Customer Reviews

Depeche Mode: Some Great Videos [VHS]

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

 

 

I completely disagree with most of the reviews people posted of this videoclip collection.
Surely "some great videos" has some amateurish feel to some of the titles, but it includes the two videos which prepared the mood for "Black Celebration", 1996 DM concept album that in my opinion is their all-around masterwork: "Shake the Disease" and "It's Called a Heart" by english director Peter Care. "Shake the Disease" captures uniquely the alienation and isolation of modern civilization, in particular the feeling unlucky people suffering from psichic malaisies pass for long years in their life.
Very nice also the pastiche of images presented in "People are People", conjuring images of war and man's own insanity, and the claustrophobic feeling of "Blasphemous Rumours", the simple atmosphere of Martin's unique vocals in "Somebody".
Anton Corbjin maybe very professional but it "clicked" with DM only in rare occasions, in my modest opinion, that's all!
This collection is the basis for anyone truly loving Depeche Mode.

The less developed mind may not understand the charm of the band's earliest videos, but the ones found on these collection are more compelling than the videos from Music for The Masses and Violator in my opinion. The low budget quality adds a depth the later polished vids lack. I loved Everything Counts, the way Dave jolts around singing facing away with the camera posed above him. Just Can't Get Enough is kind of hilarious because of the way the band is dressed, but damn it if it aint a fun video! Teenagers in the eighties really had a blast with this stuff. It's too bad videos are so uber- perfect and stylized today. I always prefer the earlier vids of bands like INXS and Depeche Mode and so on. They are flawed perfection.

Okay, I don't think these videos are *quite* as inane as "modeman" suggests, but he does have a point; some of them can get pretty damn stupid. But even so, it's interesting to see the band in action back when they were a bunch of twenty year-olds and musical sobriety or maturity hadn't kicked in yet; it's one big historical adventure you can both scoff and marvel at simultaneously. It really is a good buy.

An awesome collection of early eighties Mode from Speak and Spell to Black Celebration- worth every penny.

Despite the fact I'm a diehard Depeche Mode fan, I was too young to remember most of the band's earlier work. So I got a really big kick out of watching most of these music videos for the first time. I'll admit they're not as high quality as the later videos like "Personal Jesus" and "Barrel Of A Gun," but they really strengthen their fan base. If you've got to insult this collection of videos, then you weren't much of a Depeche Mode fan in the first place. Accept these videos for what they are..."beginnings."

Yes, they are silly. Yes, the graphics are not cutting edge, but these videos are *fun*! The Mode were just cute young men, and it's great to see how they've matured as artists. I personally enjoy People are People the best, and find that it's a precursor to the types of videos that Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) did later on, using stock footage images. A good look back at a great group. Having 'grown up' with MTV, and remembering it's first years, this is a nostalgia trip back to a time when videos didn't have to be overblown and pretentious to be enjoyable.

I am a huge Depeche Mode fan and this Some Great Videos are spectacular in my eyes. Some of the videos may seem a bit low budget, but who cares! All that matters is that you see the Depeche Mode band members doing their thing for some of their best songs ever. Seeing Depeche Mode throughout the early eighties in these videos is simply beautiful and spectacular. Good music such as that from DM does not need high tech production to illuminate their already radiant music worth gold.

Depeche Mode has stood the test of time and is widely regarded as one of the greatest synth-oriented rock bands of all time, and rightly so. The true genius of the band, in my opinion, can be found in their live performances. The incredible intensity of a Depeche Mode live presentation is quite unforgettable, never more so than in the live version of "Photographic", and its inclusion in this video collection alone makes this a MUST have.

Por alguna razón, sólo a partir del '86 Depeche Mode comenzó a lanzar videos decentes. Antes de ello, su producción se limita a porquerías dirigidas por incompetentes. Sería fácil culpar al decadente ambiente ochentero, pero durante la época sí hubo bandas capaces de ofrecer una videografía respetable.
En esta recopilación, DM tuvo la sapiencia de omitir algunas vergüenzas mayores - como el incomprensible "Let the balance right" - las cuales sin embargo (y para desgracia de los fans) hoy son inubicables. Vistos en perpectiva, la mayoría de los videos aparece cortada por la misma tijera: DM haciendo el ridículo junto a imágenes de archivo sin nexos entre sí (recurso que sólo funciona relativamente en People are People). Resulta una lástima obervar como grandes canciones (como Everything Counts y Blasphemous Rumours, por ejemplo) cuentan con un soporte de imagen tan débil. Momentos memorables de lo malo son las trompetas de Love in Itself y Just Can't Get Enough, el baile árabe en Everything Counts y el pastel viviente de Meaning of Love. Basura de la buena.
Pese a todo (y por eso las 5 estrellas), el archivo tiene el valor inigualable de mostrar al grupo tal como fue: una banda pop adolescente que rápidamente evolucionaba hacia algo más complejo. La mejor demostración es el brillante cierre con Shake the Disease, anticipo de un giro radical que vendría pronto. Como archivo de una época es maravilloso y una delicia para fanáticos.

It's always good to see how a band started off. To see what made Depeche Mode successful should be a compulsory history lesson for kids at school. Yes perhaps the videos are a bit corny, but these were filmed in the early 80s, and it's interesting to compare the band members as kids to what they have become.

A definate must for all fans.