Cool footage from a brilliant band's non-classic period
348484
This is a nice video for a Tull fan, although it seems odd they would release this when there's no official DVD of their classic golden age throughout the 70s!  Despite the "1970-1993" subtitle, most of this DVD comes from the mid-80s Tull with Peter Vettese on keys.
  The first 1/2 or so is a show from the Broadsword & The Beast tour.  Sadly, despite Ian's liner notes of the elaborate pirate ship stage show, this (and the rest of the disc) has no stage "show" to speak of save musicians playing instruments.  The set list (although abbreviated - only about 7 proper songs) is a nice mix of then-new, classic early 70's, and (a treat for us fans who've missed this material in recent Tull performances) some gems from the late 70's.  Ian's voice was still great. Martin's guitar is rather shreddingly metal.  Gerry Conway's rather basic drumming on the new material is countered with some nice playing on the classic stuff - he adds his own percussive touch to Heavy Horses, not Barrie Barlow but fine drumming nonetheless.  Peter Vettese gets a chance to show off his chops in an extended keyboard solo, which is welcome.  Dave Pegg, of course, is there to provide his excellent bass skills and some backing vocals.  A note - I'm pretty sure it's an abridged version of Heavy Horses, though!  There is a nice instrumental jam of "Black sunday" at the end of the show.
  The next batch of performances come from a few years later:  1986, where Gerry Conway has been replaced on drums by Doane Perry (who would go on, with a few breaks, to be Tull's longest-standing drummer).  The real shock here is how much Ian's voice has deteriorated - unfortunately Tull's least popular album "Under Wraps" also strained Ian's voice (he's never been the same since, although sometimes better than others).  It's a shame because thy do some great songs:  an (also abridged) rocking version of Hunting Girl, a long (10-minutish) bit of Thick As A Brick, and one of their best early-80's songs "Black Sunday" (this time with vocals).  (There's also an OK version of the OK songs "Too Old To Rock'n'Roll, Too Young To Die").  The treat here, though, is some nice instrumental jams - Pegg brings out some of his Fairport folk for a bit, and Martin does a guitar showcase that really gets good when Ian's flute and the band come in.  One final note on the '86 stuff - the camera tends to wander off and waste time showing the sound engineers and people walking through the audience for no apparent reason!
  Then there's a couple tunes from '93 of old material.  A performance of "My Sunday Feeling" sounds great - Ian's voice may be weaker now, but  he's using it to best effect at least, and then-new keyboard player Andy Giddings sounds great.  The other song from this era is a fun acoustic performance of an old blues standard (at least that's what it sounds like - I'm unfamiliar with the song).  The band in these two songs seems to really be enjoying themselves!
  The DVD ends with some early TV footage, from 1970.  "With You There To Help Me" goes into the (unlisted) John Evan showpiece "By Kind Permission Of" (which would have been a selling point for me - don't know why it's not listed on the DVD case!).  Followed by a rocking "Nothing Is Easy" (with a false start) which just ends suddenly mid-way when someone makes a mistake!
  It all seems to be TV recordings - only the 80's stuff is actual concert footage, and there's various song titles and program text up on the screen throughout.
  Not a bad release, especially for the various jam and improv bits, although it seems a shame we don't get to see the stage show!
2907671
A wonderful, intimate performance by a band not known as a live act. The guys in The Cars aren't terrific showmen, but boy can they play their music! They tighten and cohere the further into their set they go, and it's definitely a more upbeat, kick-ass sound than you hear on their records.
Another viewer complained about the absence of a stereo mix, but the output from your DVD player's analog stereo output is just that. That said, the sound--even in Dolby Digital 5.1--is not the greatest, and it may even be re-channeled mono. But it's perfectly serviceable for the task at hand: conveying the live chemistry and great music of this band. To its credit, the surround mix places us right inside the tiny TV studio with the band, enhancing the intimacy of the performance.
The video quality is pretty poor, as the master is a 21-year-old videotape, but--as with the audio--it gets the point across.
Elliot Easton (lead guitar) shines, and there's some nice interaction between him and Benjamin Orr (bassist/vocalist). Lengthy interviews are interesting and sad; the honey-voiced Orr, months before his death, is emaciated.
Don't be suckered by reports of a Cars 10-song sampler--the songs appear only in short snippets. Nevertheless, this is a must for any fan of late-'70s Cars music!
2428891
A great retrospective from a band that is still in its prime. The videos are a welcomed bonus. A fitting complement to the first two retrospectives.
1593280
Great DVD that captures a great band. I am especially impressed with vocalist Rob Sowden- he is a remarkable frontman. I am also really impressed with John Mitchell's fascinating guitar work. The set list is quite a bit different than their previous DVD. I really like the songs from Immortal- "Waiting for the Flood" and "Friday's Dream" . The Visitor songs are great also. Thanks Arena for this great DVD.
1926487
I saw this tour in 2011 and it so very nice to have this as a souvenir. Yes I know it is not in 5.1, but concerts live are not in surround anyway. The picture is great. The band is hot. They did edit a few songs out however, not a big deal. Enjoy!
2771654
As a long time fan of the band, particularly the Duane Allman period, this recording was another rare glimpse for me of the band during it's heyday. Sound quality fair, music quality high.
1278499
Fantastic Video both audio and video.  Contains all their hits.
2037362
This is an awesome video! It's got great interview and "up close" footage of the group. You've gotta see it! The song "Red Letters" is incredible. Enjoy!
311372
When I first heard about the video, I wasn't in a big rush to buy it. Dont get me wrong, I am a huge Radiohead fan; but the whole hand held camera thing just didn't sound too appealing to me. And; well, documentaries just  don't catch my attention. That is, until now.
  Grant Lee does a  magnificant job with this film as he follows the band around on their tour  for their critically acclaimed third album OK Computer. There isn't much  live footage, which is kind of dissapointing. But we get to see that being  rock stars isn't all its cracked up to be. And the video reveals the  meaning behind OK Computer. Which is.....well u will just have to see in  this documentary which could be one of the best of all time.
4597792
I bought this for a friend who also loved this band. This DVD does a good job of capturing the band at it's prime. Buy it if you want to see why people still love them to this day. Michael Shenker is one of the best guitarists ever.
3585680
War Of Words The Film starts with a documentary about the band. Interviews with Rob Halford are the centerpiece, and he explains how he formed the band with guitarists Brian Tilse and Russ Parrish, bassist Jay Jay and drummer Scott Travis. There is also footage of various Fight rehearsals and the band in the recording studio.

There's also a full-length concert of 12 songs that were shot in various cities throughout Fight's 1993-1994 tour. There were songs filmed in Portland, Paris, Denver, Munich and more. Because of that, each song has a little different feel and there's a different look and vibe. Still, it flows together well and the audio and video quality are good.

The bonus material on the DVD includes music videos for three Fight songs along with a live performance at Sony Music Studios in New York and a trailer for Halford Live At Rock In Rio III. They only released a couple of albums, but Fight were an excellent band, and this DVD captures them well, both on and off stage.
1028294
This video is like a time capsule to this great band and this great era in rock music. All the tracks are from their self titled debut album and displays the raw energy of a young band on the rise. The videos for One More Reason and Electric Gypsy are standouts featuring Harley's out on desert highways, a homicidal vixen in a '60 Buick, and general rock n' roll mayhem. Tracii also shares some interesting thoughts, but at just 30 minutes long, it may leave fans high and dry yearning for more chaos. Like Motley Crue, L.A. Guns know how to knock out a killer music video. Highly recommended.
224821
Considering it's age and filming techniques, this is a great record of two eras of the band.  Everyone craves the first incarnation, but I'm very happy with this release.  The audio tracks don't work in my player but do in the computer, and these comprise more than half the playing time of disc 2 (earlier group 1974).  What exciting shows these must have been for those lucky enough to have been there.
1956930
Great concert video, much like the Live From London. Not as many extras but the concert footage is good with lots of special effects. All the songs of their new album with all the old favorites! Nice shots of all the band members with highlights of the audience. DD always puts on a good show!
3353658
John's Children are always connected with Marc Bolan  (who was in the band briefly) which seems to be the band's only claim to fame.  But the band had an interesting sound during the late 60's.  Admittedly they were a minor band during an era when so many other better  bands were getting all the attention.

But don't discount this band altogether.  They released several pretty good singles under the management of Simon Napier Bell (who felt they were "positively the worst group I'd ever seen") who also managed The Yardbirds during this period.  The band's sound  (a cross between rock/pop/mod/psyche influences) was definitely of it's period.  But several of the singles are well worth hearing if you're a fan (like me) of that period of British music.  Tracks like "The Love I Thought I'd Found", "Strange Affair", the banned in the U.S. and BBC "Desdemona" (with Marc Bolan's vocals), and several others are all good examples of British psyche. Combining swirling organ and stabs of electric guitar, occasional sound effects, and a sometimes early Who-like sound (sometimes using session musicians), the music has a fresh period sound and feel.

This set has all the band's singles and many solo sides by singer Andy Ellison, and several alternate versions and a couple of instrumentals.  Plus there's three tracks by The Silence, John's Children by another earlier name.  And when you include their fake "live" album "Orgasm", you now have everything the band recorded during this period.  Even some of the alternates are worth hearing.  Check out the alternate of "Strange Affair" with Dusty Springfield, Madeline Bell, and Rod Stewart on background vocals.  Oftentimes the alternate tracks were altered both lyrically and instrumentally which gave some of these sides a freshness different from the originals.

While it's too bad the original master tapes have been missing/destroyed for many years, the sound is actually pretty good/good.  For this set good quality vinyl record sources were used--not a copy of a CD copy.  So this sounds pretty darn good overall.  The 21 page booklet has an excerpt from Andy Ellison's forth coming autobiography which tells the band's story during their hey-day.  Plus there's period photos (including a great shot of the band on stage) and other memorabilia.  There's also track by track notes by Ellison which helps give this music some foundation, and puts the music in better perspective for listeners.

If you're a fan of late 60's British pop/psyche/rock you should probably check this out.  I wasn't really expecting too much in the way of good, interesting music, but I was wrong.  The lyrics are prime era wacky/innocent sometimes, but the arrangements are  better than you'd think.  After listening to this collection I have to confess that I'm a convert to John's Children--and not because of Bolan's fleeting presence--the band was interesting before and after him.  An interesting second-tier band.
1398550
I first saw this DVD when my boyfriend brought it over to my house. I loved the concert footage in this dvd, since it was filmed when Metallica was still a thrash band. There is concert footage, some of it shows Cliff doing bass solos. There is also a scene where a women is interviewing the band and asks them about their influences. One scene also is a performance while Dave Mustaine was still in the band. There are some scenes that just show the band drinking and having a good old time. Great dvd, although several scenes don't even have cliff in them. A must have for the diehard Metallica/ Cliff Burton fan!
1309341
Half documentary and half concert, I loved this trip to the past. You really get the flavor of the band when it was 1970. Later interviews with the band members give insight to what was going on.