1080i

“Is it loud enough?”

What young 1970’s pup, learning to play a guitar for the first time, didn’t, at one time or another, attempt to imitate Pete Townsend’s windmill power chord strum? I count myself in that group. While I was not a very dedicated Who fan, I had an appreciation for the musicianship. There were still songs like Pinball Wizard and Behind Blue Eyes that I would embrace as if they were my own anthems in those days. It would be hard to deny that The Who is one of the most successful rock bands in history. Part of the original British Invasion of the 1960’s, there are few such acts that are even still around, let alone able to fill the huge stadiums and halls of Rock’s yesteryears.
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Cliff Richard’s music stardom predates that of the Beatles. So the fact that I wasn’t at all familiar with the British pop singer’s music before sitting down to review this Blu-ray probably says more about me than it does about him. Lucky for me, this career-spanning concert — which includes music from his time with the Shadows, some solo hits, and even his duet from the movie that partly inspired the creation of the Razzies — also doubles as a lively, CliffsNotes glimpse into Richard’s incredibly prolific and successful career.
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“I’m often asked, ‘What do I do for a living?’ And I answer: ‘I do what I want.”

For the better part of the last 20 years, CeeLo Green has ferociously defied musical expectations by zigging when you expect him to zag. (If you thought the former frontman of hip-hop collective Goodie Mob would eventually become one of the judges on TV’s #1 singing competition, then go buy a lotto ticket immediately because you have a gift.) I happened to be in Las Vegas earlier this year when I saw a poster for CeeLo’s Sin City Loberace show. And for the first time I can remember in regards to CeeLoo’s career, I thought, “Hey that actually makes sense.”
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Hugh Laurie is not the first — and he certainly won’t be the last — actor who decided he wanted a career in music too. The move might come as a surprise to people who primarily know Laurie from his sterling eight-year run as the misanthropic title character on House M.D. (Though not if you watched the show carefully.) In the past, Laurie has rocked out with some of his small-screen comrades for charity. But it turns out that after eight years of playing one of the crankiest characters in television history, Laurie was ready to sing the blues.
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Caroline Esmeralda van de Leeuw didn’t know she was a jazz singer until somebody told her. Growing up in Amsterdam, she was too lazy and impatient to properly learn how to play an instrument. Fortunately, she was blessed with a sultry, soulful and sassy singing voice. Caro Emerald has used that voice to smash chart records in the Netherlands. Earlier this year, her second album, “The Shocking Miss Emerald”, reached #1 in the United Kingdom. And that’s where she happened to be when I was introduced to her funky brand of jazz.
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For a variety of reasons, fewer people seem to be retiring when they turn 65. That’s long been the case for legendary musicians like Bryan Ferry, who was at that milestone age when he filmed this concert in Lyon, France during the summer of 2011. Ferry has always combined his own “old soul” sensibility with a forward-thinking approach to creating music. So this show, with Ferry now an actual senior citizen, turned out to be an ideal time to check in on the former Roxy Music frontman.
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Supergroups are hot right now: witness the astonishing box office dominance of The Avengers, as well as Warner Bros./D.C. Comics’ frantic attempts to replicate Marvel’s success. But the idea of a supergroup — a collective whose members have previously achieved individual success — has been around for a very long time, and is most commonly found in the world of music. The members of PSMS (Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, Tony MacAlpine and Derek Sherinian) certainly fit the supergroup bill. Late last year, they united to rock the faces off their fans in Europe and Asia.
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Carlos Santana is too cool for words. When I say that, I refer to both his widely-acknowledged status as a “Guitar God” and to the fact that he doesn’t utter a single word until the 30-minute mark of Invitation to Illumination, his 2011 reunion with John McLaughlin. Having another rock deity on stage appears to have inspired Santana, who performs with an extra little bounce in his step during this Montreux Jazz Festival show. This Blu-ray also has the unintended consequence of serving as a tribute to the festival’s late founder.
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Coming off the staggering crossover success of the world’s loveliest and catchiest booty call song — “It’s a quarter after one, I’m a little drunk/ And I need you now” — Lady Antebellum were the kings (and queen) of the country pop world. (Non-Taylor Swift division, of course.) That means the pressure was on for their follow-up third album. Though Own the Night brought the band a more modest truckload of critical and commercial kudos than Need You Now, it also inspired the raucous world tour captured on this Blu-ray, a must-have for any Lady A fan.
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