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Blondie - Greatest Video Hits

Blondie - Greatest Video Hits

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $17.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: You Fools!
Review: All of you supposed Blondie fans should recognize that these videos are culled from the same material as the Best of Blondie VHS and Eat to the Beat VHS. Most come from the former, and both videos are out of print. Do yourself a favor, and scour mom & pop video stores for these or buy them on ebay. You people have a lot of nerve for criticizing Blondie's supposed lack of innovation in video when they were the first to make an entire video album: Eat to the Beat! Take a look at the bulk of those videos, and you'll find some of the most insane, lovable, and completely punk rock people to ever become pop legends. Get the Eat to the Beat video and Blondie will redefine themselves for you.


Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great videos, no extras!
Review: Blondie made some great videos (particulary their earlier ones). Content-wise, this disc is great fun. But for collectors, it's a major disaopintment.. It only has about 16 of the band's 25 videos, is not culled from original source material but rather a pre-edited compilation that came out in the '80's, has virtually NO packaging (there's not even a sheet of paper where a booklet could have been) . It's a slap-dash affair.

First of all, whoever put it together did not go back to original source materials as I've stated. No digital remastering here. Worse, it's copied from an '80's VHS compilation called "The Best Of Blondie" and still has all the dated footage of a NYC cabbie riding around town and running into Blondie blaring from TV screens and radios betweeen every song--in most cases, cutting off the beginnings of the videos to accomodate the hackneyed wraparound. It even says "Blondie is managed by Shep Gordon" at the end, which hasn't been true since 1982! No attempts were made here to update or improve this presentation. It was just dubbed off with a new title slapped on. It was done with minimal effort, and it shows. Too bad, too. Blondie is certainly worth a better product than this.

The DVD follows the playlist from "Best of Blondie" and adds as "bonus tracks" two oldies:"The Hardest Part" and "Atomic" as well as 1999's "Maria". The good news here is that this version of the "Maria" video is slightly longer than the one on "Behind the Music" DVD and has the alternate, original ending where the team of guys spying on Blondie through a window actually attempt to assasinate Debbie by shooting a bullet through the window, which she catches in her hand, still singing!

Absent are most of the videos from "Eat to the Beat" (like Shayla, Eat to the Beat, Accidents Never Happen, Slow Motion, Die Young Stay Pretty, Victor, Sound Asleep & Living in the Real World). I was most disapointed to see that "In the Sun" from the first album was not included. The Cathay Che bio on Debbie Harry makes reference to an un-named "fourth" video that was made at the same time as "X Offender", "In the Sun" and "In the Flesh". Whatever it was, it's nowhere to be seen on this compilation.
All fans should own this, as it's currently the only chance to have the band's vids on DVD, but I hope someone goes to the bother of releasing a quality, comprehensive collection down the line! Something along the lines of what Abba just did, with their complete collection of remastered vids and deluxe packaging/booklet etc.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Primitive Yet Kindred
Review: Blondie was a band that missed the MTV Phenomenon by a hair. It would've been interesting to see the band continue to utilise the the video medium and continue on their genre bending voyage but alas they broke up in 1982.
This collection is a successful transfer from the 1981 videocassette BEST OF BLONDIE and adds three bonus videos (The Hardest Part, Island of Lost Souls and Maria) The videos are mostly performance videos (A band playing before a camera) where two of the videos are conceptual pieces ( The Tide is High has an incoherent storyline involving a Darth Vader-type character and rapture deals with - well- The Man from Mars)
This collection is a ploy by EMI ( Blondies former label) to cash in on the past when they didn't want to invest in the bands present or future.
I would only reccomend this DVD for die hard fans such as myself. The videos are primitive and have not stood the test of time very well. Deborah Harry's lovely face is all you need to make these videos take off. That face even makes some of her rhythmless dancing forgiveable. The DVD gives you the option of playing everything, Individual videos or just watching the bonus videos. Unfortunately, if you request everything, your stuck with boring filler in between each video regarding a cab driver who can't seem to escape the presence of blondie or the man from mars (remember the Rapture Video)
So in short:
Good Transfer

Dated videos (Yet oddly interesting. Almost like watching silent movies)

The lovely image of Deborah Harry

For fans, this DVD is well worth it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: EMI did not take advantage of DVD technology
Review: EMI are hopeless at utitising DVD technology. This DVD release reminds me of Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" DVD. Just a straight copy of a previous video release, but with a pseudo 5.1 mix thrown in.

Ok, I don't own any Blondie videos, so I was grateful to have them on one DVD. However, the picture quality is not any better than a video. I guess that has to be expected since the original videos were filmed with video camera.

Why didn't EMI do a better job? For example, they could have got rid of the annoying cab scenes between each video (just another example of their straight copy from the video "Best of Blondie"). Why not go the extra mile EMI and add the Debbie Harry solo videos. There is so much room on a DVD to allow for this.

Shame on EMI for releasing yet another shoddy music DVD. You don't deserve the business that us consumers give you.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: EMI did not take advantage of DVD technology
Review: EMI are hopeless at utitising DVD technology. This DVD release reminds me of Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" DVD. Just a straight copy of a previous video release, but with a pseudo 5.1 mix thrown in.

Ok, I don't own any Blondie videos, so I was grateful to have them on one DVD. However, the picture quality is not any better than a video. I guess that has to be expected since the original videos were filmed with video camera.

Why didn't EMI do a better job? For example, they could have got rid of the annoying cab scenes between each video (just another example of their straight copy from the video "Best of Blondie"). Why not go the extra mile EMI and add the Debbie Harry solo videos. There is so much room on a DVD to allow for this.

Shame on EMI for releasing yet another shoddy music DVD. You don't deserve the business that us consumers give you.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: EMI did not take advantage of DVD technology
Review: EMI are hopeless at utitising DVD technology. This DVD release reminds me of Tina Turner's "Simply the Best" DVD. Just a straight copy of a previous video release, but with a pseudo 5.1 mix thrown in.

Ok, I don't own any Blondie videos, so I was grateful to have them on one DVD. However, the picture quality is not any better than a video. I guess that has to be expected since the original videos were filmed with video camera.

Why didn't EMI do a better job? For example, they could have got rid of the annoying cab scenes between each video (just another example of their straight copy from the video "Best of Blondie"). Why not go the extra mile EMI and add the Debbie Harry solo videos. There is so much room on a DVD to allow for this.

Shame on EMI for releasing yet another shoddy music DVD. You don't deserve the business that us consumers give you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Blondie Rules - Record Companies Suck!
Review: Great DVD quality of previous Best of Blondie VHS, plus 3 additions. Missing is Nothing Is Real But The Girl Video from No Exit, as well as about 7 others. Packaging [stinks], as does everything EMI Records does anymore. Blondie deserved so much better in both its Greatest Hits CD and DVD. However, don't take it out on the group. They are GRRRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTt.

Bob A

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sweet and Low
Review: How wonderful that Blondie are entering the digital video era with more recent video releases like "Maria" and we are now able to see them along with vintage video tracks on this new DVD. How sweet it is! Although, the glaring and shameful lack of production values by their record company to release this DVD dubbed directly from a previous 1980's "Best of Blondie" videotape and not even attempt the release of the classic videos in their entirety is blatant disregard for the achievements of this groundbreaking and deserving band. Zero packaging excitement except for the cover photo. The first rock band to open doors in the video world to possibilities used by every artist since is slighted to the point of unforgivable with this compilation. How Low!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Fake 5.1 surround sound
Review: I agree with the other reviews here, a pretty poor effort by EMI. Beatles collectors are used to that. The video quality is shockingly bad, but watching on a 100" screen it is really atrocious. My feeling is it was transferred from a VHS tape.

My main beef, however is the 5.1 soundtrack. It is merely the stereo reprocessed into 5.1, and it is obvious. Fosgate surround decoders are far superior to what is given us here. I was really looking forwards to real surround mixes. Check out Queen's DVD, it has awesome 5.1 mixes. Also the Beatles 5.1 material on Anthology from Sgt. Pepper on are outstanding. Blondie is not some second rate group, they deserve better than this.

Please, EMI give us a REAL DVD of Blondie's videos!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: debra loves the camera-obviously!
Review: i have a vhs tape of the groups hits,unforunately it's been played so often that its starting to get really worn and a good copy it so hard to find so i had to get the dvd version.
like advertised it is a good complitation of their greatest hits. some people complain about the video quality,but i think they did a really good job on the video and the audio quality is excellant.
debra really likes to flirt with the camera(her modeling side coming out).the group just wouldn't have been the same without debra. i really enjoyed her performance on "the hardest part" one of the groups early videos.
if you really like "blondie" you might want to consider buying this dvd version,if only because its really going to outlast the few vhs copies that are still out there,if you can still find a half way decent copy.


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