Like many of you, I am tired and absolutely fed up with MTV and VH-1, the so-called music television networks that rarely — if ever — show music videos. Reality show networks. Pop culture mash-up show networks. Over-hyped portrayal of teenage angst networks — maybe. But certainly not the music networks that defined my generation and revolutionized the music industry.
It’s a sad commentary on the state of the music video when music fans like me have to wait for a favorite band to release a compilation DVD of their videos to see what I’ve been missing for the last 10 years. Thank goodness for the genius of Staind’s marketing team to release such a collection to accompany the band’s greatest hits CD, 1996-2006: The Singles.
Staind: The Videos’ offerings are simple; nothing more than 14 videos ranging from the band on a stage to scripted special effects. My favorites have to be the goth/Victorian visual tale of love lost through death for the band’s mournful “Epiphany,” and the tale of teenage angst and search for acceptance in “Everything Changes.”
And just like the CD, Staind: The Videos offers acoustic versions of songs, like the Family Values Tour rendition of “Outside” — complete with Fred Durst on guitar — and a live cover of Tool’s “Sober” played at NYC’s Hiro Ballroom. Not much to these, however. Just a bunch of guys on a stage sitting and singing.
For Staind fans who have not been able to stay up until 3 a.m. in the hopes of catching a glimpse of a video on MTV 2, this collection is a nice roundup of what we’ve all been missing.
Grade: B
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.