Sum 41 - 'Introduction To Destruction' (Island)
4/5
By: Toby L
Content >>>
Sum 41 have had quite a year; top-ten hit singles abound, a constantly-selling album in the shape of the pop-punk furore that is 'All Killer, No Filler', and a live-set that has seen fans either invited onstage to dance like a bunch of hyperactive badgers or merely thrill all with its non-stop ferocity and surging, full-throttle energy.
Captured quite delightfully on this DVD in its main-section is the latter - the '41 live - as demonstrated in London, at the reasonably poky Astoria venue in the West End. Packed with an audience of youngsters with a taste to rock, it's a barely forty-minute explosion of top-riffery and amusing antics, mainly consisting of an imitation of Motley Crue's Tommy Lee on drums, complete with the obligatory poodle-rocker mullet haircut, during a comical 'It's What We're All About', as well as the gratuitous swearing and general tomfoolery that only the youthful Canadian quartet could get away with.
Sadly, however, they don't always get away with it... The hilarious additional footage namely includes Steve getting arrested during a university-campus tour (for rearranging the letters on a notice-board to spell out the word 'Anus') and the group committing drive-by water-pistol squirts on to innocent and unsuspecting members of the public. Pathetic, of course - but menacingly funny.
The rest of the extensive features on offer - there's over two hours' worth of material, after all - are equally essential, including all the group's promo-videos to date, inclusive of ever-zany commentary from the band themselves, plus the chance to access a hidden Sum 41 website if you shove the disc into your computer's DVD-drive... Marvellous stuff.
Sound & Vision >>>
Technically, there is little to fault as well in this extensive package. The in-between menu-changes feature fitting and fast-moving images of the group, interspersed with selective upbeat tunes in the background, creating a more frantic and visually-stimulating set of sequences to view compared to the norm. The actual concert-footage itself, meanwhile, is just what it needs to be: clear, quick, precise, and smart, with the occasional surprise.
Aurally - well, they're making a racket anyway - but at least the quality stereo-sound available shows it to be a well-defined and marginally-focussed racket.
Comprehensive, occasionally hysterical and permanently childish, with 'Introduction To Destruction', Sum 41 have created the ultimate DVD-experience for fans and newbies alike - and don't disappoint during any moment throughout.
Artists in this article: Sum 41
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