Customer Reviews

Massive Attack - Eleven Promos

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I love Massive Attack and have all the CDs and even a couple of LPs (still yet to get a decent turntable tho). At least one MA CD is always in my car. So when the DVD became available (ordered from the UK in December 2001) I grabbed it. When it arrived....hmmmm....

I'd expected the music to be remixed into 5.1 DD - nope, it's still in PCM stereo. And very flat stereo too. The image quality is OK, but there are no extras. The title says it all: "Eleven Promos" and that's about it.

My fave song, "Be Thankful For What You've Got", suffers from a wierd video clip and unsympathetic remix for video.

Then again, "Teardrop" is quite moving. "Safe From Harm" has a new meaning when you see the video clip (trust me - I thought I understood the lyrics from the CD) and "Protection" is also excellent.

But overall I'm disappointed. Good, and probably a must-have for most MA fans, but I'm indifferent.

It's clear from this collection of videos that MA have always put as much effort into their visual product as they put into their studio recordings. From the urban sprawl of "Safe From Harm" and "Unfinished Sympathy" to the deeply moving womb movie that is "Teardrop" and the film noir of "Inertia Creeps", MA consistently marry their unique sound with spellbinding visuals. My favorites are:

"Teardrop": The song and video that made me an MA fan, and my all-time favorite music video.

"Inertia Creeps": Their last video as a trio, is also one of their best. There's enough of a narrative here to suggest something sinister, but you're never quite sure what's happened, which is why you keep coming back for more.

"Safe From Harm": I love the camera work in this video, but most of all, I love how the song's sense of dread and paranoia is so vividly brought to life.

"Angel": The chase: simple, beautifully shot, and powerful.

"Protection": Just so languid and beautiful. Michel Gondry is my favorite video director, and he definitely does not disappoint here.

An excellent way to revel in the greatness that is Massive.

I'm not sure where the other reviewers are coming from. But if you love Massive Attack - and their most popular singles - AND you are interested in music video, this is a great collection.. For fans, assuredly. For almost everyone else too.

Great selection of tunes. And the art direction on the videos is very strong. Check out the apartment house on "Protection". Or the paranoiac domestic setting on "Risingson". Are the bizarre chase scene in "Angel".

And the mighty "Safe from Harm" and "Unfinished Sympathy" get great treatment.

If you are interested, and wondering - just get it. Good stuff.

All 11 (up to the point of this release) of Massive Attack's videos one 1 DVD is something music fans should not pass up on. Pretty much all the videos are quite entertaining, and the music is obviously always ahead of its time. Even "Blue Lines" can still stand up to this day.
There are a few problems on this disc, probably none will stop people from buying it. Don't worry, because you still should. First, the quality of the individual films to DVD transfer is less than good. It seems you are watching them straight from MTV rather than watching a DVD. More care should have been taken when the transfers were done. Second, the audio was recorded in PCM, rather than Dolby Digital. So it pretty much seems like you are just listening to the records or CD's themselves. But that I don't have much of a problem with. These songs were originally recorded for stereo purposes, not 5.1. So trying to remaster them for 5.1 just doesn't work most of the time.
Well, it's not like MTV will air any of these videos on regular rotation any time soon. This is the only way to see them in full glory, so it is highly recommended to anyone who listens to music.

Best Moment:
"Protection" video, directed by Michel Gondry,
possibly the greatest "1 shot 1 take" video ever done,
in the same vein as Hitchcock's "Rope"

I was pretty disappointed with the DVD's sound. I have not a problem if the band decided to release the videos in mono, but somebody along the way forgot to inform the customers about this decision, and the disc itself has printed "LPCM Stereo" on it. That is the ONLY problem I have with the soundtrack.

I don't ask for 5.1 sound, simply because 90% of music DVD's with 5.1 are "faux", in other words, echo and reverb added on the surrounds, which results in horrible sound imaging. Much better off with PCM Stereo and using your amplifier's Dolby Prologic II if you can.

Why am I disappointed? Well, I don't recall if the videos were in stereo when I watched them on TV, but if they were, which I highly think the case, then a mono soundtrack doesn't hold true to the original video as it was conceived.

Anyway, still a collection of great videos from some amazing directors like Gondry and Sednaoui.

Recommended

This is an awesome collection of all of Massive's Videos, but like the package says it's just Eleven Promos nothing more.Just a simple menu and Play. That said it's cool to see the old videos that you wouldn't be able to see anywhere else. Most of the videos are bizarre and really make no sense but somehow they go with the songs. The unreleased Angel video is cool but has nothing to do with the song, like all the other videos but I geuss it's meant not to be understood. The Teardrop video is probably the best video concept I have ever seen(Baby singing to mother in the womb), It's worth the purchase just for that video. Some of the videos(Inertia Creeps,Angel,Protection) I had to watch a couple of times to figure out. But all in all this is a must have for any Massive Attack Fan.But What I'd really like to see is a concert dvd,but well what can you do.

Finally, we got a chance to look back at their video works. It's really been a while. My all time favorites for M.A. are KarmaComa and Protection, and the 2 videos are also on top my list -- the goofy hotel and Tracy Thorn hovering in the funky apartment building. I remembered when I first saw them they really add gems to my experience with their music. Now finally, Massive Attack again!

Oh, of course, downloading my own sleeve for this fabulous CD is just fun, fun, and more fun!

I seem to buy a lot of DVDs with videos on them, and I could not pass up these 11 promo videos from Massive Attack. It's like a GREATEST HITS or SINGLES package, so it should please the casual as well as obsessive fan. Songs go chronilogically in order throughout the disc. There are no extras - just eleven videos in stereo with no bells or whistles. But most of these don't need explaining. The good part is that you have many guest vocalists near the end - Tracy Thorne of EBTG, and Tricky to name two. So it seems to lend itself to parties or bar settings! Video quality is fine, though on widescreen televisions you may see some funky aspect ratios. This is built for squares! It's only in 2.0 stereo, but so were the singles. Wish more bands would release their videos this way!

This is pretty easy to break down. If you're looking at this item, you probably already know whether or not you like Massive Attack, so it's a simple matter of 'yes' or 'no'.

Pros.
1. All of the big singles are covered here, from Blue Lines through Mezzanine
2. Despite what some of the other reviews say, the videos are --for the most part-- fairly intriguing. Michele Gondry's 'Protection' being the most stunning of the bunch
3. It's Massive Attack...on DVD!

Cons.
1. Sound and video are pretty bad by todays DVD standards.
2. No extras what so ever, just the videos
3. Contrary to what the DVD tells you, as far as I can tell, you can not find the cover art to the DVD on the Massive Attack website!!! I looked forever, and turned up nothing.

In an effort to help others who already own this and can't find the covers, I found one online. Go here to get it.

http://www.cdcovers.cc/search/all/massive-attack

I very much enjoy this DVD, as I can put it on and just click 'play all', and know that I won't hear a single bad song.

If you are only a casual MA fan, I probably wouldn't recommend this since the quality is so poor; but if you consider yourself a pretty big fan, this is a must buy. The price is right, the music is great, pick it up.

I give 4 stars to this DVD just because it's plain and simple 11 promos. So, I would like to see more... the 'Live With Me' video would be a great addition to this. As far as the 'make your own cover art' described on the product information, it's a joke! The Massive Attack website is messy, too loaded with things, video on background... hard to find anything... so, I couldn't find a cover to this! I thought it would be easier.
Also, it took a little while to put my hands on this one, since I live in Brazil and it took too long to get here. Maybe more than 3 weeks. Just to mention: i ordered some CDs from some Japan store after I purchased this Massive Attack DVD and the CDs arrived at my house before this DVD from Amazon, so... not so good and fast shipping.
I had an earlier issue with Amazon...
My sister lives in the US, and I sent her some money to buy a lot of CDs from Amazon, maybe 7 or 8 CDs, including some box sets. The problem is that ALL the goods, except for one CD single... they arrived with cracked cases, torn covers and everything... Some of them I bought as gifts to my friends. My sister said the items arrived without any plastic or bubble wrap whatsoever. So, I was pretty upset with that because if I only knew that the 'free shipping' was gonna be that sort of 'free', I would offer to pay for it. The items sent directly to Brazil arrived in perfect condition, tho. But I paid for the shipping, so... I think that maybe Amazon should have a look at their japanese competition. It took only 6 DAYS to get my hands on the CDs from Japan! Amazingly, on a saturday, with the post offices closed! The DVD is fine, tho. Not so happy with this issue I had before with the shipping. I was quite amazed because Amazon did that inside the US, so before I decided to get this one with them, I had a lot to think about, since they would have to send it to Brazil... I've purchased other CDs from Amazon marketplace. Not here yet... (almost 4 weeks) Grrr...