John
& Yoko: I'm Not The Beatles - The Smith
Tapes (1969 - 1972
Interviews/MVD Audio CD Set)/The
Who: Quadrophenia - Live In London 2013
(Universal Music DVD)
Picture:
X/C+ Sound: B-/B Extras: C/C+ Main Programs: B+/B-
Her
are two new releases from classic music artists you should know
about...
John
& Yoko: I'm Not The Beatles - The Smith
Tapes is a set of
interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono over 8 CDs recorded on tape
between them and Howard Smith (and between 1969 - 1972) as Lennon's
time with the Beatles was winding down and his political and
experimental musical adventured with Ono were about to begin. The
conversations are often casual and cover things as simple as what
they ate, will eat or watch on TV, but there are plenty of moments
about music, politics and how they see the world and the future.
This is also all sad in the face of Lennon's political assassination,
so irony is going to be on every disc, but nothing here is ever
boring and this is more than just an elongated curio. I was glad to
see this released and it is worth an extended listening to for so
many reasons.
The
CDs are cased in very slender cases in a paper board slipcase with a
bonus booklet that includes some illustrations.
Following
the restoration of the 1979 feature film, Universal Music has issued
The Who: Quadrophenia -
Live In London 2013 where
surviving band members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend perform the
entire album live. It is not bad, but with half the band now no
longer with us, it does not always feel smooth or as alive as the
original album was. Still, they give it there all in a serious
showing that they have not lost their edge to touch. Fans who were
able to accept the post-Keith Moon version of the band might find
this easier to handle. As compared to the 1996 show with John
Entwistle, this is about as good. For more versions of this classic,
try these links.
Original
1979 motion picture on Criterion Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11777/Quadrophenia+(1979/The+Who/Criterion+Blu-ray
The
Who, The Mods & The Quadrophenia Connection DVD documentary
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9426/The+Who+Sell+Out+%E2%80%93+Deluxe+Edition
1996
Live Concert DVD set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3113/The+Who+-+Tommy+&+Quadrophenia+Live+(Rhino
Extras
include 6 bonus live performances (Who Are You, You Better
You Bet, Pinball Wizard, Baba O'Riley, Won't Get
Fooled Again, Tea & Theater) and an illustrated
booklet comes with the disc inside the DVD case.
There
is no image on the Lennon/Ono CD set of course, but the PCM
2.0 16/44.1 Mono from all the tapes sound pretty good throughout, but
some are more distorted and limited in range than others. Still,
this is an historic set.
The
new Quadrophenia has also been issued on Blu-ray, but since we only
got the DVD, we can only speak for it and the anamorphically enhanced
1.78 X 1 image is not bad, but a little soft. Likely a 1080i shoot,
get the Blu-ray over this is you have a player as this is a little
softer more often than I would have liked. As for sound, the DTS 5.1
mix on The
Who
is well recorded and has a very consistent soundfield, easily topping
the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
tracks, though we bet a lossless 5.1 mix off of the Blu-ray would top
both.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
