Search - Smashing Pumpkins - Greatest Hits Video Collection on DVD

Rejoicing in Billy's perfectionism

mikeyrad | Seattle, WA United States | 12/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The beauty of this dvd is not because it has all the videos from SP's career. It's not because the sound is great and the picture is excellent. It's not because two live performances were included, nor because the short film 'Try' is on there. It's not even because the menus are easy to use and understand.Those things all add up to a great dvd, but the reason this dvd gets 5 stars is this: each and every song has 4 viewing options. First, you can select either the official video or an alternate 'outtakes' version; some videos have a making-of documentary in place of outtakes. Next, you can select either the music track or a commentary/documentary track for both the official video or the documentary/outtakes video. Also, some tracks have even more bonuses: '1979' has an extra 'Lost Tapes' track that tells the story of how the original video was lost.
If that was not enough, each commentary/documentary track has comments from each band member (though mostly Billy) as well as the directors. This dvd is much, much better than the standard video-hits collection. This is not a thrown-together money maker. This is obviously an effort to give the fans what they want, and it delivers. Ever wonder why Jimmy is late to everything? Ever wonder what the band was playing at the house party in '1979'? Ever wonder how many guitars were smashed in 'The Everlasting Gaze'? Then this is the dvd for you. This is an absolute must for every Pumpkins fan."

No explanation required but I will still give praise

Michael Wood | Raleigh, NC | 11/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"MTV used to be a station that you could watch by changing the channel every 15 minutes instead of every 5 minutes because of music videos by bands like the Smashing Pumpkins. I know I am rating the DVD before it is released but sometimes you know when a winner is on the way. Nirvana was the most influential band of the 90's and the Pumpkins are obviously the best on artistic terms. Billy Corgan is a man of utter genius, if you read any of his lyrics you will come to terms that he is one of the best song writers ever. The way the music videos beautifully and almost perfectly fit the lyrics and music everytime startles me. These videos range from expressing topics from despair, anger, love, and happiness; His heartfelt lyrics and deep insight of life have musically blessed me like no other band.
Tonight, Tonight is majestic, deserving the coveted music video of the year award from MTV. 1979 is hard to desribe in words, it is the only video that I can say I want to actually jump inside and be a part of. Today is good enough just for the song and Stand Inside Your Love is highly, highly underated. MTV labeled it as one of the worst videos ever, it shows how bad their taste has become. Cough . . . Cough 'Nsync. Excuse me, anyway if you are any fan of the Pumpkins or of music videos in general, buy this DVD, preorder it now. Heck, buy tons of them and give them to your friends and family for Christmas. I already have most of their videos in MPEG files but I'm gonna buy it for the extras. Trust me, this is tasteful, wonderful, meaningful art that many people have overlooked or forgotten since the mid 90's. If I help sell one of these DVD's and share the music and videos with one other person, I will be happy. Take into consideration that Corgan wants praise for his writing, not money. He released his last album strictly over the internet so people could listen to it. Their label is trying to milk the last drop out of the band but needless to say, it's working on me.
The music scene today is wretched. Why do people go and by CD's from say Britney Spears who is a tool used by the record company. She is created to sell records targeted at a specific audience. Why would you waste the great gift of music and buy CD's that some old men are concocting to make money from. They put a pretty face to their music and the idiotic hordes fall like lemmings into the sea for it. The Smashing Pumpkins did not need and image to make their music successful unlike the bands today. They made videos that created images for their music instead of themselves. Music is wonderful, go out and find the music that you can listen to that fills your heart and changes your life. Music that you can listen to day after day like I do with songs like Today and Mayonaisse. The Smashing Pumpkins are a band about the music, that is why they are the best."

Awsome!!!!

mikeyrad | 11/25/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With the release of this DVD pumpkins fans are finally able to watch the videoes any time they want. This is an awsome DVD and should not be missed by any puumpkins fan. I find it highly amusing that so many have reviewed this album without even seeing it!!! The track listing is as follows:Siva
Rhinoceros
Cherub Rock
Today
Disarm
Rocket (Two versions)
Bullet With Butterfly Wings
1979
Zero
Tonight,Tonight
Thirty-Three
Ava Adore
Perfect
The Everlasting Gaze
Stand Inside Your Love
Try, Try, Try
Geek USA (live in Seattle)
An Ode to no One (live at the final metro performance)
I am One (live footage)
Try- A Short film by Jonas Akerlund
Untitled (?- will explain below)In addition to the videos there is commentary about each video from the band and the directors. Also with the commentary are outtakes and unreleased footage. So basically there are two versions of each song (MTV version and unreleased footage version) and they can be played with just the music or with the music in the background and commentary on the videos. I Am One is a previously unreleased video of some live performances with the studio album music playing. The two live tracks are awsome!!
The short film is pretty cool...its a full length version of the story told in the Try, Try, Try by Jonas Akerlund. Kind of disturbing...very cool.All the videos on here kick (...)!! The commentary and extra unrealesed footage of each video give insight into the videos and provide an interesting look at the band and thier career. The End is the Beginning is not here but personnally I could do without Batman Forever clips anyways. My only complaint (and hence 4 stars) is that I cant get to the Untitled video. It is either not there or there's some secret to getting to it- very weird. Besides this inconvenience I love it!! This is something that I (a huge pumpkins fan) will definately watch a lot. Several of these videos were scarcly (or never) seen on MTV. If you love the Pumpkins, thier music, or the videos, this is a must buy DVD.P.S. I finally figured out "untitled": go to the extras and hit left with the directional function...its a behind the scenes making of video...not the official one for MTV...."

I don't even own a Pumpkins album but bought it regardless -

E. J. Sawdey | Galesburg, IL United States | 04/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Pumpkins have been a band that lingers in that fine world between cult-status and commercial-giants, much like Radiohead and Weezer. Everyone's heard at least one Smashing Pumpkins song (whether it be the staple "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" or alt-pop of "1979"). And yes, the DVD features all of their videos with more options than you can shake a stick at, but if you judge it just by the videos themselves ... it's something incredible all together.While their first videos were typical flash-edit rock sprees (similar to the Flaming Lips video for "Unconciously Screaming"). The Siamese Dream clips are pretty good, with "Today" being a highlight (ice cream!), "Disarm" being nice and simple, and "Rocket" being about as sell-out-looking as you've ever seen them.Yet, the clips for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness are worth seeing. The "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is a leap to maturity (especially following "Rocket"), "1979" remaining a classic, "Zero" being a little sub-par, and "Tonight Tonight" being nothing short of incredible.And though the albums themselves started fumbling in sales and reviews, the "last videos" are their best. Adore lead-in "Ava Adore" is a wonderful creep-fest, and "Perfect" acting as a visually stimulating sequel to "1979". Then comes the Machina vids, which are astonishing. "The Everlasting Gaze" is a simple performance video, but is incredibly intense; "Stand Inside Your Love" is a lavish black-and-white spectacle of sheer emotion; and the incredibly underappreciated "Try Try Try", one of Machina's best songs, serving as an emotionally distrubing masterpiece of the format (the full length "Try" is even more harrowing).The Pumpkins leave a massive, confusing, and beautiful legacy. Some may debate the merits of their songs, especially the latter ones, but few can deny the passion they brought to music videos. Even non-Pumpkin fans (like myself) would enjoy it immensely."