Rating: 
Summary: Ultimate Erasure
Review: "Hits! The Videos" is the definitive Erasure DVD, giving you music videos and MUCH more. Fans of this synth duo will find lots to enjoy on both these discs. On the first DVD, we get the duo's ENTIRE (and I mean "entire") video history, from their debut "Who Needs Love Like That" right up to 2003's "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)." In all, 35 videos are featured on this disc in 2-channel surround stereo. While they're not big budget extravaganzas, the videos of Erasure are pure exercises in maximum level camp. The one video that had me howling is their cover of ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me" with the duo prancing around in front of the camera in drag. That clip is so flaming, it will melt your screen. Other favorites include "Blue Savannah," "Fingers and Thumbs," and "Love to Hate You." But the real treat for fans is on disc 2, which has live performances, rare videos, and documentaries promoting their last six albums. It's a real treat watching Vince and Andy bring down their guard as they discuss touring, making videos, music, and their songwriting. These clips, ranging from 5 minutes to half an hour, bring additional value to an already great DVD. It would have been nice if these videos were in 5.1 surround sound and had petter picture quality, but "Hits! The Videos" is still a must-buy for any Erasure fan. While "Hits!" the CD was a halfhearted collection that left out many of the duo's singles, "Hits!" the DVD features every video they made right up to 2003's "Other People's Songs." It's the perfect replacement for your worn-out VHS copy of "Pop!"
Rating:
Summary: Great compilation, but...
Review: ...the six promotional documentaries could have been left off, and the bonus videos and live performances could have been included on the first DVD - so here's what could have been:1. Who Needs Love Like That
2. Heavenly Action
3. Oh L'amour
4. Sometimes
5. It Doesn't Have To Be
6. Victim Of Love
7. The Circus
8. Ship Of Fools
9. Chains Of Love
10. A Little Respect
11. Stop!
12. Drama
13. You Surround Me
14. Blue Savannah
15. Star
16. Chorus
17. Love To Hate You
18. Am I Right?
19. Breath Of Life
20. Lay All Your Love On Me
21. S.O.S.
22. Take A Chance On Me
23. Voulez-Vous
24. Always
25. Run To The Sun
26. I Love Saturday
27. Stay With Me
28. Fingers And Thumbs (Cold Summers Day)
29. Rock Me Gently
30. In My Arms
31. Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me
32. Rain
33. Freedom
34. Solsbury Hill
35. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
BONUS MATERIAL
1. Sometimes ("Top Of The Pops" debut)
2. Sono Luminous (acoustic version)
3. In My Arms (U.S. Version)
4. Too Darn Hot (taken from Red Hot + Blue)
5. Leave Me To Bleed (Live)
6. A Little Respect (Live)
7. Supernature (Live)
8. Waiting For The Day (Live)
9. Fingers And Thumbs (Live)
10. Oh L'amour (alternate video)
11. Who Needs Love Like That (Hamburg mix)
Rating: 
Summary: Menus could use some help
Review: A comprehensive collection with some good extras, including their first performance on "Top of the Pops." A must have for any Erasure fan. However, the UI/navigation on this DVD sucks. Using pink type w/ white rollover, you can hardly tell which one you're selecting. Once you select a video, you can't move to the next one without having to go back to the menu. Was ready to throw my remote out the window. Someone needs to go back and revisit their iDVD tutorial.
Rating:
Summary: Menus could use some help
Review: A comprehensive collection with some good extras, including their first performance on "Top of the Pops." A must have for any Erasure fan. However, the UI/navigation on this DVD sucks. Using pink type w/ white rollover, you can hardly tell which one you're selecting. Once you select a video, you can't move to the next one without having to go back to the menu. Was ready to throw my remote out the window. Someone needs to go back and revisit their iDVD tutorial.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Music - Horrible Videos
Review: As a big-time Erasure fan in the U.S. it's obvious that I have NEVER gotten to see ANY Erasure videos, save for Chains of Love. I was very anxious for this DVD for two reasons...1) because half the music on the DVD wasn't on the correlating CD and should have been, and 2) I was very anxious to see the vision and brilliance inherent in their music translated to the big screen. So hence the mediocre review. The music is outstanding, but you already knew that, otherwise you'd have no interest in the DVD, but the videos are in a word: awful. There is absolutely no story-telling, just truly bad concepts (even post 80's), bad lip-syncking, and a common theme. Now, I love Vince Clark and Andy Bell, but just watching them stand around and sing and dance 40-something straight times doesn't do it for me. I also don't want to sound homophobic, but some of the videos are so loaded with gay themes that it did turn me off a few times, and it's tough to watch among friends who don't really know the music, but can appreciate the imagery. I'm not and have never been a fan of half-naked girls glamming it up in videos, but on that same note, I'm not a huge fan of drag queens, flambouyant men, and outward men hanging around in thongs. I love Erasure for their music, and after watching this DVD, it's going to stay that way. If you're an American who has never been able to appreciate Erasure in concert or on TV than you may be turned off by the DVD, but if you enjoy low-budget, repeated themes, and outright campiness, then you should enjoy this. Form your own opinions.
Rating:
Summary: Erasure DVD: The Videos
Review: As a fan of the band, I'm glad to see that they finally released a complete collection of every Erasure video on DVD, all 38 videos, not 35 as listed, they've hidden three. Go to Disc Two and on the main menu, if I'm not mistaken use the arrow keys to find the Hamburg Mix for Who Needs Love Like That. On the same DVD go to the Rare Videos and hit your arrow key right and find another video for Oh L'amour. For the last secret, a live version of Wooden Heart, go to the Promo section and hit your arrow key right and you'll find this little treasure.
Rating:
Summary: Erasure DVD: The Videos
Review: As a fan of the band, I'm glad to see that they finally released a complete collection of every Erasure video on DVD, all 38 videos, not 35 as listed, they've hidden three. Go to Disc Two and on the main menu, if I'm not mistaken use the arrow keys to find the Hamburg Mix for Who Needs Love Like That. On the same DVD go to the Rare Videos and hit your arrow key right and find another video for Oh L'amour. For the last secret, a live version of Wooden Heart, go to the Promo section and hit your arrow key right and you'll find this little treasure.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Respect.
Review: As with The Pet Shop Boys "Popart" dvd, Erasure's "Hits" dvd gets four stars because they were not good at making videos. I have been a fan since "Chains Of Love" in 1988 and have collected all of their albums, but they were not a great video duo. That's not to say that some of their videos aren't great--take "Blue Savannah" and "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)", both have interesting concepts and are well done. However, too many of the videos seemed ill conceived. Despite this, this collection is extremely thorough and offers more than you could ask for as a fan. 35 videos, 4 bonus videos and 5 live performances plus 6 promotional documentaries all for a nice price. The only thing that would have been nice was if all the videos were in 5.1 dolby digital which they are not. They are digitally remastered in 2.0 which sounds great, but it's not as good as 5.1. Why Erasure, Pet Shop Boys and Duran Duran decided not to do 5.1, and Crowded House did, is inexcusable! Overall, this two disc set is well worth the money and likely to be the only compilation you'll see for some time.
Rating:
Summary: "Hits" a hit in my DVD Collection!
Review: Awesome! This is a great effort by Erasure and Mute Records. They have all of their videos and some fun bonus extras. Many videos I had never seen and I was very excited to see they were all included on this wonderful compilation. After my disappointment in the CD version of "Hits" (lack of it's "title" on that CD) the DVD version absolutely is a gem for all diehard Erasure fans!
Rating:
Summary: Finally.
Review: Finally what Erasure fans have been waiting for. Erasure has a very uneven track record for making videos--as Vince and Andy say in the interview portion of the DVD, they do not take them seriously, and many of them seem to be an afterthought. But the good ones, where Andy Bell's charisma shines through, are thoroughly enjoyable. "Who Needs Love Like That," "Take a Chance on Me," "Love to Hate You"--fun, exstatic videos. And, though many will disagree, I think "Solsbury Hill" is a wonderful, intimate portrait of Andy Bell, the slightly older, wiser, sadder pop star. Part of Erasure's appeal has always been Bell's camp performance aesthetic--and it really shines through on the live performances on the bonus disc. "Waiting for the Day" is the clip I watch over and over, and I wish that the entire concert were available. This is really a great bargain for the money--all of Erasure's hits, in one place, at a low price, with loads of bonus material. Note to WB/Mute marketing--let's have some concert DVD's in the US market.
|
