Customer Reviews

The Chemical Brothers: Singles 93-03

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This DVD contains both promo and live videos as well as interviews. The promo videos and live videos are really awesome. The live videos contains really cool strobing effects and visualities. The interviews features Tom Rowlands & Ed Simmons (The Chemical Brothers, themselves), Noel Gallagher of Oasis, Bernard Sumner of New Order, Richard Ashcroft formerly of The Verve, Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim, himself), Beth Orton and Tim Burgess as well as video directors. The videos are as listed below:

Life Is Sweet
Setting Sun
Block Rockin' Beats
Elektrobank
Hey Boy Hey Girl
Let Forever Be
Out Of Control
Star Guitar
The Test
The Golden Path (brand new video)

The live videos are as follows below:

Hey Boy Hey Girl - Live from Red Rocks 1999
Hoops/Setting Sun - Live from Fuji Festival 2002
Temptation/Star Guitar - Live from Fuji Festival 2002
Chemical Beats - Live from Glastonbury 1997
The Private Psychedelic Reel - Live from Glastonbury 2000

There are three ways to watch the videos on this DVD. You can watch the promo videos only, the live videos only or both in crhonological order. There is also 'The Private Reels' with behind the scene footage of The Chemical Brothers. It's really cool and kinda funny. This DVD is a must have for every true Chemical Brothers fan.

Warning: This DVD contains strobing effects which may affect some viewers with photo-sensitive epilepsy or other such condition.

I'll start off by saying that I'm a big fan of music video DVDs in general. Chemical Brothers videos are larger than life. Several of these videos zip you away into a sense of peace and tranquility, leaving you amazed. The two stand-out videos have got to be "Star Guitar" and "The Test". I've watched both of these videos several times, and am still astonished every time I watch them.

For the video "Star Guitar", they just shot footage from the side of a train. Everything they pass, whether it be: trees, buildings, bridges, poles, walls... is cut perfectly to the beat, rhythm and melody. That video must have taken forever to make. "The Test" is very simular; with a lot of on-beat video making.

Not only are the videos awesome, but the live concert footage is sweet too; maybe even better than the videos. The light show they put on is just sick. This DVD is must see for... anyone.

Chemical Brothers fans have long awaited a video/live dvd from the masters and I would say it's been worth the wait. What an awesomely put together dvd. Even the menus are class. Having been at the red rocks show, I admired how its footage perfectly captures the mayhem that ensued after the blistering opener hey boy, hey girl. And as for the other live bits, they're worth the price of admission alone, especially the Japan footage, simply jaw-dropping. But you also get the promos and interviews which only add to the future classic status of this dvd. Some of the best videos of the last ten years of course line up to show the Chem's might. 'The Test' is an instant classic with amazing visuals, and 'The Golden Path' is a very positive and uplifting piece of genius as a video and track. Excellent DVD.

The main thing I appreciated about this DVD were the promos. Each promo makes you respect that song more in so many different ways. Unlike Moby's PLAY DVD, The Chem. Bros. give each video a kind of adventure or purpose while keeping you motivated through every beat. My personal favorites were 'Block Rockin' Beats' with these two people on the run from the police apparently, getting caught in the end, while on their journey, run into Tom and Ed in a sort of club. 'Star Guitar' was absolutely impressive with a view from outside the window of a train as everything that passed you (bridge, pole, etc...) represented each beat and rythem...you must look carefully, otherwise you might not understand the video in general. My other favorites include Out Of Control, The Test, and Setting Sun promos ('Life Is Sweet' creeps me out even to this day). The LIVE cuts are another KEY part of this DVD collection. Even when you sit at home on your couch or in your room doddling on your computer, the LIVE cuts can still make you feel like you are very much there with the strobing lights and scratched/mixed up beats through Hey Boy Hey Girl, Hoops/Setting Sun, and the other cuts. It was interesting to watch The Private Reels on the DVD as Tom and Ed go around the world and ask random people if they've ever heard of The Chemical Brothers. Some of these people had no clue what they were talking about which was humorous. Most of them on there (teens) knew their older works when they were known as The Dust Brothers, which I can't say too much about because I've never heard any of their older works of music. The interviews are worth a listen as well as they go through all, if not all, the guests that appeared in the songs. You have Tim Burgess (Life Is Sweet), Noel Gallagher (Setting Sun), and I believe Beth Orton (Alive Alone, Where Do I Begin, The State We're In) was in there as well, I'll have to double-check that one. This DVD is one of a kind and will serve all the Chem. fans out there well.

I just wanted to add something to all the other 5-star
reviews of this excellent DVD...and that is...how amazing
the live material is. Sure the videos are good, but it's
the live section of this DVD that really (to use a cliche)
blows you away. The live songs are masterpieces of beat-genius,
with each song delivering extremely satisfying build-ups and
climaxes...all are mesmerizing...all have less vocals than the
single versions...all are stretched out with BIG SUB-WOOFER
sound! It almost seems like...if Beethoven and Mozart were alive
today, they'd be these two Chemical Brothers exhibiting their
musical chops to live & raving audiences. So anyway, if you
buy this DVD, I recommend that you go immediately to the live
section. It's truly thrilling.

I like the Chemical Brothers. Every new CD has 2 or 3 tunes that really do it for me. But their videos in this collection are all excellent. Even the songs that aren't my faves to listen to really grab me in the context of the audio/visual interface. These pieces are uniformly professional, imaginative, creative, entertaining, suprising, and wierd, wierd, wierd. Common threads are there, but each video is different. I'm all for bands getting their A/V geek pals to do vids for them, but Chem Bros have the juice to make it happen on a level of quality you rarely see in the counterculture scene, without losing the tiniest bit of the edge that makes them a great band. Also some great concert footage. I love it. - lgv

my favorate part was hoops live ....the horse bucking to the music and the coackroaches , i thinking about the lighting very creative

move fast before this great dvd is univalible !!!

I can't believe I had to go to Barnes n Noble to get the UPC number to find this DVD on Amazon, I kept searching for "chemical" on DVD for two weeks with no success... I hate BnN, that's why I'm buying it here... anyway, as far as the DVD goes, I need to have Star Guitar's awesome music video, so basically it's my main reason for buying this, I'm sure it will be awesome as can be, that's why the 5 stars.

the Chemical Brothers are the best techno duo in the world! i was praying over the years that a dvd can be released. my prayers have been answered with 'singles 93-03'. this is a must own! all the videos by the chem bros are terrific. 'star guitar' directed by michel gondry is 1 video i haven't seen before and it is very very inventive if you look at the video oh so carefully which is a train ride but again look closely and hear the song's beats. click on the making of the video where gondry uses graph paper, a pen, sketches, oranges, forks, books &....he is weird but a genius. another great video is 'hey boy hey girl' w/ a girl's fascination w/ bones and skeletons-she becomes sooo obsessive with the subjects that she SEES only skeletons thru humans and animals. 'elektrobank' featuring sofia coppola as a gymnast and directed by spike jonze, her hubby. listen to the commentary---sure doesn't sound like jonze especially the accent. there are other fine videos and extras and live concerts. a lotta fun! i will buy the singles 93-03 cd. i love the chem bros!

very boring inane methodical beat that goes on and on and on and on and on and on the "songs,tunes" do not develop its the same beat on and on and on....... visuals are boring if you like good visuals and great pounding progressive rave like music the best is MOby Live (the Remix part of the dvd which goes for about an hour ) or Underworld LIve all the rest from this field that I have (unfortunately) purchased ,like FatBoy and the like,to be honest suck