Classic Albums: John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)The 'Classic Albums' series document the making of seminal pop albums
(Paul Simon's 'Graceland', Bob Marley's 'Catch a Fire', Fleetwood
Mac's 'Rumours', to name but a few of the previous releases) through
interviews with participants and associates and the playing of master
tapes (more on that later). This new 52' feature documents the making
of John Lennon's first 'proper' (i.e. accessible to the public at
large) studio album, 'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band', recorded in the
fall of 1970 and released in December of that year.
Although light on the rare video side of things - there appears to be
no available footage of the sessions, so the producers have collected
little-seen (but previously circulating) clips of John attending the
Alexandra Palace psychedelic event in London (29 April 1967) and
sequences from the BBC '24 Hour' documentary (shown on 15 December
1969) -, the real treat for Beatles videos collectors are
previously-unseen excerpts of John and Yoko's appearance on
'Parkinson' (17 July 1971) which, to my knowledge, haven't been seen
since the original transmission. Other clips from that show have been
included in various programmes over the years, notably 'Imagine'
(1972) and 'Imagine, John Lennon' (1988) but the ones on this DVD are
different.
We also get new interviews with people involved in the making of the
album (Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr, Klaus Vormann, engineers Phil McDonald
and John Leckie), music critics (Jann Wenner, who interviewed Lennon
at length in December 1970 for 'Rolling Stone,' and Richard Williams),
the man responsible for inspiring the album (Dr. Arthur Janov,
proponent of the primal scream theory, whose seminar John and Yoko had
attended in the summer of 1970), Beatle historian Mark Lewisohn
(author of the superb 'The Beatles' Recording Sessions' and 'The
Complete Beatles Chronicles'), as well as Elliot Mintz, who was not
involved with the album at all. My impression is that the latter's
inclusion is due to the fact that he appears to be groomed, as Yoko's
PR man, to take over as guardian of John's legacy the day she passes
away. Here's someone else who'll be ready on day one...
But the main drawing point of this DVD, and what makes it in my
opinion an essential addition to any Lennon fan's collection, is the
playing of the original multitrack tapes at Abbey Road by the
engineers who worked on the album. As they isolate various tracks, we
get to hear John's spine-chilling voice on its own or the various
instruments on the - very spare - backing tracks (which usually
consisted simply of John on guitar or piano, Ringo on drums and Klaus
on bass).
We also get shots of various EMI Tape boxes, indicating the precise
recording dates of various songs on the album. Up until now, the only
known session date for a particular song was 9 October 1970, John's
30th birthday, when he recorded 'Remember'. Here are the dates we now
have:
26 Sep 1970: 'Mother' (take 61 -- possibly an in-joke, as this was the
first day of recording), 'Working Class Hero' (takes 1-9)
27 Sep 1970: 'God' (takes 1-2 of an alternate, acoustic guitar-based
version), 'Well Well Well' (takes 3-4)
30 Sep 1970: 'Hold On' (takes 1-6)
7 Oct 1970: 'Look at Me' (take 1), 'God' (takes 1-8 of a remake, still
guitar-based)
9 Oct 1970: 'Remember' (takes 1-4)
17 Oct 1970: 'Mother' (possibly a vocal overdub session)
24 Oct 1970: 'Mother' (another possible vocal overdub session)
There is another session sheet, but the date is cropped out in the
documentary. On that unspecified date (probably late September), they
recorded 'Isolation' (takes 24-29) and 'Well Well Well' (takes 5-6 of
a remake).
In addition to the 52' documentary, there's 35' of bonus
footage. On many DVDs, this is filled with boring stuff
considered not good enough to be included in the main feature. Here,
though, it's simply more great isolation mixes, two clips from John's
1972 concert at Madison Square Garden ('Well Well Well' and 'Mother'),
and the 'holding up signs' version of 'Instant Karma!' (broadcast on
'Top of the Pops' on 19 February 1970) in pristine quality.
* Spoiler alert! Don't read any further if you want to be
surprised by the musical contents of this DVD! *
The multitracks played are:
- a mostly complete 'Remember' (with some stop-and-starts and a recent
clip of Klaus playing the bass line at home) and an earlier (fun,
faster) take, which was partially released on 'John Lennon Anthology'
in 1998. This multitrack mixdown starts earlier, though.
- isolated tracks of 'Well Well Well', 'Working Class Hero', 'God'
(the released version and an alternate, acoustic guitar-based take),
'Mother', 'Isolation', 'Love.'
Bamiyan
Beatles on DVD

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"John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band" was John Lennon's first solo studio album after the break up of The Beatles. Both John & Yoko had been undergoing primal scream therapy in the lead up to the recording of the album and both this and Yoko Ono's companion album ("Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band") were deeply influenced by their therapy. This latest addition to Eagle's acclaimed Classic Albums series explores the creation of this groundbreaking album through new interviews, archive footage and detailed analysis of the original multi-track masters. Interviewees include Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and bass player Klaus Voorman.TRACK LISTING: Features excerpts from: Mother - Hold On - Isolation - I Found Out - Love - God - Working Class Hero - and more...

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Megadeth: Rust in Peace Live (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)First off, this was awesome!!!! I remember seeing these songs performed during the "Clash of the Titans" tour back in the 90s, and I'm glad Mustaine chose to do this album in its entirety. Not too many heavy metal albums rank next to this one, and I rank this album as one of the greatest of all time.
The musicianship is second to none. I would go so far as to say this is the best Megadeth lineup, as I think Shawn Drover is the best drummer Dave has played with in a long time (Gar Samuelson was probably the best). He is a solid drummer who can play the all the material. He has the chops and style. Chris Broderick is massive on the guitar. He really can move over that fret board and seems like a natural for all the parts. Personally I like to hear all the original solos played as they were originally written, but I don't mind when someone like Broderick adds his own flare because after hearing his work on "Endgame" I think to myself, "What would he have done with 'Rust In Peace?' Not dissing Marty, just giving respect to Chris.
I gave this 4 stars because of a few short comings. Take my following criticism more like suggestions for the future as I am really a diehard fan of Megadeth, and have been for decades (but I know Dave and Megadeth management will never see this review).
1) The vocals were overdubbed, and it is easy to see. My question is, "why?" Mix as you will, but let the true live experience come full force. The music sounded great, I'm sure the vocals sounded just as good. I have this problem with many live DVDs; don't funk with the mix so much.
2) Backstage footage was skimpy. This would have been a great opportunity to really go behind he scenes and see how the band sets up, check out the equipment, and do some solid up close interviews, especially with the other band members. Also, show some footage of the tour preparation rehearsals when the band was first playing all of "Rust In Peace" in a rehearsal studio (and when Ellefson just came back). The DVD creators could have even re-visted footage from "The Clash of the Titans," and do a retrospective kind of thing. That would have been awesome!! A nice biography would have been great, tracing the history of Megadeth up till now (something quick and creative). And last for this point, fan interviews. The screaming fans showed the energy and excitement, but do something more refined to really get the feel of the fans. Some of those fans came a long way. I would had loved to had heard their stories about Megadeth a bit more in depth. So much more could have been done, and it would have been worth the price hike. I felt the creativity with the DVD was lacking.
And 3) Again, with the bonus footage. I'm a bass player, and I love the drums, and the guitar work on "Rust In Peace" is genre breaking and defining, so why aren't there performance isolation angle options? This would have been great for the Blu-Ray DVD (as all this extra footage would need the space). Show the parts being played live, up close and personal. Dave Mustaine once said in an interview, where he was showcasing his signature Marshall stack, that the best way to learn a guitar part is to watch the actual musician play it (if you want to learn it note for note). This would have been a great opportunity for that to come true. But the bonus material really doesn't hold up to the what other bands produce. I think Megadeth could have taken a lesson from Dream Theater (actually Mike Portnoy) in this regard, and pack the DVD with every possible thing you could imagine, and sell the hell out of it. Mike Portnoy could have lent Shawn Drover his drumcam(s), so we could see his technique, etc. I would have like to see those drum parts, like on "5 Magics" and "Rust In Peace...Polaris." Again, the package could have been for the Blu-Ray only, or make it multiple DVDs, whatever, just give me more. I would have paid the price.
I'm obviously thinking with a fans mind, and maybe some of what I said could not have happened logistically or financially, but I think if minds and the powers that be had sat down and really thought out this process, and looked outside the box to give the fans the ultimate experience then more stuff could have been packed in to the DVD. In the end, the performance was awesome!!!! And for what the DVD offers, the price is right, but it could have been so much more.
Peace,
Fan from 'Back in the day'

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In March of 2010 Megadeth hit the road in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their classic 1990 album, Rust In Peace. The show was filmed on the last night of the tour at the legendary Hollywood Palladium, not far from where Megadeth was formed in 1983. The band played Rust In Peace in its entirety, including all-time classics Holy Wars...The Punishment Due and Hangar 18. The set list also featured several other fan favorites, including Trust, Symphony Of Destruction and Peace Sells.

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