The
Best Of Bandstand, Volume One: 1960 – 62
+ Volume Two: 1963
(Australian Version/Umbrella Import Region Free PAL DVD Sets)/Peter
Gabriel Live In Athens 1987
(Eagle Blu-ray w/DVD of Play:
The Videos music video
collection)/Pink Floyd:
The Making Of Dark Side Of The Moon
(2003/Classic Albums/Eagle SD Blu-ray)/Portnoy
* Sheenan * MacAlpine * Sherinian: Live In Tokyo 2012
(Eagle Blu-ray)/Neil
Sedaka: The Show Goes On – Live At Royal Albert Hall
(2006/Eagle Blu-ray)/UB40:
Live At Montreux 2002
(Eagle Blu-ray)/Welcome To
The Machine (2013/MVD
Visual DVD)
Picture:
C+/B-/C+/B-/B-/B-/C+ Sound: C+/B/B-/B/B+/B+/C+ Extras:
D/A-/B+/C/C+/D/D Main Programs: B-/B/B+/B/B/C+/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
Best Of Bandstand
DVDs are PAL Region Free imports, are only available from Umbrella
Entertainment and can be ordered from the link below.
Here's
a great new set of music releases, including some surprises and
upgrades of key titles you may have missed, but can get in better
editions...
At
first, The
Best Of Bandstand, Volume One: 1960 – 62
+ Volume
Two: 1963
would sound as if Dick Clark Productions finally got around to
issuing some of the classic American Bandstand shows on DVD, but
these two sets are actually the Australian Version of the series as
hosted by Brain Henderson and featured acts from that country, often
trying to emulate their U.S. Rock and Pop counterparts including The
Delltones, Judy Stone, Lana Cantrell, the Allen Brothers, The De Kroo
Brothers, Lucky Starr, Col Jove & The Joy Boys, Sandy Scott,
Jimmy Little, Laurel Lee, Robyn Alvarez, Patsy Ann Noble, Patty
Monroe, Donny Brooks, Lonnie Lee, Ray Melton, Kim Nichols, Johnny
Devlin, Rod Devlin, Robby Royal, Tony Brady, Paul Wayne, Digger
Revell & The Denvermen, Peter Brandon, The Devils, Warren
Williams and Laurel Lea are among the acts we get that did not
crossover to the U.S., but might have in the U.K., New Zealand, South
Africa and the like.
Connie
Francis and Frank Sinatra (who gives an interview) show up in film
clips visiting Down Under and we get Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vee, Chubby
Checker, Del Shannon and The Bee Gees performing on the show, all
visiting from “The States” save the Gibb Brothers, so
young here (they only started in 1959!) and singing their earliest
successes. Watch Robin ham it up in every single performance!
The
show is fun, some moments are unintentional howlers, Henderson is a
great host and if you watch chronologically, you can see the show
take on Pop/Rock, then start to become a little more like a Lawrence
Welk Show
for teens as they expect the Bossa Nova to take over. Note this ends
just before the Beatles arrive. Some episodes are compilation
highlights that do not always overlap with what we get, while the
second set has a 1963 Christmas
Special
episode and a much more interesting Surfside
Show at Avalon Beach
in Sydney that stands as one of the strongest on both sets. They are
worth your time and a must for serious music fans.
Too
bad there are no extras on either set.
Peter
Gabriel Live In Athens 1987
was
directed by the great cinematographer Michael Chapman (The
Last Waltz,
Taxi
Driver,
Raging
Bull,
Rising
Sun,
The
Lost Boys,
The
Fugitive)
and produced by no less than Martin Scorsese, though that is
downplayed on the packaging to emphasize the immense talent of the
solo artist it features. However, besides being a great two-hour
concert by Gabriel, we get about 50+ minutes by Youssou N'Dour and Le
Super Etoile De Dakar in a solid show you should give a chance to
watching before Gabriel's amazing performances here.
The
regular extras include a booklet with illustrations, credits,
technical information, Sledgehammer
in lossless DTS-MA 5.1 and a great (if short) interview with
well-spoken music scholar Paul Gambiaccini, whose knowledge has
graced many a Chrome Dreams/MVD music release (see elsewhere on this
site for the ever growing Under
Review
series list of DVDs and their coverage) where Gabriel talks about
launching the So
album and how well that piece holds up. Which we had more solid
music journalism like this on camera.
What
really puts this particular release over the top is that includes the
DVD Music Video collection Gabriel issued a decade ago simply called
Play:
The Videos
and includes all of his classic clips in standard definition. Yes,
the transfers have aged and the filmed videos (like Sledgehammer)
all deserve HD treatment (even if it means updating the analog video
effects), but the real issue is the menu operation issues the older
disc has is here too. Unless you keep selecting DTS 96/24 5.1 or
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1, you keep getting lossy Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo sound. Also, the “play all” option does not work
as the clips are in pairs of 2 to 3 a piece and will go back to the
menu frustratingly.
Despite
this, we get the following classics, with directors credited:
Father,
Son (Anna Gabriel)
Sledgehammer
(Stephen R. Johnson)
Blood
Of Eden (Michael Coulson & Nicholas Bruce)
Games
Without Frontiers (David Mallet with York Tillyer)
I
Don't Remember (Marcello Anciano)
Big
Time (Stephen R. Johnson)
Love
Town (Michael Coulson)
Red
Rain (Matt Mahurin)
In
Your Eyes (Michael Coulson with York Tillyer)
Don't
Give Up (Godley & Creme)
The
Barry Williams Show (Sean Penn)
Washing
Of The Water (York Tillyer)
Biko
(Godley & Creme with clips from Cry
Freedom
with Denzel Washington)
Kiss
That Frog (Brett Leonard from Secret
World Live)
Mercy
Street (Matt Mahurin)
Growing
Up (Francois Vogel)
Shaking
The Trees (Issac Julien)
Shock
The Monkey (Brian Grant)
Steam
(Stephen R. Johnson)
The
Drop (Glenn Marshall)
Zaar
(Stefan Roloff)
Solsbury
Hill (Graham Dean, Jerry Chater, Peter Campus & Peter Gabriel
with York Tillyer)
and
Digging In the Dirt (John Downer)
Peter
Medak's video for Gabriel's 1977 single Modern
Love
(not the David Bowie song) is included as an extra, but even with a
DTS 96/24 5.1 is not included in the main videos for some reason. Of
course, no new Videos since are here, but neither are Come
Talk To Me
(by Matt Mahurin, who deserves a retrospective videos collection) or
My
Secret Place
with Joni Mitchell (Anton Corbijn, which is included on The
Films Of Anton Corbijn
DVD collection reviewed elsewhere on this site) are included on this
disc for some reason. Still, this is a remarkable set and one of the
nest music Blu-ray releases of the year so far.
Pink
Floyd: The Making Of Dark Side Of the Moon
(2003) is a new, upgraded version of the Classic
Albums
TV series episode we covered on DVD ten years ago at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/470/Classic+Albums+-+Dark+Side+Of+The+Moon+(Pink
Now
it has been issued as part of the new Eagle SD Blu-ray series where
they take standard definition releases that are popular and upscale
them then add better sound. More on the technical performance below,
but I liked this Blu-ray a little better than the DVD. Extras are
the same as the previous DVD, but sadly, nothing new was added.
Portnoy
* Sheenan * MacAlpine * Sherinian: Live In Tokyo 2012
is our other new live entry, here on Blu-ray from Eagle, bringing
together a supergroup of sorts with Dream Theater members Mike
Portnoy, Tony MacAlpine and Derek Sherinian joined by Mr. Big bassist
Billy Sheenan playing hits our of all their catalogs (they have been
with other bands and solo performers) and coming up with a very
smooth, strong Rock concert for its 90 minutes-ish length. If you
have never heard of these men or encountered their work, this is a
seriously strong introduction to how good they are and this was
definitely a good idea.
Well
see if they last as a unit or form a completely new band.
Interesting.
Extras
include a nicely illustrated booklet on the show including a song
list, while the Blu-ray adds a Behind The Scenes featurette.
Neil
Sedaka: The Show Goes On – Live At Royal Albert Hall
(2006) is now being issued on Eagle Blu-ray after being only
available on DVD for the last seven years and we reviewed the DVD at
this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4719/Neil+Sedaka+%E2%80%93+The+Sho
The
show holds up well showing the legendary singer/songwriter in his
later prime, is an underseen show and is long overdue for Blu-ray
treatment. Extras are the same as the previous DVD, but sadly,
nothing new was added here either. See below for how much better the
Blu-ray version is.
UB40:
Live At Montreux 2002
is the other HD-shot concert we are getting from Eagle Blu-ray after
only being issued on DVD and we reviewed that show at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5588/UB40+%E2%80%93+Live+At+Montreu
There
are no extras and I am not a fan of the band, but this is still a
decent show and representation of their work, though I would also
recommend the Food
For Thought: Live Greatest Hits
UB40 DVD of a show they did for the series
Rockpalast
at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9260/UB40+%E2%80%93+Food+For+Thoug
Finally
we have the documentary Welcome
To the Machine
(2013) by Andreas Steinkogler that delves into the history of the
music industry, tries to show how it operated in the past, the
problems it has had in recent decades, how badly it often dealt with
them and adds dozens of interviews with allegedly up and coming music
acts from all over the world. There are some good points and moments
in the 90 minutes here, but we do not get enough of the subjects
getting serious about the subjects, the narration that opens and
closes this is goofy and too silly for its own good, then it does not
know how to wrap itself up.
In
addition, there are more people irritated and unconstructive here
than there should be and that could have easily been fixed in
editing, so the result is an opportunity somewhat lost when so much
needed to be said at such a crucial juncture of the industry. What a
shame, but there is enough good to give it a look once, but it was
not built to last.
There
are no extras.
The
1.33 x 1 black and white image on the Bandstand
releases are from what look like 16mm film prints, some kinescopes
and analog PAL video, but despite scratches, anomalies and other
flaws, they look good for their age and better than NTSC U.S.
Counterparts from the time would. Some shots can be trying, but they
hold up well for their age and can equal the often soft and rough,
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Machine,
which is an digital HD shoot with much low def analog and digital
video edited and even blended into the frames throughout.
The
1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Floyd
is a nicely upscaled version of the DVD's standard definition master
and was produced towards the end of the Classic Album run of standard
definition episodes before they went HD. This is the best upscaling
on the SD Blu-rays from Eagle we have seen to date, with improvements
offset by other shots being softer, so it is almost a draw between
the formats. I like the image very slightly better here, but not
enough to give it a higher grade.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on the rest of
the Blu-rays are all competent concert shoots and in the case of the
UB40
and Neil
Sedaka
releases, superior to their DVD counterparts making me recommend them
over the older DVDs, which were not bad for standard definition
reductions. Gabriel
is the only one shot on 35mm film and has some of the best shots on
the list. Sometimes however, the shots show the age of the film
source so the results are slightly inconsistent. The 1.33 X 1 in
1.78 X 1 frame HD clip of the Music Video classic Sledgehammer
looks good and has its opening title and closing credits, looking
better than the low def version on the bonus Play
DVD collection, which is a reissue of the popular Gabriel Videos set
that runs up to 2003.
As
for sound, the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on UB40
and Neil
Sedaka
outdo their fine regular DTS DVD mixes with more range, warmth,
dynamic range and are sonically superior to so many music Blu-rays of
all kinds we have heard lately. Very impressive and I am not a UB40
fan. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on Portnoy
sounds good, but can be a little more limited and standard, while
Gabriel
was recorded in 1987 and though it sounds great, it can show its age
in slight ways, though bot have top rate, consistent soundfields that
still deliver.
The
PCM 2.0 Stereo on Floyd
only slightly outdoes its lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo DVD
counterpart with slightly more warmth, but not enough to top it,
especially since the 5.1 mix of the actual album is not even sampled
here and all over the place on the still best-selling Super Audio CD
of all time (though that James Guthrie mix has issues) and the
massive (and expensive) Immersion box set on the album that includes
both that 5.1 mix, higher fidelity stereo mixes of the album and Alan
Parson's also controversial 4.0 Quadrophonic mix from the 1970s means
this documentary is lucky to stay up to date.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on Machine
can be rough and have mixed sound quality (from the various live and
studio music recordings to monophonic sound clips that can get rough)
to location audio issues in the interviews. It can also be slightly
harsh on the edges. As a result, the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on
the Bandstand
sets more than hold their own and are surprisingly clean and clear
for their age.
To
order either of the Bandstand
Umbrella PAL Region Free import DVD sets, go to this link:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
