Rating: 
Summary: BRILLIANT PRODUCTION - NOT FOR WHO FANS ONLY
Review: After viewing the AJA Steely Dan Classic Rock DVD, I couldn't believe that they could improve on the series. They proved me wrong with the release of this splendid DVD. The production quality AND content is excellent. The video image and sound quality is superb! The selected footage of live Who performances from the sixties and early seventies is a real treat. Pete Townshend's windmill guitar strokes and Keith Moon's maniacal drum fills are perfectly captured on DVD. Interesting dissections/discussions of Baba O'Riley, Won't Get Fooled Again, and Going Mobile will keep your eyes riveted to the screen. In addition to great interviews with Pete, Roger and John Entwhistle, The producer Glyn Johns sits at the mixing board and re-creates the assemblages of the instrumental and vocal tracks of these classic songs. The DVD also delves into the LIFEHOUSE project and how the synthesizer tracks for Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again were created in Pete's home studio. Kudos to the producers for the thorough and accurate research. Production quality is excellent (on a par with the Making of Aja Steely Dan DVD) and the sound and video is also high quality. The content on this DVD is also highly complementary to the "Kids are Alright" documentary DVD. These two DVDs will provide the avid Who fan the best insights into their music and some of their best recorded performances. Another high point of this DVD is a fantastic acoustic version of Won't Get Fooled Again (Just Pete and his trusty Gibson Jumbo Acoustic six-string guitar). I'm amazed at how much Pete has accomplished and at the age of 55, he is still as sharp and focused as ever. I know he is deaf in one ear and is a recovered alcoholic, but it seems there's at least 20 more years of great music left in him. I'm an avid Who fan. This DVD is truly a gift to any Who fan or any rock and roll fan who appreciates classic rock music. Long Live Rock! Long Live the Who!
Rating:
Summary: OH YES
Review: ANDREW GRIFFITHS from SWITHERLANDS...I GIVE A TOSS... SO SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Who's next to love this DVD?
Review: As a major fan of the Who i brought this documentary without knowing what the "Who's next" album was. (Please, Please listen to that album if you haven't! I also reviewed it! It is a very, very good album!) Obviously the "Who's next" album has to be (in my opinion) one of the best WHO albums.
This documentary is worth having!! Not only does it interview Roger, Pete and John it has a whole chapter on the late great Keith Moon but behind the scenes as well. If you know Pete, you must love how he describes things in great detail (he really should write a book!) and he certainly describes (in a very enjoybable way. i love his smile by the way! he must smile more often!!) the orginal 'lifehouse' ideas for the base of this album. My favorite thing Pete says is when he smiles and describes Roger in the video "Won't get fooled again." John, oh John. I love John. The late John is interviewed in this documentary very well. I love his insights especially about the trumpets on his song "My Wife" and all about the song "My Wife." I don't really remember the names of the other people (managars) but kit lampart is talked about how he was very important in the creation of this cd, and chris stamp as well. Irish Jack a roadie i believed is interviewed. Oh yea this guy Bob is interviewed who helped on "Baba O' Riley". Roger Daltrey has to be my favorite (well i guess actually Pete and John are very good as well) person interviewed because he's so damn funny! I love when he laughs, joking about Bob and stuff. (As a side, I love how Roger says, "Theater" look for it) Besides all the wonderful interviews there is music video (long clips) to go with each song. There is a lot of clips of the WHO singing. i especially like, "Behind blue eyes" video clip. "Join Together" is another great video they show here and the video is pretty much shown all the way. Pete also gives his versions of "Pure and Easy" (which by the way is the first time i heard that song so i orginally thought Pete sang that song)and "Behind Blue Eyes."
This documentary is a must have for any WHO fan and as you can see i was an "up an coming" WHO fan at the time I watched this DVD and I LOVE(D) it!! If you love GREAT music go out and buy "Who's Next" CD, rent (or buy) this documentary and sit and you could be set for life!! You'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: Who's next to love this DVD?
Review: As a major fan of the Who i brought this documentary without knowing what the "Who's next" album was. (Please, Please listen to that album if you haven't! I also reviewed it! It is a very, very good album!) Obviously the "Who's next" album has to be (in my opinion) one of the best WHO albums.
This documentary is worth having!! Not only does it interview Roger, Pete and John it has a whole chapter on the late great Keith Moon but behind the scenes as well. If you know Pete, you must love how he describes things in great detail (he really should write a book!) and he certainly describes (in a very enjoybable way. i love his smile by the way! he must smile more often!!) the orginal 'lifehouse' ideas for the base of this album. My favorite thing Pete says is when he smiles and describes Roger in the video "Won't get fooled again." John, oh John. I love John. The late John is interviewed in this documentary very well. I love his insights especially about the trumpets on his song "My Wife" and all about the song "My Wife." I don't really remember the names of the other people (managars) but kit lampart is talked about how he was very important in the creation of this cd, and chris stamp as well. Irish Jack a roadie i believed is interviewed. Oh yea this guy Bob is interviewed who helped on "Baba O' Riley". Roger Daltrey has to be my favorite (well i guess actually Pete and John are very good as well) person interviewed because he's so damn funny! I love when he laughs, joking about Bob and stuff. (As a side, I love how Roger says, "Theater" look for it) Besides all the wonderful interviews there is music video (long clips) to go with each song. There is a lot of clips of the WHO singing. i especially like, "Behind blue eyes" video clip. "Join Together" is another great video they show here and the video is pretty much shown all the way. Pete also gives his versions of "Pure and Easy" (which by the way is the first time i heard that song so i orginally thought Pete sang that song)and "Behind Blue Eyes."
This documentary is a must have for any WHO fan and as you can see i was an "up an coming" WHO fan at the time I watched this DVD and I LOVE(D) it!! If you love GREAT music go out and buy "Who's Next" CD, rent (or buy) this documentary and sit and you could be set for life!! You'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: For fringe and hardcore Who fans
Review: As the first viewed of my first two "Classic Albums" DVD's, I must say this is definitely the better of the pair. As a very casual amateur musician/composer/engineer/producer of some 30-odd years, this DVD is a refreshingly welcome piece of work. Editing: Overall: extremely well done, However: (1) The initial "Won't Get Fooled Again" live sequence is slightly out of audio-visual sync (the audio is a hair late). (2) I would have liked to seen more of "Pure and Easy." Content: As a fringe Who fan, this 'rockumentary' clued me into some of the real vision of Pete Townshend (PT). Having seen "Tommy" in the theater as a 're-run' in 1974 and "Quadrophenia" some years later in highschool, I can honestly say I understand a great deal more about what PT had in mind during the composition of all these pieces. Glyn Johns is a delightful guide through the studio tapes breaking out individual tracks while showing how they fit into the overall mix. The footage of PT in his studio making demos and reviewing them years later was equally compelling as were the descriptions of technical difficulties performing "Baba O'Reily" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" live. Insight into PT as a keyboard/synth player/programmer were also very welcomed. While this is no "How To" video, one gets a very clear sense of PT's evolution as a composer and how proficient he is/has become utilizing the tools of his craft. If you are a fringe Who fan, you will definitely take alot away from this DVD. If you are a hardcore Who fan, you probably already know all of the background contained within this DVD, but it is still a must have. If you are a musician/composer/engineer/producer with any respect for PT and his accomplishments, you will also greatly benefit, if not be completely entertained by this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Tremendously insightful
Review: For anyone who thought that The Who was just Pete, this is a must. Townshend and Daltrey had very different interpretations of Behind Blue Eyes, and it's Daltrey's interpretation that appears on Who's Next. And, Entwistle and Moon add a dimension to Pete's music that Pete never would have included. There's no doubt that Pete is the most important member of this band, but this is truely a group effort. It's inspiring to see how much repect Daltrey has for Townshend and Moon. Hearing Moon and Entwistle isolated from the rest of the music makes in clear just how innovative and talented these musicians were. Townshend still says that he feels like this "is the one that got away", which has to make Who's Next the most billiant failure in rock music. My only regret that this disk is only an hour long. A story this rich and complex deserves more time.
Rating: 
Summary: too much talking
Review: I was expecting to see the full songs in their glory. Instead, it was interrupted by boring old farts talking about the technical details of the songs. I was expecting to see baby o Riley, but all I kept getting was some prima donna messing things up. Why didn't they keep the chit-chat between the songs instead of during the songs. I liked the Join Together song on the top-of-the pops at the end becuase it was not interrupted. Sorry, but it was more frustrating than enjoyable. Who gives a toss about the background to the use of the synthesiser ? Let's just hear the songs !
Rating:
Summary: This worse than 1 star
Review: I was ready for a "Who" concert (you know, when they were good!) This DVD/concert is absolutely horrid.
Rating:
Summary: This worse than 1 star
Review: I was ready for a "Who" concert (you know, when they were good!) This DVD/concert is absolutely horrid.
Rating: 
Summary: Who's Next - One of my favorites
Review: I'd like to start by saying I really enjoy all the Classic Albums series documentaries. If you get the chance, check out some of the other titles, like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, etc.
Also, to point out, this is a documentary on the Making of an album, not a concert video...although there are some live concert clips and music videos, all found on The Kid's Are Alright.
On to the review: Overall, this makes an excellent companion to "The Kid's Are Alright" for Who Fans. If you're a fan of the Who's Next album, you'll get an inside view of how and why the songs were put together, told mostly from the viewpoint of Pete, Roger, and John themselves.
Hearing Pete's original demo for Won't Get Fooled Again is really cool, although it has a totally different feel than the end product, as Pete plays all the instuments on the demo, with a half-time beat...very interesting.
The introspect into the routing of the organ thru the synth shows how groundbreaking and essential the use of keyboards were to these songs. However, most of the time is spent on "Fooled Again", and I would have liked to have seen something on the organ track for Baba O' Riley (for those who would like more info on this, I found a cool link: http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/equip-baba.htm) There also used to be a page with someone's recreations of these tracks, but it no longer exists :(
I also like Pete's candor with the interviewer (one of my favorite lines is when he's listening back to the organ solo on Fooled Again and kind of chuckles to himself and calls it "brilliant" -which it was, really), but most of all, I enjoyed hearing the individual tracks being solo'ed up to hear them isolated from the rest of the mix. As a musician myself, this is like finding the Dead Sea Scrolls! I think it's pure magic to hear the individual components, and how they all work together to form the classic music that we've all come to know and love for so many years now.
|
