Bowie-obsessed Brian Molko and co put plenty of low-rent sex and sleazy glam into videos such as "Nancy Boy" and "Bruise Pristine" while the Thin White Duke himself appears in "Without You I'm Nothing". But by the time Molko gets fed to the sharks in "You Don't Care About Us", his foetal whine has become so irritating you don't feel much sympathy.
NIGEL WILLIAMSON
If Mary's never quite convinced the world she merited that "the voice of R&B's future" hype, she's godhead to believers: 5,000 funked-up fans fill the LA Amphitheatre here. Her first concert DVD, it finds her belting through I'm-so-damaged-but-the-merchandising-revenue-sure-helps material like "No More Drama" and "Your Child", and duetting, weirdly, with big-screen images of Lil' Kim and BIG.
CHRIS ROBERTS
For years, Ringo has surrounded himself live with established musicians (here including Paul Carrack and Sheila E), each performing songs of their own. The audience, then, are expected to settle for usually no more than eight from Starr himself. Offsetting this disappointment are the warm scenes off stage and in interviews.
CAROL CLERK
Subtitled "Four Destinations, Four DVDs", this Reg-fest takes in live shows from Madison Square Garden (2000), the Great Amphitheatre at Ephesus, Turkey (2001) and London's Royal Opera House (2002), respectively accompanied by full band, candlelight and orchestra. But it's Disc 4 (promos and clips spanning '68 to present) that wins out, not least for 1972's great "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters". At seven hours, though, this one's strictly for insomniac diehards.
ROB HUGHES
DVD EXTRAS: None.
Passport have secured neither the band's help nor their music rights, although they provide some irresistible highlights, specifically a TV appearance by the pre-pubescent Jimmy Page and excerpts from a John Bonham interview. Misty old chats with Zep members and Peter Grant are bolstered by the contemporary perceptions of Jeff Beck, Roy Harper, Terry Reid, Chris Dreja, Simon Kirke and Richard Cole.
Carol Clerk
There's little original Dylan footage and no music in this unofficial bio co-produced by the fanzine Isis. But what we do get is a series of fascinating new interviews—with old school friends and teachers in Hibbing who describe a loner who gave little hint of the extraordinary gifts he was later to develop, early colleagues who played with him in Greenwich Village and leading Dylanologists such as Clinton Heylin and CP Lee.
NIGEL WILLIAMSON
