Anti-Nowhere
League: We Are The League
(2019/Cleopatra DVD/CD Set*)/Ash:
Teenage Wildlife - 25 Years Of Ash
(2019/BMG CD Set)/CMA
Awards Live: Greatest Moments 2008 - 2015
(**)/FM
(1978/Arrow Blu-ray/*both MVD)/Rock
& Roll Hall Of Fame In Concert Box Set
(2009 - 2017/**both Time Life Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/X/B-/B+/B Sound: B-/B***/B-/B+/B Extras: C+/C/C/B/B
Main Programs: B/B/C+/B/B+
Here
is a new set of music releases for you to know about, most with
video...
A
biker, a skinhead, a grammar school boy, and a Persian exile came
together and formed an incredible band known as the Anti-Nowhere
League, that topped the UK charts in the early 1980s with their
unique brand of punk rock music.
Anti-Nowhere
League: We Are The League
(2019) is
a unique mix of the band members tell the band's humble beginnings,
mixed with clips from Steward Capelands' punk-art film ''So
What!'',
and never before seen archival footage of the band, this is the most
accurate and visual telling of one band that reached popularity
despite all sorts of odds... and still continues to thrive today.
The
DVD here is is presented in standard definition on DVD with a 1.78 X
1, anamorphically enhanced widescreen aspect ratio and the occasional
full frame shot of archival footage. The interviews are cleanly shot
and the lossy 2.0 stereo mix is fine for a documentary film of this
nature as well.
Special
Features include Additional Interview Footage and a 19 track CD of
previously unreleased 1982 live performance.
If
you're in a band or a fan of UK punk rock music, then is a fun
documentary to check out.
One
of the saddest things is how many great music acts that have success
worldwide have next to no hits in the U.S., from Shirley Bassey way
back to more recent talents like Crowded House, Blur, Split Enz,
Jamiroquai, A-Ha, Jigsaw, Level 42, Adam & The Ants (pre-solo
Adam), Swing Out Sister, Dizzie Rascal, Super_Collider, Phil Kiernan
and so many others that have so much great music (et al) to offer and
do not get the success they deserve to match their talent and
likability.
Add
to that list an Irish band that has lasted a quarter century, yet has
hardy had the success it deserved in the U.S., but we now have Ash:
Teenage Wildlife - 25 Years Of Ash
(2019)
captures the rise, growth, talent and energy they always had and
delivered all these years without stopping. Two CD sets (plus some
vinyl options) have been issued, with the first two CDs issued as one
set, like what we got) shows their rise and growth, plus a second set
with a third CD of bonus tracks of rarities has also been issued.
The tracks include...
Disc
1:
A
Life Less Ordinary
Arcadia
Darkest
Hour Of The Night
Kung
Fu
Cocoon
You
Can't Have It All
Girl
From Mars
All
That I Have Left
Wild
Surf
Binary
Uncle
Pat
Shining
Light
Star-Crossed
Buzzkill
Return
Of White Rabbit
Goldfinger
Envy
Sometimes
Coming
Around Again
Disc
2:
Burn
Baby Burn
Dare
To Dream
Annabel
Clones
Machinery
Oh
Yeah
Projects
Confessions
In The Pool
True
Love 1980
Angel
interceptor
Jesus
Says
Petrol
End
Of The World
Orpheus
Walking
Barefoot
Jack
Names The Planets
Twilight
Of The Innocents
Disc
3:**
Here
Comes The Music
Spellbound
Teenage
Wildlife
I
Shall Not Die
Skullful
Of Sulphur
Teenage
kicks
T.Rex
Waterfall
Saskia
Seventh
Circle
Everybody's
Happy Nowadays
Chinese
New Year
Wasted
On You
Comet
Tempel 1
Heroin,
Vodka, White Noise
New
Tattoo
When
I'm Tired
Tinseltown
The
more I listened, the more I enjoyed, but it also increasingly made me
amazed on what we missed out on in the states and just how bad radio
and music promotion has become here in the last 30 years. Their big
hit was Goldfinger,
with its equally great music video (one of many for their various
songs), was a huge alternative rock hit and remains one of their best
songs, though note it has NOTHING to do with the James Bond film of
the same name. It is just a great classic and so many of these songs
work and hold up. Their cover of the Carly Simon hit Coming
Around Again
is pretty good too.
***Also
good here is the sound, PCM 2.0 16/44.1 Stereo that sounds really
good and well transferred. However, it is the first non-classical CD
(excluding several titles we've covered form the 2L classical music
label) that offers a new audio format that claims to be ultra high
resolution/ultra high definition sound equal to Direct Stream Digital
from a Super Audio CD or the best vinyl around. You do not need it
to hear the CD tracks much the way the 20-bit HDCD sound format
works, but this one is called MQA sound and was co-developed by high
fidelity audio giant Meridan, whose MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing,
now known as Dolby TrueHD) fueled Super Audio CD's rival format:
DVD-Audio.
At
least like HDCD-encoded CDs, MQA-encoded CDs do tend to always sound
better than plain old CDs and that is a good thing, but very few
players exist to play the MQA tracks and the few outboard DAC
(digital audio converted) that handles MQA are about $1,000 each, so
despite our best efforts, we could not play those tracks at the time
of this posting, but will update this section when we can.
I
love that an underrated band like this is getting such great
treatment as so much of the music that gets Ultra HD sound treatment
is usually classical, jazz or older hit music. Thus, you cannot go
wrong sonically with either CD set.
Since
we did not get that third CD, we cannot count it as an extra, but we
did get a nicely illustrated booklet with a large text sample on the
band by Steven Wells, who made a documentary about the band. If you
have never or barley heard of the band Ash, you MUST get this set!
Next
up is a compilation set, CMA
Awards Live: Greatest Moments 2008 - 2015
and it is the first HD offering after several DVD sets we've seen of
the annual event. I have very mixed feelings about the state of the
Country Music genre to day and here's the list of performances
included:
"More
Like Her" | MIRANDA LAMBERT
"Cowgirls
Don't Cry" | BROOKS & DUNN featuring REBA McENTIRE
"You're
Gonna Miss This" | TRACE ADKINS
"Need
You Now" | LADY ANTEBELLUM
"Fifteen"
| TAYLOR SWIFT
"Consider
Me Gone" | REBA McENTIRE
"As
She's Walking Away" | ZAC BROWN BRAND featuring ALAN JACKSON
"Don't
You Wanna Stay" | JASON ALDEAN with KELLY CLARKSON
"Coal
Miner's Daughter" | MIRANDA LAMBERT, SHERYL CROW, LORETTA LYNN
"A
Little Bit Stronger" | SARA EVANS
"Country
Girl (Shake It for Me)" | LUKE BRYAN
"You
and Tequila" | KENNY CHESNEY featuring GRACE POTTER
"Remind
Me" | BRAD PAISLEY featuring CARRIE UNDERWOOD
"Begin
Again" | TAYLOR SWIFT
"Pontoon"
| LITTLE BIG TOWN
"Red"
| TAYLOR SWIFT, ALISON KRAUSS, VINCE GILL, SAM BUSH, EDGAR MEYER,
ERIC DARKEN
"Round
Here" | FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
"The
Outsiders" | ERIC CHURCH
"He
Stopped Loving Her Today" | ALAN JACKSON and GEORGE STRAIT
"Somewhere
in My Car" | KEITH URBAN
"Drunk
on a Plane" | DIERKS BENTLEY
"Take
Your Time" | SAM HUNT
"Girl
Crush" | LITTLE BIG TOWN
"Tennessee
Whiskey/Drink You Away " | CHRIS STAPLETON and JUSTIN
TIMBERLAKE
"Gonna"
| BLAKE SHELTON
Not
much of this is memorable to me, but it will be to fans, though the
wildcard is Taylor Swift before she pulled an Olivia Newton-John and
left the genre to go all out Rock/Pop. Justin Timberlake's
appearance is still its own oddity as he is only a part-time visitor,
but fares as well as anyone her. For fans only, at least they
finally have a Blu-ray of the show.
Though
color is good, the 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image
transfers are a little inconsistent and DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes can sound good, but are not as
wide-ranging as one would hope. Otherwise, they are still better
than the DVD versions. A booklet with tech and content info is the
only extra.
FM
(1978) is a fun time capsule piece on the late 1970's radio scene.
Starring Michael Brandon, the film is centered around the height of
success for a Los Angeles rock and roll station named Q-SKY radio,
which hosts plenty of interesting characters. As a corporation looms
over them, however, and attempts to cash in on the airwaves by
filling it with commercials, the station soon runs into financial
problems. Can the lovers of rock and roll behind Q-Sky keep the
spirit of the music alive?
While
a bit dated, FM
is fun and has a great soundtrack which features Steely Dan (who
deliver the hit title song), Jimmy Buffet, Linda Ronstadt, Tom Petty,
The Eagles, and The Doobie Brothers.
The
film also stars Eileen Brennan, Alex Karras, Cleavon Little, Martin
Mull, and Cassie Yates.
FM
is presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect
ratio and an Uncompressed stereo 2.0 PCM audio soundtrack. The film
has been remastered and restored from the original film elements.
Also included is a PCM Mono 1.0 music and effects track that
highlights the film’s fantastic soundtrack. The colors are vibrant
and highly detailed with acclaimed cinematography by the amazing John
A. Alonzo (DePalma's Scarface).
Special
Features:
No
Static at All,
a newly filmed interview with Michael Brandon, the star of FM
Radio
Chaos,
a newly filmed interview with Ezra Sacks, the writer of FM
The
Spirit of Radio,
a newly filmed video appreciation of the era of FM radio and the FM
soundtrack by the film and music critic Glenn Kenny
Extensive
gallery of original stills, promotional images and soundtrack sleeves
Original
trailers
Reversible
sleeve featuring two original artwork options
and
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new
writing on the film by writer and critic Paul Corupe.
Finally,
The
Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame In Concert Box Set
(2009 - 2017) has been issued in the Blu-ray format and here is our
coverage of the DVD set a little while ago...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15545/Made+On+Broadway+(1933/MGM/Warner+Archive
That
includes a link to a previous Blu-ray review of a disc included in
this set. All three sections are here in fine 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital
High Definition image transfers with
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes that are about as good as
they are going to get. Extras are also the same, but the playback
upgrades in all cases are worth it.
-
Nicholas Sheffo (Ash,
Time Life) and James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/