Customer Reviews

Eat to the Beat (CD/DVD)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm ecstatic that I'm finally able to watch the DVD version of this album without paying exhorbitant online auction prices for the VHS version (note that the prices for those VHS versions have dropped substantially with this DVD release). One nit: I wish the audio quality of the DVD was as good as the CD. I'm sure it was just transfered from the original master video, so it's a faithful re-release, but how hard would it have been to get the CD audio quality transfered to the video version? Listening to the DVD audio even through an excellent sound system, sounds like you're listening to it through TV speakers. It isn't terrible by any means, but it pales when compared to the CD audio.

Otherwise, no complaints. Video quality is excellent, considering the age of the source material, and audio quality of the CD is superb. Easily the best money I've spent all year. A must-have for all Blondie fans.

No complaints about anything but the beginnings of each video being covered by graphics from the original release, from which the title song suffers most. (The complete video for the song "Eat To The Beat" can be found on the PINK LADY Variety Show Box Set from Rhino, as well as the complete video for "Shayla"). Otherwise, this collection is great and looks FAB and is a must for every Blondie collector. Best vids are "Dreaming", ":Shayla" and "The Hardest Part"--which, along with "Hangin on the Telephone", just may be the best Blondie video ever.

I first got this on lp (that's album for the new generation!) so long ago. Fell in love with it then and love it still today. The fast and drum pounding "Dreaming", the dreamy rhythmic "Union City Blue", the catchy "Atomic". I still don't have much love for the namesake song "Eat to the Beat", but I play it for people when they want a good laugh :). I still remember when they performed "The Hardest Part" and "Dreaming" on Saturday Night live. Blondie never disappoints me. The instrumentals in all the songs are always amazing. "Dreaming is Free". Indeed.

For all their CBGB punk and new wave credentials and their embracing of all contemporary New York culture, be it art or disco, on record Blondie were a surprisingly commercial enterprise, thanks in part to the production of Mike Chapman, and their love of sixties pop (Ellie Greenwich is a guest singer on the album).

Eat To The Beat was their fourth album and yielded four hit singles: Dreaming, Union City Blue (in the UK), The Hardest Part (in the US) and Atomic. Another three (Sound-A-Sleep, Living In The Real World, Die Young Stay Pretty) were B-sides. Atomic reached number one in the UK, and Dreaming was number two. Eat To The Beat was also a number one album (Top Twenty in the US), and additionally featured great songs like Accidents Will Happen and the title track, so that it almost plays like a Greatest Hits album.

The upbeat, inspired playing of the band and the warmth and character of Deborah Harry's voice keep these songs as fresh today as when they were baked.

Innovatively, Blondie also prepared videos for each of the twelve songs and released the album in various video formats including VHS and Betamax. Long deleted, it is now a joy to find them included in superior DVD format on the accompanying disc in this package. How would anyone not want these?

Conceptually, this original Video Album was ahead of its time, and it still holds up today as do the production values. Back then, almost no one was doing videos, and those who did were not into complicated story lines and complex Hollywood-style approaches like present videos. Bands like Blondie were performers, and here they prove that they could - and can - rock better than the best of them. Debbie Harry and Clem Burke (who agrees with me that Clem is one of the most underrated drummers in rock history??) are definitely self-aware and in the moment while Nigel Harrison & Frank Infante might seem a bit awkward what the what and why they are doing this. That's okay, because every video is both a fun and a pleasure to watch, especially the color, graffitti-laden "The Hardest Part" and the on-location "Union City Blues." Check out both audience and band alike breaking loose in the title track and "Dreaming." Blondie fans should welcome this arrival.

"Eat to The Beat" was the FIRST full album video release, with a music video for every track. It is a pity that it took 28 years to make it from VHS to DVD. "Eat To The Beat" is second only to "Parallel Lines" in the Blondie catalog. Both the CD and videos are well worth revisiting as rock classics.

This is such an super, incredible, fascinatingly great album by one of the most diverse and witty supergroups of the 'New wave" genre. It is so good I'd forgotten just how great. I played part of it for my bestfriend and he said, "wow, is this new? I can tell it's Blondie, but I've never heard them do something so good!" I told him it was actually an older album and he was amazed.
Shayla, is such an wonderful, super song it should've been a radio hit. Radio was good to Blondie, but they never shared the truly great stuff over the waves. Case in point, the practically no airplay of maybe their greatest album, "The Curse of Blondie"!!

Blondie doesn't get credit for much. One thing the band SHOULD get credit for is helping to pioneer the concept of music videos. Whether the video album to Eat to the Beat was the first or simply one of the first attempts to make a video for each song on an entire album, this DVD's historic importance cannot be overstated.

Because it is a pioneering effort, the accepted format of displaying the credits discreetly in one corner of the video has not yet been invented. Instead, each video has a "title page" which eats up the first few seconds of each video. That's annoying, but that is my one and only minor criticism. The excitement of the videos more than makes up for this minor "annoyance."

The lowdown? In a word: fantastic! The picture quality is head and shoulders above Blondie's Greatest Video Hits or the Musikladen DVD. It is on a par with the picture quality of the Glasgow performance: i.e., the picture quality is nearly High Definition considering how old these tapes are.

The videos themselves are primarily variations on the "show the band performing" theme. Remember, this is prehistoric. Don't let that stop you from owning the best Blondie video EVER. I waited 28 years to see this, and it was worth the wait. I question the need to include the CD album with the DVD in the package, because most people who purchase this will probably already own the plain CD. That also increases the price, and unfortunately may make some people pass on an excellent and essential Blondie video document. For my own tastes, never again will I simply want to listen to the album without viewing the accompanying videos. It's that good. And if you get tired of watching Debbie Harry in her prime there is something seriously wrong with you.

If you do not own this you are not a true Blondie fan. 'Nuff Said.

I have been a Blondie fan for 25 years, and this dvd/cd was a perfect addition to my collection. It's so nice to see these vintage videos again!

Both music and videos of Eat to the Beat were THE blueprint for the new wave of the 80's. This is Debbie and the Band at their best, so good, that bands such as The Killers are still ripping them off today. Check out Debbie in Sound-A-Asleep, the epitome of beautiful and cool. Also, Clem Burke (drummer). This album was as much his as it was Debbie's. Outstanding throughout.