God Save The Queen: A Punk Rock Anthology

God Save The Queen: A Punk Rock Anthology / 2006 MVD / 70 Minutes / http://www.mvdb2b.com /

Starting off this DVD with the intense “Sonic Reducer” by Youngstown’s Dead Boys, a tempo and overall feel is created with this DVD that shows punk in all of its gritty glory. Some of the footage seems to be taken off of VHS tapes; for example, the U.K. Subs’ “CID” is taken (I can only assume) from a BBC special. This does not mean that the sound present during “CID” is in any bit weak, but the context seems to be a little odd leading up into the track (there is a discussion of the punks in London for a minute or two before the track actually starts). Darby Crash in the video for “Media Blitz” is at eir megalomaniacal best; at the end of the track a minor issue happens in that the version of “I Wanna Be Your Dog” is at least twice as loud as the Germs video.

I can understand taking things from different sources, but there are options on all of the different video editing programs that control for that. To see a young Adicts is heartening; the newer Adicts stuff seems to be more of a parody to the cutting-edge punk that is captured during the video for “Viva La Revolution”. The sound of this track is perfect; the chunky bass that is such a major part of the track is recreated perfectly alongside the vocals darting in and out of the track. The Adicts track may actually be one of the only true “videos” on this compilation; with a heavy dose of A Clockwork Orange (as their schtick has been over the last twenty years), the video is fun without being too corny.

The Exploited track (“Fuck The USA” is pulled from the beginning of UK/DK, a movie I’ve not even heard of; there are credits rolling during the first minute or so of the track”). Where most of the videos are for fairly established acts, there are some lesser-known punk bands dredged from the archives; a few in the know will know the Toy Dolls and 999 but who remembers Goldblade? Apparently their career only can be traced back to 1995; this doesn’t really fit in with the other tracks of the disc, all of which were written before 1985. The song is great, but the style is removed considerably from the rest of the music on “God Save The video for the Toy Dolls’ “Nellie The Elephant” is beyond bizarre; the differing video effects scream early eighties while the song is catchy even considering the oddness of the composition. A really young (and much less sneery) Billy Idol can be seen in the interview that precedes Generation X’s “Your Generation”, most of the other tracks here are merely live footage that were ripped from their original video and placed on here. I really hope that the producer of this video can start releasing these every year, to more properly mark punk history. By doing so, individuals just getting into the scene can see a number of these bands before they are all old, wrinkly, or hard up for cash.

Top Tracks: Toy Dolls’ Nellie The Elephant, The Adicts’ Viva La Revolution

Rating: 7.5/10