Rating: 
Summary: Cheap Trick Makes You Feel Good Down Under!
Review: Cheap Trick is one of America's greatest contributions to pop culture. They've never stopped touring or recording, and as great as their records are, this band really has to be seen live to be appreciated. Go see them as soon as you can. In the meantime, the fabulous songs and the band's ever-bigger-than-life image overcome the relatively poor video and inconsistent audio production on this DVD (although the editing is not bad--you do get to see pretty much what you want to see when you want to see it.) The boys are playing hard here in support of the Lap Of Luxury release, whose hits "Don't Be Cruel" and "The Flame" put them back on top where they always belonged. "On Top Of The World", the 2nd song of the set, drives up into the starfield with 5 giant Bun E. Carlos snare thwaps as Robin Zander rears back for one of the all-time great codas. These guys deliver on so many levels, and it's great to see them performing songs you may not have seen them do in a while ("Big Eyes" and "Clock Strikes Ten" in particular), along with the core list of big U.S. hits, big elsewhere hits, small hits, near-hits, album favorites, and shoulda-been-hits-how-could-they-not-have-been. Zander is astounding, as usual, and it's really cool to hear him talk in the short clips of the band hanging out in Sidney, and compare his seemingly normal speaking voice to the roaring and endlessly diverse controlled juggernaut of his singing voice. Although "Never Had A Lot To Lose" sounds like it was recorded on a microcassette, after repeated listenings I've decided it may very well be Zander's vocal monitor mix recorded straight from the mixing board. Although the sound quality is jarringly inferior to the other songs, in a way it's pretty interesting because Zander is loud in the mix, with no reverb or delay effects, so you really hear every little thing, presumably the same way he hears it on stage--for example, on the bridge when he sings 'not 'til daylight', you hear his vocal cords break into harmonics, something you'd never be able to hear normally. Rick Nielsen is at his goofy finest, tossing flatpicks, brow sweat, and a guitar wall of mastered mayhem. Tom Petersson, inventor of the 12-string bass, doubles the height of that guitar wall by generating more tones than a color wheel, while simultaneously anchoring the songs tightly to Carlos' elegant but playful foundation. The "Silver" and "Music For Hangovers" DVD's are superior productions overall, but this one is a very good '80's snapshot of a magical band--an absolute must-have for true fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Cheap Trick circa 1988 with Petersson, power and presence.
Review: Filmed in Sydney 2/10/88 following strong sales of the Band's "Lap of Luxury" LP in Australia & a successful tour "Downunder" in April 1988. I attended one of Cheap Trick's performances at a Melbourne venue called "The Palace" in April '88 and this video offering brings back the memories with a vengence. Bun E. lets rip with the drum intro to "Just Got Back" and the audience are left in no doubt they're in for some rock and roll when Rick appears and crunches his guitar with Pete Townsend like glee. There is not a dull moment on this video and the highlights, I guess, are a matter of personal taste; but for mine "If You Want My Love" (Rick invites us to join in)and the powerhouse three song finale in "I Want You To Want Me", "Surrender" & "Auf Wiedersehen" whip the audience to a fever pitch and certainly gets the viewer pumped and wanting more. "Top of the World", "Dream Police", California Man" are included and "The Flame" gives the girls' tear ducts a workout. There may be plenty of people who have no prior interest in Cheap Trick but I am convinced that once they see the Band live, many are converted and few are left unmoved by the sheer power, presence and LOUDNESS of a truly original outfit. In the words of Rick Nielsen "...I'm conviced it's an addiction too, I feel just great again." Buy it and get into Cheap Trick - I know I have.
Rating: 
Summary: Certainly NOT the greatest live video of all time
Review: I actually saw these 2 shows at The Coogee Bay Hotel in Sydney in December of 1988. I'm a big fan and have seen CT a total of 5 times and while they may not fill arenas like some of the other legendary bands I've seen live (Kiss, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi etc) they really put on quite a live show. I bought the VHS version of this when it first came out & I want to be truly honest - it is awful - really poorly shot & edited. Don't go near this - possibly the worst live performance video in history. Great band, great show, great song list, but the quality of this doesn't do CT justice.
Rating:
Summary: Certainly NOT the greatest live video of all time
Review: I actually saw these 2 shows at The Coogee Bay Hotel in Sydney in December of 1988. I'm a big fan and have seen CT a total of 5 times and while they may not fill arenas like some of the other legendary bands I've seen live (Kiss, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi etc) they really put on quite a live show. I bought the VHS version of this when it first came out & I want to be truly honest - it is awful - really poorly shot & edited. Don't go near this - possibly the worst live performance video in history. Great band, great show, great song list, but the quality of this doesn't do CT justice.
Rating:
Summary: surrender to cheap trick
Review: I lost track of Cheap Trick some time back,their albums were sounding very heavy to listen to,but this dvd proves that this band is one of the greatest to come out of the U.S.A. Cheap Trick perform all their early classics from the mid 70s, with a couple from the Lap of Luxury album. Visually,their is no better band to see,Robin Zander is the perfect image of a 'rock star',so to is bassist Tom Petersson. But it's the stark contrast of zany Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos that make this band unique. Over here in England,on BBC Television,there was a music show called 'Rock goes to College',it starred Cheap Trick when they had just released Dream Police (late 70s?) They were firing on all cylinders back then. I have the concert on an old Philips video (the first home video that took 1 hour tapes only!),but sadly no machine to play it on. Come on BBC,get moving,there's millions of C.T. fans all over the world that would buy it if it was released on dvd. Is there anyone out there that agrees? Best wishes from England, Ray.
Rating:
Summary: [poor] Concert Footage
Review: I recently bought this DVD and was extremely disappointed. The sound and light quality were both awful. The band was totally uninspired. This live effort pales dramatically next to "Live at Budakon." The voices are worn out, the energy is gone. It's out of tune and the audience is minimally involved. After watching it once - it's off to the dust bin! (For a much better live concert - try Queen live at Wembley, Styx return to paradise - or even Journey 2001.
Rating:
Summary: [poor] Concert Footage
Review: I recently bought this DVD and was extremely disappointed. The sound and light quality were both awful. The band was totally uninspired. This live effort pales dramatically next to "Live at Budakon." The voices are worn out, the energy is gone. It's out of tune and the audience is minimally involved. After watching it once - it's off to the dust bin! (For a much better live concert - try Queen live at Wembley, Styx return to paradise - or even Journey 2001.
Rating:
Summary: One of America's Best Bands Ever on DVD
Review: In American Rock, it doesn't get much better than Cheap Trick. This 1988 Sydney Australia concert video is well worth while. Lots of great, energetic footage, and the quality and convenience of DVD! Surrender!
Rating:
Summary: One of America's Best Bands Ever on DVD
Review: In American Rock, it doesn't get much better than Cheap Trick. This 1988 Sydney Australia concert video is well worth while. Lots of great, energetic footage, and the quality and convenience of DVD! Surrender!
Rating: 
Summary: God, Save Rhino
Review: Just 4 days ago I saw Cheap Trick. They are still one of the best rock bands to ever perform. Ok, on this video their performance is quite good maybe excellent. The problem is with barely recognizable audio and 8mm or 1st generation consumer quality video it's really difficult to say. Is this sound recorded with one built-in cassete recorder microphone? The picture quality almost rates average when the pure white stage light shines on the band. I love this band. Please someone, release commercial qualtity video compilation or a professionally produced (35mm film/digital sound) product on this band.
|
