Weezer Video Capture Device: Treasures From the Vault 1991-2002 Geffen DVD (2004)

Those savvy cats at the record companies know that nostalgia for the 1990s is a growth industry. To celebrate their ten years in the major-label fold, Geffen have re-released Weezer's self-titled blue debut in a double-disc expanded edition and dropped Video Capture Device, the band's first DVD retrospective, into the faithful's collective lap. Sure, the clips for "Undone - The Sweater Song" and "Buddy Holly" were integral elements in the Weez's rocket-propelled journey into the spotlight, but as this extra-filled DVD reveals, they weren't the whole story.

Video Capture Device compiles Weezer's eleven proper videos with a goodie bag full of archival footage, outtakes, live clips, aborted interviews and TV spots, plus two self-made home-movie-quality exclusive cuts for "Pink Triangle" and "Slob". Much of the bonus material comes from the collection of Karl Koch, the band's faithful man-servant, who's been archiving shows, humping gear and driving the van since the beginning. At over three hours in length and running the gamut from the band's early incarnation as grunge-rockers 60 Wrong Sausages to clips from their 2002 tour of Europe, the collection is as much a document of a band's rise from obscurity to global fame as it is of Koch's obsessed fandom.

For the diehards, the behind-the-scenes footage is a treat. There's the predictable mucking about -- fireworks, face-pulling, pranks galore -- in the studio during the Blue Album sessions, a stroll through metal's past ("Armored Saint!" Dio!") in the vaults of Sound City Studios during the recording of Pinkerton, and an impromptu version of "My Evaline" from the Hollywood Hills in the preamble to the Green Album. Mixed in with the goofing off are some rather impressive rough cuts of B-side favorite "Mykel & Carli", lost tracks "Superfriend" and "No Way", plus an acoustic version of "Say It Ain't So" from a Dutch radio appearance. Sadly, the sound on the earlier stuff is awful, picked up via muddy video camera microphone, and the footage is suitably dark, grainy and jittery. But as far as DIY guerrilla filmmaking goes, it's still pretty good for 1993. Also included are live performances from each album's tour, including a hard-rockin' version of "Say It Ain't So" from The Late Show with David Letterman, an acoustic rendition of "Pink Triangle" recorded in a high school gymnasium, and a spirited run-through of "El Scorcho" in a Tower Records parking lot that devolves into a near-riot with an army of screaming teenage girls facing off against a phalanx of event security beef. Cuomo's emotional reading of "Mykel & Carli" at a benefit concert for his two friends (Mykel and Carli Allen, the band's fan club presidents, and their sister Trysta were killed in a car wreck on the way to a 1997 Weezer show in Salt Lake City) is as heartfelt and tender as you'd expect from emo's patron saint.

Lighter fare comes in the form of "How Not to Do an Interview", a bit recorded for MTV Europe where Weezer were pitted against fluff-pop outfit O-Town in some sort of battle of the videos piece. Drummer Pat Wilson and then-bassist Mikey Welsh urge fans to vote for Weezer in English-nanny accents while guitarist Brian Bell and Cuomo try their best not to crack up. There's more funny stuff in "Outlog", a failed Yahoo! promo shoot that the band continually fucks up, collapsing into giggles take after take after take. A weird little Easter egg entitled "Wig Fishin'" is also tucked away somewhere (no spoilers here), featuring the band running through "Keep Fishin'" with Cuomo sporting a shaggy blonde wig.

The extras are a good time, but the disc's real meat is in those eleven videos. The Jonze-helmed clips are trademarked classics of the just-post-grunge era, when the record companies were still trying to get a handle on this modern-rock thing, but Marcos Siega's equally brilliant work merits attention as well. Jonze's clips for "Undone" (the dogs!), "Buddy Holly" (the Fonz!) and "Island in the Sun" (the fuzzy animals!) are legendary, but the Siega-helmed videos for "Hash Pipe" (sumo wrestling and gratuitous man-mammaries), "Dope Nose" (wild Japanese biker gangs) and "Keep Fishin'" (that one with the Muppets in it) are equally impressive. His rarely-seen "Island in the Sun" clip rivals Jonze's for originality, as the band are shot amidst a colorful Mexican wedding ceremony in East LA. The director's cut of Mark Romanek's much-maligned but still rather cool "El Scorcho" video is also worth watching a few times over, purely for the "what the hell am I looking at?" factor.

All the videos (save Siega's "Island in the Sun") can be viewed with amusing running commentary from Wilson, Bell, new bassist Scott Shriner and Koch. Bell waxes nostalgic for all the hip shirts he's lost over the years (especially the orange number he rocked in the "Say It Ain't So" video), while Wilson and Koch provide anecdotes from the various shoots. Shriner's contribution is vital, too, since he wasn't around for most of them and can reminisce about his own memories as a fan. Lamentably, Cuomo, Welsh and Matt Sharp aren't around to offer their input, but you can't have everything. I'll take three hours of goofy fun and eleven whip-smart videos over fair and balanced coverage any day, especially when it comes for under 20 bucks.

-- Steve English