Brikar

"Metallica: The Videos - 1989-2004"
Starring: Well, Metallica.
Produced and directed by: Various

"Metallica: The Videos" is exactly what it sounds like - every Metallica music video from 1989's "One" to 2004's "Some Kind of Monster". In all, there are some 23 music videos (there are two versions of "One" and "The Unforgiven"), a short interview with Lars about making the two versions of "One" and the trailer for the recent "Some Kind of Monster" documentary.

This disc is pretty rockin'. The videos are presented in order, and without credits of any kind (those are saved until the end - the dvd is presented much like a film, with the videos as the individual chapter stops). You can choose to play straight through from the beginning or use the chapter selection menu.

The videos are:
One
Enter Sandman
The Unforgiven
Nothing Else Matters
Wherever I May Roam
Sad But True
Until It Sleeps
Hero of the Day
Mama Said
King Nothing
The Memory Remains
The Unforgiven II
Fuel
Turn the Page
Whiskey in the Jar
No Leaf Clover
I Disappear
St. Anger
Frantic
The Unnamed Feeling
Some Kind of Monster
One (Jammin' Version)
The Unforgiven (Theatrical version)

VIDEO
Video quality, as one would expect, varies. And not just because the videos were made across fifteen years, but simply due to the nature of music videos and the different effects directors and editors will throw about all willy nilly with no concern for epilepsy. But IN GENERAL, the newer videos look crisper, with better color and contrast than the older videos. Concert footage in "Some Kind of Monster" is easily superior to concert footage in "Sad But True".

AUDIO
Being a music video, this is really where you'd want the disc to clock in with a great score - and it does. Though the older tracks definitely have less fidelity and don't pan around the surrounds as much, they still rock pretty hard. Things only get better as you go along, and the St. Anger tracks really explode in 5.1. These videos are shorter than the album versions, and honestly, losing 3 minutes out of a couple of these songs actually makes them better. I generally watch movies or TV shows with the volume on my system set at 20, which is nice and loud, but still comfortable to listen to.

For this disc, I had to turn it down to 16.

FEATURES
There really isn't anything here except a six-minute interview with Lars about making the "One" video. It's interesting enough, and has a good laugh towards the end when the phone rings and he bitches about the dangers of shooting an interview in a hotel room.

The shorter version of "One" is just that - it's shorter. I don't feel it improves the song any, unlike the versions of "St. Anger" and "Some Kind of Monster" provided here.

The longer version of "Unforgiven" is just bizarre. It's 11 and a half minutes long, and most of it is absolutely silent. The song kicks in about halfway through after a lengthy sequence involving a child wandering about a barren wasteland and playing with some girl. It's really, really weird. But it's well shot and edited, and has a creepy/cool atmosphere to it.

OVERALL
For only 12 bucks, this 2 1/2 hour DVD is totally worth it. It's pretty bare, but it has the great audio it needs and deserves to have. Aside from "Wherever I May Roam" and "The Unnamed Feeling", I don't think there's a bad song on here, and even those two are pretty decent - just not amongst my favorites. Some of the videos themselves are pretty bizarre ("Until It Sleeps" features Lars and Kirk in weird goth makeup) but it's interesting to watch the evolution of the band over the years, even if a big chunk of the earlier work is totally missing. But since this is a music video anthology, there ain't much to be done about that.

GRADE:
VIDEO: B
AUDIO: A
OVERALL: A

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