Destiny's Child - The Platinum's On The Wall DVD

With their sleek, cyber R&B sounds and lyrical/video world of cars, money, shopping, boys and sex, Texas' Destiny's Child hardly broke any new ground. However, The Platinum's on the Wall captures them at their career height, and proves no one was doing this stuff with more grandeur, sass and ice-cool efficiency. To paraphrase one commentator in 2001: This is Destiny's Child's world, the rest of us are just living in it. Beginning with their first, 1997 hit, the slow-burning, teasing "No, No, No" (Part 1) including the foxy trot of "Bills, Bills Bills"--an attack on... backsliding homeboys as withering as TLC's "No Scrubs"--this collection culminates in their irresistibly over-the-top performance of "Independent Women Part 1" at the Brits 2001, in which their set, gold lamé outfits and stage entrance made Cleopatra seem like a minor member of a bicycling monarchy in the lavishness stakes. Featuring costume changes on an almost frame-by-frame basis, these videos are certainly lavish also, though the group are seen to best advantage on the likes of "Say My Name" where Beyonce Knowles, the group's leader and true star, gets to show off her persona a little. Disappointingly, the extra "biography" feature here is not a steamy account of their rapid rise and frequent personnel changes but a dreary, text-only account of their numerous TV appearances and platinum sales figures. --David Stubbs [show more]

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