Rating: Summary: This DVD was worth the money!!! Review: I now own two of Cheap Trick concert dvd's. One is live from Australia and now Silver. I loved Silver much better because the music was so much tighter than the Austrialian one. I honestly dont know what was dubbed in and im sure there were mistakes, but from what I could tell musically they were right on the money for a live performance. Take it from me-I'm a musician that has played live and sometimes perfection isnt important; its the vibe conveyed by the band. I didn't like the video either but i would say its more the lighting that really bothered me than anything else. Some songs it seemed Tom was really playing too loud and couldnt hear rick or robin's singing. On the commentary it was nice to see Bun E. Joke around and explain the background of the songs...especially that thing about John Lennon commenting that this was the guitar played on Day Tripper, but Cheap Tricks version was on the charts at that very time. All in all well worth the money and I have seen CT 10 times up close and far away. Good flow and vibe.
Rating: Summary: Sound is great, Video is poor Review: I was highly disappointed in the lack of quality in the video production. It seemed like they were using production equipment from the early 80's. The Band's performance was excellent ! !
Rating: Summary: cheap trick OVER exposed Review: I will probably take a LOT of heat for this 3 star rating but read first and scream later. The group itself rates a 5 star review but the production is ZERO. I have been looking forward to this release and what a let down...in the age of DVD we are used to professionally filmed and edited footage and this DVD is a waste of the format...heck BETA is too good for this slop. The group plays and sings great...but the camera work is amateurish at best and the exposures are all over the map. What that means to non photographers out there is that during the course of a song the group is shot at one angle from a camera that is properly exposed with colors that are vivid..then shifts to another shot where the artists are nothing but WHITE BLURS due to incorrect exposure of the film/video. The other DVD on the market from a club in Australia YEARS ago..looks soo much better. Anyway...I love cheap trick and am glad to own this but it rates only a notch better than the audio CDs already available due to the ... production values. I guess what I am saying is ..go ahead and buy , but lower your expectations if you have seen any decent video in the last 30 years.
Rating: Summary: Greater than the sum of its parts. Review: I'm giving this 5 stars not because it's perfect, which it's not, but because the experience as a whole is far greater than the sum of its individual parts. I don't think it's fair to score this DVD by separating each part and grading individually by sound, picture, etc. I will do so, but I want to make it clear first that this concert DVD experience taken as a whole is just awesome. If you grew up listening to this group on the radio, you owe it to yourself to see them live. As a former non-fan of Cheap Trick, I had never seen them live before, or owned any of their albums. Seeing this DVD however, I realize that I missed out on one of the world's best live acts. They are tight, energetic, and fun to watch, even after all these years. They are in fine form here. Now for the grading of the separate parts: *Sound quality: 5 stars. It's not studio-quality, but for a live recording, it is top-notch. *Video quality: 4 stars. I've seen better, but there again, for a live show, it's pretty good. I've also seen a LOT worse elsewhere. I'd read that the picture quality was awful, but it is definitely not awful. In fact it is quite good I think. Just my opinion; your mileage may vary. *Performance: 5 stars. Excellent. These guys are just a total blast to watch. I can find no fault here.
I have not been a fan of this band until just today when I watched this, so I think you can trust my opinion as unbiased. All the hits are here, and more, with lots of special guests. The special guests were unfamiliar to me, but all did a fine job on their parts too. Don't dismiss this band out of hand, as I did, as just another hit machine. They are a talented bunch, and deserve a listen from you. I think that you will not be disappointed, and you will have a great time watching these 30 excellent tracks.
Rating: Summary: 25 Years of Rock -n- Roll Greatness! Review: If you remember "I want you to want me", this 2-disc DVD set is for you. It is a 2+ hour presentation of Cheap Trick's 25th Anniv. concert -- presented in 1999. The band plays 29, count them, 29 of their greatest songs! Joined on-stage by family members and old friends -- including Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Art Alexakis of Everclear, and Slash from Guns and Roses -- it is a visual and audio trip down memory lane. The second disc is a smpling of the songs from the concert with a running discussion with the band members about the songs and a 25 year life of the band. Each member gives unique insight into what it means to be a vital member of "one of the greatest rock bands of all time" -- Bill Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins. The second disc also provides video taken on that great tour of Japan -- the tour that brought America "Cheap Trick Live at Budokan". Go out and buy this DVD, you won't be sorry you did.
Rating: Summary: Great show! Great band! So-so video quality. Review: It is a great concert, no doubt about it. But this outdoor show was very poorly lit, and the DVD suffers because of it. That kind of stage lighting probably works okay in an enclosed room, but in the open night air the visible light gets sucked into the darkness. You can see the light rigging in the video, and it looks, well, awkwardly arranged at best. Not enough light (especially white light) on the stage and the band. Robin Zander may not have minded so much, however. He is looking a bit weatherbeaten in this show. Still a good concert, but disappointing visual presentation. But that isn't the fault of the camera work or the DVD makers. The fault lies with whoever designed the stage lighting.
Rating: Summary: Excellent performance, poor quality DVD Review: It is a shame that such good and inspired performance have been wasted by such poor production (by Image, nevertheless!) Video is very poor, but it is common for many concerts. What is really terrible is audio, DD 5.1 surround sounds like poor old ProLogic, everything as squished, there are no dynamics, image or anything to write home about. One may hope that one day they can remaster it. 5 for performance, 1 for production, 3 average.
Rating: Summary: Haven't seen it, but I was there live... Review: Just to correct a few goofy misperceptions from the Amazon staff reviews and the customer reviews: this concert was filmed in a lovely riverfront park (not a "blocked off street") in Rockford, IL, where the band members are from and where they still live, not "Rockville". (Somebody must be an REM fan...) It was an amazing evening for real fans of the band and I was privileged to be there. The filming was done by a real live professional video crew - if you saw the quality of the equipment they were using, you would be even more mystified by what some reviewers are saying is poor video and audio quality. From what I was seeing, I thought MTV or VH1 was handling the filming, given the equipment and the size of the crew! So don't blame Trick for a low-budget production, I don't think it is their fault. The family stuff could have been hokey but somehow seemed completely appropriate and even (gasp) touching. Robin is still an incredible singer - somebody PLEASE make him stop smoking, it kills me to see it. :) Buy this video just to keep this band alive!
Rating: Summary: Haven't seen it, but I was there live... Review: Just to correct a few goofy misperceptions from the Amazon staff reviews and the customer reviews: this concert was filmed in a lovely riverfront park (not a "blocked off street") in Rockford, IL, where the band members are from and where they still live, not "Rockville". (Somebody must be an REM fan...) It was an amazing evening for real fans of the band and I was privileged to be there. The filming was done by a real live professional video crew - if you saw the quality of the equipment they were using, you would be even more mystified by what some reviewers are saying is poor video and audio quality. From what I was seeing, I thought MTV or VH1 was handling the filming, given the equipment and the size of the crew! So don't blame Trick for a low-budget production, I don't think it is their fault. The family stuff could have been hokey but somehow seemed completely appropriate and even (gasp) touching. Robin is still an incredible singer - somebody PLEASE make him stop smoking, it kills me to see it. :) Buy this video just to keep this band alive!
Rating: Summary: A Close to Perfect Live Document of a Great Band Review: On the surface, this DVD would seem like the ideal testament to Cheap Trick's longevity and diversity. And, a couple of flaws aside, it is indeed close to ideal. Filmed in their hometown of Rockford, IL in the summer of 1999, this concert was a special occasion marking the 25th anniversary of the band. CT is undoubtedly one of the finest, most underrated American bands. Their music is timeless, impossible to pigeonhole into one genre, and they have influenced so many others. Sadly, the picutre quality of this DVD is far from ideal. Too often it is grainy, fuzzy and the ligthing appears to be too fleshed out. However, the band sounds terrific and what a set-list their is! Just about all the hits are played ("I Want You To WAnt Me," "Surrender," "Dream Police," "She's Tight," etc), as well as some rarities and a few fun covers thrown in. Their are guest appearances by Art Alexakis of Everclear, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, and Jon Brandt, who was CT's bass player in the mid-80's. More impressive, though, are the guest appreances of the children or Robin Zander and Rick Nielson, who join the band for a set. Of particular interest is the apperance of Zander's daughter who beautifully sings vocals with her father on his solo track "Time Will Let You Know." This is a major moment in the concert! If you can get past the mediocre, at best, picture quality, then there is much to enjoy here. The band sounds tight, intense, and terrific! More importantly, their love of playing together is quite obvious here. Not many bands have this good of chemistry after a quarter-century together!
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