Rating: Summary: Lost Opportunuty Review: After seeing this concert in glorious 16x9 High Definition on HDNet I purhased the the DVD assuming in would be in widescreen. The tech specs on Amazon list the DVD as being 16x9 ratio (1.85:1) but actually it's a letterboxed 3x4 (1.33:1) so it doesn't take advantege of the widescreen format at all.The 5.1 digital sound track is great and worth the price.
Rating: Summary: A Crapy DVD Review: Although James Taylor is a great singer this concert wasn't his best I thought. In the Past I have listened to his concert CD's and thought they were very good (despite the extreme altering of the songs). But in this DVD he alters his songs way too much to the point where I can't even recognise them. Also the camera switches views practially every second making it really hard to focus and get into it. Over all, I'd rather eat rat poison that have to watch this DVD again. It sucks and I just prefer listening to his un altared CD's. D O N O T B U Y
Rating: Summary: Just when you thought JT was at his best Review: As somebody who has just about everything that James Taylor ever did it'ss hard to belive that, after all these years, he's surpassed all his previous works. I first saw JT at the City Hall in Newcastle, England in 1970. From that point I knew that this was something different. It wasn't folk, it wasn't rock, it wasn't R&B yet it was all these things. With every album the music got better, brilliant compositions, beautiful lyrics which have only improved with years. It has to be said, and this is not in any way detrimental to JT's work, that as the band got bigger so did the sound. Until this DVD came out I thought that the JT Live double CD was probably the best live performance, Don Grolnick brought something really special to JT's music at this time, but Clifford Carter has amply stepped in to fill the void left by Don's untimely death. Pull Over is without doubt JT and Band at the very zenith of his career - just when you thought that 'Hourglass' and 'October Road' were superlative here goes that guy again getting better and better as each year passes. If you buy 1 DVD this Christmas make sure it's Pull Over. You will not regret. PS Just had my fifth viewing of this DVD since it arrived - listen out for the sax and horns and reflect upon Clifford Carter's beautiful extemporation on Hammond Organ. Great to see Russ Kunkel back also, Don Grolnick & Carlos Vega - wherever you are, rest easy - the bands in good hands.
Rating: Summary: James Taylor - Pull Over Review: Exceptional sound quality and a mega-set song list. If you've seen JT live, you know there are two "sets". Both are included here. There are songs from his latest relase and many Taylor classics. I particularly enjoyed the current arrangement of Steamroller and this version of Sun on the Moon. The band is stellar and includes long time alums Jimmy Johnson and the drummer that recorded the original Fire and Rain, Russ Kunkel. A haunting version of Millworker, which begins with bass and guitar, reveal James at his guitar best. Rounding out the set is a jamming version of the standard, Knock On Wood. Finally, the last song is just JT and guitar and represents an absolute highlight of this important and thoroughly American artist's ability.
Rating: Summary: Sweet Baby James Review: First went to see JT live in June of 1998 down in St Louis and just saw him again on November 16th, this past Saturday. Already bought the "Live at the Beacon" dvd, but it always seemed like something was missing. No "Sweet Baby James" to end the concert and JT just didn't seem to be that comfortable and relaxed. I just received my shipment today of the "Pullover" dvd and this was just like being at the concert. JT smiling on stage throughout and his voice just seems to improve with age. His rendition of "Fire & Rain" seemed to have more heart to it, even though it was probably the 10,000th time he had to sing it and the audience was really into the concert. I missed not hearing "up on the Roof" and "Shower the People", but the addition of "Carolina in My Mind", "Copperline", and ending with "Sweet Baby James" more than made of for that. Buy it - you won't regret it.
Rating: Summary: Sweet Baby James Review: First went to see JT live in June of 1998 down in St Louis and just saw him again on November 16th, this past Saturday. Already bought the "Live at the Beacon" dvd, but it always seemed like something was missing. No "Sweet Baby James" to end the concert and JT just didn't seem to be that comfortable and relaxed. I just received my shipment today of the "Pullover" dvd and this was just like being at the concert. JT smiling on stage throughout and his voice just seems to improve with age. His rendition of "Fire & Rain" seemed to have more heart to it, even though it was probably the 10,000th time he had to sing it and the audience was really into the concert. I missed not hearing "up on the Roof" and "Shower the People", but the addition of "Carolina in My Mind", "Copperline", and ending with "Sweet Baby James" more than made of for that. Buy it - you won't regret it.
Rating: Summary: Still THE Man! Review: From reading the reviews, I wasn't sure about purchasing this dvd since I have the Beacon Theatre concert, also. Well, I'm glad I did - even if some of the songs are duplicated, there is still enough different material, plus different arrangements, to make this well worthwhile. James and the band are more relaxed and spontaneous in Pull Over, and look like they are having a lot more fun during this tour (this dvd is a taken from several concerts) than at the Beacon. Although it is very sad to have lost Carlos Vega, it is also a treat to see Russ Kunkel back on the drums just like he was 30+ years ago on Taylor's earlier albums. One reviewer commented that the sound was not as good on this dvd and sounded like it had been heavily processed. To me, the mixing is uneven - on some songs, especially at the beginning, the mix is muffled (lacks crispness, the bass is way too strong and the instruments don't seem well defined, plus Taylor's voice sounds like it is in the background) but on others, it is first rate. The Beacon concert has uniformly excellent sound, but Pull Over is hit and miss although even the "poorest" is still pretty good. Overall, Taylor and his band/background singers put together a wonderful show - this is a "must buy" for his fans!
Rating: Summary: Great performance despite the videography Review: Great performances and arrangements of JT material. That being said, I found myself cringing at the amateurish camera work and video editing. Good camera work is invisible, you'll find yourself distracted from the performance by the shaky cameras, jumpy edits and other poor production techniques.
Rating: Summary: JUST AS GOOD AS THE BEACON DVD Review: Having owned the `Live at Beacon Theatre' DVD and thoroughly enjoyed it I was almost not going to bother with `Pull Over'if I had listened to some of the reviews here saying the sound is weird and the picture average etc. Well all I can say to anyone put off by these is don't take any heed of them and buy this DVD. Okay some of the hits are repeated but there are some classics here that weren't on `Beacon' such as `Sweet baby James',Carolina on my Mind,Millworker and the new material off `October Road' is excellent. I prefer this band especially with `Russ Kunkel' on drums and the addition of horns.
Rating: Summary: Great Performance! Review: I didn't notice if this DVD was taken from various concerts, well done. I love JT songs and the quality of the Dolby Digital sound is outstanding. I have a plasma widescreen tv and the DVD is in widescreen, but the format is not recognized by the DVD player, so I had to adjust the image to fill the whole screen. That minor detail and the camera transition problems didn't stop me from enjoying this GREAT PERFORMANCE! By the way... he didn't include "October Road" in the DVD...
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