John
Miles In Concert (Ohne Filter)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C+ Concert: B-
You have
probably heard John Miles or even seen him, but not known who he was. On studio albums, he has been adding his
voice to projects as far back as The Alan Parsons Project’s ambitious debut Tales
Of Mystery & Imagination, a concept album built around the writings of
Edgar Allen Poe. More recently for Tina
Turner, he was a guitarist on her high energy tours, which can be seen on the
incredible Tina Turner – Live In Amsterdam DVD (the remastered version
of which is reviewed elsewhere on this site).
On his own here for an installment of the German TV concert series Ohne
Filter from October 5th, 1993, he shows why he has been so
sought after.
Here is a
man who is a good guitar player, has much energy himself, a fine singing voice,
and the talent to pull it all together and pull off the following Rock songs
with the spirit of real Rock in which they were intended:
1)
Can’t
Get Through This
2)
Body
Of My Brunette
3)
Chains
& Wild Horses
4)
One
More Day
5)
It’s
Not Over Yet
6)
Everything’s
Okay
7)
Oh
How The Years Go By
8)
Magic (not the Pop hits you are used
to)
9)
It’s
Such A Mystery
10)
What Goes Around
11)
Pale Spanish Moon
With all
that talent and good taste, it is no surprise he has been all over, nor that he
finally has a DVD of his own. This is
someone who could still break out on his own, but whatever he does, it should
be more like the real music we do not hear enough. If you like Rock, Pop or even Blues, you should check out John Miles
here. Too bad this did not run longer
than the under one-hour its TV slotted broadcast allowed for.
The full
frame PAL color video is about what would expect for a taping of the time,
having limits in its good color and limited definition. The sound is available in the usual PCM
CD-type 2.0 16bit/48kHz Stereo, as well as a slightly better Dolby Digital 5.1
AC-3, which plays better all around.
Too bad this was not in DTS. The
depth in the 5.1 here is not bad, if not quite as good as the Mark King DVD. Besides repeating the same stereo cords ad
placement, other DVDs in the series, and Ohne
Filter producer interview, it has a biography of Miles, telling of more of
his remarkable career to date.
- Nicholas Sheffo
