Jackson Browne – Coming Home (1994/Eagle DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: D Documentary: C+
Of all
the singer/songwriters of the 1970s, Jackson Browne has been the critical
darling with only a few hit songs and no clear picture of exactly what his
legacy in Rock or the counterculture is or was.
Scandal free and always supporting good causes, he had not had a hit in
years when he decided to do a special called Coming Home (1994) which became a cable TV event that helped The
Disney Channel (at the time, anyhow) be more than a “kids” network.
James
Engel directed the special which combines concert footage from his tour of the
time with backstage moments that also include music performances, but there was
always something about this special that never rang true. Running 90 minutes, Browne nearly two dozen
songs, including hits Doctor My Eyes,
Running On Empty and an odd impromptu
collaborative You Can Get It If You
Really Want It from the film The
Harder They Come. A half-hearted
group effort with additional musicians besides his, it epitomizes how awkward
and unconvincing this whole project is.
Browne
was against all the bad things (pollution, violence, hate) and for all the good
things (liberty, progress, peace) many musicians were at the time, but despite
his endurance as a performer, very little ever stuck with me and even the
public on his work and this special actually seems to end his classical period
as a performer. Bonnie Raitt, Graham
Nash, David Crosby, Jennifer Warens, Don Henley and The Eagles show up and that
helps, but the special was a disappointment hen and does not hold up very well
now. For fans only, it is mostly a
curio.
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot on what looks like film, but is finished on analog
videotape, which is typical of productions of the time so detail is an
issue. The DTS 5.1 mix is better than
the Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo mixes, but not by much as the audio
offered is only so good here and likely from an older finished source as well,
but is not bad otherwise considering the age of the show and how it became a
cable special. There are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
