Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
Many people have provided screwed up metaphors as to just how important Led Zeppelin has been to music in the last 35 years. So of course, I’ve gotta throw one in. Imagine today’s rock musicians as workers in a factory, all punching in and out for work at a time clock each day. Led Zeppelin is the clock. There really was nothing before it that could compare to it, and while there have been some imitators, real or implied (Whitesnake and Kingdom Come being two names from the 80’s hair band metal day...), not many things have matched the impact of the vocals by Robert Plant, Jimmy Page’s blistering, blues-rooted guitar solos, and the rhythm section of John Paul Jones and John Bonham. They were among the first to put radio-unfriendly songs on their albums, with many songs running past the 3 or 4 minute radio single time, some songs going 6, 7 or 8 minutes. And their live performances were legendary. Their performances symbolized the 70’s with sprawling, maybe even pretentious, versions of songs like "Dazed and Confused" or "Whole Lotta Love." Live versions of these songs stretched into the 20 to 30 minute duration. During these times, Page would break out a violin bow to play his guitar with, Jones would play mysterious organ pieces, and Bonham’s work epitomized the drum solo, with a mix of power and touch, sometimes using his sticks, sometimes using the same power when hitting the drums with his hands. The group managed a period of fanatical success from 1969 to 1980, culminating in the unfortunate death of Bonham.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 7th, 2005
So how come a doughy looking white guy like me enjoyed these performances, and didn’t watch a single part of the Martin Scorsese miniseries that covered Blues music? It’s because growing up, the first big musical influence in my life was Jimi Hendrix, so I was a bit familiar with the Electric Blues sound that Jimi had. And names like Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and Leadbelly were not new ones to me. And with the help of Led Zeppelin, I also learned about Robert Johnson too.
So while Antoine Fuqua (King Ar...hur) and Scorsese teamed to help revitalize the blues further with a 2003 concert at Radio city music hall, I certainly don’t bear any ill will at them for making blues fashionable or something stupid like that. It’s nice to see more people appreciate some uniquely American music legends for a change. The songs of the above artists, along with others including B.B. King and Billie Holliday are performed by the original artists or modern ones. The list, albeit lengthy, is:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 28th, 2005
The Monterey Pop Festival has been mostly ignored by a lot of people, compared to the two other two large concerts that occurred after it, Woodstock, and Altamont. Those who do remember Monterey always mention the one incident it is most known for, Jimi Hendrix’ appearance on the U.S. stage. Jimi had been tearing it up in England, and he ended by setting his guitar on fire, which turned out to be a defining moment in music history. Criterion brings this event and others back to life in a comprehensive 3 disc set which is designed not only to showcase Jimi’s set during the show, but also breathes new life into the festival in general. Artists who appeared were The Who, Simon and Garfunkel, Otis Redding and Janis Joplin, to name a few.
The festival was shot over 3 days, and the DVD set is broken up into 3 parts: the film of the festival on disc 1, the performances of Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding take up disc 2, and almost 2 hours of outtake performances comprise disc 3. Disc 1 is the film of the festival. The usual components of a music concert documentary are here, including footage of crowds and artists flocking to the show, and some behind the scenes logistics, but that footage is quick, and it runs for about 10 minutes before the performances start. The performances are edited together fairly abruptly with almost no fanfare in between songs. The film is only 79 minutes, so I can‘t understand the need to get everything crammed in here as much as possible, but that helps to make the second and third discs a relief to see.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 5th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 10th, 2004
I’ve got to be honest. I was never a Depeche Mode fan. My lack of interest in them didn’t really come from their music, which I always thought was different - in a good way. It was just that in the 80's and 90's, MTV played their videos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The video for “Enjoy the Silence” was burned into my eyelids. I couldn’t get away from the band no matter how hard I tried.
My, how things have changed. MTV doesn’t play Depeche Mode videos anymore, or any videos for that matter, and after wat...hing Depeche Mode’s concert DVD, Devotional, I have come to appreciate the band to the point where I would proudly say that I am now a fan. In an age where your choices range from over-saturated pop, to recycled rap music, Depeche Mode is a breath of fresh, nostalgic air. Front-man Dave Gahan’s overstated baritone voice is completely different from anything you hear nowadays and Martin Gore’s lyrics are actually quite deep for a techno-rock band, peppered with religious images and undertones. Far more introspective than most of the “music” that is mass produced today.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 6th, 2004
With the popularity of the bio-pic Ray, Rhino comes out with O Genio: Ray Charles Live in Brazil 1963. Ray Charles is truly an O Genio, and this disc confirms that. Jazz, gospel, blues, rock n’ roll, this guy did it all. We have two performances recorded live in Sao Paulo. Each performance runs about an hour long. Ray is accompanied by a full brass orchestra and a lovely collection of female back-up singers. The first show gets off to kick-butt start with Charles’s famous hit “What’d I Say”. The ...est of the disc won’t let anyone down.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 12th, 2004
What is Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band – Tour 2003? Well…The Last Waltz this ain’t. Ringo has been touring with his All-Starr’s since the 1990’s. And the 2003 version includes “stars” such as Colin Hay from Men at Work, Paul Carrack from Mike and Mechanics, John Waite and Sheila E. I suppose we’re in time warp because these are 80’s stars.
The DVD was shot on Digital Video and goes back and forth between live concert footage, “behind the scene” stuff, and interviews (mostly about the “s...ars” talking about how much they love Ringo). Some of the songs are okay and the “documentary” footage is mildly entertaining, but mostly it’s just much ado about nothing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 12th, 2004
What is Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band – Tour 2003? Well…The Last Waltz this ain’t. Ringo has been touring with his All-Starr’s since the 1990’s. And the 2003 version includes “stars” such as Colin Hay from Men at Work, Paul Carrack from Mike and Mechanics, John Waite and Sheila E. I suppose we’re in time warp because these are 80’s stars.
The DVD was shot on Digital Video and goes back and forth between live concert footage, “behind the scene” stuff, and interviews (mostly about the “s...ars” talking about how much they love Ringo). Some of the songs are okay and the “documentary” footage is mildly entertaining, but mostly it’s just much ado about nothing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 11th, 2004
Everything But The Girl is a group that has always been a bit of an enigma to me. I have never heard any of their albums, but I consistently run into one of their songs on the odd movie soundtrack or occasional visit to the record store. I am always struck by how different one song sounds from the next, much like the brilliant work of Blur, and I assumed that this was because most of the songs that I have heard are B-sides, or as I stated before, tracks that were donated to compilations or soundtracks. This disc has ...eally helped me to pull my view of EBTG into focus. Surprisingly, my initial beliefs are correct… they are in fact a group whose sound is that they have no sound.
Now, that’s not entirely fair of me to say. After all, Tracey Thorn’s voice is unmistakable. That is a sound in itself, much like fellow songstress Natalie Merchant. However, this career-spanning collection of videos (nine in all) really shows how the group has evolved, from jazz to folk to pop to dancehall tunes. Personally, the newest stuff is by far my favorite. While the video for the Simon and Garfunkel cover “The Only Living Boy in New York” is fantastic (as is the song), it’s the inclusion of the electronic tracks that really get me interested in this band.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 3rd, 2004
In today’s age of manufactured talent less pop stars you have to hand it to the artists that still write and actually perform their own original material. Versus the one’s who simply head into the studio with a team of writers and producers and who don’t even have the talent to actually sign live but instead just lip sync. Jewel whether you like her music or not is an artist, she writes her own material and even co-produced her last album. At times she is incredibly engaging at other times slightly annoying but, her ...yrics are richly textured and captivate the imagination.
Video
