Jimmy Eat World

Jimmy Eat World DVD EP (2002)

Scott Heisel

What has the world come to when bands are releasing not a DVD, but a DVD EP? Especially when the band in question, Jimmy Eat World, has a full length DVD coming out later this year which should contain all of the material on this DVD pluys a lot more? Who in their right mind wants to buy something now just to buy it again? I guess Jimmy Eat World fans do, and frankly after seeing this DVD EP, I can't wait until the full DVD, either.

So what all is on this DVD EP, you might be wondering? Well first off, it includes the band's three videos for "Bleed American," "The Middle," and "Sweetness." The video for "Bleed" really shows how good the band is live, and the video for "Sweetness" is so incredibly well done I could watch it all day long. And sure, we've all seen the video for "The Middle" a hundred times, but there's nothing wrong with watching people dance around in their underwear for a hundred more.

The DVD EP also includes one song off the upcoming "Believe In What You Want" DVD - a live performance of "Get It Faster" from the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. This looks like the show that MTV has been broadcasting sporadically, but it's been promised that the actual DVD will have more than the MTV special did, so we'll have to just wait and see.

The DVD EP also includes exclusive audio tracks by the band. "The Authority Song," "Bleed American," and "For Me This Is Heaven" are all here in live audio format, presumably taken from the same show they recorded for the DVD. The band's cover of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" is also on here in audio format, so if you can't track down that elusive Christmas 7" or you don't own a record player, you can get the song here.

So all in all, is this worth it? Well, it's retailing for 7 or 8 bucks, I think, and that's not too bad to have all the videos on one disc [I just hope that they put the "A Praise Chorus" video on the full length DVD]. If you're a die hard fan, you've probably already bought this. If you're a "regular" fan, I could see you investing the money to pick this up, since it's bound to go out of print once the full length is released. And in all honesty, this would be a worthwhile purchase for someone who you're trying to get into Jimmy Eat World - it gives you a good overview of the band's studio and live output, and could conceivably convert some people to JEW-diasm.

JEW-diasm, get it? Get it?

You guys suck.