25 Years of 1 Hits Arista Records 25th Anniversary Celebration. Disc review
There’s something mildly poetic about “25 Years Of No. 1 Hits: Arista Records’ 25th Anniversary Celebration.” For the basic civilian in search of voyeuristic footage of superstars like Whitney Houston, Puff Daddy, Aretha Franklin, Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, and Carlos Santana, the package works quite well on DVD Video. We get a spree of fine performances, supplemented here by backstage chatter and previously unaired celebrity arrivals. You could eat the glitter, glitz, and “candid” goodies with a spoon.
For the industry insider, though, the package has a bittersweet undertow. While the show’s overt parameters were to encapsulate the remarkable output of Arista, it also serves as a visual coda to the reign of the label’s recently departed maestro, Clive Davis. The show was a fitting tribute to the enduring industry figure, yet it might have been doubly festive if Davis were not leaving the company under such contentious circumstances. So a subtle thread of sadness runs through the proceedings, as they offer a hint of where Davis might have directed the label toward its next 25-year phase.
That noted, “25 Years Of No. 1 Hits” is a smorgasbord of fine music. Patti Smith nearly steals the show in her duet with Sarah McLachlan on “Because The Night,” while Annie Lennox performs her classic “Why” with an intoxicating emotional honesty.
It is Lennox’s willingness to lay herself bare in front of an audience that makes the DVD souvenir of Eurythmics’ “Peacetour” so compelling. It captures much of the tour that supported the duo’s underrated 1999 album, “Peace,” for which Lennox reunited with longtime partner David Stewart. Unlike most concert packages of this sort, the 21-song/96-minute “Peacetour” is low on histrionics and gimmicks. Rather, the viewer is invited to simply marvel at Eurythmics’ rich catalog and the unbridled soul of Lennox’s voice–not to mention the still-potent chemistry she shares with Stewart.
The least rewarding of Arista’s current crop of DVD releases is teen-dream trio LFO’s “Live From Orlando… And More!,” which offers a perfunctory view of a fairly forgettable boy band that is clearly in the 14th minute of its 15-minute allotment of fame.
Framed by footage from an Orlando, Fla., concert, the DVD shows the lads doing little to further their bid for creative credibility. Yes, the young girls in the audience shriek and pant as if on cue. But are they connecting with the content of such tossed-off tunes as the hit “Summer Girls” or are they responding to the almost unnerving perfection of the band members’ bodies? Judging from the manner in which LFO flex and flash their pecs and biceps, even the band clearly knows the answer.
To that end, hordes of hormonal gals (and probably more than a few guys, too) will feast on the flesh parade that LFO happily provides via the addition of exclusive new pictures and music videoclips. Of course, there are also the requisite interviews that valiantly (if unsuccessfully) aim to imbue a sense of grown-up depth into the act.
