This a collection I have been looking forward to for a while. Owning his CV and making of US laserdisc, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the DVD version so I could retire my old laserdisc player (again).
This disc spans his career and features all the usual suspects including that Sledgehammer video we all know and love (even though it has probably outworn its welcome by now). The interesting thing is that all of the tracks on this DVD have been remixed for 5.1 sound.
Being someone who pooh-poohs 5.1 mixes, I was pleasantly surprised by the opening Sledehammer mix, which seemed to be based on the 12-inch remix that was done. Anyway, PG really opened up the mix on this one and you can pick out all the instruments clearly. The remixing works well for all of the tracks and breathes new life into Shaking the Tree where you can hear Yossour N’dour’s vocals much more clearly.
HOWEVER, I have a few issues with this DVD. You see, our Peter loves nothing better than to fiddle around with his material. While some tracks (Blood of Eden) sound lovely in 5.1, other tracks have been butchered at his hands. For example your honour, I put forward the case of the missing drum parts in Big Time. This punchy little number starts without any drums! Then they appear four bars into the song. Sacrilege.
In Games Without Frontiers the sliding guitar parts (provided by RF, I believe) have been removed and replaced by synths and Kate Bush’s vocals don’t sound like they used to. Also, this video has fallen victim to the politically correct, left-wing, liberal thought police. Gone are the sections of the video with PG hosting a dinner party for the children. Gone are the bizarre images of PG on all fours marching with the dolls. Instead we have more black and white images taken from the 1950s. Shame on you Peter!
Luckily, my two most favourite PG tracks, Shock the Monkey and Digging in the Dirt, come out unscathed and I was very impressed with the picture quality and knocked out by the sound. The menus are well thought-out and match the DVDs cover styling and there are some extras, including a very old video of Peter riding the escalator for the single “Modern Love”. Wow, they really knew how to make videos in those days!
So for your cash you get a load of videos you probably haven’t seen before, a pot-load of mixes you have never heard before and some good trailers for his other DVD releases. This is a must for any PG fan, though I still find it hard to deal with the savage changes to the material. But then I reckon I need to get out more.
Verdict: one for the Xmas stocking!

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