"Actor: Manic Street Preachers"

• Paul Weller - Live - Route Of Kings / Later... With Jools Holland | DVD | (02/12/2002) from £13.50   |  Saving you £-7.51 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Paul Weller Live At Hyde Park Tracklist: Introduction Sunflower Bull Rush Magic Bus Friday Street Hung Up A Bullet For Everyone Whirlpools’ End Leafy Mysteries Up In Suze’s Room All Good Books Can You Heal Us (Holy Man) This Is No Time Foot Of The Mountain Broken Stones Picking Up Sticks You Do Something To Me Stanley Road Out Of The Sinking Peacock Suit Into Tomorrow The Changingman Standing Out In The Universe Wild Wood Call Me No. 5 Woodc

• Manic Street Preachers - Louder Than War | DVD | (24/09/2001) from £6.69   |  Saving you £-0.70 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A month before the release of their sixth album in early 2001, the Manic Street Preachers organised a one-off gig in Cuba. Louder than War contains footage of the entire concert (famously attended by President Fidel Castro), as well as the group's caper around the island. The country was chosen by the Manics because of Cuba's anti-American stance, a position that band members supported and have drawn upon in their material. Superbly produced and edited, the end result however fails to represent the group's visit and views in a positive light. Reading between the lines, it's obvious that their trip was just as much a challenge to Americanisation as Wham's 1985 tour of China. The band verbally acknowledge that communism has always been openly romanticised, however they fail to recognise the extent to which they have done the same with this "promotional" concert, and the subsequent merchandising and PR opportunities. Putting ideological issues aside, the disc provides further evidence of the Manics' flair for live performance. The dulled colours of the visual material create a drab, if somewhat oppressive atmosphere, but add much needed authenticity to the proceedings. The unreleased tour diary sets the scene more comprehensively than the previously broadcast Cuba documentary, which is also contained on this disc. This is a must for all Manics fans, as well as those wanting a non-guidebook (if somewhat romanticised) view of modern-day, urban Cuba. On the DVD: The disc is stuffed full of bonus material but the extensive track listing does exaggerate the amount of original footage featured (the same live performance material being used both in the "gig" section, and in the Cuba documentary). There's also loads of hidden bonus material that can be accessed by selecting/clicking on the "Bonus Feature" captions that intermittently pop-up: such as their meeting with Fidel Castro, and a full-length version of the Radio Progresso interview. There are breathtaking photos of the guys featured in the photo gallery, and the Manics' discography is particularly thorough (the highest chart positions, the artwork and track listings of all their single and album releases are all included). Furthermore, all of the live footage can be listened to in either Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or PCM stereo. The menus are relatively straightforward to use, however the utilisation of the group's trademark blocky typeface in the sub-menus occasionally makes it difficult to read/select track names. The DVD-ROM link is also particularly tricky to access, mainly due to the basic and rather confusing instructions provided on the disc for accessing this "exclusive" link.--John Galilee

• Manic Street Preachers - Leaving The 20th Century - Cardiff Millennium Stadium 1999/2000 | DVD | (03/07/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A Manic Millennium: On Millennium Eve 31st December 1999 Manic Street Preachers played the biggest headline show of their career at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. In front of a sold out crowd of 60 000 Manics fans who had traveled from all corners of the globe for this event the band played a set of twenty songs including their recent number one ""Masses Against The Classes"". Manic Millennium was widely regarded as a major UK Millennium Eve happening and the band interrupted thei

• Manic Street Preachers: Forever Delayed | DVD | (11/11/2002) from £6.83   |  Saving you £13.16 (192.68%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Continuously switching guises between progressive social commentators and mainstream AOR songsters, the Manic Street Preachers have always had a love-hate relationship with both music critics and the record-buying public. Forever Delayed visually highlights this dichotomy, as well as exposing their contradictory stance towards capitalism. Dependent on the free market to disseminate their material to the masses but at the same time deeply aware of the inequalities it causes, the group has continuously tried to achieve a balance between the political and popular. The videos express these paradoxes, with production usually falling into one of two categories: the in-yer-face political promos ("Little Baby Nothing", "So Why So Dad?"), and the everyday ("Found That Soul", "Ocean Spray"). Sadly, despite their riotous intentions, the videos made up of live concert material ("Life Becoming a Landslide", "The Masses Against the Classes") sit in the latter category, primarily because of their predictability. Matching the style and typeface of their release artwork, one of the group's long-standing favourite video techniques for their more politically inclined releases has been the incorporation of critical slogans and quotes. From "You Love Us" to 1999's "Tsunami", sublime and usually incomprehensible messages are flashed on the screen. Whether these are radical anti-capitalist messages or pretentious stylistic techniques to sell more records is unclear. It seems the jury remains out on the real motivations behind both these videos and the band itself. On the DVD: Forever Delayed features all 30 of the band's videos, from "Motown Junk" (1990) to "There by the Grace of God" (2002), plus 14 bonus remixes, a discography and photo gallery. All of the audio material is presented in either Dolby stereo or the more wholesome 5.1 surround format. Even the remix tracks have accompanying visual material, usually made up of clips from the original video, rare footage, and photographs of the band. The menus follow the design and typeface of the album artwork, making them stylish but at times difficult to read. The icons and on-screen track listing are also complicated to access. --John Galilee

• Later With Jools Holland - Cool Britannia | DVD | (07/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  This DVD captures great performances from 1993 to 2003 history in the making as young British rock n' roll flexes its muscles. 1. Ash - Shining Light 2. Blur - Tender 3. British Sea Power - Remember Me 4. Catatonia - Bleed 5. Coldplay - In My Place 6. Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha 7. Doves - The Cedar Room 8. Echo And The Bunnymen - Nothing Lasts Forever 9. Elastica - Connection 10. Elbow - Fugitive Model 11. Embrace - All You Good Good People 12. Feeder - Just The Way I

• Isle Of Wight 2004 | DVD | (13/06/2005) from £6.24   |  Saving you £14.74 (453.54%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Live from the 2004 Isle Of Wight three day show top acts perform some of their best songs. With: Stereophinics Manic Street Preachers The Charlatans Groove Armada Jet Suzanne Vega Snow Patrol Steve Harley British Sea Power Electirc Soft Parade The Stands Delays 22-20'S Duke Sprit Proud Mary Countermine & Ordinary Boys.