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I confess, I've seen KMFDM more times than I've seen most bands -- I'm well into double digits by now, and will probably see the reconstituted version at least once more before I die -- so I was delighted to receive Beat By Beat By Beat. Admittedly, KMFDM's videos are a hit and miss affair; with the exception of "A Drug Against War" and "Son of a Gun", both of which lean heavily on Aidan Hughes' brilliant artwork (the former mercilessly raiding his portfolio for imagery), and the polished, hysterical "Megalomaniac", they're on a par with all indie videos made in the early to mid nineties -- to wit, they make heavy use of posterization and other low-end effects, but are occasionally inspired. And while I wouldn't expect anyone but a hardcore fan to shell out the cash for this "let's milk this material for all it's worth" compilation, it certainly won't disappoint those fans.
If you didn't catch Beat By Beat in its VHS incarnation, it's likely to be the chief draw -- less for its videos, which don't really hold up to repeat viewing, than for the documentary footage that links them. You'll follow KMFDM on tour, meet their crew, see pristine live footage and bear witness to a whole lot of goofing off. You'll discover, if you didn't know, that En Esch really was as odd as he looked, that on-and-off member and Pig frontman Ray Watts could be a bit of a priss, and that longtime frontman Sascha Konietzko is...well, a nice guy, but also quite a showman. You'll marvel at the logistics of KMFDM's tour, circa 1995 -- they had a shitload of gear. And if you're a KMFDM fan -- particularly a KMFDM fan who's now over thirty -- you'll be slightly embarrassed by the audience's behavior. But of the entire package, this is the portion you'll be most likely to watch again -- fast-forwarding through the videos, which are by far the dullest bits.
Your hard-earned cash also gets you a section called "The Legendary Videos", the chief selling point of which is the inclusion of the sexy, self-aware "Megalomaniac" video. Otherwise, it's mostly stuff you've seen.
The DVD's primary "value-added" content is a series of bootleg live videos. First come portions of a pair of gigs from the 1992 $$ tour -- a handful of songs shot in Palo Alto, California, and the lion's share of a Chicago performance. The image quality here, frankly, isn't good -- remember, these are bootleg videos, and they simply don't stand up to the professional-looking Beat By Beat material. Lack of lighting is the main problem; the footage is murky, and shows its age, and most songs begin in such total darkness (before the stage lights come on) that you'll wonder if your DVD player is screwed up. Fortunately, the audio quality is pretty good, and only one song is repeated. And if you were actually at one of these shows, as I was, you'll have the added (if fruitless) fun of trying to find yourself in the crowd.
The last batch of live footage comes from the band's 1990 stop in Dallas. It makes the 1992 footage look like digital video; if you've ever attempted to watch a VHS tape that's been stored in a damp basement for several years, you know what I'm talking about. Unless you're truly passionate about KMFDM, and not too concerned about preserving your vision, don't give this footage your full attention. Make an audio dub and be done with it.
Should you buy Beat By Beat By Beat? Only if you don't own Beat By Beat, or if you left your copy of it in a damp basement for several years. $24.95 is a bit pricey for a DVD with no commentary and threadbare extras. It sounds good, and offers a pleasant trip down memory lane, and that may be enough to justify buying it -- but KMFDM is simply too tech- and media-savvy a band to be content with something like this. Given the relative ease with which bands can create their own impressively thorough DVDs these days (thanks, Apple), I suspect that the definitive, band-endorsed KMFDM DVD is yet to come.
-- George Zahora
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