Turbonegro – The ResErection

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Main Programs: C+

 

 

Well, what can you say about this DVD.  Obviously, the name alone is unreal and the cover of the DVD case makes it look like some kind of Rap/Rock band.  The members are all white, from the artwork.  Yes, this is a band called Turbonegro, an all Rock band it turns out, actually having their reunion to the delight of their followers.  So why have you not heard of them?  Well, maybe it’s a European thing.

 

The lead singer looks like Alice Cooper on a budget, another member has a sailor’s hat that looks more like a loaner from The Village People than Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (reviewed elsewhere on this site) and the others have their own hats.  OK.  They sing in German/Swedish/Norwegian (or the like) and the first thing I had to ask about was if any Nazi connection was intended?  Absolutely not, though the music turns out to be more repetitious and three-chord than AC/DC, none of which is good or memorable.  Maybe this seems exciting to those who do not know Rock, but is Hip Hop so dominant that this is all we get?  Does the semi-Hip Hop cover support this?

 

Outside of these not so burning questions, the main program credited as a film is really an hour-long TV documentary piece about the band, for which this disc is named after.  Then, there is the equally long 2002 concert with no subtitles, so your guess is as good as mine, unless you have a major in language studies.  That leaves the music, which will make you wish for a boxed-set of Headbangers' Ball – The Early Years just to remember what basic, obscene, angry Rock is supposed to be.  The tracks performed, include:

 

1)     Hello

2)     Deathtime

3)     Selfdestructo Bust

4)     Back To Dungaree High

5)     (Are You Ready) For Some Darkness?

6)     Don’t Say Motherf$%#&*er, Motherf$%#&*er

7)     Midnight NAMBLA

8)     Zillion Dollar Sadist

9)     Get It On

10)  I Got Erec&%$#@

11)  Outro

 

 

Though we admit we could not understand any of the lyrics, these were no musically as interesting or daring as the titles, though maybe we’ll get some American remakes to clarify the situation.  Two bonus tracks include Rendezvous With Anus (could not figure how to #$*& that one) and Hobbit Motherf#$%&*er, which shows a definite hatred for all things Lord Of The Rings in any language.  Though not a fan of the films, these guys seem to be hunting for Peter Jackson and company.  How will they deal with King Kong remains a mystery.

 

The performance of the DVD is as odd, with letterboxed 1.78 X 1/16 X 9 video, non anamorphic, which does not look good, as if from a badly converted analog SECAM to NTSC video transfer.  We have not seen anything like it before and hope we never do again.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is loud and sometimes problematic, but is oddly lacking in any surrounds, odd considering it sounds like they should be there and for it being a recent recording.  The only DVD extras besides the “fascinating” extra songs include a stills gallery, comments from Happy Tom and member Pal baking a pizza, which is ironically the highlight of the disc.

 

You also get a nicely illustrated color booklet inside the case, though little more is learned.  Maybe this is just an awkward introduction to the band, so pardon our ignorance.  We’ll just have to see and hear more material, maybe from the old days.  With the DVD boom continuing, anything is possible.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo