Customer Reviews

R.E.M. - Pop Screen

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

 

 

Another DVD that shows why R.E.M. is one of greatest bands in history. This DVD shows the diverse musical feats that they are capable of. The videos range from the silly Stand to more serious songs like Orange Crush. The track list is The One I Love, It's The End of the World As We Know It, Finest Worksong, Talk About the Passion, Orange Crush, Stand, Turn You Inside Out, Pop Song 89, and Get Up. My only complaint about the DVD is that it's only 32 minutes long. However, the fact that the videos on the DVD are so excellent and diverse more than makes up for that one small complaint.

Pop Screen displays REM's videos at their most experimental. It is a true statement of Michael Stipe's artisitc vision.

The videos run the spectrum for silly pop (Stand) to a very sinister and hauntingly gorgeous meditation on war (Orange Crush). In between we have a nudity (Pop Song 89), homelessness (Talk about the Passion), a boy and a dog (Its the End of the World as we Know It) and even Michael's sister (The One I Love).

A must.

There are reviews listing which tracks are included, so I will not waste your time relisting them. This DVD includes the earlier R.E.M. videos (Michael Stipe with lots of hair, pre the half buzz-cut/long braid down the back, which was followed by the short cut which was followed by the current shaven dome). These videos are accused of being amatuerish in sophistication when compared to the multi-million dollar videos that are shot today, however this video does have artistic merit. These are the videos I remember watching in my disgruntled youth and being so impressed that R.E.M. had actually made it onto MTV. Pop Song 89 is on this disc in its original version which MTV refused to show because of the topless female dancers without "black barring" the bare breasts. True to form, rumor has it, Stipe insisted on having his chest black barred as well.

If you are not a hard core R.E.M. fan you can probably do without this DVD (unless you are truly interested in the progression of the Stipe-do). I would suggest "Parellel", (which is excellent) or "In Time" which are more what the mainstream consider R.E.M.

A very nice compilation of songs mainly from Green and a couple from Murmur and Document.The videos are well directed often reflecting the contents of the song despite some very obscure ones, namely orange crush and the rather risque Pop Song '89. All in all, essential for any R.E.M.fan

What about "Succumbs"?...the first REM video available on VHS but never put out on DVD. Anyone who has seen it will agree. The band/record company has done such a great job in releasing video compilations and live concert video. REM has more available on DVD than any other band I can think of. But "Succumbs" has pre-1987 REM, some stuff dating back to 1983 or early '84. I know that old-school fans would also like to see a complete REM unplugged release from the 1987 MTV broadcast. Please!!

I have IN VIEW and THE IRS YEARS DVDs, which means only "Turn You Inside Out," "Pop Song 89," and "Get Up" are exclusive to this DVD. If you must have those, there you go. But for the price, it's hard for some to rationalize three videos.

This video is really good. I love how different everything was back then. And I love that music video for Pop Song '89. That was beyond H-O-T! I really like how long and curly Michael's hair is and I like the queerness to the videos. You don't really know what's happening. You just get to use your creativity and own thoughts on what the videos are really about. I also love how Michael Stipe directed two of the music videos.

Yuk! The cover of this DVD is misleading -- the cover does not disclose that this product is merely a collection of amateurish (artistic?) video clips running in tandem with R.E.M. music. Be warned -- this is not a collection of the band's professional videos; and the band should have ethically disclosed this fact on the cover. This taught me not to buy music DVDs in some store; instead I'll check reviews on this website beforehand and purchase through Amazon.

Dvd arrived in perfect condition but about 3 weeeks late

Just a warning for all you people who want to watch this on your labtop's DVD player--- it probobly won't work! I called the company that makes my computer, and they told me it's not my DVD player, it's the DVD. It works great on a regular DVD player! I really really like this collection of videos. REM is amazing!