The Smiths - The Complete Picture

Rating:
Summary: Great Music, Poor Videos
Review: Although the Smiths created some of the most compelling, lasting pop music of the 80's, "Complete Picture" shows that music videos were not a forum that complemented their enormous musical talents. With the exception of a few ("How Soon Is Now?" & "Stop Me If You Think You've..."), most of these videos are incredibley dated including badly lipsinked performance on the BBC that add nothing to the bands legacy. I was not fortunate enough to see The Smiths in concert while they were together but based on the their videos, perhaps they were better heard than seen.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent early to mid-eighties footage sure to delight
Review: Altogether, a terrific summary of who the Smiths were and a very valid representation of what they presented to the stage. Such classics as "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" playfully take off the 60's hit of the similar title, "Heaven Knows I'm Missing Him Now" and "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" is charming for the Moz sports the word "Bad" on his neck, written in black. Ultimately, Derek Jarman's video consisting of songs from the classic album "The Queen is Dead" drags on, and to me is rather boring, but the aforementioned appearance from "The Top of the Pops" makes up for it 10x over. My only complaint, where are all of the other hits? And that is why, I guess, it is ironically titled "The Complete Picture"

Rating:
Summary: heaven knows im miserable now!
Review: Another dvd purchase of not quite knowing what to expect...a few oldies from the Smiths, but quite popular in there time...
well worth buying if you are a Smiths fan!

Rating:
Summary: heaven knows im miserable now!
Review: Another dvd purchase of not quite knowing what to expect...a few oldies from the Smiths, but quite popular in there time...
well worth buying if you are a Smiths fan!

Rating:
Summary: Bollocks really
Review: As a long time Smiths fan I was hugely disappointed by this. I actually quite like the TOTP footage, but where is their "William it was really nothing" appearance, which was one of their best? Where are the actual live performances from the Whistle Test and the Tube which were just great? Of course, the Jarman mini-movies are here which is great if you like Derek Jarman. Frankly, this collection's pretty much bollocks and a waste of money. Nice to see the shrubbery again though.

Rating:
Summary: The Smiths In Full Genius
Review: First of all, some background for those who have used this forum to slam "The Smiths: The Complete Picture." Granted, the majority of the videos contained in this collection are extremely lo-fi and goofy, but that is this point you are missing--The Smiths did not care about making videos and only did so out of promotional obligation. Do you really think that somebody as intelligent as Morrissey could think that a lip-synched excerpt from "Top of the Pops" was high art? Ironically, the videos here are so flippantly awful that they nearly reach that level. If you still hate the videos, run your DVD player into your stereo and turn off the TV--at least you can listen to the songs in great sound quality. However, any true Smiths fan will, at the very least, appreciate getting to see how Johnny Marr manages to work his hands up and down the neck of his guitar and produce such brilliant music. Despite the criticism, this is The Smiths at their greatest and, BECAUSE of the videos in question, their most subversive.

Rating:
Summary: The Smiths In Full Genius
Review: First of all, some background for those who have used this forum to slam "The Smiths: The Complete Picture." Granted, the majority of the videos contained in this collection are extremely lo-fi and goofy, but that is this point you are missing--The Smiths did not care about making videos and only did so out of promotional obligation. Do you really think that somebody as intelligent as Morrissey could think that a lip-synched excerpt from "Top of the Pops" was high art? Ironically, the videos here are so flippantly awful that they nearly reach that level. If you still hate the videos, run your DVD player into your stereo and turn off the TV--at least you can listen to the songs in great sound quality. However, any true Smiths fan will, at the very least, appreciate getting to see how Johnny Marr manages to work his hands up and down the neck of his guitar and produce such brilliant music. Despite the criticism, this is The Smiths at their greatest and, BECAUSE of the videos in question, their most subversive.

Rating:
Summary: Heaven Knows I Love It . . .
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer: The Smiths abhorred music videos, dubbed "promotional films," by Moz. His take is blatant in a 1986 interview in Graffiti: "I don't care for promotional films. They don't have much to do with the records themselves --they're really put together to appeal to the type of people who wouldn't dream of buying your record anyway." If you don't own any of The Smiths' records, then you're wasting your time with this DVD. It is really an essential part of any true fan's collection.

Rating:
Summary: Heaven Knows I Love It . . .
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer: The Smiths abhorred music videos, dubbed "promotional films," by Moz. His take is blatant in a 1986 interview in Graffiti: "I don't care for promotional films. They don't have much to do with the records themselves --they're really put together to appeal to the type of people who wouldn't dream of buying your record anyway." If you don't own any of The Smiths' records, then you're wasting your time with this DVD. It is really an essential part of any true fan's collection.

Rating:
Summary: I should have read the other reviews
Review: I didn't think that artists like the Smith's would lip-synch their songs on an English TV show. This was a terrible DVD and I'm a big fan of The Smiths. I was expecting something like "The Complete Jam" DVD, which is an incredible slice of music history. Don't buy this unless you have to own every speck of media generated by (for) The Smiths.