Search - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Videos on DVD

Ditto the Mixed Bag

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 04/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you have not seen this DVD, it must be restated that Cave and his bandmates admit from the very start that they do not like doing videos. So, if you presumably already have these songs on CD and many of the reviews lean toward the negative, why own this? Well, in my view, The Videos is a great collection precisely because it is so primitive and often silly. I don't like all the songs and would rather that others had taken the place of those I don't like, hence the four stars. But overall, this is a video that any Nick Cave fan should be eager to own because actually watching Cave perform adds so much more to the songs.
The following are my favorites:
1) Staggerlee---Cave in his most menacing stance. The dancing is so silly you may roll on the floor laughing.
2) Where the Wild Roses Grow---Manichean juxtapositions. Cave and Minogue play their roles to the hilt. And then there's that snake...
3) Into My Arms---The imagery is what gets you. Very stark.
4) Henry Lee---The video does not really fit the words, but you can feel the sexual tension generated by PJ Harvey and Cave.
5) Red Right Hand---Always a great song, sinister as Cave can make it.
6) Do You Love Me---Actually, I couldn't care less about the bozos he filmed in a Brazilian dive, but the performance is urgent and bursting with Cave's energy.
7) Jack the Ripper---Full of blood, brings the lyrics to hideous life.
8) Mercy Seat---Somewhat weak, but Cave looks the part of a loser who is about to be fried. Could have been a lot more graphic, but still a great song.
9) The Weeping Song--The set it comical (with the phony water and rocking boat, the guys swilling Retsina), the dancing stupid, and Blixa Bargeld with a voice tailor-made for a song like this.
10) I Had A Dream, Joe---Shows the band at its most manic. No acting per se, but lots of great shots of individual band members frantically playing and Cave working himself into an exhausting frenzy.

What didn't I like? They could have jettisoned What A Wonderful World and In the Ghetto for sure. They stink out loud, particularly that last,the aural stench of which still lingers in my ears.
Addressing one reviewer's complaint, one can skip the commentary before each song by selecting the songs one by one rather than playing the whole thing through. A bit of a pain, but its an option.
So, overall I ditto the mixed bag judgement of several reviewers but reiterate my recommendation of The Videos for anyone who is truly a Nick Cave fan. I plan to enjoy this DVD frequently and you may find that you will too as long as you remember the proviso that these videos are not the acme of the art."

Finally Cave's video's on DVD....almost all of them

Benjamin Denes | Canada | 05/06/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Not much to say about this release. Fans of Cave have long been living off decaying VHS copies that they had either taped The Bad Seeds vids onto, or from the old original release. Thank goodness we now have them on DVD, including some extremely hard to find ones. What's cool is that nearly every video is introduced by a snippet sound byte from the band. The down side is only Nick (and sometimes guitarist Blixa) discuss the songs and videos, but their kept extremely short. About one or two sentences regarding the shooting of the video's, then they show them. Also, the majority of the introductions are basically variations on how much they disliked shooting video's. The only other complaint I have is that video's from the two last albums are not present. Of course, 'No More Shall we Part's promo's can be seen on the 'God Is In The House' concert disc, so that's not a big loss. However, it would have been nice if they had included the vid for 'Bring it On', which has never had an official DVD presentation.Still, they are the video's, and their finally on DVD. That alone warrants this DVD a 4 star rating."

Cave -- the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

S. Harris | Spotsylvania, VA | 08/24/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"At the beginning of the dvd, Cave admits that he and the band do not like doing videos. And this shows, but with wacky mixed results. On the high (in a down and dirty way) end, "Stagger Lee," which is the opening video, is funny, profane, and tongue in cheek. It also rocks. "Into My Arms," is spare and beautiful, its black and whites stark as if filmed by Bergman. On the lush end, with first class production values, is "Where the Wild Roses Grow," a beautiful and disturbing duet acted out on the river bank with singer Kylie Minogue (and an ever present snake). Cave's voice is a remarkably strong instrument -especially when it comes to dark stuff.

After that, there seems to be a large middle ground, with a number of videos admittedly done on the fly. Particularly good is "Henry Lee,"a one take effort by Cave and P.J. Harvey. She's got a terrific voice, and obviously these two were hot for each other at one time. It also helps that the song is a good one. Another duet, with Pogue front man, Shane McGowan, is kind of sad. Cave is in great voice, but McGowan is a burned out case, and it shows. "The Weeping Song" is bizarre and cheap with its choppy plastic water and Zorba dancing, but also fun. "Mercy Seat" is a surprising failure. You'll like the version done on "God is in the House" much better (as is the case with a number of the songs shown on both dvds). At the absolute bottom is "In the Ghetto," which has to be one of the worst videos ever made. The camera slips in out of focus, and Cave admits that at that time in his career, it was a mistake to send him the money for such efforts, since he usually would spend it on "other things." (He must of gave some of those "other things" to the guy with the camera.) Amusingly, the band tells you its own take before most of the videos on the dvd, and they are often their own harshest critics. Actually, the best, most polished videos I've seen by the band, appear on "God is in the House," (which appear apart from the concert). I'm still glad I got this, but its interesting to see how the Bad Seeds have evolved - and it has been for the better. Right now they are clearly one of the best bands out there."

Bad seeds don't fall far from the tree

Sylvie N. Gassaway | 08/02/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Videos are, demonstrably, not a strong point for the Bad Seeds. Neither are they a point of interest for the band. If you are interested in inspired and objectively interesting videos, look elsewhere. However, if you like to watch Nick Cave dance around while Blixa Bargeld looks very pretty in the background, you've found your match. The commentary between the videos is entertaining and offers a glimpse into the minds of the otherwise taciturn Bad Seeds. This is a collection for the collectors, or the über-fans."