The music video may often be seen in the underground world as the hallmark of a band ‘selling out’ but in the more mainstream end of Metal it’s something different altogether. In a musical industry where your standing with record labels often depends on how many units you shift, bands need all the help they can get to stay in the number one spot, and this collection of Metallica’s promotional videos is a history of the band’s relationship with the mainstream. The first and best clip is that of One from …And Justice For All, complete with clips from cult classic Johnny Got His Gun (written by a victim of McCarthy’s Communist witchhunts, the heroic Dalton Trumbo) that disturbingly relates the evils of war on the men who actually fight it. Sure, the whole ‘taken my arms, taken my legs, taken my eyes, taken my ears’ part is slightly silly, but when you research the effects that weapons of war can have on people, from landmines to depleted uranium shells, the horror cannot be understated. Considering how the video helped launch Metallica on the path to success, it’s an important part of their history, too.

From then on, there’s a distinctly mixed bag in terms of quality, videos coming from Metallica onwards. Enter Sandman hasn’t aged well, annoyingly jumpy and full of strobe lights, whilst The Unforgiven’s black and white weirdness holds up still. Nothing Else Matters is dull studio footage, Wherever I May Roam dull live and ‘on the road’ footage, Sad But True slightly better live footage. The first note of originality comes with the first video from Load, Until It Sleeps, a weird and wonderful tableau of Eve in Eden, Satan, Christ, serpent-people, treemen… enjoyable stuff, all in all, and indicative of the new, more artsy focus of the band. Hero Of The Day follows in a similar fashion, featuring some emo teen pottering around his house whilst band members star in various TV shows playing in the background. Mama Said focuses on the Country angle, with a cowboyified James riding in a car… or is he? King Nothing, meanwhile, goes for a more straightforward shot of the band playing in snow.

Reload’s representation kicks off with an fun gravity-defying clip for The Memory Remains, with a guest appearance from Marianne Faithfull. The Unforgiven II follows in the two-tone style of the first, but lacks the original’s creepiness. Fuel and Whiskey In The Jar are as fun videos as the songs, with lots of cars and women and exaggerated band shots, whilst Turn The Page is the complete opposite, boring, boring, boring. No Leaf Clover is from the band’s S&M live performance, whilst I Disappear, the track exclusive to the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack is fun but the song itself is weirdly reminiscent of St Anger’s material, and in hindsight was a forerunner.

Finishing with the St Anger tracks, the titled track recorded in a prison with real live genuine prisoners, Frantic something about a car crash and a man not living his life properly, The Unnamed Feeling is silly ‘I’m a nutter’ stuff as usually channelled via Korn and Some Kind Of Monster is basically a trailer for the documentary of the same name. Of course, few people will be interested in these last ones, and even if you are, why not simply go on YouTube and watch them? Of course, you could make the same argument for this whole DVD, and in truth there’s no reason to purchase this when with an hour online you can watch all the videos contained here for free. This is strictly fan and completionist-only, even with the bonus features that include Lars’ comments on the One video from back in 1989 (why couldn’t we have comments on the other videos?) as well as an edited, ‘jamming’ version of it. Overall, The Videos is far from vital, but if you’re interested in the band post-Metallica then this is a useful collection of their videos, no more.