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Just as their two greatest hits collections have proved what an unsung contribution the Beautiful South have made to British music, so The Very Best of documents a fine video history. Never one to take the obvious path, this collection is light on the black and white, slow motion school of video making, instead stuffed full of clever, witty and ingenious clips. It charts the band's career from first single "Song for Whoever", through their massive chart success and ends with the lesser seen work of recent years. Always able to produce visuals worthy of their music, highlights nevertheless include the wedding of "Let Love Speak Up Itself", the cartoon of "How Long's a Tear Take to Dry" and the memorable "A Little Time". Also included are two live tracks from their Jools Holland special. Off screen, the band's history was to be equally fascinating (as documented in Mike Patttenden's superb Last Orders at the Liar's Bar), but this is a must for anyone with a passing interest in a wonderfully unique band.

On the DVD:The Very Best of The Beautiful South on disc has excellent sound and picture quality, but the main selling point of this package is the audio commentary from Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray that accompanies each clip. As might be expected this is refreshingly honest (several of the videos are given a severe critical lashing) and very, very funny. It also provides an added insight into the band's history, particularly their approach to the whole business of being pop stars and the complicated internal politics that have affected them over the years--the constant jibes at ex-vocalist Briana Corrigan do wear a little thin after a while. Uniquely then, a music DVD that is just as entertaining with the music turned off. --Phil Udell