This is a straight ahead video collection of ABC's videos from the 1980s. The sound is good and the video reproduction is OK.
Like most videos from the 80s, ABC's work for the small screen improved as the decade wore on. However, the first video on the collection is "Poison Arrow," directed by J.Temple, and much better than anything they did until the "How to Be a Millionaire" videos of the mid-80s. My favorites are "Be Near Me," "Vanity Kills," and "When Smokey Sings."
The most disappointing video is "Look of Love." It was bad in 20 years ago and it's bad now. The final video, 1989's "One Better World," is a good example of why the band faded away in the 1990s: it's just kind of boring.
Don't expect any new stuff with this DVD. It's strictly the videos . . . no artists interviews, outtakes, or even liner notes.
If you like ABC's hits, this is a great DVD to have. But even the biggest fans will be tempted to turn the TV monitor off and just listen to the music.
The picture and sound quality aren't bad. Although, the earlier videos were shot on film and it would have been nice if they had cleaned them up a little. There are a few songs missing. Worst of all, the very beginning and end of each song is clipped/covered by a graphic providing title and year. The music starts and after a few beats the graphic slides off, and then it slides back in before the song is over. If I'm paying for a whole video I want to see the whole video.
I saw this on the racks in Hong Kong but frankly the sight of the poor reproduction on the cover (it's a US copy) put me off from buying it.
ABC was a favourite band of mine from the past and it's great to see it being re-released on DVD....but the collection is far from complete. The song "The Real Thing" is missing and there's no extras at all. The sound doesn't even seem to be remixed....
If only those concerned who had the heart of putting it out again just add a bit more effort into it. Perhaps the UK version could do a better job?
