There were many things I wanted to know about Weezer before purchasing this DVD for a mere £15. The secrets behind every album, their methods of recording and of course, deeper knowledge into Rivers' songwriting inspirations. being over three hours long, you can bet all you questions will be answered and more.
I won't review this collection as a step-by-step as it is very jumbled and I'll probably get confused and repeat myself too often.
The DVD is structured chronologically (thank god) and starts with the making of the blue album. We get taken deep inside weezers recording studio, prior to Brian joining the band, which hinders his visible contribution to the album. Pat also shows us a more humerous side of the Weez, blowing up hotel room objects with bottle rockets. A rather awesome vocal/acoustic version of Say it ain't so shows Weezer in their young and adventurous stage, with a trio of unusual vocal structure. proceded by more Blue singles.
Following up are some small live cuts in a section of the video called 'Saction', we see a small live cut of 'no one else'. This was filmed during a U.S/ European tour in '95.
Shortly after an awesome live version of Say it ain't so, with Rivers putting on an amazing show, despite his leg brace (Rivers had his leg lengthened months prior to the show) we come to the making of pinkerton. Brian is more invlolved this time, as he has been with the band for over two years at this point. We see Rivers' vocal version of 'I just threw out the love of my dreams' and an unreleased and unmixed demo version of 'Superfriend'. Awesome stuff.
After Matt Sharp's departure we are introduced to the fun and comical Mikey Welsh, this is where the video starts to pick up humour and more punk-poppy songs such as the fantastic 'My Brain - live' and extremely promising yet sadly unmastered rehearsal of 'No Way'. More footage of the band in L.A is shown, including Brian Bell getting lost on a highway somewhere, and the band and crew singing 'My Evaline (blue deluxe version)' in the middle of nowhere. Pat has a sense of humour reminiscent of Jim Carey, odd faces and basically acting odd. watching the band screw up two interviews in a row has it moments, mostly Mikeys doing to be fair.
There is no recording sessions for the Maladroit section of the video, but we do get introduced to Scott in the correct manner with him playfighting with Pat and small live flicks showing his original bass style.
Videos : All videos are included, except from the most recent release 'Make Believe' We get to see alternate takes of the sweater song, good life and Dope Nose. The takes are all very similar, with no audio changes but different camera angles and small cuts. All the blue album classics are their, such as the awesome and humerous 'Buddy Holly' to the deep and sinister 'Say it ain't so'. Leading on are the three Pinkerton singles, Good life, el scorcho and Pink triangle. Pink triangle is merely an awesome selection of the band playing live with a highly responsive crowd and short sessions in the studio, whereas in 'good life' the video returns to original comical weezer fashion, following around an unlucky pizza girl...... El scorcho is filmed in an old ballroom somewhere with lots of lights and cool effects - spectacular.
The later videos such as the swanky sumo packed hash-pipe is bound to raise some pulses. Both versions of island in the sun are included, with Mikey Welsh still with the band, and then the cute animals cut with Mikey checked into rehab. 'Photograph' is a band reminiscing video, with cuts from live shows and photo-shoots, pretty cool.
Finally we move onto the maladroit videos, Dope Nose, Keep fishin' and slob. Slob is a very 'coldplay-yellow' sort of affair, with rivers walking down a dark, overcast beach with his acoustic. Keep fishin' is an awesome video, with Weezer supported by the Muppets! Great fun. Finally, Dope Nose. Lots of motorbikes, guitars and Japanese punks, samurai's and............cowboys.
Not only do we get a full catalogue of Weezer videos, and making of's, but many awesome live cuts as well. Jamie live is bad quality as it was filmed from two different fan perspectives but so rocking nonetheless. In the garage live is a lot heavier and faster than the original with Rivers pulling off an awesome solo. New live material is also included, such as the punky 'My Brain' and unreleased studio session of the laid back bluesy 'Prodigy Lover'. The most impressive live track is Pink Triangle live and acoustic. This was filmed shortly after the release of Pinkerton, and is performed extraordinarily well with Brian, Rivers and Pat on acoustics - amazing stuff.
The rarities in this video are plentiful, including a very old cut of 'My name is Jonas -live' filmed in 1992 at an apparent hippie outdoor festival. 'The awnser man shows the band in their heavy metal days, with Jason Cropper on Rythm. Rivers' hair is halfway down his back in this clip!
Overall, an awesome collection of clips, T.V ads, live shows, documentary's and videos the every devoted Weezer fan has been waiting for. If you're a weezer fan, buy it. If you like the sound of Weezers vintage tracks this is also a prize buy, but for any lover of rock music, this is a video/musical masterpiece. 5/5
