Sony Music Video/Sony BMG .
R4 . COLOR . 104 mins .
M15+ . PAL
Feature
Contract
Silverchair began life and even released their first single Tomorrow as Innocent Criminals. At the time they were a fresh new garage band in Newcastle that beared a striking resemblance to Nirvana, mainly due to lead singer Daniel Johns' blonde locks and similarity to Kurt Cobain. At the time they were very young, only 15 in fact, and were discovered in 1994 in a song contest run by the television show Nomad along with Triple J radio. By winning this competition, they were given the chance to record their single and receive extensive airplay, making it a huge hit.
Ooooooooohhhhh
The trio of Daniel Johns, Chris Joannou and Ben Gillies soon followed up their debut single with a number of hits. This was after they had signed a recording contract, changed their name to Silverchair and released their debut album Frogstomp, which debuted at number one. They toured extensively during their school holidays and soon became the hottest band in Australia. Overseas success soon followed, particularly in America with their debut album going platinum. They followed up this album with Freak Show in 1996 and Neon Ballroom in 1999, both receiving huge sales.
Although the band have since released Diorama and Rarities, this compilation is made up from videos of songs featured on their first three albums.
Track listing...
Emotion Sickness
Miss You Love
Ana's Song (Open Fire)
Anthem For yhe Year 2000
Cemetery
Abuse Me
Freak
Israel's Son
Pure Massacre (Australian Version)
Tomorrow
The Door - Live at Melbourne Park
Paint Pastel Princess - Live at Melbourne Park
Spawn Again-Live at Melbourne Park
Pure Massacre (US Version)
This is a great release for fans and a good introduction to those not familiar with the band. Taking into account their ages, these guys pump out a great sound and deserve the praise they have received over their brief career. Their style has changed over time going from a grunge sound to one that's much more sophisticated and complex, perhaps losing them many fans, but gaining them more from other areas. They seem to have a long future ahead of them and although the main focus appears to be lead singer and guitarist Daniel Johns, the other members are crucial to the band and are above all good friends, so with luck they will be around for a long time to come.
This DVD is also available now in the Now See Hear range which consists of this DVD along with the CD The Best of Volume 1 making it superb value.
Video
Audio
Extras
Contract
Being a collection of video clips the quality does vary, but overall these clips are of a strong quality. All are presented in full frame and are therefore not 16:9 enhanced. Sharpness is strong on the studio produced videos and only falls down slightly on the live footage used. The live footage also suffers slightly with grain and pixelisation, but these are not a major problem for the most part. Colours are generally good and shadow detail is never a problem. Aliasing is also an occasional problem, but shouldn’t cause too many problems for viewers.
Rocking out Melbourne Park.
The only audio option is Dolby Digital 2.0 and this does the job sufficiently. Vocals are always clear with no other major issues throughout. Although there is nothing wrong with this audio track, many will need to redirect sound through their subwoofer to give it the required bass as this is the sort of music that requires that extra oomph.
There is only one extra supplied with this release, a featurette entitled Emotion Pictures. This featurette runs for over 41 minutes and includes footage from the production of the Neon Ballroom album along with interviews and behind the scenes footage. There are also clips of live performances and footage from the band’s US tour.
Overall this is a great release for fans of the band and those with an interest in this type of music. The video and audio are adequate and although there is only one extra, it is a good one. I would suggest you take the opportunity of purchasing this DVD in the Now See Hear package which offers great value for money.