Rating: 
Summary: An Unbelievable Performance in amazing DTS!
Review: Steely Dan's performance was absolutely flawless and extremely tight. They had a great set list with most of my favorite songs represented. If you haven't warmed up to their new material yet, this concert will surely help. This was the first DTS DVD I ever bought and now I am hooked. You can make direct comparison to Digital 5.1 on the disk and the difference is amazing! If you are a Dan fan, this DVD will blow your mind with the sound quality and musicianship. If you don't really "get" Steely Dan, this DVD will convert you quickly.
Rating:
Summary: It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This
Review: If you've scrolled down the page this far, it's obvious that you're a Steely Dan fan and you, therefore, don't require a long-winded biography of this most unique band and its principal founders, Donald Fagan and Walter Becker. You already know they write great songs with memorable hooks, fascinating lyrics, and keen, jazz-influenced harmony. And no doubt you know that their latest studio album, "Two Against Nature," is their first in nearly twenty years. This extraordinary video concert, taped at Sony Studios in New York this past winter and now available on VHS and DVD, was first presented by PBS Television as an installment of its "In The Spotlight" series. I purchased the DVD and it is remarkable in terms of both the performance and the overall production. If you've seen the PBS version, be advised that the DVD offers essentially the same program, only with few more interview segments, rehearsal footage and short clips of Becker and Fagan humorously interrogating various friends and band members. It also includes an energetic performance of "FM" edited out during my PBS station's pledge week, perhaps to allow more time to pitch tote bags and umbrellas. The old songs like "Kid Charlemagne," "Pretzel Logic," and "Babylon Sisters" sound better than ever. And the new material is superb as well. Thankfully, the concert is produced without the usual obligatory special effects that so often make concert videos annoying. It simply looks and sounds great. While you're waiting for the Steely Dan tour to hit your town this summer, this DVD will have to do it the meantime. And it will do just fine.
Rating:
Summary: What a show, what a band!
Review: Witty, and hip with a groove so deep I'm still trying to crawl out of it. Excellent selection of tunes with "Bad Sneakers" from 75's Katie Lied a nice surprise for me. Production is rich with respect to both video and audio (you are THERE baby!), with long time Dan producer Roger Nichols twisting the knobs on the audio side. This band is tight! Having Ricky Lawson, Tom Barney, and Dan newcomer Jon Herington on drums, bass, and guitar respectively, everyone else just has to show up to be absolutely stellar,...and they do. Interviews with audience members waiting on line to get into the show, shot at NYC's Sony Music Stages are both interesting and funny. Becker and Fagan's "community access" TV show with the non-stop mic boom has some of the best humor I've witnessed in quite some time. If the Dan is your deal, buy this DVD now!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Video Performance of All Time!
Review: How can anyone be critical of the best video performance of all time? Three must changes: 1. Larry Carlton on lead guitar (especially on Kid Charlemagne). 2. The addition of at least ten more tunes (Rikki, Deacon Blues, Brooklyn, Dr. Wu, for starters). 3. Although the comments from the audience in waiting were amusing, (especially the lady that confused "The Year of the Cat" for a Dan tune), just the music would have been perfect. Such a joy to see all of the musicians play the intricate lines with such ease. This is the perfect video for testing DVD players and audio equipment. Everyone must have this video!
Rating: 
Summary: Performance is Great, but lose the "home video"
Review: I really wanted to like this DVD. I really did. I love the Two Against Nature CD. The performances on the DVD are sound great on DTS and they've included some faves like "Josie" and "Black Friday" as well. What ruined it for me is the 2+ minutes of "home video" commentary by the guys at the end of each track. To make it worse, it's not differentiated by chapter so you can't even edit it out... Too bad they spent all that time deciding what order to put the tracks in...It would have made much more sense to put all the home video in a separate area, as a lot of music dvds do....but then again Steely rarely does what everyone else does...
Rating:
Summary: Could Have Been Better
Review: The audio during the concert footage is excellent. But when they rudely cut to the interview portions, you have to crank up the volume to hear it. Why didn't they show the ENTIRE SHOW UNINTERRUPTED and put the interviews as DVD extras? Where was the quality control? The video quality during the concert footage is good, but during the interviews the audio and video is poor. The performance of the band is incredible, and all songs are presented in their entirety. It's annoying to see a song followed by interviews and then another song. Unfortunately, the manufacturers have ruined what could have been a stellar DVD. This DVD should be re-released, with the entire show uninterrupted, and the interviews included as extras. Then it would be 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Drop this "jazz-rock" party into your shopping cart!
Review: Steely Dan is on the short list of musical artists who have created a distinctive, textured approach that retains its freshness amid the constant shifts in popular music tastes and styles. The video shows that even after nearly three decades they are able to maintain a creative edge without overhauling the "jazz-rock" blueprint best heard on the albums AJA, THE ROYAL SCAM, and TWO AGAINST NATURE. To my delight, the 5.1 digital mix gives the rhythm section a funk-jazzy wallop ala late-period Miles Davis or Marcus Miller. Yet the subtleties of the lyrics, melodies, harmonies, and clever arrangements aren't sacrificed by the punchier mix. Fagen and Becker have done an excellent job of selecting musicians who are disciplined in the right way--avoiding superfluous, cliched gestures while maintaining a controlled looseness and vitality. The rhythm section is fluid, the horns tight (and able to contribute worthy solos when called upon), and the backing vocalists able to provide added textures behind Fagen's pleasantly raspy lead vocals. Equally commendable is their choice of material--a healthy mix of tracks from their new album with some well-chosen classics that continue to inspire the level of performance that made them memorable in the first place. In-between each tune are documentary-like inserts that take the viewer behind-the-scenes. As witty and illuminating as these clips are, the music itself is so impressive that I found myself anxiously waiting for the next tune to begin. Highly recommended to fans of Steely Dan...or anybody who likes jazz-inflected popular music that combines an rich variety of influences into something that continues to challenge and reward the listener with no end in sight.
Rating:
Summary: Really Sweet
Review: This is an excellent concert. The live arrangements of songs old and new are right on (much better, I think, than the arrangements from their 94-96 tours). The performance is great, and the filming of the performance is great. Very tight and well rehearsed. It's great to see everyone on stage having so much fun. Steely Dan is really something special, and this DVD showcases why. You can throw this in, crank it up, and either watch it or just let it play for the music alone.
Rating:
Summary: Sizzlin' like an Isotope. Fagen, Becker: Live 2vN...
Review: ...if you love Steely's CD of 2vN, and who here on God Green Earth doesn't, ya gotta get this vid presentation. Fagen sounds a little strained on some of the older tunes, notably "Peg" and "Babylon Sisters", but that's okay, 'cause somehow it suits the man well--like that Ray Charlesian rock he's acquired when he sits at the Fender Rhodes. I somehow was surprised to see written charts at the musicians' stands. Becker, though quite, quite adept at most of the guitar parts, comes off like he'd rather be at his favorite watering hole nursing a Jacky D., neat...just kiddin'. You don't wanna miss this live version of "Jack of Speed" and "What A Shame..." The interview parts are hilarious, especially when they talk about ...? the Crusaders? Gary Katz? Old Dan-ers? Beg, borrow or steal this one and enjoy, people!
Rating:
Summary: Hey, what a night!
Review: What a night that plush TV Jazz-Rock party must have been! The groove gets to you. They perform brilliantly. Great band. Great interviews ;-) Great mix of new and (again slightly modified) old material. To prepare for the upcoming tour: use this! To console yourself if you miss the tour: use this!
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