Videos That Are Worth a Longer Look--and Listen

When VCRs started becoming as essential as televisions more than a decade ago, the pop world couldn’t have been happier. If U.S. consumers were spending billions of dollars a year to hear their favorite acts, why wouldn’t they fork over a few billion more to also see their heroes?

Most people, it turned out, were perfectly content to just listen, and to see the artists for free in the promotional videos shown on cable TV. This has left the long-form home music video business a stunted industry.

But hope springs eternal, and home video firms are counting on several big-name acts to generate some strong holiday sales. Retailers are already tempting classic rock fans with a pair of acclaimed packages: “The Beatles Anthology� and “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.�

Joining them in the holiday sales scramble are long-form videos from Oasis, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen and Van Halen. Each tries to capture our interest in different ways, and two actually succeed. Videos are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).

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*** Oasis’ �. . . There and Then,� Epic Home Video. One of the selling points here is that you actually get to see a band that most of America has only heard. Even though the volatile British group’s “What’s the Story (Morning Glory)?� album is approaching the 3 million sales mark in this country, the band has tended to underplay its hand live, appearing chiefly in 3,000- to 5,000-seat halls.

Oasis was featured recently on “MTV Unplugged,� but songwriter Noel Gallagher handled the lead vocals because his brother and frequent adversary Liam, the group’s lead singer, said he was ill. Liam is at the mike in this concert video, which was partially shot at a stadium show in the group’s native Manchester.

� . . . There and Then� is an inviting introduction to the band, complete with some brief interview pieces. Besides such Oasis favorites as “Champagne Supernova� and “Wonderwall,� the group playfully toasts its Beatles influence by performing “I Am the Walrus� with some musicians in “Sgt. Pepper’s� gear.

The most touching moment occurs during “Live Forever,� when photos of some of rock’s greatest figures, including Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix, are flashed on a huge screen. When John Lennon’s photo comes up, Liam turns and bows. It’s a sweet gesture from one generation to another.

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*** R.E.M.’s “Road Movie,� Warner Reprise Video. In this straight, no-frills concert video, shot in Atlanta last November during the closing shows of the “Monster� tour, director Peter Care captures nicely the raw, spontaneous flavor of an arena show. Rather than bring in additional lights to dress things up for the camera, he relies on the regular stage gear. The lights switch so rapidly from bright to dim and points in between that the lens seem to have trouble adjusting, giving the show a seductively hazy feel. Material ranges from such hits as “Losing My Religion� to three songs from the new album “New Adventures in Hi-Fi.�

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** Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s “Blood Brothers,� Columbia Music Video. There were bruised, bitter feelings when Springsteen called an end to the E Street Band, but this documentary about their studio reunion to record new tracks for last year’s “Greatest Hits� album makes only fleeting reference to the tensions. “Blood Brothers,� most of which has aired on the Disney Channel, does offer some insights into the Springsteen/band creative process, but there’s no escaping the void at its center.

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** Van Halen’s “Video Hits Vol. 1,� Warner Reprise Video. So which Van Halen is spotlighted in this collection of 13 promotional videos? The party-minded Van Halen, back when flamboyant David Lee Roth was the lead singer, or the relatively faceless Van Halen of the Sammy Hagar years?

Roth kicks things off with his flashy, vaudevillian antics in “Jump,� the 1984 single that was the quartet’s first Top 10 hit. He is also all over the place in “Panama� and takes the role of a crazed bus driver in “Hot for the Teacher.�

But then it’s bye-bye, David. Hagar, who fronts the band in the rest of the videos, is a more complete singer than Roth, but he lacks a strong cinematic presence. The band struggles to find a comfortable video format, finally deciding to focus more on the themes of the songs than the band members. Some of the scripts show a nice touch of ambition--more, alas, than the music itself.