A Fincher video for "Bad Girl" also opens the second collection, covering the years 1993 to 1999, with Mark Romanek's treatment for "Rain" the standout offering from the first eight songs. Despite these early highlights, however, there is no denying the degree to which the videos get noticeably better overall when good songs are the driving force in the collection's second half, comprising five tracks from the Ray of Light album and the Austin Powers theme "Beautiful Stranger". Compared to the lightweight covers of "Fever" and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore", the pseudo-surrealism of "Bedtime Story", and flimsy flirtation with S&M in "Human Nature" these later videos are marked improvements. Although the Thomas Crown Affair eroticism of "The Power of Goodbye" already seems a little dated, the morphing black witch of "Frozen" and life on speed of "Ray of Light" are both wonderfully realised. Best of all is the closing moment of "Substitute for Love" when, having survived paparazzi harassment and the harsh, transmogrifying faces of the crowd, Madonna and child conjure a truly arresting moment of private joy and vindication. Nowhere is her ability to take the potentially embarrassing and make it both playful and moving more evident. --Steve Napleton