem with the CD of the same name. While the CD version suffers from unsatisfactory re-recordings and an unbalanced tracklisting, the DVD is nearly flawless. Each of the songs on the album has a video equivalent here, from 1992's "The Fly," to this year's newbies, "Electrical Storm" and "The Hands That Built America." Not only do these visual images pump more life into the otherwise skeletal approach of the CD, but each one comes with an optional director commentary (save the three live footage videos). Better still, seven "bonus tracks" not featured on the album are included. All but one ("Mofo," taped from the band's 1997 PopMart tour) allow for a director commentary option.
The commentaries are required listening. Almost every director has something revealing and engaging to say about their video, most of all Stephane Sednaoui, who can't stop cracking up during one of the band's most irreverent videos, "Discotheque." Some tricks are divulged, too. Jonas Ackerlund says during "Beautiful Day" that the planes that appear to be taking off above the band on the runway were digitally added after shooting.
Also included are three documentaries, including "The Story of One," which enlightens us on why three different videos for the band's memorable ballad, "One," were made, and "Missing Sarajevo," an account of the band's historic concert in the war-torn city during the PopMart trek. And if you bought the CD version with the ancillary B-sides disc, the "History Mix" DVD that also came with it is given a jewel case here, fattening this already goodie-filled package.
Thursday, January 02, 2003
Copyright ? Las Vegas Mercury
