When the Residents 'Commercial Album' came out in 1980, it featured 40 one minute tracks. Anthony Strutt finds the DVD, which has been released to coincide with the album's reissue, to be a fine visual assistant to the album
The Residents 'Commercial Album' DVD is a fine visual assistant to the album of the same name. Whereas the album, which came out in 1980 and which has recently been reissued has 40 one minute tracks, the DVD has 56 one minute videos. These mini films are pretty much what I expected really, and are largely wacky in a surreal Monty Python sort of fashion. Some are sc-fi ish in a 50's way, while others are real life filmed actionettes. There is also the occasional film of the four-piece the Residents, who always unnamed and unknown, dress in evening suits and eyeball heads. The films, which are all of TV advert length, work better than the tracks as one minute of music isn't really enough time to develop ideas to full blossom. The majority, mainly shot pre MTV to accompany the album, are, however, very much ahead of their time. With an extra 10 movies of new shorts by the band, this makes an enjoyable 56 minutes. .