The underrated art of music videos: A review of Red Hot Chili Peppers' Greatest Videos

 They like pleasure spiked with pain and music is their aeroplane. Californian crossover pioneers Red Hot Chili Peppers have always come around with thought-provoking music videos and this collection presents some of the quartet's most popular music videos created between 1989's Mother's Milk and 2003's Greatest Hits release. As a matter of fact, this DVD came with the limited edition of the compilation but was later on also released separately. Nearly sixteen years later, a sequel would be more then welcome as well. Anyone who likes quirky rock music between funk, pop and rap influences as well as colourful music videos should give this entertaining release a try.

This release contains numerous memorable music videos. The award-winning black and white music video for ''Give It Away'' features four hsyterically dynamic band members dressed in glam rock fashion in a deserted area where they go completely crazy. Overlooked ballad ''Soul to Squeeze'' was also promoted with an atmospheric black and white music video that shows the band members as travelling circus members. Funk rock party anthem ''Aeroplane'' was graced with a shiny, glamorous and expensive music video with acrobats and dancers that also recalls circus elements. Melancholic alternative rock hit ''Otherside'' is another music video in black and white with a monochrome gothic style referencing German Expressionism and the early age of cinema embedded in a cartoonish story line with dream sequences. Epic rock ballad ''Californication'' was much more up-to-date at the time of its release and features the four band members as video game characters experiencing fast-paced jump-and-run adventures. Pitiless funk rock stomper ''By the Way'' shows how the lead singer gets kidnapped by a crazed cab driver and manages to escape in a stunt that one would rather expect from a high-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Rap rock monster ''Can't Stop'' on the other side is more artistic again and inspired by Erwin Wurm's One-Minute-Sculptures which are partially inspired by abstract art.

While the release features nearly sixty-seven minutes of high-quality entertainment, there are some elements that could have been improved. First of all, some behind the scenes elements regarding the music videos would have given them more depth and details. Secondly, the band could have added a documentary to complement the history of its award-winning music videos. Thirdly, some music videos have been overlooked, the daring ''Warped'' with its homoerotic elements in particular. While such a down-stripped release make sense in the context of a greatest hits compilation, the separately released version should have added more value for money. The cover artwork could have also been more creative than just being an alternative shot of the Greatest Hits artwork.

If you have the opportunity to purchase the limited edition of the band's Greatest Hits release including sixteen songs and sixteen music videos, you will get value for money. If you can only find the separately released version, you can't go wrong with it for a reduced price either. Red Hot Chili Peppers is still one of the most influential, daring and creative alternative rock bands out there as it has survived many other bands and styles throughout the past three and a half decades and the band is still going strong. The group's music videos are everything but boring and represent a time when music videos were more than just promotional tools but rather art forms between the mid-eighties and the early years of the new millennium.

Let's cross our fingers that the band will release another greatest videos compilation sometime after the release of its upcoming twelfth studio release since the Californian quartet has since continued to respect its tradition of intriguing music videos with the rock and roll anthology style in ''Dani California'', the four band members living in four individually designed rooms in ''Look Around'' and the light-hearted and liberating vibe of ''Dark Necessities'' to only give three examples.