Poison Greatest Video Hits 2005 DVD

The back of this DVD claims that Poison have "an infamous reputation for sex, drugs and- of course- rock ‘n’ roll." Really? I thought they had a reputation for being as cheesy as hell. And is there anything wrong with that? I mean, you gotta love the first video on this collection, Cry Tough. It shows the band, in all their glam glory, jumping up against a view of LA at sunset. It looks great. The rest of the video is mostly concert footage- Bret Michaels gyrates around the stage, Bobby Dall pretends to be cool, and CC DeVille falls into the speakers. Clearly he’d been on the nose candy that day. Meanwhile large, moustached men are in the front row, banging their fists. Surely grown men like that would not be at the very front of a Poison concert- one can only assume that they thought the band were chicks. You could hardly blame them. The video ends with the crowd being sprayed with silly string as glitter falls from the ceiling… hardly Blackie Lawless throwing meat, is it. Bret pouts his way through all the videos and dances more suggestively than I would care to see- (Flesh and Blood) Sacrifice, for example, features him cavorting with a half naked woman and a very large snake. Do you think it is a metaphor, perhaps? In between videos we have old footage from Poison tours, and get to hear the pearls of wisdom of Bret Michaels. Socrates has nothing to worry about. I was more interested in his hair, and whether the ‘wig’ rumours are true. Guitarist CC DeVille is vaguely creepy throughout the whole DVD, and looks progressively worse with each video, until by the last, 2001’s Power to the People, he should not be viewed by children, the elderly, or anyone of a nervous disposition. He just looks… wrong. Not as wrong as the rest of the video, (not to mention the actual song) which looks like it was filmed in someone’s garage. Bret ponces around in a cowboy hat (something to hide, Bret?) and white tracksuit bottoms; Rikki Rockett looks like a drag queen, and Bobby Dall is virtually unrecognisable. The videos are nearly all the same- concert footage interspersed with ‘behind the scenes’ clips. Because of this, it can get slightly repetitive after a while, but on the whole it’s good fun. Not a DVD to have constantly playing, but definitely one to watch now and again, if anything for the array of clothes they wear- enough pink, leopardprint and spandex to give you a headache. Having said that, it’s great to see videos from back in the days when men were clad in animal print, glittery scarves and impossibly tight leather. Seeing the backstage clips of them partying, meeting fans, riding motorbikes, jumping into swimming pools, and falling over onstage makes you wish that rock ‘n’ roll was still lived like this, and for that fact alone, this DVD is to be recommended.  7/10 Suzie