The Best of INXS is in reality a very modest title for this DVD, which is a lot more than just a collection of songs from the Australian rock band. In reality, it's a comprehensive look at the career of the wildly successful band through the lens of their innovative music videos; in addition to being jam-packed with the best hits from INXS' repertoire, it also provides a lot of insight into the band's career.

The first disc in the set contains 25 music videos for selected songs from INXS, running a total of about two hours. Each one is introduced by one of the band members (Kirk Pengilly, Garry Beers, Tim Farriss, Jon Farriss, and Andrew Farriss), who give a bit of insight into the making of the video. The videos are presented in chronological order, so we essentially get a guided tour of the career of INXS.

To begin with, the songs and videos are great fun to watch, and the extensive selection of "hits" includes both well-known INXS songs like "The Devil Inside" and "What You Need" and lesser-known ones from early in their career. One thing is constant, and that's the energy and style that's apparent in every single song.

While the songs are basically timeless, the same can't be said of the videos... which is a good part of why they're fun to watch. It's amusing to see the evolution of hair styles and costume choices over the years as fashions changed. What makes the videos more than just a fun nostalgia trip, though, is the introductions from the band members, who provide interesting facts about the videos, such as where they were filmed or what they were trying to achieve, and point out key elements like how several of the videos were technologically ground-breaking. Watching these videos will certainly give you a sense of how INXS developed as a group.

The one thing that The Best of INXS is lacking is an option to play the full program without the comments in between songs, which would have added to its replay value. At least the introductory comment segments have been made into separate chapters, so you can choose to skip over them and get right to the video if you wish.

Though I've followed the convention of assuming that the first DVD with the music videos is the main program, and the second DVD with assorted other materials is the special features section, this is fairly arbitrary. It's tough to say where the "main program" leaves off and the "bonus material" begins for this DVD; the second disc is so packed with content that it seems odd to treat it as "extra" rather than part of the main program. In any case, fans of INXS will certainly not want to overlook the two-and-a-half hours' worth of additional material on the second disc.

The play list for the first DVD is as follows:

The DVD

The Best of INXS is a two-DVD set. I can't comment on the packaging, as I reviewed a screener copy.

Video

The Best of INXS is mainly made up of video footage from the 1980s, so we're obviously not looking at optimal quality source material here. Overall, though, the material looks reasonably good. The picture is bright and offers good contrast and colors, and there's minimal print damage. The footage tends to have a fair amount of noise in it, which makes the picture softer; in some clips this seems to have been cleaned up slightly, but for the most part it seems like the videos were not restored. The present-day interview footage is clear and sharp. The program is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which preserves the original aspect ratio of the made-for-TV videos.

Audio

Viewers are presented with no fewer than three soundtracks to choose from: a Dolby 5.1, a DTS, and PCM stereo (uncompressed) track. The sound quality of the DTS and Dolby 5.1 tracks is extremely good; the PCM is fine as well, but didn't impress me as much. The overall sound is rich and full, with excellent clarity and depth.

One odd glitch does appear in the DTS and PCM tracks, however: the soundtrack is not correctly synced to the video, so the lip-syncing is off by a decidedly noticeable amount. (I tested the DVD on a computer as well as a DVD player and encountered the problem in both cases, so it's clearly a problem with the DVD track, not the player.) It's no big deal if you're playing this with the image off, just to listen to the music, but if you're watching the program it's quite distracting. The Dolby 5.1 track is the only one that does not have this problem, so that's the track I'd recommend for a first viewing; fortunately, the sound quality of the 5.1 is excellent as well.

English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles are available.

Extras

The content on the second disc of the set is really exceptional, and will delight all fans of INXS. Running about two and a half hours in total, the special features are divided into several sections.

First off is "INXS Live 1980-1997." This is a selection of live performance videos from a variety of venues around the world, along with introductory interview clips from the band. The songs presented here are "Simple Simon," "Original Sin," "Listen Like Thieves," "Kick," "New Sensation," "Need You Tonight," "Mediate," "Searching," "Elegantly Wasted," and "Don't Change."

Next is a "Re-Mixed" section, which features four videos of re-mixed versions of INXS songs: "Suicide Blonde," "The Stairs," "Bitter Tears," and "Disappear."

"Welcome to Wherever You Are" is an 18-minute documentary that follows the band behind the scenes at a charity concert. In addition to providing an interesting look at the lead-up to a concert, this program includes performances of the songs "Heaven Sent" and "Taste It."

"Pictures from a Full Moon" presents a sampling of videos from INXS' "video album," Full Moon Dirty Hearts, and includes music videos for "Time," "Make Your Peace," "I'm Only Looking," and "Please (You Got That)".

The "Rare and Unreleased" section will intrigue long-time fans of INXS in particular; this is a set of music videos that were not released at the time of their production, ranging from a live performance to a film soundtrack. The videos are for "The One Thing," "The Strangest Party (These Are the Times)," "Everything," "Searching," and "Don't Lose Your Head."

The last major featurette is an 18-minute "Behind the Scenes" documentary that brings together the band members along with former manager Chris Murphy and directors Richard Lowenstein and Troy Davies to discuss the making of the music videos and their role in INXS' career.

The second disc wraps up with a photo gallery that runs nine minutes; unlike the typical DVD photo gallery, this one is actually worth watching, as it uses selected promotional and professional shots of the group to show how their "look" evolved over time.

Final thoughts

If you are an INXS fan, you must buy this set. End of discussion. It's the definitive overview of INXS' career, with great songs, their accompanying music videos, interesting commentary from band members, and a boatload of great supplemental material, including rare footage. With a total running time of four and a half hours, all of it high-quality material with no fluff or filler, The Best of INXS lives up to its name. Highly recommended.