The Video Collection 93:99
Encyclopedia
The Video Collection 93:99 is the second music video compilation by American singer-songwriter Madonna
. Released by Warner Music Vision on November 2, 1999, it contained the music video of Madonna's singles
released between 1993 to 1999. Originally, the collection was titled The Video Collection 92–99, and had included the 1992 hit "Erotica
", but was omitted due to the explicit sexual content in the video; instead the 1998 song "The Power of Good-Bye
" was added. The videos in the collection were selected personally by Madonna, who felt the 14 videos to be her best work.
After its release, the collection was critically appreciated, with one group of reviewers noting the artistic capabilities of Madonna while the others noting her ability to re-invent her image from one video to another. The Video Collection 93:99 reached a peak of eight on Billboard
s Top Music Video sales chart. A box set titled The Ultimate Collection was released in 2000, which contained The Video Collection 93:99 and The Immaculate Collection
videos. In 2008, The Video Collection 93:99 was certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) for shipment of 100,000 copies across United States.
announced the release of the video album, then titled as The Video Collection 92–99. Released in VHS and DVD, the collection featured 14 videos, including "Drowned World/Substitute for Love
", which was not released in the United States as a single
, hence was not commercially available prior to the release of Video Collection. The videos in the collection was selected personally by Madonna, who felt the 14 videos to be her best work. The collection had included the 1992 song "Erotica
", but it was later omitted due to the sexual content present in the music video; instead the song "The Power of Good-Bye
" was added and the collection was renamed as The Video Collection 93:99. The collection was supposed to be released in mid-October, but was pushed to November 2, 1999. The DVD release was to also include an accompanying compact disc with the audio to the videos as a dual-disc Greatest hits album, but was cancelled and the release only included a DVD. The original plan was to have the release coincide with the 1999 world tour which Madonna mentioned in an interview with Larry King the same year. This was also cancelled and postponed until 2001, Madonna instead releasing an audio greatest hits collection GHV2
and embarked on the Drowned World Tour
that same year.
commented: "Madonna, the pop icon of the 20th century, remains at the forefront of self-promotion and marketing with the release of her music video compilation on VCD format. The collection shows that she is still able to maintain her relevance to the nasty world of music and she is still the queen of re-invention." Jay Webb from The Dallas Morning News
felt that the videos on the collection showed "Madonna's true artistic self" but added that such artistic phase was incompletely catalogued in the collection. Jeremy Kinser from The Advocate
gave the collection a positive review, complimenting "the showcase of such classic and artistic videos". He listed "Ray of Light", "Bad Girl" and "Take a Bow" as the high-points of the collection, while the inclusion of "Fever" and "Human Nature" was criticized. Jose Promis from Allmovie felt that "[t]he decision to include virtual non-hits such as 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore' over smashes such as 'You'll See' or 'I'll Remember' is bewildering, making this collection a decidedly mixed bag."
s Top Music Videos chart on December 4, 1999 and the second week it moved 23 places to 13. The next week it reached a peak of eight on the chart, remaining at the position for three additional weeks. Video Collection reached the peak of eight again on the Billboard issue dated February 5, 2000. It was present on the Music Video chart for a total of 32 weeks. On November 13, 2008, the DVD was certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) for shipment of 100,000 copies. It was also certified platinum in Argentina by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers
(CAPIF) for shipment of 15,000 copies, as well as gold in Brazil by the Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos
(ABPD) for shipment of 25,000 copies. After ten weeks of staying at the top of the Danish Top 10 DVD chart, Video Collection made a re-entry on the chart at five, on February 14, 2001.
. R.S. Murthy from New Straits Times said that "this boxed set offers Madonna fans and the Madonna initiates a very good collection of her videos, and helps them understand the wonder that Madonna is." Jeremy Jennings from the St. Paul Pioneer Press
listed the box set as one of the most promising collection in his list of "Best Fall CDs" for 2000. Robin Givhan from The Washington Post
called the collection "A veritable homage to the many faces of Madonna, from her current ghetto cowboy incarnation to her old boy-toy persona, the collection featured duded-up music videos and many pictures—a reminder of Madonna as the queen of re-invention."
, VCD
(Asia only) and DVD
. A special limited edition karaoke VCD was also released with the same tracklist. This VCD showed the lyrics of the song on the video, and the user was able to mute the right audio channel, which contained the full vocal version of the song, or the left audio channel, which contained the instrumental version of the song.
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
. Released by Warner Music Vision on November 2, 1999, it contained the music video of Madonna's singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
released between 1993 to 1999. Originally, the collection was titled The Video Collection 92–99, and had included the 1992 hit "Erotica
Erotica (song)
"Erotica" is the lead single from American singer-songwriter Madonna's fifth studio album, Erotica . The single was released in October 1992 by Maverick Records, and later included on her greatest hits albums GHV2 and Celebration...
", but was omitted due to the explicit sexual content in the video; instead the 1998 song "The Power of Good-Bye
The Power of Good-Bye
"The Power of Good-Bye" is a song written by American singer Madonna and Rick Nowels for Madonna's seventh album Ray of Light . It was produced by Madonna, William Orbit and Patrick Leonard, and received a positive reception from music critics...
" was added. The videos in the collection were selected personally by Madonna, who felt the 14 videos to be her best work.
After its release, the collection was critically appreciated, with one group of reviewers noting the artistic capabilities of Madonna while the others noting her ability to re-invent her image from one video to another. The Video Collection 93:99 reached a peak of eight on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Top Music Video sales chart. A box set titled The Ultimate Collection was released in 2000, which contained The Video Collection 93:99 and The Immaculate Collection
The Immaculate Collection (video)
The Immaculate Collection is the first commercially released greatest videos compilation by singer Madonna. Released by Warner Music Vision on November 13, 1990 to accompany the audio CD, it contained hits spanning 1983-1990. The collection won "Best Long Form Video" category at the 1991 MTV Video...
videos. In 2008, The Video Collection 93:99 was certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) for shipment of 100,000 copies across United States.
Background
On September 2, 1999, Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
announced the release of the video album, then titled as The Video Collection 92–99. Released in VHS and DVD, the collection featured 14 videos, including "Drowned World/Substitute for Love
Drowned World/Substitute for Love
"Drowned World/Substitute for Love" is a pop song written by American singer Madonna, William Orbit, Rod McKuen, Anita Kerr and David Collins for Madonna's seventh album Ray of Light . It was produced by Madonna and William Orbit, and received a positive reception from music critics...
", which was not released in the United States as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, hence was not commercially available prior to the release of Video Collection. The videos in the collection was selected personally by Madonna, who felt the 14 videos to be her best work. The collection had included the 1992 song "Erotica
Erotica (song)
"Erotica" is the lead single from American singer-songwriter Madonna's fifth studio album, Erotica . The single was released in October 1992 by Maverick Records, and later included on her greatest hits albums GHV2 and Celebration...
", but it was later omitted due to the sexual content present in the music video; instead the song "The Power of Good-Bye
The Power of Good-Bye
"The Power of Good-Bye" is a song written by American singer Madonna and Rick Nowels for Madonna's seventh album Ray of Light . It was produced by Madonna, William Orbit and Patrick Leonard, and received a positive reception from music critics...
" was added and the collection was renamed as The Video Collection 93:99. The collection was supposed to be released in mid-October, but was pushed to November 2, 1999. The DVD release was to also include an accompanying compact disc with the audio to the videos as a dual-disc Greatest hits album, but was cancelled and the release only included a DVD. The original plan was to have the release coincide with the 1999 world tour which Madonna mentioned in an interview with Larry King the same year. This was also cancelled and postponed until 2001, Madonna instead releasing an audio greatest hits collection GHV2
GHV2
GHV2 is the second greatest hits compilation album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 2001, by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. It contains the most popular songs from the 1990s up until 2001. It is the follow-up to the 1990 release, The...
and embarked on the Drowned World Tour
Drowned World Tour
The Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993...
that same year.
Critical response
Heather Phares from Allmusic gave it five out of five stars and said: "Madonna's Video Collection: 1993-1999 adds to her status as one of the best represented artists on DVD. [...] Though it doesn't offer much in the way of DVD-specific features, the artistry of directors like Mark Romanek, Stephane Sedaoui, David Fincher, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, as well as Madonna herself, is on full display with videos like 'Take a Bow', 'Bedtime Story', 'Human Nature', 'Frozen', and 'Ray of Light'. All in all, it's a worthwhile collection of memorable videos from one of pop's trendsetters." Bryan Chin from University Wire commented "Some people really dislike the Madonna of the '90s. 'Oh, she got so slutty!, they quibble. 'She doesn't have the same kind of cultural impact that she had in the '80s,' they whine. Obviously, these people haven't been paying much attention. With the recent release of The Video Collection 93:99, however, those naysayers are certain to realize what they've been missing. These videos have always been the perfect outlet to chronicle Madonna's smorgasbord of personas." Francis Dass from New Straits TimesNew Straits Times
The New Straits Times is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print , having been founded as The Straits Times in 1845, and was reestablished as the "New Straits Times" in 1965. The paper served as Malaysia's only broadsheet format English...
commented: "Madonna, the pop icon of the 20th century, remains at the forefront of self-promotion and marketing with the release of her music video compilation on VCD format. The collection shows that she is still able to maintain her relevance to the nasty world of music and she is still the queen of re-invention." Jay Webb from The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
felt that the videos on the collection showed "Madonna's true artistic self" but added that such artistic phase was incompletely catalogued in the collection. Jeremy Kinser from The Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
gave the collection a positive review, complimenting "the showcase of such classic and artistic videos". He listed "Ray of Light", "Bad Girl" and "Take a Bow" as the high-points of the collection, while the inclusion of "Fever" and "Human Nature" was criticized. Jose Promis from Allmovie felt that "[t]he decision to include virtual non-hits such as 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore' over smashes such as 'You'll See' or 'I'll Remember' is bewildering, making this collection a decidedly mixed bag."
Chart performance
The collection debuted at 36 on BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Top Music Videos chart on December 4, 1999 and the second week it moved 23 places to 13. The next week it reached a peak of eight on the chart, remaining at the position for three additional weeks. Video Collection reached the peak of eight again on the Billboard issue dated February 5, 2000. It was present on the Music Video chart for a total of 32 weeks. On November 13, 2008, the DVD was certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) for shipment of 100,000 copies. It was also certified platinum in Argentina by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers
Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers
The Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers is an Argentine organization member of the IFPI, which represents the music industry in the country. It is a nonprofit organization integrated by multinational and independent record labels....
(CAPIF) for shipment of 15,000 copies, as well as gold in Brazil by the Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos
Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos
The Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos is an official representative body of the record labels in the Brazilian phonographic market.- About :...
(ABPD) for shipment of 25,000 copies. After ten weeks of staying at the top of the Danish Top 10 DVD chart, Video Collection made a re-entry on the chart at five, on February 14, 2001.
The Ultimate Collection
On September 18, 2000, a box set titled The Ultimate Collection was released, which contained The Video Collection 93:99 and The Immaculate CollectionThe Immaculate Collection (video)
The Immaculate Collection is the first commercially released greatest videos compilation by singer Madonna. Released by Warner Music Vision on November 13, 1990 to accompany the audio CD, it contained hits spanning 1983-1990. The collection won "Best Long Form Video" category at the 1991 MTV Video...
. R.S. Murthy from New Straits Times said that "this boxed set offers Madonna fans and the Madonna initiates a very good collection of her videos, and helps them understand the wonder that Madonna is." Jeremy Jennings from the St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul Pioneer Press
The St. Paul Pioneer Press is a newspaper based in St. Paul, Minnesota, primarily serving the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the eastern metro region, including Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington counties, along with western Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota and Anoka County,...
listed the box set as one of the most promising collection in his list of "Best Fall CDs" for 2000. Robin Givhan from The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
called the collection "A veritable homage to the many faces of Madonna, from her current ghetto cowboy incarnation to her old boy-toy persona, the collection featured duded-up music videos and many pictures—a reminder of Madonna as the queen of re-invention."
Track listing and formats
Formats
The collection was released on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
, VCD
VCD
VCD is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:* VCD Athletic, semi-professional football team* Video CD* Voice command device* Value change dump * Vocal cord dysfunction* Visual Communication and Design...
(Asia only) and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. A special limited edition karaoke VCD was also released with the same tracklist. This VCD showed the lyrics of the song on the video, and the user was able to mute the right audio channel, which contained the full vocal version of the song, or the left audio channel, which contained the instrumental version of the song.