Customer Reviews

The Videos: Punk-O-Rama, Vol.1

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

 

 

Epitaph has released it's first dvd Punk-O-Rama The Videos. Since 1995, Epitaph records has released continuious additions to their Punk-O-Rama compilation albums which showcase the best the label has to offer their fans. Now, they offer a dvd, packed with the best videos from their large list of artists, Including Pennywise, NOFX, Bad Religion, and even the currently awful band at a time when they were a good band The Offspring. The dvd contains artists that haven't sold their souls to the demons at MTV, and this is one of the only places where you can see these videos besides internet streaming, which is usually in bad quality anyway.

The video begins with the classic video "Nihilism" by the band Rancid, who has two other videos on the disc. It also contains bands that are virtually unknown to the MTV freaks who know who Bad Religion and NOFX are, including Dropkick Murphy's, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, and the extremely experimental and talented Alternative Punks Refused.

The videos special features also kicks... They include the documentary "The Epitaph Story" which goes through how the label got started up and some of the difficulties it has overcome. This feature also includes interviews with Epitaph and Bad Religion founder Brett Gurewitz (Mr. Brett) and such label mates as Fat Mike from NOFX and Fletcher from Pennywise. Next up is a behind-the-scenes look at the Authority" video, which is also included on the dvd. Next and best of all is the Bad Religion documentary "Big Bang" which includes a humorous scene of Brett and Greg Gaffin interviewing each other, and also includes live performances of "Suffer" "Faith Alone" and "I Want To Conquer the World". Finally, it contains a live performance from Bouncing Souls, which I can't tell you much about because I only watched it once.

In conclusion, fans now get Epitaph and its videos. It's the alternative to MTV!

It's official! The Punk-O-Rama series has surpassed the "Punk & Disorderly" and "Burning Ambitions" collections if you're looking for great punk rock primers! This DVD contains a neat collection of desent videos (most of them appear to be shot at someone's backyard BBQ). Recommended to ALL fans of alternative music, punk, hardcore and skater scene. Consider it money well spent.

So they may not count for much, but I found it a fun and funny outing, a good start for what will hopefully be series (Has Epitaph possibly put out as many videos as they have CDs, thus warranting an 8 or 9 volumne set ala the audio series? Doubtful, but hopefully they can squeeze out another one or two before exhausting their supply).

Firstly, there's the videos. A nice selection to be sure, it's a lot harer to come by videos of these bands than it is their songs (which is why the Audio series has never appealed to me, but this DVD was a must-have). They're run in their entirety, with a nice, succinct and stylish header introducing each, and an option to play all or choose for yourself (a luxury option when you realize lots of low-budget DVDs won't give you both.. hell Kevin Smith's Dogma doesn't have a "Play All" option for its one hour, plus, of deleted scenes.. and lemme tell you, it gets boring after a while when, after twenty minutes of cutting-room floor goodness, you have to try to remember where you left the remote to get to the next one...[And even worse on Smith's "Mallrats" when 90 minutes of cut footage has no option to jump straight to Ben Affleck in a dress that comes all the way at the end... and which is why 90% of the people watch the damn cut scenes!!!]).

The extras were much appreciated, if not simply nostalgic. It seems like the guys (and girl) in the Epitaph story had lots of fun making this not-so-serious documentary. It's more of a "Hey, remember that day?" or ol' Grand-dad's "Back in my day, I had to kill grizzly bears with a rock and some thread!" type stories than it is a tireless recollection of what went on at Epitaph, and I think the "corny cartoons" add to that fun-loving element of the piece. Hell, this is punk rock we're talking about. It's the people, the music, not the details that matter. And I watched five-ten people having lots of fun, and recalling days that I'm barely congnizant of. That was damn cool for me.

Ditto the Bad Religion live spot on the Bonus Features. Its nice to see Greg's body language on stage, as it adds real insight to the kind of guy he is (he's so not taking this seriously... and having been to a BR concert recently, it's great to see that the only thing to change in eleven years is the play list [and maybe the size of the crowd]). The gold rush comes from the nice little one-on-one and vice-versa interviews between Greg and Brett. After seeing Brett in the (more or less) present as a mature (looking) company head, and then flash-back to 92 when he was a bit more punk (looking), and to know that he's every bit the corporate head there as he is now is a trip! Its lots of cool friggen insight into what's going on with punk now, and what happened in punk then, and for a guy like me, it was a way cool ride.

And the girls in the Guttermouth video are *HOT*... so that was good too ;)

these days epitaph releases their dvds with the punk-o-rama cds, but this first dvd was released long after the cds were being made, which resulted in this being a best-of dvd for epitaph. with 3 videos from rancid, 2 from nofx, 2 from bad religion, 2 from pennywise, 2 from dropkick murphys, and others from the offspring, millencolin, refused, hot water music and others, this is probably the best punk dvd you'll ever buy.

After 7 releases of the Punk o rama CD series they release the first DVD and an excellent one at that. They combine a lot of the older classic videos as well as some recent ones. My favourites are probably "American Jesus" by Bad Religion and "Same Old Story" by Pennywise but their all good. As for the special features they were well done also but could have been better. The Epitaph Story was excellent and well documented the origin of the label. The Bouncing Souls footage on the other hand wasn't so good. It is only concert footage over dubbed with the studio songs and they aren't even that good. The Bad Religion footage was excellent, it would have been nice if it was from only one concert not a collage of them but i still enjoyed it. The making of "F**k Authority" by Pennywise was also a nice addition.

Overall if you are a fan of Epitaph or punk in general i recommend buying this.

The Punk-O-Rama DVD is really cool. It's the first punk DVD I've ever bought and I'm impressed! It has some old favorites like Come Out and Play from the Offspring, (before becoming the sellouts they are today) NOFX's Stickin in My Eye, and Pennywise's Same Old Story, while showing the best of their new stuff, like Sorrow and F*** Authority. The Epitaph story is long and is probably most interesting for fans of Bad Religion, NOFX, and Pennywise. The only thing I don't like is the tacky Title Screen and Scene Selections, but it's not supposed to be a 10 million dollar Hollywood Production.

Good collection of old Epitaph classics (not exactly a good representation of their current lineup. You're not going to find any Ikara Colt on here). The epitaph documentary is good.

Just thought I should warn you kids - the Bouncing Souls show are two songs of live footage montage dubbed by studio tracks. Kind of defeats the excitement if you ask me