Under Review series: Mott The Hoople – The Whole
Story (w/CD) + Keith Richards + Bruce Springsteen – Road Trip (Music Video Distributors/Chrome
Dreams DVDs)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras:
C Main Programs: B/C+/B
Still
nowhere to be seen on U.S. television, the Under
Review series is the greatest music series you have never seen and over the
years, we have been very happy to cover many volumes of the series that covers
the artists and their music. Some
volumes cover an entire career, others part of one and then the series turned
to specific album releases. To show you
the range, we present three volumes of interest, starting with Mott The Hoople in an expanded edition.
Originally,
a single Mott Under Review volume
was issued, but Music Video Distributors is always looking for new material and
that includes some to enhance the occasional previous release. The Under
Review DVD now includes a bonus CD (51:32 in 8 tracks for 8 different
interview segments) and the set has been titled The Whole Story. The CD may
be short, but it is a nice plus and has never been issued before, while the
main DVD traces the formation of the group in 1969 to their near break-up
before big fan David Bowie arrived and gave them their biggest hit single and
one of their biggest albums with All The
Young Dudes in 1972, to topping that with their amazing album Mott in 1973 to their eventual
decline. A solid installment, this set
is one of the best ones we have covered to date.
Bruce Springsteen – Road Trip: 40
Years Of The Boss
is another example of the series, this time, expanding and/or combining
previous releases or adding a second DVD with a first one. The first DVD here is Becoming The Boss, a weak look at his rise to success and one that
has no music of his whatsoever, making it middling and for fans only. We covered the second volume, Tales Of The
Working Man: Under Review 1978 – 1982, a while ago. It is a little
better, but not by much. Here is the
link to that coverage:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6504/Bruce+Springsteen+-+Tales+Of+The
Finally
there is the two-hour Keith Richards
DVD that looks at the man outside of The Rolling Stones and of course, in
it. Now, the series has covered the band
before, as this solid look at their early years will attest to:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4260/The+Rolling+Stones:+Under+Review
Showing
how good this series really is, they make Richards a distinct focus and the
result works very well. We hear the
direct influences on Richards from great guitarists in the past and Stones
music surfaces here and there, but I like learning more specifically about
Richards and the band has so much talent in it, this is not long enough an
amount of time to cover everything just on Richards, but this show does a good
job.
The 1.33
X 1 image of discs with licensed music is fine and looks like it originates on
PAL video, while the Becoming The Boss
DVD is softer than the rest. Editing and
footage is as usual, top rate. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo is pretty good throughout, though there are those moments
you’ll want to hear the whole song or hear it more clearly, but the licensed
music usually sounds really good considering the audio codec. Extras include contributor bios and quizzes
on each release, while Mott adds Kris Needs (founder of their fan club) talking
about The Mott Lot, band member Morgan Fisher talks about the band on
Mott
In America has Super 8mm film footage of their 1974 tour and Richards adds When Kris Met Keith
featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
