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The Who - The Kids Are Alright (Special Edition)

The Who - The Kids Are Alright (Special Edition)

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $22.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Superb DVD Package
Review: The producers of The Who's "The Kids Are Alright" final debut on DVD went all out to compose a masterpiece.

This is everything one would want in a DVD package. They don't call it "Special Edition" for nothing!

1. Nice hardcover slipcase to put your DVD cover in.

2. A nice booklet of photos, commentary from the director and producer, and liner notes of each track.

3. 2 DVDs... the first containing the movie in glorious hi-def. color/B&W, 5.1 surroundsound. Also includes audio commentary by director Jeff Stein, and subtitles of where each performance comes from.

4. The second DVD filled with "extras". Contains a "Restoration process" documentary, 6 camera angles of the tracks "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", those 2 songs with just Entwisle's bass track, 2 quizes with prizes!, hidden gems, as well as an interview with Jeff Stein, photos of the Who, and an audio/visual comparision between the VHS (old) version of TKAA and the DVD version.

As for the movie itself what can I say? The ultimate rock and roll documentary. Even if you are not a big "Who" fan, you can appreciate the band more by watching this documentary. The color is superb, the sound is phenomenal for old footage. Oh and I almost forgot, the producers restored the movie to its orignal theatrical length!

The perfect DVD!

A++ all the way.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The new standard to beat for Rock DVD
Review: If you didn't already know better, you'd swear this was one of those masterful Disney Platinum Edition restoration and packaging jobs. Amazing things were done with both the video and audio to make a great movie even better. I have always enjoyed this movie, in the theater, on Laserdisc, but this DVD makes me feel like I'm seeing a whole brand new film. I can't believe how good the audio on the old TV clips sound, and the newer concert footage just couldn't be better. This much care for the fans and the end product put a lot of newer music releases to shame (not naming any names--Sir McCartney.)

This is the way a Rock movie should be done overall--songs play through and no one talks over them! The camera edits don't jump and cut every 3 seconds either. I love having the multi-camera angles on the two songs. Now I can just watch Keith and still not know how he plays like that. Even better is having solo OX bass audio to enjoy (he doesn't do that much in Baba unfortunately, but Won't Get Fooled is incredible.) I don't know who it was that ever started that nonsense about the Stones being the "Greatest Rock Band", but all the proof you need that it has ALWAYS been The Who--is right here.

No more DVDs should be allowed to be released before they live up to this quality standard.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: (Beware) The One DVD That Will Not Play
Review: I have purchased this DVD twice,and each time it would not play.
Naturally the store didn't believe me the second time so I got stuck with a DVD that will not play!
99.9% of my DVDs (including retals)play.
My player is a Sony......................Beware of this lable and anything put out by it!!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A MUST HAVE FOR ANY WHO FAN OR ROCK FAN!!!!!
Review: Oh my gosh this is awesome. If you like the Who, you will love them after watching this and if you already love the Who then you will be on cloud nine! They are THE BEST!!!!!! Awesome restoration! GET IT!!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An absolutely splendid reissue of a great rockumentary
Review: After having seen several other major DVD opportunities get squandered (The Beatles's HARD DAYS NIGHT leaps to mind), it is an utter delight to watch/listen to this DVD. It is great on several levels: the original film was one of the best collections of live performances in the history of rock, the reissue has dramatically improved the look and sound of the film, and the Special Edition extra disc includes some truly wonderful features. This ought to be the model for all future reissues, such as when/if they reissue the Rolling Stones's TWENTY-FIVE BY FIVE.

Only a couple of years ago I was trying to explain to my daughter that in the sixties and seventies, the Who were full-fledged members of the rock Pantheon, as revolutionary and crucial as the Stones, the Beatles, or Led Zeppelin. For some reason, they went into a bit of a decline in the general musical consciousness (I found kids my daughter's age might not know of them at all, whereas they knew the other aforementioned bands quite well). Thanks to some timely re-released and a tragic tour that saw the death of John Entwhistle, their star truly seems to be on the ascendant again. This album is crucial for proving what all of us at the time knew: the Who was without question one of the very greatest live bands of all time.

The Who was an amazing band, full of paradoxes. Roger Daltrey was one of the great front men in the history of rock, and Pete Townshend a crack songwriter and arguably the most entertaining to watch guitarist of all time. Yet, the lead instruments in the band, almost unique in rock, were Keith Moon and his maniacally abused drum kit and John Entwhistle's bass, both of them among the top two or three of all time on their instruments, if not the best. They were a great rhythm section, but they jointly tended to take over the songs musically, unlike Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman for the Stones, who were content to stay rock solid in the background. Live, they were amazing, with Daltrey marching in place, swinging the mike around like David about to use his sling against Goliath; Pete Townshend dancing disjointedly around while doing his famous helicopter chording of the guitar; Keith Moon playing as if he were on eight different drugs, tossing his drumsticks ten and twenty feet in the air; and amid it all, like the quiet in the eye of the hurricane, John Entwhistle standing stock still, motionless except for his hands moving up and down his bass, playing the instrument better than anyone else ever had, or perhaps has since.

The film begins with a bang, with a famous appearance on The Smothers Brothers Show (an awesome show because it was so amazingly subversive, with Tom and Dick acting like total squares, but in reality leftists who loved exposing the public to acts like Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl, and bands like The Who and Cream). Unlike Ed Sullivan, Tom and Dick truly loved these bands, and the opening number/skit, a rollicking version of "My Generation" (with Roger Daltrey suffering so badly from a faux upper-induced stammer that was a badge of their identification with the amphetamine-crazed Mods that one isn't certain he is going to be able to finish each line). Each number brings new revelations or refreshes old memories. For instance, in "I Can't Explain" from SHINDIG! Keith Moon is sporting a T-shirt with a bull's eye on it, a full decade before Richard Hell would achieve notoriety in New York for wearing one when he was still with Television.

The numbers included in the film are both wide-ranging and representative. I suppose any Who fan will find many of their own favorites missing, but no one can complain that the numbers focus too much on one phase of their career. The selections are extraordinarily well balanced. One of the more poignant features is the fact that the performance of "Won't Get Fooled Again," which was performed specifically for the film so that they could have one really good performance on film of one of their most famous numbers, was the last time the Who ever performed in their original line up; Keith Moon would die only three months later.

The extras disc is truly worth having, with a feature on the restoration of the movie, and nice items like a tour of the Who's London, an interview with Roger Daltrey, and, my favorite bit, interesting versions of "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again," that features only John Entwhistle's bass and visuals. There is no question about it: the guy could play bass.

All in all, one is going to come across very few music DVDs quite this good. I highly recommend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: None Better You Bet
Review: Easily the best Rock-and-Roll DVD available, and probably one of the finest DVD releases overall I've ever seen, THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT is guaranteed to satisfy any Who fan and make a fan out of those not already initiated.

This DVD finds the film fully restored and presented with stunning clarity and incredible sound. The DTS track shook our living room yet every instrument remained distinct and clear, especially impressive during the show-stopping "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again."

None too boring (and a bit light on actual history), one cannot consider KIDS as the band's story, at least not in a "we were four lads in London..." sense. This film lets the music speak for itself, interjecting small bits of banter and interview segments between the numbers, which are not presented chronologically but instead perfectly juxtaposed old against new against older against newer yet, leaving the viewer/listener awash in absolute and utterly joyful sounds and images of the world's loudest (and easily one of the best) rock bands.

There is not a single complaint to be registered regarding this DVD. The second disc boasts a wealth of extras for the Who fanatic and DVD minutae-phile alike - if you can get to it. Once I finished the main feature, I started it all over again. Rock-and-Roll cinema gets no finer. No "Behind the Music"-esque drama, no reunion shots of a band past their prime - THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT is a heavy slab of the Who at their best. Grab it now. Call it a bargain. The best you ever had.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: When they were good they were very, very good.
Review: Today two old rockers ride the gravytrain pretending to be the men that they used to be 30 years ago. They can still make a lot of noise and remind people of how marvellous their band used to be, to the point that they've become their own tribute band. For those who have only discovered The Who in recent years, buy this DVD and see what the fuss was really all about and how they gained their reputation as a fantastic live act and an innovative bunch of musicians. Sadly the wheels came off The Who's wagon in 1978 but from 1970 until 1976 it was an unstoppable juggernaut and something wonderful to behold.

The film restoration is superb and the bonus features will stand a few viewings. This DVD set surely sets the 'gold standard' for classic rock restorations.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic DVD
Review: You can tell a lot of TLC went into this DVD. This is the most well-made DVD I have ever seen. It was clearly made by die hard Who fans. The restoration must have been incredibly tedious. They really did a fantastic job with the bits of decaying scrap film they had to work with.

But watching it makes you realize how unique the Who were live around 1969 and it's sad that nearly all the live footage of them from this era has been lost (Pete didn't allow filming of their performances at that time). The director talks about this in the commentary during "Young Man Blues", which he actually salvaged out of a dumpster! Even most of highlights of the Woodstock performance have been lost. But what remains is sooooooooo good, I just wish I could see more. Hendrix, Clapton, etc. could never get as intense as Pete playing live around 1969. Pete was the guitar demigod. Watch the woodstock performances (especially chapter 32) to see what I'm talking about. Yes that is blood on Pete's right butt cheek. It's where he wiped his bloody right hand while playing like it was his last day to be alive.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Superb DVD Package
Review: The producers of The Who's "The Kids Are Alright" final debut on DVD went all out to compose a masterpiece.

This is everything one would want in a DVD package. They don't call it "Special Edition" for nothing!

1. Nice hardcover slipcase to put your DVD cover in.

2. A nice booklet of photos, commentary from the director and producer, and liner notes of each track.

3. 2 DVDs... the first containing the movie in glorious hi-def. color/B&W, 5.1 surroundsound. Also includes audio commentary by director Jeff Stein, and subtitles of where each performance comes from.

4. The second DVD filled with "extras". Contains a "Restoration process" documentary, 6 camera angles of the tracks "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", those 2 songs with just Entwisle's bass track, 2 quizes with prizes!, hidden gems, as well as an interview with Jeff Stein, photos of the Who, and an audio/visual comparision between the VHS (old) version of TKAA and the DVD version.

As for the movie itself what can I say? The ultimate rock and roll documentary. Even if you are not a big "Who" fan, you can appreciate the band more by watching this documentary. The color is superb, the sound is phenomenal for old footage. Oh and I almost forgot, the producers restored the movie to its orignal theatrical length!

The perfect DVD!

A++ all the way.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: good DVD
Review: Overall,this is a good DVD and film restoration.However,the quality of the audio and video varies throughout the film because of the age of some of the footage and the sources which were less responsive to the use of digital enhancement.The footage from the 60s of course is kind of rough,but still enjoyable.Some great video highlights include a spot on the smothers brothers show,in which you can see Keith Moon`s "pictures of lilly" drumkit custom made by Premier in 1966! It took premier months to produce this kit,keith smashed it to pieces in one show! he actually put dynamite in one of the bass drums and the resulting explosion destroyed pete townshends hearing.The Smothers Brothers were furious at Keiths antics and barred him from the show thereafter.


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