Paul McCartney: Standing Stone

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating!
Review: I missed the telecast of this performance on A&E in 1997 when it came out, and it finally came out on DVD! Seems like Paul has a documentary film on everything he does, but this one was the best I've seen. One section shows how he wrote the piece on a computer, without reading music. Mostly though, it shows Standing Stone as a work in progress through subsequent rehearsals, etc, and variations made "on the fly" to the piece. A great documentary fitting to a great, under-appreciated musician who, since Flowers In The Dirt, is undoubtedly a better songwriter and more varied musician then he ever was as a Beatle. Some may disagree, but Flaming Pie gets more listens than Abbey Road around my place. The video of the concert is captivating, and the camera work is fairly active so you dont fall asleep staring at one musician! All else said, this is a great DVD which is packed with alot of good material and is well worth the (price).

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating!
Review: I missed the telecast of this performance on A&E in 1997 when it came out, and it finally came out on DVD! Seems like Paul has a documentary film on everything he does, but this one was the best I've seen. One section shows how he wrote the piece on a computer, without reading music. Mostly though, it shows Standing Stone as a work in progress through subsequent rehearsals, etc, and variations made "on the fly" to the piece. A great documentary fitting to a great, under-appreciated musician who, since Flowers In The Dirt, is undoubtedly a better songwriter and more varied musician then he ever was as a Beatle. Some may disagree, but Flaming Pie gets more listens than Abbey Road around my place. The video of the concert is captivating, and the camera work is fairly active so you dont fall asleep staring at one musician! All else said, this is a great DVD which is packed with alot of good material and is well worth the (price).

Rating:
Summary: Incredible work
Review: I've waited two years for this DVD...and it was well worth it.. an incredible experience of sight and sound. Not only do you get the Albert Hall concert but a documentary on the flip side...and i swear it looks like Steve Miller hanging out beside Paul during the recording session!

BUY IT!

Rating:
Summary: Incredible work
Review: I've waited two years for this DVD...and it was well worth it.. an incredible experience of sight and sound. Not only do you get the Albert Hall concert but a documentary on the flip side...and i swear it looks like Steve Miller hanging out beside Paul during the recording session!

BUY IT!

Rating:
Summary: what an enhancement to the enjoyment of this piece of music!
Review: In some cases, enjoyment and appreciation of a work is enhanced by increased knowledge of the work. That is certainly the case with this video. For twenty-some dollars, you get a really insightful documentary of how Standing Stone came to be, rehearsals for the big Albert Hall concert, and the concert itself.

Revelatory - that is the only word.

Plus it's kind of cool to actually have so much material on a DVD that I have to flip it over. I get that retro feeling through my bones!

Rating:
Summary: what an enhancement to the enjoyment of this piece of music!
Review: In some cases, enjoyment and appreciation of a work is enhanced by increased knowledge of the work. That is certainly the case with this video. For twenty-some dollars, you get a really insightful documentary of how Standing Stone came to be, rehearsals for the big Albert Hall concert, and the concert itself.

Revelatory - that is the only word.

Plus it's kind of cool to actually have so much material on a DVD that I have to flip it over. I get that retro feeling through my bones!

Rating:
Summary: Painful to review
Review: Now if you ask me, and plenty of folks what are interested in this here type of music do now and again, this here type of music is certainly interesting... but unlike what you might could except from Sir Paul.

In fact, I can recognize how beautiful the music is... but at the same time I don't want to hear it... or see it. It pains me to have to write that because I love Paul McCartney's work and I also appreciate symphonic ditties now and again, but combining Paul McCartney and the symphony just don't crack my whip. I hereby apologize to all them fans out there who were expecting me to come up with some flattering effluvium at this point. Ain't gonna happen.

I say; buy this DVD if you want to, but be prepared for it to not sound nothin' like what you are used to and be prepared to also not watch it ever again ifin you ain't a particular fan of the symphony sound. Again, I want to stress that this sure enough is right beautiful, but it just ain't my jug of corn squeezins.

Mama don't like this one because she says it's too high falootin' for her blood, so I pretty much leave it off the DVD player gizmo whenever she's around.