Brigadoon
(1954/MGM/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/The
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Anthology
(2017 compilation/Capitol Records/Universal Music CD Set)/Slipknot:
Day Of The Gusano
(2015/Universal Music/Eagle Blu-ray w/CD)/Tower
Of Power: Ain't Nothin' Stopping Us Now
(1976/Sony/Vocalion Quadrophonic Super Audio CD/SACD/SACD w/CD
layer)/The Who: Tommy -
Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2017
(Universal Music/Eagle Blu-ray)
Picture:
B/X/B-/X/B- Sound: B/B/B & B- (CD)/B+, B, B-/B Extras:
C/C/C/C-/C Main Programs: C+/B-/C+/B/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Brigadoon
Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series, while the Tower
Of Power
SA-CD can only be ordered via the Vocalion music label. All can be
ordered from the links below.
Vincente
Minnelli's Brigadoon
(1954) is originally a 1947 stage musical by Alan Jay Lerner and
Frederick Loewe (whose hist include Camelot
and My
Fair Lady,
both with hit films of their own), but MGM was cutting costs at a
time they were trying to move away from musicals, but also
unfortunately when they were embracing new technologies like stereo,
color and widescreen filmmaking. That makes this tale of a trip to a
mystical Scottish locale not as magical as it could be, but the cast
and crew still give it their all and come up with a musical that may
not always be successful, but is unique and ultimately purely
cinematic just the same.
Gene
Kelly and Van Johnson are New York guys overseas in Scotland when
they come upon the secret, hidden title village that only comes alive
(or materializes for that matter) every one hundred years for only a
day? What timing then that they arrive on the century mark for the
place to come alive!
It
is a silly, hokey premise and the songs and costumed musical numbers
go all out to deliver the otherworldlyness, but like later films of
Finian's
Rainbow
and the musical remake of Lost
Horizon
(both reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site), the film misses
the mark overall despite having some moments worth sitting through
the whole film to get to. Also like those films, none of the songs
much stuck with me, though fit into the narrative situation enough
and supporting cast members like Cyd Charisse (whose legs almost look
like they'll rip the cloth backdrop in two!), Elaine Stewart, Barry
Jones and uncredited performers/future stars Stuart Whitman, George
Chakiris, Barrie Chase and Madge Blake (Aunt Harriett in the 1960s
Batman
TV series) help.
The
result is a mixed-success-at-best worth a look, especially so well
restored as it is here. At least they are very ambitious and tried.
Extras
include the Original Theatrical Trailer, audio-only outtake of
''There
But For You Go I''
and three musical sequences cut from the film, but only here in
dated, letterboxed presentations instead of new HD retransfers that
disappoint a bit.
The
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Anthology
deals with the laid-back crossover band that may now be referred to
as an Americana band or Roots Music, but was just another smart
Country & Western band that were always good, talented and should
have had more hits than they did. Their early work was at Liberty
Records (later a country label before folding) and United Artists
Records, gaining a solid audience and having more success in Country.
This 2017 compilation from Capitol Records/Universal Music covered
key songs from 1967
to 2009, including their three big pop hits (#4 on CD 1, the first
two tracks on CD 2) and when you see the amazing list of artists
joining them on many of these tracks, you can see the respect they
commanded through the years. The full tracks listing includes...
DISC
1
Buy
For Me The Rain
Some
Of Shelly's Blues
Uncle
Charlie Interview
Mr.
Bojangles
Randy
Lynn Rag
House
At Pooh Corner
Opus
36
Fish
Song
Jambalaya
(On The Bayou)
Grand
Ole Opry Song (featuring Jimmy Martin)
You
Are My Flower
Tennessee
Stud (featuring Doc Watson)
I
Saw The Light (featuring Roy Acuff)
Honky
Tonkin'
Will
The Circle Be Unbroken (featuring Mother Maybelle Carter)
Cosmic
Cowboy (Part 1)
Battle
Of New Orleans
Bayou
Jubilee/Sally Was A Goodun
Ripplin'
Waters
Mother
Earth (Provides For Me)
Bowlegs
DISC
2
An
American Dream (featuring Linda Ronstadt)
Make
A Little Magic (featuring Nicolette Larson)
Shot
Full Of Love
Dance
Little Jean
Colorado
Christmas (featuring Emmylou Harris)
Long
Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)
Fishin'
In The Dark
Workin'
Man (Nowhere to Go)
You
Ain't Goin' Nowhere (featuring Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman)
The
Valley Road (featuring Bruce Hornsby)
When
It's Gone
Waitin'
On A Dark Eyed Gal
Bless
The Broken Road
Catfish
John (featuring Alison Krauss)
The
Lowlands (featuring Jaime Hanna and Jonathan McEuen)
Tears
In The Holston River (featuring Johnny Cash)
Midnight
At Woody Creek
The
Resurrection (featuring Matraca Berg)
I
admit that on the plus side, there are some good songs here I had
never heard and on the other hand, a repetitiveness that may be their
style, but as this is not my music, did not work for me or stay with
me. However, there is nothing phony about any of the songs here.
These are serious, true artists who never sold out or sold their
audience out and for that reason alone, this is a very worthwhile
release, especially sounding so good.
An
illustrated booklet with tech info and a new essay on the band by
Holly Gleason is the only extra.
Slipknot:
Day Of The Gusano
(2015) has the band releasing another Blu-ray (this time with a CD)
in what is a combination of a new concert with a documentary approach
for fans that sometimes even tells us something about them. Even
non-fans like myself are bound to learn something we might not have
expected, but for the most part, this is a fans-only release that
will satisfy them if no one else. It is a way to get new fans who
may already be interested in their music, however.
The
concert tracks are...
Sarcastrophe
The
Heretic Anthem
Psychosocial
The Devil In I
Me
Inside
Vermilion
Wait And Bleed
Prosthetics
Before I
Forget
Eeyore
Duality
Custer
Spit It Out
Metabolic /
742617000027
Sic
People = S#!t
Surfacing / Til We Die
As
I watched, it seemed all too familiar, yet I actually had reviewed an
earlier concert that I forgot way more of than I expected. I had to
remind myself just what was on the earlier release, so that should
show the extent of how involved I could ever get with this band.
Still, this is a quality release and good for fans and the curious.
An
illustrated booklet with brief tech info is the only extra.
For
more Slipknot, try our coverage of this previous Bu-ray...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11733/Last+Days+Here+(2011/Sundance/MPI+DVD)/Marl
Tower
Of Power: Ain't Nothin' Stopping Us Now
(1976) has the funk/soul band leaving Warner Bros. for more success
in their first album for Columbia Records. The result is one of the
Oakland, California band's best and though they are only now known
too often for their now-legendary horn section, they were a
full-fledged band as good as any in the genre and beyond then and
now. Thus, I was really happy to hear that this album (now owned by
Columbia Records owners Sony) was not only being licensed to the
smart music label Vocalion (who obviously love and appreciate great
music) but in the 4-track Quadrophonic sound mix that really brings
out the music and in the underrated, still very much alive Super
Audio CD format. You can play the CD layer if you get this disc, but
it is yet another argument to get an SA-CD player if you do not have
one.
At
the time, the title song and track six got the most airplay, but it
was still the era of album buts and to the credit of soul and
emerging disco/dance radio stations, they would play even more from
this solid album. The tracks include...
Ain't
Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now (Castillo; Kupka; Bartlett)
By
Your Side (McGee; Coulter)
Make
Someone Happy (Beck; Rogers)
Doin'
Alright (Conte; Head)
Because
I Think the World of You (Kupka; Biner)
You
Ought to Be Havin' Fun (Tubbs; Castillo; Kupka)
Can't
Stand to See the Slaughter (Kupka; Castillo)
It's
So Nice (T & E Castillo; Bartlett; Kupka; Biner)
Deal
With It (Thompson)
While
We Went to the Moon (Kupka; Bartlett; Castillo)
Until
recently, music from the funk and disco era were derided as
disposable and not sonically good, but that was a big lie (sometimes
for political reasons we will not go into here), but this is an album
with fine vocal performances (just because they are known for horns,
they were not an strictly instrumental-only band by any means) and
having an outstanding reissue of one of their best albums more than
sets the record straight. This album is at least a minor classic of
its genres and era, so if you are interested, it is worth going out
of your way for.
A
booklet with a new essay on the band by David Zimmerman is the only
extra.x
The
Who: Tommy - Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2017
has the remaining two members of the great band doing their famed
rock opera for the first time, but despite the previous video
versions we've covered including the feature film, they had actually
never performed the full work live on their own, famously having
guest singers to play the various roles Pete Townsend created decades
ago in his immortal classic. You can read about the earlier versions
starting with this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12470/Ceelo+Green+is+Loberace:+Live+In+Vegas+(2013
My
impression with the work has never faded or dimmed, especially in
that it may be even more important now than ever, so this concert
(done for charity) is as timely as ever. As for the performance, the
musicianship is fine, but the overall performance was a mixed bag for
me, especially since the original album remains one of the greatest
double albums or albums ever made. Still, not bad considering
they've lost half their members and they continue with more of their
hits afterwards. The songs include...
1)
Introduction
2) Overture
3) It's A Boy
4)
1921
5) Amazing Journey
6) Sparks
7) Eyesight
To The Blind (The Hawker)
8) Christmas
9) Cousin
Kevin
10) The Acid Queen
11) Do You Think It's
Alright?
12) Fiddle About
13) Pinball Wizard
14)
There's A Doctor
15) Go To The Mirror!
16) Tommy Can
You Hear Me?
17) Smash The Mirror
18) Underture
19)
I'm Free
20) Miracle Cure
21) Sensation
22)
Sally Simpson
23) Welcome
24) Tommy's Holiday
Camp
25) We're Not Gonna Take It
PLUS...
26)
I Can't Explain
27) Join Together
28) I Can See For
Miles
29) Who Are You
30) Love, Reign O'er Me
31)
Baba O'Reilly
32) Won't Get Fooled Again
It
takes guts to do this and know it will not turn out like some fans
might like ti too, but one of the greatest bands of all time are
still fearless and since they also never sold their fans out, the
work is real.
An
illustrated foldout with some tech info, plus a Behind The Scenes
clip and the projected video during the concert for The
Acid Queen
and Pinball Wizard
are the only extras.
Of
the three releases with video, all happen to be Blu-rays. They play
back well enough, but the 1080p 2.55 X 1 digital High Definition
image on Brigadoon
is fully restored, was shot in the original and slightly wider
version of CinemaScope and ever rarer in the color format chosen.
Instead of dye-transfer,
three-strip Technicolor, Eastman Color by Kodak, Pathe Color,
Agfacolor, FerraniaColor or FujiColor, this was an early MetroColor
labs film that that means it was in Ansco Color. With a richer,
darker color scheme than its competitors, this color film (Ansco had
merged with Germany's Agfa before WWII until the U.S. Government
seized the company, eventually taken over by GAF after the war),
Minnelli loved it and used it until the end when the MGM/Ansco
contract ended.
They
may have had their budget slashed, but Minnelli and Director of
Photography Joseph Ruttenberg (Comrade
X,
The
Philadelphia Story,
Two-Faces
Woman,
Mrs.
Miniver,
Gaslight,
Gigi,
Kismet)
not only use the very widescreen frame to its fullest extent, but
handle the superior color palette of the film, costumes and sets with
great ease. I bet it was much harder work than it looks. I have
seen this previously on 35mm film and still saw detail there not even
here, yet the color here is often more accurate, so that says
something on how good the film has been preserved and saved. Thanks
to Blu-ray, you can see the depth intended and despite some flaws,
you can now experience the look and feel intended pretty much
throughout. This is also the best example of AnscoColor on video to
date, so anyone with a serious home theater or (Ultra) HDTV should
get their hands on this one just for that.
The
two music Blu-rays offer 1080i 1.78
X 1 digital High Definition image transfers, but Tommy
is more consistent and has slightly better color, while Slipknot
sometimes jumps to fake black and white for its interview/documentary
segments and both have some flaws from the interlaced nature of their
cameras.
As
for sound, I'm please with most of the sonic performance here, but
the Tower Of Power Super Audio CD even manages to top the
performance playback on the three Blu-rays here with its 4.0 DSD
(Direct Stream Digital) Ultra High Definition lossless Quadrophonic
sound from the original soundmaster prepared at the time of the
albums release. Even more than the recent 4.0 Main Ingredient
SACD we covered from Sony and Vocalion, this album sounds top rate,
is up there sonically with anything from Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool
& The Gang or Parliament/Funkadelic (and maybe Chic too) from the
time and shows sonic progress over the kind of soul Main Ingredient
and similar vocal groups like Blue Magic, The O'Jays and The
Stylistics did at the time.
Of
course, any horns sound great and this is a special album indeed,
heard best here, though the DSD 2.0 Stereo and PCM 2.0 Stereo regular
CD sound are not bad, but pale as compared to the 4.0 mix. Serious
music fans will want to hear this disc!
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Tommy
(a non-stop concert), Slipknot
(which takes breaks from the concert for talking) and Brigadoon
(issued in its best theatrical presentations in 4-track magnetic
stereo sound with traveling dialogue and sound effects) all sound
fine, but with limits. Tommy
has a few down moments and a few times the sound is just not the very
best, especially after so many versions of the rock opera, including
a 5.1 SACD of the original album! Slipknot
can be harsh and too loud beyond what the genres they cover offer,
while Brigadoon
turns out to have a more enduring soundmaster than expected with the
4-track sound smoothly upscaled to 5.1 and the non-musical moments
sounding closer to the musical ones than you usually get for films o
this time period. Glad the soundmaster survived.
Tommy
and Slipknot
also have PCM 2.0 Stereo counterparts that are not as good on their
Blu-rays, but even poorer and more limited (even slightly compressed
for some reason) PCM 2.0 16/44.1 Stereo on their CD versions
underwhelm. Yet, with its older recordings, both Nitty
Gritty Band
CDs have cleaner, clearer, more wide-ranging
performance as if new transfers had to be done of all the various
sources. It sounds great and fans of the band are in for a very
pleasant surprise.
To
order the
Brigadoon
Warner Archive Blu-ray, go to this link for it and many more great
web-exclusive releases at:
http://www.wbshop.com/
and
to order the Tower
Of Power
4.0 Quad SACD w/CD layer album exclusively and directly from Vocalion
Records at this link...
https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CDSML8523
-
Nicholas Sheffo
