Blondie made some great videos (particulary their earlier ones). Content-wise, this disc is great fun. But for collectors, it's a major disaopintment.. It only has about 16 of the band's 25 videos, is not culled from original source material but rather a pre-edited compilation that came out in the '80's, has virtually NO packaging (there's not even a sheet of paper where a booklet could have been) . It's a slap-dash affair.
First of all, whoever put it together did not go back to original source materials as I've stated. No digital remastering here. Worse, it's copied from an '80's VHS compilation called "The Best Of Blondie" and still has all the dated footage of a NYC cabbie riding around town and running into Blondie blaring from TV screens and radios betweeen every song--in most cases, cutting off the beginnings of the videos to accomodate the hackneyed wraparound. It even says "Blondie is managed by Shep Gordon" at the end, which hasn't been true since 1982! No attempts were made here to update or improve this presentation. It was just dubbed off with a new title slapped on. It was done with minimal effort, and it shows. Too bad, too. Blondie is certainly worth a better product than this.
The DVD follows the playlist from "Best of Blondie" and adds as "bonus tracks" two oldies:"The Hardest Part" and "Atomic" as well as 1999's "Maria". The good news here is that this version of the "Maria" video is slightly longer than the one on "Behind the Music" DVD and has the alternate, original ending where the team of guys spying on Blondie through a window actually attempt to assasinate Debbie by shooting a bullet through the window, which she catches in her hand, still singing!
Absent are most of the videos from "Eat to the Beat" (like Shayla, Eat to the Beat, Accidents Never Happen, Slow Motion, Die Young Stay Pretty, Victor, Sound Asleep & Living in the Real World). I was most disapointed to see that "In the Sun" from the first album was not included. The Cathay Che bio on Debbie Harry makes reference to an un-named "fourth" video that was made at the same time as "X Offender", "In the Sun" and "In the Flesh". Whatever it was, it's nowhere to be seen on this compilation.
All fans should own this, as it's currently the only chance to have the band's vids on DVD, but I hope someone goes to the bother of releasing a quality, comprehensive collection down the line! Something along the lines of what Abba just did, with their complete collection of remastered vids and deluxe packaging/booklet etc.
