Showing posts with label performance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label performance. Show all posts

Friday, February 1, 2013

Alice Cooper - Special Edition EP (1971) Review

Alice Cooper - Special Edition EP (1971)
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This DVD features live performances from the original Alice Cooper BAND in a television studio. Unfortunately there is no live audience to interact with, just cameras. So that dynamic is missing. This band was good at getting a reaction from live audiences. The original band is Glen Buxton-guitar, Michael Bruce-organ-guitar-vocals, Neal Smith-20 piece drum kit, Dennis Dunaway-bass and vocals and Alice on lead vocals. This is the band that Alice rose to notoriety with. If you have the Prime Cuts video you've seen this version of 18 already although this version has the complete song in it with a dramatic organ intro from Mike Bruce at the beginning. The Under My Wheels song is a different version than the one on Prime Cuts and has Alice with the old Spider eyes make up. One can see how Alice and Bob Ezrin felt the band was limited musically, primarily because of Glen. He tended to doodle on leads. This is why on the albums Ezrin brought Rick Derringer to play on Under My Wheels and Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter on later albums. Live, Glen was left on his own until he could no longer function onstage. Glen did start to develop more and the School's Out period was his peak of musical accomplishment and Public Aninal # 9 rocks with dynamic changes and creative use of guitar feedback. After the School's Out period, Glen began to fall. The band added Mick Mashbir on guitar and Bob Dolin on keys to the live show and really advanced musically although they still kept Glen. This band was really young when they made it. Would have been nice to see how they could have matured like Aerosmith did. This appears to be all there is of the original band. The Good To See You Again Alice Cooper movie of the Billion Dollar Babies show, the largest rock and roll show and tour in the history of rock n' roll at this point was botched by the film crew. The lighting was very poor and does not give an accurate view of the band and the stage. It's too dark. An ABC In Concert performance of the School's Out show is also no where to be found except on horrible bootleg copies. This video is a history lesson if nothing else. The original band was one of the coolest bands I've ever seen. Mike, Neal, Dennis were always unique and capable musicians who really knew how to put James Bond type theme music into rock n' roll and within a certain range Glen was good. No drummer can play Halo Of Flies or Billion Dollar Babies like Neal Smith. When Alice performs the old songs with new musicians, it always seems so sterile and antiseptic, something is missing for me. Alice should do a reunion album and tour with Mike, Neal, Dennis, maybe Mick Mashbir or other good guitar player and a keyboard player and Bob Ezrin. Public Animal # 9 rocks the best on this DVD. It kicks. ***NOTE*** This DVD has only 3 songs on it: 18, Under My Wheels and Public Animal # 9.***

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Alice Cooper, the king of shock rock, is an innovative showman - one of the most bizarre and entertaining rock attractions of all time. The inspiration and flamboyance of Alice Cooper did more than forever alter the face of rock 'n' roll as we now know it. He virtually invented rock as theatre, created new fashion trends, sparked a new sexual revolution, established higher standards for teenage decadence, and found time on top of all this to write and record a library of classic rock 'n' roll albums. This DVD EP captures Alice Cooper performing live at the peak of his career. The collection also features one of highlight tracks 'Public Animal #9' from the 1972 album 'School's Out' which catapulted Alice Cooper further into stardom.

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Monday, August 6, 2012

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Off the Map (2001) Review

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Off the Map (2001)
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I wasn't sure what to expect from a RHCP's live performance with John Frusciante back in the lineup. By far my favorite guitar player they've had, I didn't know if he could still play after his drug abuse problems in the years away from the band. Their "Californication" did little to alleviate those fears, his playing and soloing being so sparse and sort of un-practiced sounding. Don't get me wrong. "Californication" is a great album but it's much different from the chops galore "Blood Sugar Sex Magic". (And I don't mean that as a slam-BSSM is a masterwork in no small part due to Frusciante's intricate, interweaving lines throughout).
"Off the Map" put all my doubts to bed. Frusciante plays his [behind] off. Just check out "If You Have to Ask". Shredding, but he's so much more than than just a shredder. Something magical happens when his Strat, through a Wah, hits a Marshall. It's the tone for sure and then his note selection and use of space that really sets him apart from "shredders". I had read recently in a guitar magazine interview that he's trying to change his style, henceforth the new, sparse approach he's used on the last two albums. It's pretty funny to watch actually. When they play the new songs his playing shifts dramatically to the new style he's developing.
And don't let me forget Chad Smith and Flea. They are powerhouses here. Flea's gone from slapmaster (oh, he can still slap!) to improvisor and it suits him well. Chad is like a rock holding John and Flea's improvisations together.
This is a fun and inspiring dvd. The only reason I don't give it a 5 star review is because it does falter here and there. But that's what you get when your live show isn't prerecorded canned [stuff] and you take musical risks. That where the fun happens with these guys.

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Off the Map is the first concert home video since 1991 from one of rock's greatest live experiences, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Off the Map is also the band's first concert DVD--the only way to witness the funk-funk-rockmetal-rap musical orgy of one of today's most popular bands. Songs: Around The World, Give It Away, Usually Just a T-Shirt #3, Scar Tissue, Suck My Kiss, If You Have to Ask, Subterranean Homesick Blues, Otherside, Blackeyed Blonde, Pea, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Easily, What Is Soul?, Fire, Californication, Right On Time, Under The Bridge, Me And My Friends.

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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Devo - The Complete Truth About De-Evolution Review

Devo - The Complete Truth About De-Evolution
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Leave it to Rhino Home Video to get their hands on great material, and somehow manage to put out a lousy dvd.
Annoying, cheap menu items pop up between each video. Some of the videos are cut short (WHY?) freeze framing or adding a cheap video effect a moment or two before they're supposed to end. They are not presented chonologically. The flow is further disrupted by inserted snips of DEVO's ad's for pioneer laser disc players. Intro's to some of the videos which originally appeared in "We're all Devo" are hacked off, and buried in a hard to navigate "extra features" section, while others are not (WHY?). The video transfers appear in many places to be from grainy VHS, complete with drop outs, and bad sound.
Further, it is not "complete". Where are the skits from "Men Who Make the Music"? Where is "Dr. Detroit" and "Are You Experienced"? Huh?
This is the third Rhino DVD I've bought each time I've been amazed how an otherwise quality company falls down so hard when it comes to video.
On the plus side, unless you already most of the stuff here, and don't want to hunt around on ebay for "We're All Devo" and "The Men Who Make the Music", and you're a Devo fan, you'll want to buy this DVD. And even if you have those, there are several interesting bonus items that justify the meager price.
But why Rhino does such a horrible job putting it all together is beyond me.

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Studio: Wea-des Moines VideoRelease Date: 10/28/2003

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