Fleetwood Mac – Unbroken Chain “Unauthorized”
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Documentary: B-
Even after comedians tried to confine them to Pop/Rock of
the 1970s, Fleetwood Mac just will not go away, and that is a good thing. As of this posting, Christine McVie, who had
been in the band non-stop before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks even ever
joined the band, left before their recent album Say You Will (2003), so
it is already a bit dated, but Unbroken Chain is a new DVD release for
2004.
None of the songs that do manage to get discussed were
licensed and/or used, but not to name more of them is a problem and hurts the
history and content of the tale told, though the release of all the albums to
date are covered. We get some good
stills and a good number of interview clips from the archives of the band, as
well as new interviews with those who personally knew Fleetwood Mac and were
there for various events in their careers.
I wish more had been said about Buckingham’s solo works (no covers are
shown), while Christine McVie’s solo outings are ignored altogether, though
both offer interesting stories. Singles
they cut with other artists are also ignored, throwing off the story and
abbreviating things too much. With that
said, it is still worth your time, but much more could have been done
The full frame 1.33 x 1 image is varied with the usual
newer videotaped footage and older film clips.
It coheres about as well as can be expected, while the Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo has no surrounds of any kind and lacks any hits by the band members
within the band, solo or in any other project.
A photo gallery set to an unknown song is the only extra. However, this plays more like a bonus piece
to the two best DVDs on the band to date.
There is the Classic Albums series installment on Rumours
(1997, Rhino/Eagle Vision) that runs 75 minutes and is in better PCM CD Stereo,
then there is the DVD-Audio version of the same album Warner Bros. issued in
2001 that has some incredible 5.1 remixes of all the hits and the debut of the
legendary, original Silver Springs track that has been rare in this
original studio cut until this was released.
With its impressive MLP sound, only the very best vinyl copy on the very
best turntable system could compete if that.
There are no DTS tracks for regular players though, but that is in part
due to a photo gallery, lyrics and more extensive documentary information that
is NOT the same as the Rhino/Eagle Vision release. Now we wait for Warner to do the other Mac albums in DVD-Audio.
- Nicholas Sheffo
