Rating: Summary: Garbage Review: Just a few questions: What about The Specials? What about the B-52's? How about FEAR? (Halloween show, yes you remember...) And where's Pearl Jam? Think of all the truly groundbreaking musical performances that were on SNL, you know, the one's you saw when you were a kid and said "What the...?" but then you grew to understand that what you had seen was the real deal, forever opening your eyes to REAL music. Don't waste your money on this pile of stank.
Rating: Summary: Producers wayyyyy off the mark. Review: One would think that the powers who put this collection together would have realized that the people who want to shell out $50 for five hours are in it for only one thing...nostalgia. Lorne and crew had ample footage to extend this package and make it something worth buying. Instead of including memorable performances that matter and treat us to all the goodness of 1975-1985 they turn out the swill that is everything on disc five except the U2 number, which is a bonus track. All I've been watching over and over again is Patti Smith's performance of "Gloria." The naked emotion and raw intensity of this song alone towers above anything the producers put on discs 3-5. This a great moment in time and one that Chevy Chase could care less about. Chevy is a poor choice for a rock music set because Chevy don't rock. He's uninformed and way to glib. Why was Elvis Costello on the show in 1977 Chevy? Tell that story. Please don't tell us that Elvis was the inspiration for the Lupners. Go back please and give us what we want; our money's worth.
Rating: Summary: Where is DEVO???? Review: Please tell me that there are more discs coming... And fyi, the Mick Jagger - Tom Snyder (Dan Aykroyd) bit was boring back when I saw it the FIRST time (in the 70s).
Rating: Summary: 25 years of music and smug comedians Review: They had Paul Simon, and Carly Simon, but that wasn't close to their normal ratio, so the producers decided to add a good dose of their attention-starved, hard-on-the-eyes comics and writers (Al Franken) talking as smugly as they can about themselves, and the acts. Then they throw in some those "for the ages" Saturday Night Live skits with their marvelous use of loud and distorted speech filling in for comedy. As has been said, the difference between a SNL sketch and life, is that life ends. And who could ever get enough of Lorne Michaels smarmy self-promotion!! How about releasing another 5 DVDs just filled with music...
Rating: Summary: What a rp-off Review: This box set boasts over fifty performances, ON FIVE DVDS... You do the math. This had the potential to be really something special. Five dvds worth of music should be at least fifteen hours of fun. Instead you get one dvd worth of music spread over five for over fifty bucks. Buy something else...
Rating: Summary: Good...but Review: This is a great overview of the music that appeared on SNL over the years. I was a little disappointed when I found out that this was just a "packaged for sale" version of what appeared on VH-1, but am still enjoying it. I would argue that there are two preformances from the early '90's that are missing: Pearl Jam preforming "Alive" and Faith No More's "Epic." Both were great and diserving of being on this collection.
Rating: Summary: Good Quality - Nice compilation - Entertaining Review: This set is a very entertaining compilation of historically significant bands in the rock genre. The great flavor of the Saturday Night Live performances was unique to the times and shines through in this 5-disk set. Comparable quality live video footage of many of the artists featured here is difficult to find. The music is presented with a few music-related comedy skits thrown in between, and this makes it more watchable than a music only DVD. The fact that some favorites were apparently left out of the mix should not deter anyone from enjoying the broad array of artists that did make it onto the disk.
Rating: Summary: Give Me More! Review: This set is drawn from the same series that aired on Vh1 a few years ago, but with one big difference- the songs are complete, and the sketches are too! Some of my favorites are here, including Elvis Costello's "Radio Radio", Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" among others. My only complaint is that this set makes me want more! Some of my favorites not on this set, that would make a great followup volume include: George Harrison and Paul Simon from 1976 "Homeward Bound" and "Here comes the Sun" Eric Idle's parody of "Here comes the sun" The original Rutles clips Tom Petty "I need to know" The Specials "Gangster" Rolling Stones from 1978 "Shattered" and the rest Guido Sarducci's interview w/Paul and Linda McCartney Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow "It's in his kiss" (with Gilda and Laraine on backing vocals I think) Simon and Garfunkel and James Taylor "Cathy's Clown" The sketch with Matthew Broderick about Albert Goldman getting kicked out of the Beatles. Blondie "Dreaming" Squeeze "Pulling Mussels from a shell" Frank Zappa "I'm the Slime" Bob Dylan "When You gonna wake up" The Clash "Should I stay or should I go?" and many more.... are you listening Lorne?
Rating: Summary: You can't please everybody Review: While I agree that the omission of The Specials, Pearl Jam and the B-52s, et. al. is almost unforgivable, it would have been impossible to include everyone. For the price, this is an excellent compilation. The sound is not so bad--it's pretty good, actually--considering how old some of this is. I think the best quality possible was delivered. I, too, would love to see a mult-disc complete edition of SNL music. But, until then, this will do fine.
Rating: Summary: If it was all music they would have had my money by now. Review: Wouldn't it be great to have five DVDs packed full of music segments from SNL? Or, how about just one DVD for each season, with all the music performances? I'm sure glad I read reviews. If I had just bought this based on the title I would have been very dissapointed. If it was just music, I could put the DVD in my system at home or work and just crank the music! Or, I could watch it too if I wanted to. But what's the point of calling it "25 Years of Music" and have it be a lot of other stuff?
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