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A Film About Jimi Hendrix
Hendrix fans have an insatiable appetite for anything the guitar virtuoso ever
created, a point reinforced by the constant reissuing and repackaging of his
material. This 1973 documentary, made three years after his death, is a collage
of interviews with contemporaries like Mick Jagger, an almost unrecognizable
Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, along with ex-girlfriends and family,
inter-spliced with performances from Monterey, Isle of Wight and Woodstock.
Footage from an appearance on The Dick Cavett Show, featuring a shy, fidgety
Hendrix, stands in magnificent contrast to the ferocious musician featured in
the concert tracks, and adds perspective on the dichotomy of his legend. The
concert footage is priceless, the guitar work is legendary, and worth the
viewing. This is a decent documentary but not overwhelming, as it does look and
feel dated (Duh – it was shot in ‘73). The releases on DVD of the festivals he
played might be of more interest to fans, but this is certainly worth a viewing.
After the Fire: Live at Greenbelt
Don’t recognize the name? Do the words “Der Kommissar” mean anything to you?
Here’s hoping so, since that’s the only song After the Fire ever saw success
with in the United States…at least partially because the song didn’t become an
international success until after the band had broken up! The line-up of the
band featured in this 2004 concert, filmed at the Greenbelt Arts Festival in the
UK, doesn’t consist of all original members; in fact, the lead singer here is
one Keith Smith, who makes jokes as to how he was in diapers when some of the
songs were originally released and that the audience probably knows the songs
better than he does. He sounds fine, and, honestly, most Americans wouldn’t know
he wasn’t the original singer, anyway. (The drummer, however, is a dead giveaway
as a new bloke in the band, since he looks like he’s still in his teens.) The
second half of the show, which includes the band’s big hit as well as “Laser
Love” and “Starflight,” is better than the first, during which ATF sound like
they’re still getting their sea legs, but the first half does include “Dancing
in the Shadows” and their instrumental, “1980-F.” It’s unlikely this DVD will
sell more than a handful of copies, but if you still prefer ‘80s music to the
current crop of radio fare, consider a rental.
The Black Crowes: Freak N' Roll... Into the Fog
Stuffing the small Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco last summer for five
consecutive sold-out dates, “one of the last of the classic rock bands”
(according to SF Chronicle’s Joel Selvin) the Black Crowes spread their wings
and soared through a 2 ½ hour set of career-spanning greatest hits, deep album
tracks, and a couple of well-thought covers. Shot in brilliant hi-def, Freak
N’ Roll…Into the Fog is the band’s first-ever concert DVD and should stand
tall as a glowing representation of what these Crowes are capable of when they
hit the stage. Dubbed a reunion tour, with original drummer Steve Gorman and
almost-original guitarist Marc Ford finally back in the mix, the brothers
Robinson tripped through a jovial, free-spirited – even if slightly stoned –
night of guitar anthems (“Sting Me,” “Jealous Again,” “Remedy”), acoustic
numbers (“She Talks to Angels” and “Sunday Night Buttermilk Waltz”), and a
scorching cover of the Band’s “The Night They Drove Ol’ Dixie Down.” Believe it
or not, 19 titles can take two and a half hours to play when you break into
10-minute full-band jams within every third song. It’s a damn shame that, while
the Black Crowes’ last couple albums haven’t held a candle to their first two,
bands with this creative ability and vintage rock n’ roll approach have been
cast out of any readily-accessible medium. The kids will never know what they
missed.
Blind Faith: London, Hyde Park - 1969
There is beauty in imperfection. The DVD to document Blind Faith’s first show, which occurred in front of a bazillion people (okay, maybe 100,000) is interestingly imperfect. The video has a grainy 8-millimeter feel to it and the band, cramped on a very tiny stage, looks a little uncomfortable in delivering their 47-minute set. Steve Winwood’s voice is absolutely stretched to the limit when he belts out the high notes on each and every song. Eric Clapton looks rigid as he concentrates on his guitar playing and Ginger Baker, crazy Ginger Baker, always looks like he is enjoying himself. The highlight of the set is the bluesy cover version of the Stones’ “Under My Thumb.” The first ten minutes of the disc sets up how each member came to join Blind Faith and features some archived footage of brief conversations with Winwood, Baker and Clapton (separately). Bassist Rick Grech’s background in the band the Family is also referenced. Promotional videos from Traffic, Cream and the Spencer Davis Group are the featured extras. A genealogy chart, photo gallery and limited discography are also included. This is an interesting release but, rock historians and diehards will enjoy it the most.
Dickey Betts & Great Southern: Back Where It All Begins - Live at the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame & Museum
In 2000, Dickey Betts was removed from the Allman Brothers band because of a
rift with Greg Allman. Some reported it as creative differences while other
sources indicated the dismissal was about Betts’ addiction problems. The split
appears to be final (although you can never say never in the music business), so
while Greg leads the Allman Brothers, Betts has re-formed his own band and
soldiered on. Unfortunately, “Back Where It All Begins” just doesn’t live up to
the reputation that Betts has constructed over the last 37 years. His voice,
never the best, sounds beaten up, and Mike Kach doesn’t have the vocal chops to
match Allman’s when called upon. There is some decent musicianship, here as
Betts leads his band through several Allman classics like “Jessica” and
“Ramblin’ Man,” but it all seems sterile and pedestrian. Flashes of the legend
appear here and there, but not enough to make a casual fan check it out. This
DVD falls vastly short of essential live Allman recordings like 1971’s At the
Fillmore East and 1995’s Second Set. Only diehard Allman/Betts
archivists will enjoy this or need it in their collection.
Kate Bush: Under Review
The “Under Review” series goes somewhat modern, putting the career of a strange
little girl named Kate Bush under the microscope, or at least the first half of
her career, anyway. The analysis of her music is spot-on, especially the comment
about Peter Gabriel’s influence on Bush’s songwriting into a more
groove-oriented approach (“The Dreaming,” “Running up That Hill”), though sadly
there is no audio or video from “Games without Frontiers,” the song that brought
Bush and Gabriel together. What’s baffling, however, is the amount of time they
spend on her admittedly weaker early albums Lionheart and Never for
Ever, while practically glossing over Hounds of Love, Bush’s
masterwork. In fact, scant mention is made of any song that was not a single,
which is tragic when something as fascinating as “The Ninth Wave” (side two of Hounds of Love) is sitting out there begging to be dissected. Bush’s
three albums for Columbia, The Sensual World, The Red Shoes and Aerial, get even shorter shrift; Bush’s last semi-hit, “Love and Anger,”
isn’t even discussed, and the big-name collaborators on The Red Shoes (Clapton, Prince) are all but ignored. Still, there are some very cool live
performances that you’ve likely never seen, and anytime you talk about Kate
Bush, it can’t help but be interesting.
Chris & Rich Robinson: Brothers of a Feather - Live at the Roxy
Amassed from three sold-out shows at the Roxy in L.A. earlier this year, “Brothers of a Feather”displays Black Crowes founders Chris and Rich Robinson very much in their natural habitat. A front porch-like stage setting, complete with table (for beers), chairs, and an oft-referred-to coat rack, brings the casual best out of these hippy sibs as they breeze through a career’s worth of obscure Crowes tracks, unreleased artifacts, and well-disguised covers. Twenty songs over nearly two hours of tape, with splicing from three nights (which isn’t always so seamless, like when Rich removes his coat at the end of the opener “Horsehead,” only to have it magically back on for “Cursed Diamond”). A few new originals get propped up, including a Dylan-ish “Someday Past the Sunset” and a bluesy, slide-guitar number called “Magic Rooster Blues.” They forego the big, popular Crowes hits, opting instead for quieter, more subtle material. Chris, looking as skuzzy and unkempt as ever, strums awkwardly on a few cuts, including “Over the Hill” by Scottish folk singer John Martyn, one of many hard-to-identify covers. But when they really want to bring it, the Robinsons succeed wildly. “Better When You’re Not Alone,” with a really cool harmony vocal by Rich, and the catchy sing-along “Welcome to the Goodtimes,” featuring a nifty saxophone part and spot-on background vocals by two ladies, are the project’s highlights. A rustic, bare-bones version of “Jealous Again,” also finding Rich’s vocal contributions, winds up the DVD in signature fashion.
Cutting Crew: Live at Full House
I never understood why Cutting Crew never got much respect (though I’m sure many stand ready to explain it to me); I always thought their debut album, Broadcast, was pretty solid. At the very least, it contained four really strong pop/rock songs: “Any Colour,” “One for the Mockingbird,” “I’ve Been in Love Before,” and their number-one hit, “(I Just) Died in Your Arms.” It’s a damned shame about that second album bombing…but don’t fret, this live performance – taken from the German television series, “Full House Rock Show” – focuses strictly on their debut. In addition to the aforementioned tracks, we also get renditions of “Fear of Falling” and “Sahara.” The band’s guitarist, Kevin Scott MacMichael, might not be 100% on target with his harmonies, but lead singer Nick van Eede is in fine form. There’s a bonus interview with the pair that’s included as a special feature, but since it’s a German program, every time they speak in English, it’s drowned out by a voice translating their comments into German, requiring you to place subtitles on the screen if you want to have any idea what they’re saying. Weird.
Detention Lounge, Vol. 1
Despite countless flips through Roget’s Thesaurus to come up with a better description of the contents of this DVD, the phrase “fucking excruciating” remains at the forefront when it comes to properly summing up “Detention Lounge.” Although it’s emblazoned with a front-cover warning which declares that “this DVD contains REAL HARDCORE HUMOR,” this series – which purportedly draws creative inspiration from “Hee-Haw” – fails miserably in its attempts to be funny. While the NYC heavy metal/hardcore scenesters no doubt find it hysterical to watch stalwarts like Jesus Knevil, Purple Pam, and Sun Lord screw around on camera, it’s inconceivable that anyone else could endure the full 123-minute running time of this disc without being drunk, high, or in a coma. The ostensible jokes come from the “The Louder You Yell the Line, The Funnier It Is” School of Comedy, with the sketches generally not even up to the standards of “Mad TV.” The music’s decent enough as hardcore goes, and Pam appears to be almost as hot as she was in the ‘80s – when she worked at a record store I used to frequent in Norfolk, VA, called the Music Man – but the god-awful material surrounding both her and the tunes makes it impossible to recommend to anyone. If you want to hear the songs, go to MySpace, but avoid picking up this DVD at all cost.
Duran Duran: Live From London
Filmed last year in London’s Wembley Stadium in front of what appears to be
about 400,000 people, “Duran Duran: Live from London” is easily the best live
video you’re going to find from the band, thankfully lacking the silly subplot
that made “Into the Arena” so embarrassing. The band sounds great (singer Simon
LeBon hasn’t lost an ounce of his voice), and they’re clearly having a great
time playing together again. The set wisely sticks close to the track listing
from their “Greatest” compilation, with a few choice album tracks thrown in for
the diehards (“New Religion,” “Night Boat,” and “The Chauffeur”). The highlight
of the set has to be the incendiary performance of “Careless Memories,” backed
by a hilarious anime-inspired video where the band uses their instruments to
kill ninjas. The DVD is short on extras, but one nifty bit includes two
commentaries from each member of the band. Our only complaint: how could they
leave off “Nice,” the best song from their last album?
Erasure: The Erasure Show - Live in Cologne
Recorded this past March in Cologne, Germany – which seems to be the place to
shoot a live video these days, as Rush just released a video of a show in
Frankfurt – this concert video is actually what you’d expect from an Erasure
show. Singer Andy Bell – who sounds great, but looks like hell – changes
costumes a lot (our favorite is the studded Glen Campbell throwback), while
multi-instrumentalist Vince Clarke stoically strums his guitar and pecks at his
keyboards. Backed by two fabulous female singers, the set is jam packed with
killer song after killer song, and features interviews with the band and three
promotional videos from their latest album Nightbird. Get it for your
girlfriend, and don’t be surprised to find yourself singing along.
Elvis: The Ed Sullivan Shows
Never one to pass up on the chance to criticize a terrible DVD release, this three-disc box set is downright awful. So awful, in fact, that the boys over at Image should be ashamed to say they produced this worthless piece of crap. At first sight, “Elvis: The Ed Sullivan Shows” is quite intimidating. It comes in a decently-sized cardboard box and includes three discs worth of material. Unfortunately, each disc is only an hour long, and contains the entire episode of Elvis’ appearances. Not exactly what fans are expecting when they purchase an Elvis DVD, but it definitely makes for some great nostalgia. The episodes, however, haven’t been re-mastered, and most of the musical performances are ruined by the dark blacks bleeding through. To make matters worse, of the three appearances that Elvis made on the show, he only sings a total of eight songs. Classic hits like “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Hound Dog” and “Love Me Tender” (meant to promote his first film) are performed on each episode, and there’s absolutely no point in watching them multiple times when they’re almost identical. Surely a King deserves better. ~Jason Zingale
The Farm: Back Together Now - Live
The Farm were just slightly more than a footnote within the British alternative music scene of the early ‘90s…but, to be fair, this is from the American perspective. On these shores, the video for “All Together Now” got a lot of MTV play, but “Groovy Train” was mostly a radio hit, and even though they actually put out three albums, the first was the only one to make even a ripple here. So you can imagine it’s not a huge crowd here in the U.S. that’ll be rushing to stores to pick up this, a document of the band’s first show in ten years, recorded at the Brixton Academy. Still, if you remember the Farm fondly, you’ll be pleased to hear that they sound a damned sight better than a lot of their peers who’ve been doing reunion gigs. (Ahem…I’m thinking of you lot, Happy Mondays.) Mind you, it’s not a long DVD…eight songs from Brixton, plus an additional four recorded in the rehearsal rooms at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts…but it’s a well-performed one, with the majority of the songs coming from the band’s debut, Spartacus. (We do, however, get a pair of numbers from their sophomore effort, Love See No Colour, along with a cover of Boyce and Hart’s “Stepping Stone.”) Pity, however, that they couldn’t pay anyone to edit the text on the back of the box; it mistakenly identifies “All Together Now” as “Altogether Now” and “Sweet Inspiration” as “Sweet Exploration."
Green on Red: Valley Fever - Live at the Rialto
The Los-Angeles-by-way-of-Tucson band Green on Red released their debut (a self-titled EP) in 1982, but it wasn’t until 1985 – when guitarist Chuck Prophet joined their ranks and the group released their Gas Food Lodging album – that they really hit their stride. Although they were mostly ignored in the States, they had a nice-sized following in the UK; still, general indifference in their native land probably led as much to their eventual disintegration (after 1992’s Too Much Fun) as anything else. (Besides, by that point, they were little more than a duo: Prophet and lead singer/guitarist Dan Stuart.) In 2005, the original lineup of Green on Red reunited to play what was intended to be a one-off date in Tucson, dedicating their performance to their late drummer, Alex “Big Dog” MacNicol…and if you’re a fan of today’s Americana sound and you aren’t familiar with Green on Red, you damned well ought to be, and here’s the perfect place to start. You can hear the origins of Son Volt, Wilco, Whiskeytown, and the Drive-By Truckers echoing through many of the selections on this DVD. The rating’s a little low because, truth be told, Green on Red aren’t in possession of the most electrifying stage presence you’ve ever seen; the music, however, is fantastic…even if it’s a little amusing to see Stuart have to rely on a lyric sheet for many of the songs. By the way, this one-off date turned into a full-fledged reunion; Green on Red are heading out on tour once again…so don’t miss ‘em if they come to your town.
Guns 'n Roses: The DVD Collector's Box
Don’t let the name fool you, like it did us: this is not a collection of the band’s videos. Instead, this two-disc set is as unauthorized as you can get, to the point where they didn’t even license Guns ‘n Roses’ songs for backdrop. Heck, it doesn’t appear that they could even use the album cover artwork. The “recent” interviews (one disc is dated 2003, the other 2004) are of various players and hangers-on of the Los Angeles rock scene, but the clips of the band themselves are nearly 20 years old, and the amateurish DVD artwork would make a porn publisher blush. In fact, if the narrator wasn’t a British woman, the whole thing would look and sound like a high student’s final exam. Come on, Axl: finish Chinese Democracy so stuff like this will quit clogging the pipeline.
Journey: Live in Houston 1981, The Escape Tour
There’s a certain sweetness to this, a naiveté to it all; once upon a time, this
band, and this show, defined rock & roll, and how to put on a rock show. It all
seems so silly now, from Jonathan Cain’s sleeveless zebra top to Steve Perry’s
coat with tails over a yellow shirt, but in fairness to Journey, they picked the
perfect moment to roll the cameras. The band was at the height of its powers at
the time, and was just about the biggest band in the world besides the Police.
Anyone who watched MTV regularly back in the day knows a lot of these
performances – the show was actually shot for MTV – as “Open Arms,” “Who’s
Crying Now” and “Stone in Love” were in power rotation for what seemed like
three years. Perry could certainly wail in concert, though Randy Jackson (who,
ironically, played bass for Journey during the Raised on Radio days)
would rightfully say that his performance here is pitchy. And no concert in 1981
would be a concert without solos, and this disc sports three of ‘em, baby
(keyboardist Cain, drummer Steve Smith, and guitarist Neal Schon). There is
truth in advertising here, though: watch this DVD, and you will indeed escape.
Frankie Laine: That Lucky Old Sun
The legend of Frankie Laine has slightly diminished over time, mostly because it’s been almost 40 years since his last Top 40 hit. But it shouldn’t be forgotten that Laine, who passed away in February 2007 at the age of 93, actually had more than 60 Top 40 hits in his career. In the field of pop music interpretation, the man was a musical force to be reckoned with, and he could bounce back and forth between jazz, country, rhythm and blues and popular standards without blinking an eye. In this 1976 performance, recorded in Sheffield, England, as a special for the BBC, Laine runs through 12 songs, including some of his biggest hits: “Jealousy,” “Dream A Little Dream of Me,” “Your Cheating Heart,” “Lord, You Gave Me A Mountain” and “Jezebel.” Of course, he also does his signature song – the theme for “Rawhide” – though, surprisingly, it’s the third song in the set. (If he’d been in the States, you can bet that it would’ve been the closing number.) Unfortunately, however, there are several moments of pure schmaltz, such as his version of the theme to “Love Story” and a cover of Morris Albert’s “Feelings.” Despite Laine being in fine voice throughout, it feels more like a nightclub act than a proper concert. If this is the only video artifact of Frankie Laine in a live setting, more’s the pity.
Limp Bizkit: Greatest Videoz
To the band’s credit, Limp Bizkit’s songs are a lot more fun to watch than they
are simply to listen to. Fred Durst’s skills as a director literally evolve
before your eyes, from the hip hop cribbing of “Faith” (its low-angle slo-mo
shots are straight outta Beastie Boys’ “So Whatcha Want”), to the “Fight
Club”/”Heavy Metal” weirdness of “Boiler.” In between are lots of kids moshing
and cameo after cameo (Ben Stiller, Eminem, Bill Patxon, Snoop and Dre, Halle
Berry, and Pauly Shore shows up twice). The best of the bunch has to be “Break
Stuff,” where Durst shares the camera with some fans (and his mentor, Jonathan
Davis) and lets them sing the words. The pundits at VH-1 were right about one
thing, though: “Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle)” is just awesomely bad as is its
video.
Live 8
If people complained because some major bands were left out in the cold on last
year’s Live Aid DVD set – Tears For Fears and a reunited Led Zeppelin, to name a
couple – then this four-disc set, culled from the nine Live8 concerts this past
July, is sure to leave out someone’s favorite song. In fairness to the people
who assembled the final track listing, they did a commendable job in covering
all of the big bands but leaving room for a few unknowns. Highlights include
Coldplay’s cover of the Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” with Richard Ashcroft
on lead vocals, Will Smith leading the entire city of Philadelphia through the
theme to “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” and a surprisingly solid set from a
reunited Pink Floyd. The young turks get their moments in the sun as well, with
blistering performances from Muse, Stereophonics, and Jet. Overall, the set is a
well balanced sampling of the compartmentalized music scene of 2005, and hey,
the proceeds will keep some kids from dying, so that’s cool.
Los Straitjackets: In Concert
When alien civilizations travel here millions of years from now to learn what they can about our ancient society, they will surely be perplexed by “Los Straitjackets in Concert!,” the band’s first concert video. A group of 40-something men wearing black clothes, Mexican wrestling masks – God help bassist Pete Curry if he ever actually had to step in the ring wearing one of those things – and playing surf guitar instrumentals? They won’t make any more sense then than they do now, but thank goodness for them just the same. This show, recorded at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, has everything you can expect from a Los Straitjackets show (though the world-famous Pontani Sisters are sadly absent), from the hokey choreography to the all-Spanish-then-accent-free-English between-song banter. The problem is that a couple of the cameras are constantly out of focus, and the Straitjackets, talented musicians all, will not inspire their fans to do more than nod their heads politely while they’re playing. Still, guitarists Danny Amis and Eddie Angel put on a surf guitar clinic here, and man, is it sweet.
Meat Loaf: Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Beware of old Meat Loaf! Bat Out of Hell was a great album, but watching
Mr. Loaf live is not a pretty sight. Die-hard Meat Loaf fans will enjoy this one
-- the rest of you can take a pass.
Modus Operandi: Missing Pages Live at Mr. Small's
Directed flawlessly by Jimm Needle, this DVD showcases Pittsburgh, PA band Missing Pages in a full concert recorded at local club Mr. Small’s Funhouse in 2005. The band plays a solid set of likable rock, but what really puts this over the top for Missing Pages fans is the wealth of extras: Needle bent over backward to throw in making-of featurettes, a music video for “Weekend in L.A.,” a detailed video biography of the group, and much, much more. This is about as classy as you can get if you’re a small-time band and get lucky enough to even have someone want to direct a DVD for you. There’s even a 5.1 audio mix here as well. How can you lose? You can’t.
New Order: A Collection
This two-disc collection pairs a jumpy 1993 documentary on Manchester’s finest
with a 2005 video compilation, and the end result is unfortunately redundant.
The documentary, “New Order Story,” combines footage from a staged game show
with some candid interviews with the band members and various New Order
personnel (Factory Records founder Tony Wilson gets a considerable amount of
airtime, which is shocking given the fallout between him and the band), with a
breathy, melodramatic narration weaving in and out. It’s all cut at a pretty
quick clip, and while there are lots of people willing to talk about New Order,
few of them say anything revealing. Perhaps the most damning aspect of this set
is that 13 of the band’s videos show up on both discs, which feels like
overkill, no matter what assorted goodies each disc has that the other doesn’t.
But we’ll cut them some slack in that two of those videos are the
machine-gun-edited “Bizarre Love Triangle” and the fantastic heavy metal spoof
“Touched by the Hand of God.” Of the new videos that are assembled on “A
Collection,” our favorite has to be “Crystal,” where a group of twentysomethings
lip synch the song on a stage, and the name of their fake band is... the
Killers. Huh.
New York Dolls: All Dolled Up
The profile of the New York Dolls have never been higher, thanks to the recent
documentary about the band’s late bassist, Arthur “Killer” Kane, as well as
original members David Johansen and Syl Sylvain reviving the group to release a
new album. If you caught “New York Doll” (the aforementioned doc) and you’re
looking for more of the band’s story, “All Dolled Up” is just what the doctor
ordered. Photographer Bob Gruen and his wife, Nadya, purchased a video recorder
in the early ‘70s (which was a hell of an investment, if you recall how much
they cost back then) and, for about three years, followed the Dolls around. They
ended up with FORTY HOURS of footage, and, belatedly, Gruen has finally gotten
around to compiling the best bits for this DVD and had it mixed into 5.1
surround sound. The set includes twelve full-length song performances, bits and
pieces of others, commentary tracks from Gruen as well as Johansen and Sylvain,
and an interview with Gruen done by another New York punk legend, “Handsome”
Dick Manitoba. The quality of the footage varies, but the content is
consistently invaluable for fans of the burgeoning New York music scene of the
‘70s, where the Dolls were taking glam and evolving it into punk. Watch their
legend unfold before your very eyes.
Nirvana: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!
It took 12 years, but “Live! Tonight! Sold Out!” finally, thankfully, makes its debut on DVD. The video splices together concert footage of the band, varying from a tiny Seattle club in 1991 to a massive Brazilian festival in 1993 (by then, Kurt Cobain was wearing dresses, and Dave Grohl played drums wearing a bra), with various TV footage from MTV and European talk shows sprinkled throughout. It serves as a fascinating historical document on just how influential Nirvana were in shaping the future of modern rock, for better and for worse (the band repeatedly stresses how they never intended, or wanted, to be superstars). The best bit, by a country mile, is when the band absolutely takes the piss out of performing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on the UK show “Top of the Pops.” The band isn’t remotely pretending to be playing along with the taped track, and Cobain sings the song in the style of Ian Curtis. Awesome.
O-Genio: Ray Charles Live in Brazil, 1963
This amazing DVD covers two Ray Charles performances in Brazil from 1963. Every
fan will want to see this footage of a 33-year-old Ray Charles singing some of
his greatest hits like “What I’d Say” and “Hit the Road Jack.” The sound quality
isn’t up to modern standards, but it’s good enough to enjoy the music.
The Old Grey Whistle, Volume Three
Given that “The Old Grey Whistle Test” was a staple of British television from 1971 to 1987, it’s probably no real surprise that some of the artists featured on this, the third collection of performances from the series, never made so much as a ripple on the US charts. (Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you…Lindisfarne!) The best bit about the “Test” was that, unlike “Top of the Pops,” they weren’t scared to bring on an artist that didn’t necessarily have the widest commercial appeal, and they didn’t cater to any one specific musical genre. On this set, you’ve got Public Image Ltd. sitting snugly between Tubeway Army and King Crimson, with Supertramp a few tracks back and Howard Jones somewhere ahead. Now that’s diversity…especially when it’s taken into consideration that there are also performances from Jackson Browne, the Jam, Japan, B.B. King, Joe Jackson, the Bangles, and, uh, Half Man Half Biscuit. Also included on the set is commentary from the series’ various presenters, as well as on-camera interviews with past “Test” performers – Roger Daltrey, Rick Wakeman, Bob Geldof, and Roddy Frame among them – about their experiences on the show. As with previous volumes, this is a nice mixture of the familiar and the worthy-of-discovery, so put it in your DVD player and enjoy a bit of musical history.
Pixies: Sell Out
Where most reunion tours are met with cynical indifference (see the Sex Pistols’
Filthy Lucre tour, or any Stones tour from the last 15 years), the music world
jumped for joy when the Pixies announced that they were reforming and hitting
the road. “The Pixies Sell Out” contains footage from eight different shows
around the world, featuring a set at the Eurockéennes Festival in Belfort,
France in its entirety. The band sounds great, and Frank Black’s trademark
scream hasn’t lost an ounce of bite. They’re not terribly fun to watch, however;
guitarist Joey Santiago hardly moves or smiles, but rather plays like a Joeybot,
while the band does not interact with the crowd at all, ever. Still, the crowd
goes apeshit throughout the entire set, so it’s difficult to argue with success.
The best bit is on “Vamos,” where Joeybot plays not his guitar, but his guitar
pedals, for two minutes, while Black, drummer Dave Lowery and bassist Kim Deal
look on and laugh.
Pure '80s: The Ultimate DVD Box
Great idea, poor execution. We get that the people behind the “Pure ‘80s” series are dealing mainly with the top of the pops in every genre, but music video is the one category where they should have dug a little deeper. No one needs to own the videos for Lionel Richie’s “Hello,” Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money” or Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It.” In fact, with the possible exception of Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” and Styx’s “Mr. Roboto” (and that is strictly for their camp factor), the entire second disc, “Video Idols,” is a loss. The “Totally New Wave” disc fares better, including the banned version of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax,” and any video compilation that features Madness and A-ha is a little better because of it. The “Headbangers Rule” disc digs the deepest (Yngwie Malmsteen’s “Heaven Tonight,” for example), though one wonders why there are no vids for Universal bands like Rush, Def Leppard and Guns n’ Roses. There is a killer video compilation to be had from the Universal vaults, but “Pure ‘80s: The Ultimate Box,” sadly, isn’t it.
Queen: The Making of A Night at the Opera
A sort of “Behind the Music” for musicians, the Classic Albums series takes
a look at Queen’s breakthrough album A Night at the Opera, including new
interviews with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor (bassist John
Deacon retired from the business in 1992), along with Joe Perry, Ian Hunter,
“Rolling Stone” editor Anthony DeCurtis, and, well, Nuno Bettencort of Extreme.
May and Taylor do live demonstrations of signature guitar riffs and drum fills,
but the part that will have Queen fans geeking out of their eyeballs is when
producer Roy Thomas Baker breaks down the individual tracks to focus on this
vocal, or that guitar bit. It’s awfully short – 100 minutes, including the bonus
features – but it is filled with enough new, and archived, footage to thrill the
Queen lover in your life.
Queen: Under Review: 1980-1991
In covering the period in Queen’s career that could yield so much debate, the independent analysis (though one critic is admittedly a good friend of the band) compiled for this DVD is surprisingly vanilla. Come on, how come no one laid into Flash Gordon and Hot Space the way those albums deserved? It also would have been nice if the experts had discussed the albums in detail, rather than merely covering the singles. Granted, the band released six albums in this time period, along with ruling Live Aid and dealing with Freddie Mercury’s failing health. Still, a band as dynamic as Queen deserved an analysis of their music equal to the challenge. If Eagle Vision tackles the subject one of these days, check out that instead.
Radiohead: OK Computer - A Classic Album Under Review
Sexy Intellectual has branched off from putting an artist’s entire career under review to focus on one particular album, and you’d think that a discussion about Radiohead’s landmark 1997 album OK Computer would net some fascinating stuff, yes…? Guess again. The narration is painfully dull (bring back the woman that did the Kate Bush and Queen segments, we’re begging you), and the experts brought in to discuss the album all know their stuff, but they’re obscured by weirdo visual effects that are more distracting than eye-catching. As for the claim that the program features rare live performances, well, that’s true, but they come in 20-second spurts, which means the clip ends right as you’re getting into it. The melodic comparisons to Phillip Glass (“Let Down”) and the Beatles’ “Sexy Sadie” (“Karma Police”) were illuminating, but it would have been much more entertaining to hear the band itself talk about the album, the way Brian May and Roger Taylor broke down A Night at the Opera for the Eagle Vision series.
Red Hot & Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter
At long last, the video companion to Red Hot & Blue, the 1990 tribute
album to Cole Porter, makes its DVD debut, packaged with a remastered and
re-sequenced version of the album. The videos are very much of their time, many
of them including the illustrations of legendary New York artist Keith Haring
(who died of AIDS in 1989). Jody Watley and Sinead O’Connor get all dolled up
for their vids, and U2’s pitch-black cover of “Night and Day” (hard to believe
the Edge’s hair was ever that long) was certainly an indicator of the things to
come from them. And check out the directors involved with this: Neil Jordan,
Jonathan Demme, Jim Jarmusch, Mark Pellington, Alex Cox, Wim Wenders and Jean
Baptiste Mandino, to name a few. Lastly, we would be remiss if we did not
acknowledge Lisa Stansfield’s show-stopping performance on “Down in the Depths,”
the album’s highlight. The only reason this does not get five stars is because,
for God knows what reason, the video did not receive the same digital makeover
that the music did. Not cool. But it’s all for charity, so we’ll forgive them.
Rush: Replay X3
Get on your knees, Rush fans, for the Holy Trinity of music videos has
arrived. “Replay X3” contains the concert videos for “Exit…Stage Left” (1981),
“Grace under Pressure” (1985) and “A Show of Hands” (1989), including spiffy
recreations of the tour programs for all three. Guitarist Alex Lifeson even did
some new 5.1 Surround Sound mixes for the DVD, and the set even includes a
previously unavailable CD equivalent for “Grace under Pressure,” thank you very
much. A handful of songs inevitably show up in all three shows (“Tom Sawyer,”
“In the Mood,” “Closer to the Heart”) but the concerts also dig deep into Rush’s
massive catalog, featuring songs like “Witch Hunt,” “The Weapon,” “Manhattan
Project” and “Xanadu.” You would think that the concert videos would improve
with technology and editing savvy, but “A Show of Hands” is arguably the weakest
video of the three. The band is poorly lit, the crowd is scarcely seen, and they
get a bit too clever with the mixing of the live footage with their projection
video. But this is but a small pittance. “Replay X3” is nothing short of Rush
nirvana. But don’t blink, or you’ll miss “SCTV” veteran Joe Flaherty dressed as
a vampire.
Rush: R30 - 30th Anniversary World Tour
This 2-DVD set, which features a September 2004 show in Frankfurt along with a
slew of interviews and live performances from Rush’s vault, may seem like
overkill coming hot on the heels of 2003’s “Rush in Rio,” but the sets have
surprisingly little in common. Sure, there is going to be some inevitable
overlap (“Tom Sawyer,” “The Spirit of Radio,” “2112”), but this set, which
prominently features their covers album Feedback, pulls out gems like
“Animate,” “Between the Wheels,” and “Xanadu.” The second disc contains some big
time dusties, from TV performances of “Finding My Way” and “In the Mood” to the
band’s induction into the Juno Hall of Fame (introduced by Tom Cochrane, no
less). If they make a habit of issuing these kinds of DVD’s every two years
going forward, then they’ll be pushing their luck. For now, though, it’s all
good.
Spanish Fly: Live in Spain
They’re not booing; they’re going, “Louuuuuuu!” Yes, “Laughing” Lou Reed is back
again, this time with a live DVD, recorded in 2004 at the Festival Internacional
de Benicassim FIB, a Heineken-sponsored event in Espańa. Few would describe Reed
as the most exciting of live performers, and, indeed, “Spanish Fly” will not
change that perception. Although it’s a generally fine performance, with a set
list that sprawls across his entire career – from the Velvet Underground’s
“Venus in Furs” to the title track of Reed’s 2000 album, Ecstacy (but
wisely eschewing 2003’s much maligned The Raven) – and closes with his
one true hit, “Walk on the Wild Side,” it drags on occasion. (In no way does
“Romeo Had Juliette” need to be 10-plus minutes long.) C’mon, Lou, isn’t it
about time to slip “I Love You, Suzanne” back into your repertoire to liven
things up?
The Style Council: Live at Full House
The Style Council was formed in 1982 by Paul Weller (guitar, vocals), Mark Talbot (keyboards) and Steve White (drums), and with the exception of 1984’s “My Ever Changing Moods” (their debut US single, and strangely absent from this release), stayed well below the radar for US music buyers, although they enjoyed greater success in Europe. The Style Council featured a jazzy, soulful change from the angry young men bands more popular at the time. Since most of the tracks featured are on the Home and Abroad live CD from the previous year, it’s safe to say that this performance was filmed on a stop in Hamburg for the German “Full House” television series in 1987. The lineup of musicians on this disc, fronted by Weller on guitar and lead vocals and Mark Talbot on keyboards and lead vocals on “Homebreakers,” is better than competent, easily transferring the highly-polished studio sound that set Style Council to the stage. Dee C. Lee, normally on backing harmonies, steps up to the forefront on lead vocals for “Everlasting Love.” There is little in the way of additional features here, just an interview between Weller and “Full House” host Alan Bangs. And unless you are fluent in German, I suggest you pick the “Subtitles English” option before viewing it. The interview is conducted in English but is overdubbed in German, so it gets a little tough to hear who is saying what. This is a solid library addition if you are a fan of Style Council, even if you’re still pissed at Weller for breaking up the Jam.
UB40: Live at Montreux 2002
Eagle Rock has released so many shows from the Montreux Jazz Festival in the last few months that we’re considering adding a “Montreux DVD of the Mont” slot on our Music DVD home page. That is not to say that the sheer ubiquity of the titles should result in listener fatigue. Indeed, this set by UB40 from 2002 is a keeper, with an impressive, comprehensive set list that covers all their U.S. hits (the Neil Diamond cover, the Al Green cover, the Smokey Robinson cover, etc.) and U.K. singles like “If It Happens Again” and “Don’t Break My Heart.” And resist the urge to snark at a show by a band that’s 15 years past its heyday: bands like UB40 can put on a solid live show until they collapse into a pile of dust onstage. The one gripe about the show is that, as a live video, well, it’s awfully fun to listen to, at least. Pop it while cooking dinner: actually watching the band play is a bonus, but by no means essential to the experience.
Brian Wilson Presents Smile
Staggering. This two disc set features the “Behind The Music”-style feature
“Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile,” which is just
packed with interviews with such luminaries as George Martin, Andrew Loog
Oldham, Elvis Costello, Van Dyke Parks and a brutally honest Wilson himself. It
ends with Wilson finally playing Smile in concert last year, and the
scene where Paul McCartney comes backstage to sing his praises is heart
wrenching. The second DVD contains a live performance of Smile recorded
in Los Angeles, and when the band wraps up with a rousing rendition of “Good
Vibrations,” one is left wondering just how different the musical landscape
would be today had Smile come out in 1967 the way it was intended. The
album, quite simply, is still ahead of its time.
Yanni Live! - The Concert Event
It’s nice when you find that someone you’ve made jokes about for years upon years without ever having actually listened to their music turns out to be just as bad as you always suspected he was. Actually, there’s nothing inherently wrong with Yanni’s music; it’s just that it’s…what’s the phrase? Oh, right: aural wallpaper. That this so-called “concert event” took place in a Las Vegas casino is no real surprise; it’s definitely a visual spectacle, with lasers galore and lots of goings-on ‘round the stage, from the huge orchestra of musicians to the many vocalists and dancers who make their appearances on occasion. The thing is, it never makes it beyond the level of interesting background music, a la Enya or Enigma. As you watch and listen, you’ll find it more entertaining to try and figure out exactly what kind of person would view Yanni as “spectacular and mesmerizing” (as this performance is described on the back of the box)…and then hope you never have to sit next to them on a long plane ride.