Playing For Change – Songs Around The World (DVD/CD Set/Hear Music)

 

Picture: C     Sound: B-     Extras: C-     Music/Main Program: C

 

 

A few decades later, there are singers who (even if sincere) think they can sing our way to world peace and make the world a better place to live, but it does not work and bringing different singers from around the world to sing one kind of set of songs does not make it world music.  Playing For Change – Songs From Around The World is such a project and features the following songs:

 

1)     Stand By Me

2)     One Love

3)     War/No More Trouble

4)     Biko

5)     Don’t Worry

6)     Talkin’ Bout A Revolution

7)     Better Man

8)     Chandra Mama

9)     Love Rescue Me

10)  A Change Is Gonna Come

 

 

They all have different performers literally from around the world, but these choices are clichéd (especially the first song), the good songs are not done very well and the overall world view is incredibly naïve, especially in the face of how ugly things have become; it is like a bad distraction.  Norman Lear backed this and he is always serious about these issues, but this project just does not work as politics or good music.  The CD is not as good as the DVD, which at least gives you a chance to see the performers, but no matter how much I tried to like this project, I could not.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 is very soft and even has aliasing errors throughout, while the PCM 2.0 16/44.1 Stereo sound on the CD is flatter than expected.  That also goes for the DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 Stereo mixes to my surprise.   The one extra on the DVD is a trailer and the case has a small, built-in booklet.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo