Best Music Movies of 1993

Deloris Van Cartier is again asked to don the nun's habit to help a run-down Catholic school, presided over by Mother Superior. And if trying to reach out to a class full of uninterested students wasn't bad enough, the sisters discover that the school is due to be closed by the unscrupulous chief of a local authority.

The story of a close-knit group of young kids in Nazi Germany who listen to banned swing music from the US. Soon dancing and fun leads to more difficult choices as the Nazi's begin tightening the grip on Germany. Each member of the group is forced to face some tough choices about right, wrong, and survival.

A live album by American rock band Nirvana, the album features an acoustic performance recorded at Sony Music Studios in New York City on 18 November 1993, for the television series MTV Unplugged.

A message from Jim Morrison in a dream prompts cable access TV stars Wayne and Garth to put on a rock concert, "Waynestock," with Aerosmith as headliners. But amid the preparations, Wayne frets that a record producer is putting the moves on his girlfriend, Cassandra, while Garth handles the advances of mega-babe Honey Hornee.

Live concert from the "Wherever We May Roam Tour" tour. Recorded at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California, on January 13 and 14, 1992.

The Girlie Show - Live Down Under included a date filmed at Sydney Cricket Ground on November 19, 1993 from The Girlie Show World Tour. The video was originally broadcast as a TV special on HBO in 1993 under the title Madonna Live Down Under: The Girlie Show. This was the fourth concert tour by Madonna, in support of her fifth studio album, Erotica.

Miranda Presley moves from New York to Nashville to become a songwriter. At an unsuccessful audition she meets James Wright, a promising newcomer. After only a few days they marry but start to quickly regret it.

Live at Donington was the recording of Iron Maiden's second headlining appearance at the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington on 22 August 1992 during the Fear of the Dark Tour in front of a crowd of almost 80,000.

A look behind the scenes at the making of the video for the song "Don't Cry" from Guns N Roses Use Your Illusion album from when the band was near the peak of its popularity. Inludes footage of the bandmembers hard at work in the studio, as well as in some of their more relaxed moments.

A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.

This video release by Depeche Mode features almost an entire concert from their 1993-1994 Devotional Tour, filmed in Barcelona, Liévin and Frankfurt.

Live concert from the "Damaged Justice" tour. Recorded at the Seattle Coliseum, Seattle, Washington, on August 29 and 30, 1989.

The Hits Collection is a collection of music videos released in 1993 to accompany the Prince's greatest hits collection, The Hits/The B-Sides. Being a single VHS cassette/DVD, the collection is only an hour long and excludes many tracks from the audio release

An overview of the life of the most shocking, vile, and notorious of punk rock legends.

A look behind the scenes at the making of the video for the song "November Rain" from Guns N Roses Use Your Illusion album, giving fans an intimate look at the band from when they were near the peak of their popularity. Inludes footage of the Axl, Slash and the rest of the group hard at work in the studio, as well as in some of their more relaxed moments.

On a hot spring night, the rolling hills of Tennesee came alive and rocked again to the pure country sounds of George Jones, country music's greatest living singer. Fans crowded the stage with hands full of flowers while cowboy hats waved in the air to salute country music's living legend. George Jones, Country Music's Hall of Fame and Pioneer Award winner, is captured "Live in Tennessee" at a sellout performance in the Knoxville Civic Coluseum. See why his he is the heart and soul of country music. Includes an introduction by Alan Jackson, and a special guest appearance by Tracy Lawrence and Mark Chesnutt.

A television adaptation of the classic Broadway musical.

A chronicle of the heavy metal band Pantera's 1992 tour, behind the "Vulgar Display of Power" album, that chronicles all of the band's excesses with groupies, drinking and drugs. Also featured in the video are members of White Zombie, Megadeth and Metallica.

A documentary covering the life and death of Jamaican reggae musician and cultural icon Peter Tosh. Drawn both from Tosh's "Red X" series of autobiographical tapes that he was recording at the time of his murder and from interviews with other figures in his life.

Music from Dire Straits, recorded live in concert in 1991. Tracks include: "Calling Elvis", "Walk Of Life", "Heavy Fuel", "Romeo And Juliet", "Private Investigations", "Your Latest Trick", "On Every Street", "You And Your Friend", "Money For Nothing", "The Bug", "Solid Rock", "Local Hero", "Wild Theme" and "Brothers In Arms".

MTV Unplugged is a 1993 live album by 10,000 Maniacs. The music was recorded for the MTV Unplugged series and it was also the last album by the band featuring Natalie Merchant as vocalist. In addition to the songs released on this album, four takes of "How You've Grown" were recorded, second takes of "Because the Night" and "Gold Rush Brides", a brief take of "Puff the Magic Dragon" and three other songs which featured singer David Byrne as a guest: "Let The Mystery Be" (two takes, one of which was released as a B-Side to "Few and Far Between" and on Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings), "Jolene", and "Dallas". In 1994, it reached 13 on the Billboard 200.

A "rockumentary", covering the rise to fame of MC Gusto, Stab Master Arson, and Dead Mike: members of the rap group "CB4". We soon learn that these three are not what they seem and don't apear to know as much about rap music as they claim... but a lack of musical ability in an artist never hurts sales, does it? You've just got to play the part of a rap star...

A filmed stage performance of the 1993 London revival. Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Skyfall) directed this new production for the Donmar Warehouse in London's West End. It starred Jane Horrocks as Sally, Adam Godley as Cliff, Alan Cumming as the Emcee and Sara Kestelman as Fräulein Schneider. Cumming received an Olivier Award nomination for his performance and Kestelman won the Olivier for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical. Mendes's conception was very different from either the original production or the conventional first revival. The most significant change was the character of the Emcee. The role, as played by Joel Grey in both prior incarnations, was an asexual, edgy character dressed in a tuxedo with rouged cheeks. Alan Cumming's portrayal was highly sexualized, as he wore suspenders (i.e. braces) around his crotch and red paint on his nipples.

The Rolling Stones emerged in the summer of 1963 as the so-called "bad boys" antidote to the Beatles, a characterization that became one of the foundations of modern rock 'n' roll. In the 25 years that followed, the Stones have succeeded in outraging, mystifying, confusing yet always inspiring their fans. 25 X 5: The Continuing Adventures of The Rolling Stones is the first time that the Stones have gone on camera to tell their own story. Over two hours of devastatingly frank narratives by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, and Ron Wood are underscored by rare interview segments with Brian Jones and Mick Taylor, and rare and never-before-seen archival film, video, and newsreel footage.

Three years of candid camera on the road with Blur, from Reading 1991 through the dark ages of the EEC in 1992 and then on to Modern Life. This 126 minute tour film features live footage including scenes from Glastonbury ’92, the Heineken Music Festival ’94 in Nottingham, and festivals in Germany, Denmark and Sweden. It is a fascinating rockumentary about the early days of one of the most influential bands of the 1990s.

Images and Words: Live in Tokyo is the first home video release from American progressive metal band Dream Theater. It contains most of the band's performance from their August 26, 1993 show at Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo, Japan. Also included are the music videos for the songs "Pull Me Under", "Take the Time", and "Another Day", from their 1992 album Images and Words, as well as interview footage and candid, behind-the-scenes footage.

On October 16, 1992, an impressive and eclectic group of artists gathered at Madison Square Garden in New York City for the purpose of celebrating the music of Bob Dylan on the occasion of his 30th anniversary of recording. Bringing together musical greats as far-flung as Johnny Cash and Eddie Vedder, The Clancy Brothers and Lou Reed, the four-hour show celebrated a truly remarkable lifetime of songs in front of a sold-out audience of over 18,000. Warmly dubbed the Bobfest by participant Neil Young, the show was broadcast around the world and featured a cast of musical notables performing carefully chosen and often surprising selections from the incomparable Dylan songbook. At evening's end, the man of honor himself appeared on stage and gracefully brought it all back home again. In a world where all-star celebrity gatherings have become commonplace, the Bob Dylan celebration stood out as, first and foremost, a legitimately memorable musical event.

This documentary is a combination between a Kiss concert and the members of the early 90s Kiss talking about random stuff. This short movie will give you some nice live footage, excellent tunes, and a good look at the chemistry of the Kiss of the early 90s. It's quite interesting to see how much animosity that Eric Singer seems to have towards the makeup, and how even though they talk about it in the documentary, it seems to be a forbidden subject around the band members. The vintage footage doesn't sound to great, but it's still great to see Gene spitting blood. The strippers were an unexpected surprise, and the fact that one of the women in the crowd who revealed herself and got groped was a bit of a jaw dropper to me, but whatever. A great treat for anyone who wants to see what the band was like live in the non makeup days.

Keep the Faith: An Evening with Bon Jovi is a live concert that aired on MTV in late 1992 prior to the release of the band's then upcoming album Keep the Faith. The performance captures Bon Jovi in an intimate, "in the round" experience, performing acoustic and electric renditions of classic hits (Bon Jovi and non-Bon Jovi tracks), new material from Keep the Faith, and also behind the scenes footage. The show took place at the Kaufman's Studios Astoria in Queens, New York City in 1992, and released commercially in 1993. To date it is the only live home video that has not been re-issued on DVD.

A live performances from the We Can't Dance tour filmed on 8 November, 1992 at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London.

A delightful DVD of Prokofiev's universally beloved and popular "musical tale," brought to life by human actors in a fairytale world inhabited by Muppet-like characters. Pop star Sting (The Police) lends his voice to a Sting puppet for the witty, enlightening commentary that guides the viewer through this charming suite.

A comedic musical short inspired by an obscure Beatles novelty tune. While visiting a mysteriously surrealistic dating agency, a lonely woman (Betty Taylor) checks out the video tapes of one male prospect (Angel Connell) who seems to have multiple personalities. With remote in hand, the woman speeds past those parts of her character she finds unattractive and zeroes in on the aspect of his personality she finds most attractive. Her decision to commit to this appealing part of his persona results in a dramatic change in her life - or does it?

Academician and piano expert David Dubal narrates this absorbing documentary chronicling the instrument's history and featuring some of the 20th century's finest pianists via archival film clips. Among the keyboard virtuosos are Vladimir Horowitz, Claudio Arrau, Van Cliburn and Glenn Gould. Extras include Arrau's 1983 performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 4, accompanied by the Philadelphia Orchestra under maestro Riccardo Muti.

In the video film shots from the tour are interspersed with acted scenes, video clips and theoretical reflections of Slavoj Žižek and critic Chris Bohn. Together they form a compelling story about Laibach, controversial Slovene music group in the eighties.

A singer struggles to dance well in rehearsal with her band. A power outage leaves her alone in the studio, reviewing her life, when a mysterious woman appears through the mirror and gives her a pair of Red Shoes. The cursed shoes dance beautifully, but endlessly. The singer is drawn irresistibly into the fey world beyond the mirror, where she must redeem three magic symbols from the mysterious woman in order to obtain release from the cursed shoes.

Like Fantasia (1940) or Allegro Non Troppo (1977), L'Opéra Imaginaire (1993) is an assembly of animated short films based on classic music greats. Directed by some of the best European animators and artists, L'Opéra Imaginaire takes us through dance, theater, music and painting masterpieces. It uses several animation techniques, like stop-motion clay animation or CG characters.

Rising from the ashes of the legendary British post-punk unit Joy Division, the enigmatic New Order triumphed over tragedy to emerge as one of the most influential and acclaimed bands of the 1980's, embracing the electronic textures and disco rhythms of the underground club culture many years in advance of its contempraries. "New Order Story" is the definitive documentary on the band and traces their history all the way back to its origin with Joy Division. This extended version includes additional interviews and live footage, over 2 hours of great New Order footage. A longform video chronicling the band's history and music with interviews by Bono, Neil Tennant, Quincy Jones and others.

On Christmas Eve, a little girl named Marie falls asleep and dreams herself into a fantastic world in which her toys become larger than life. She meets up with the Nutcracker Prince who takes her on a journey to his kingdom and defends her from the Mouse King.

Live: Right Here, Right Now. is the one and only live album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1993. The album combines songs performed over two nights in May 1992 at the Selland Arena in Fresno, CA. The bulk of the songs on this album were from the first night, such as the solos performed by Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar.

A documentary covering the rise of extremely alternative band Half Japanese: from the early days when Jad and David Fair recorded loud music in their bedroom for distribution via mail order cassette tape, to their contemporary incarnation after David's departure for married life and Jad's increased stature among musicians and critics. Includes interviews with Jad, David, Mo Tucker of Velvet underground fame, and Penn Jillette, who produced an album of theirs.

When Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien hit the street in 1987, people took the record to heart. The unknown artist on the then underground Relativity label struck the right chord with music fans around the world with his powerful signature style. A baffled and astonished record industry could only step back and watch in amazement as Surfing With The Alien went on to defy traditional instrumental rock limitations to become a multi-million selling GRAMMY(r)-nominated critical tour de force. Joe was touted as the soft-spoken maverick, a rock and roll guitar-slinger who proved there was an audience for music that didn't fit into tidy categories and opened the door for the slew of rock instrumentalists who have since followed his path.

Now, the complete truth can be told...Devo, the seminal New Wave audio-visual concept band made a career out of setting to music video their Dada-gone-camp theory of de-evolution and its riotous rebuke of corporate culture. Punk/New Wave mad scientists Devo were among the few bands to understand the music video's potential as art form during its infancy in the eighties. Their brilliant and bizarre videos were compiled on VHS and then on laser disc; that long out-of-print disc, The Complete Truth About De-Evolution, has finally arrived on DVD, which should please longtime fans of this eclectic outfit.

1. Highway Star 2. Black Night 3. Talk About Love 4. Twist In The Tale 5. Perfect Strangers 6. Beethoven 7. Knocking At Your Back Door 8. Anyone's Daughter 9. Child In Time 10. Anya 11. The Battle Rages On 12. Lazy 13. Space Truckin' 14. Woman From Tokyo 15. Paint It, Black 16. Smoke On The Water. Rock legend Deep Purple recorded live at the Birmingham NEC, UK on November 9, 1993. Five members from the band's most famous line up play their hits during their 25th anniversary world tour. Note that Ritchie Blackmore dropped out soon after this particular concert.

Filmed in Hollywood's Pantages Theatre, Harry Connick, Jr. performs several Christmas classics from his first holiday album.

An unfortunate convent cooking accident causes most of the order of the Little Sisters of Hoboken to die of botulism. Before all of the deceased sisters can be buried, Reverend Mother Superior (Rue McClanahan) buys a camcorder and VCR for the convent - resulting in not having enough money to bury the four remaining sisters (which, by the way, are temporarily being stored in the freezer). In order to raise money to bury the four dead sisters, the Little Sisters of Hoboken (well, what's left of them) put on a riotous revue packed with hilarious, show-stopping song and dance numbers.

Short animated film featuring the song "Can't Go Wrong Without You" by His Name Is Alive.

What would you do if you came home and found your wife dead? Do you call the cops? Her parents? That's where the true nightmare begins. A story of love and addiction. An experimental docudrama made by Perry Farrell

A movie within a movie about making a movie...Randy Travis stars in a western movie that is being filmed. There is lots of singing and fighting going on. This movie very cleverly promotes Randy as a singer and his music releases. Burt Reynolds joins in with the singing and the fighting along side Randy. Chuck Norris has a cameo as he joins in to kick Randy's behind in a cool fight scene.

A 12-minute documentary about the house of RHCP guitarist John Frusciante. The film's main purpose was to depict the chaos & instability in his life.