Review of Kerrang The DVD Vol. 1 (Various Artists)

Introduction

"Kerrang! The DVD" features 22 music videos presented "uncut and uncensored", from a range of acts including Queens of the Stone Age, D12 (feat Eminem), Nickelback, Incubus, Sum 41, Blink 182, Stereophonics, Bowling for Soup and Slipknot amongst others.

Video

The video is presented in 4:3 full-frame and varies between the videos on offer - ranging from pretty good quality on Queens of the Stone Age and Liam Lynch to a little on the grainy side on Satyricon, although how much this is down to the production of the videos rather than the DVDs is open to debate.

One of the benefits of a compilation video is the wide range of visual styles on offer, with no two videos looking the same. There`s plenty of variation here as you might expect, I`d seen some of the videos on television before, but not others, so there was plenty of interest.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in a choice of Dolby Digital 2.0 and Dolby Digital 5.1, I opted for the Dolby Digital 5.1 track, which is noticeably better than the stereo track, although it too concentrates on the front speakers, with little coming from the rear channels.

The overall sound quality is above average, with limited compression, but slightly lacking in clear bass. Vocals are as clear as the artists want them to be :)

Features

Extras consist of some backstage footage at the Kerrang awards, including a couple of live performances from Garbage and Hundred Reasons plus an image gallery.

Conclusion

Overall, I liked this DVD which contains some very good songs - I didn`t like all of the tracks on offer, but with compilations it is rare to like everything on the disc.

My personal highlights included Bowling for Soup`s "Girl all the Bad Guys Want", D12 & Eminem`s "Purple Hills", Nickelback`s "How You Remind Me", Stereophonics` "Vegas Two Times", Wheatus` "A Little Respect"

The presentation is pretty good too, with good menus, video and sound.