Rating: 
Summary: Paul is Paul, and then ....
Review: Certainly, this DVD is not the great performance, because the video is mixed between the concert and the backstage, but Paul McCartney was, is & will the great!! musicians and always it's Ok!!!.
The sound of this DVD (DTS) is great. If you are Paul's fan, this performance is safety pin.
Rating: 
Summary: An Elder Statesman of R&R
Review: Long ago I was a big Beatles fan and I still turn the radio up when a Lennon-McCartney song comes on. I had reservations about this concert DVD though. I thought it would be a aging rock and roller trying to stay in the spotlight for another year. I couldn't have been more wrong. McCartney still rocks and his band is tremendous. The song selection is just right, the cinematography excels and the sound recording is excellent. The scenes with the apes are pretty silly but I'll forgive him that. If you're a Beatles or McCartney fan this is the perfect compliment to your CD (or LP?) collection.
Rating: 
Summary: What happened?
Review: I grew up in San Francisco in the 60's. I missed being able to go the last Beatles concert at Candlestick Park by the skin of my teeth. I've seen many legendary performers at the top of their games, including Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Band, Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, the Stones, the Who, Buffalo Springfield, Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers. With these past experiences, I can still say that seeing Paul live on the last tour was THE most magical concert experience of my life - an indelible moment. Unfortunately, the DVD is only a pale echo of that experience. I enjoyed the "behind the scenes" stuff a lot, but interrupting performances is inexcusable. For example, there is a little gem of a soundcheck where Paul and the band play "Matchbox", which is interrrupted with the most irritating and unnecessary editing and overdubs. A lost classic moment. Repeated us of this kind of editing nearly ruins what could have been one of the great concert DVDs of all time. With regard to the set list - the concert itself flowed beatifully, with generally very good mixing and juxtaposition of newer and older material. A significant part of the emotional impact of the concert is lost by presenting the individual songs out of order. To sum up, I guess I'd say that if you saw the concert(s), you will probably be somewhat annoyed and/or disappointed at the wasted opportunity this DVD represents. If you were not able to see Macca during the tour, you will still get some enjoyment out of this disk. I rate this at three stars since I'd still probably buy it, knowing what I do now.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Look at a Great Artist on the Road
Review: It's not the best video you'll ever see, and it's not in the same league as let's say The Eagles' "Hell Freezes Over", or the Bee Gees' "One Night" from an audio point of view, but it is a remarkable look at one of THE seminal artists of our time. There is no bigger name in the music business and no better look at a very big tour. The musicianship is extraordinary and the material is classic. For any collector of great concert performances, this should be at the top of the list. The audio is not quite audiophile and the video is a little too MTV-ish to give it a perfect score, but it IS worth the price of admission.
Rating:
Summary: Concert or infomercial?
Review: I attended two concerts from the Driving USA tour in 2002. I really hoped this dvd would be an accurate representation of what the complete show was like. Instead, the apparent idea was to make a "documentary" of what it was like backstage and on the road, while also showing us songs from the concerts. The DVD sometimes feels like a 2 hour promotional piece, straining to show what an "event" this tour was. Well, having been there, I can say that it WAS definitely quite an event. But this presentation doesn't really communicate that.First off, what did I like about the DVD? The performances that are included are uniformly very good and sound excellent. Most of the songs from the tour are accounted for, whether in the main program or in the "bonus song" section. As a McCartney fan, I want as much music as possible, and in the best sound quality possible. A nice inclusion was a trio of performances from soundchecks. So... I am left with a lot of negatives. While I liked a lot of the 'backstage' and 'behind the scenes' material, I would've preferred it to be seperate from the concert footage. That would've been perfect: a concert presented in it's entirety, and a separate "documentary" showing how the tour was put together, etc. But interrupting songs for interviews and breaking up the flow of the concert was not a great idea. The picture quality is not very clear, definitely not what we've grown accustomed to for DVD. The recent Eric Clapton concert dvd provides a FAR superior picture, for example (and wisely presents the concert from start to finish with no interruptions). The worst offense by far was the editing of songs and the exclusion of certain songs (all of which can be found on the 2 CD set of the same name). With DVD, it would've been easy to present the entire concert and still be able to organize all the 'behind the scenes' stuff as bonus materials.
Rating:
Summary: Worth every penny, these disks capture the majic of Macca
Review: LIVE! I attended two shows, one on each leg of the tour and these disks capture the majic of his show. It is formatted in 5.1 digital sound and if you own a decent amp and speakers, you can turn the volume up and capture the majic of the show! I own other Macca concert shows, along with Eagles, Clapton etc... and this disk out-classes them all. So please, don't think I am going over the top.... Why? Because this disk works all of the angles of his tour, taking you back stage for soundchecks, on the bus/jet, in his hotel room, capturing radio and celebrity comments along with commentary with the band and crew. It also includes some of the stories he tells to set up the show and songs and more. If you don't like the Beatles or Paul...your lost, click your back button...the Stones are slummin' down the road somewhere near you sounding like a tired garage band. This disk, like Paul is full of energy, charisma and WILL ROCK YOU back to your youth! If you are worried about silly love songs DON'T. He left them on the shelf.
Rating:
Summary: On The Road With Sir Paul
Review: Paul McCartney's Back In The US dvd is the companion piece to the cd. The cd is a superb account of Mr. McCartney's most recent American tour and really captured the essence of the concert. The dvd doesn't quite match up to the album. The concert footage and performances are exactly the same, so of course, they are excellent. The problem lies in the editing. There is a bit too movement, cutting from one band member, to the audience and so forth, that the pace is too quick. Also, an even bigger problem is the breaking away from the concert to see backstage footage, on the road footage, etc. While these, unto themselves are entertaining and provide a nice glimpse into life on the road, they break up the flow of the concert. The disk would have been better served to show the full concert and offer the other views as extras. Overall, I would recommend getting the cd first, but the dvd is still worth buying in conjunction with the album as it provides a visual documentary on one of the greatest musicians and artists of all time.
Rating: 
Summary: Major Disappointment...
Review: I saw this tour last fall and was thrilled to learn that it was being filmed for a full length DVD. I was looking forward to being able to own this as a souvenir of the concert experience. Unfortunately, it 'Back In The US' turned out to be a complete disappointment. What ruined it for me was all the jumpy camera work, constant scene editting, song truncations, backstage shots mixed in with song performances, etc, etc, etc. And there was way too much focus on audience shots, it all just seemed too contrived and artificial. Which is was a real let-down, because I was really hoping for this DVD to be a simple film of uninterupted concert songs in sequence so I could experience it as a souvenir of the show I saw. No, it's not completely terrible. The sound is great, and the picture quality is clear and sharp. And of course the music is absolutely wonderful. But what else would you expect with Beatles music. I just wanted to watch the band play songs in sequence without the constant interuptions and dizzying camera work. All the crowd scenes, backstage shots, etc, etc, would have been better featured on a bonus disk. Continually mixed in with the band's performance is distracting and ultimately annoying. Jan 15,2003 lr*** (I am definitely passing on this DVD. Luckily, the whole show is available as a 2 CD set, which I will be buying instead.)
Rating:
Summary: it's all good
Review: If your not totally take away by this concert tour (Back in the US) your numb. This is just like listing to the Beatles or to Wings. Get this DVD or CD you will see Paul back on top again. He reaches all ages 6 to 60.
Rating: 
Summary: I used the skip forward button a lot.
Review: When I buy a concert film, I want to see and hear uninterrupted song performances. Since my DVD player is piped through my stereo, I like to play DVDs as CDs. I don't want the songs to be interrupted with interviews with the crew or (least of all) interrupted with interviews with crying obsessed fans. This DVD has both. There were at least two songs that had people talking over the actual performance. I was so annoyed that after every song I would press the skip forward button to the next song. I would then wait to see if someone was going to talk over the top of the song, if they did, I would skip to the next song. And the footage is of poor quality. It is great music and a great performance I'm sure but I recommend checking out the CD first. I was very disappointed.
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