The Very Best Of Don Henley (2009/Geffen Records DVD/CD Set)
Picture:
C Sound: C+/C- Extras: C Compilation: B-
As a
member of The Eagles, Don Henley is part of one of the most successful bands
and music acts in history, with critical and commercial success that includes
their last album being another #1 chart-topper (as many as Led Zeppelin now)
and more #1 singles than any U.S. band according to Billboard Magazine. But Henley
also has a successful solo career and The
Very Best Of Don Henley (2009) is a sampling of his work since he went solo
after the bands original break up in with a hit Stevie Nicks duet and his 1982
solo album I Cant Stand Still.
Though
not as rich as an anthology would be and missing some key songs, the DVD/CD set
is an adequate introduction to some good material, but not as good as it could
have been. The songs on the CD are as
follows:
1)
Dirty Laundry
2)
The Boys Of Summer
3)
All She Wants To Do Is Dance
4)
Not Enough Love In The World
5)
Sunset Grill
6)
The End Of Innocence
7)
The Last Worthless Evening
8)
New York Minute
9)
I Will Not Go Quietly
10) The Heart Of The Matter
11) Everybody Knows
12) For My Wedding
13) Everything Is Different Now
14) Taking You Home
#1 is the
only track form the debut album, #2 5 are from what remains his best album, Building The Perfect Beast (which
deserves a Deluxe Edition double CD Set), #6 is the title song to solo album
three with tracks from it going all the way to #10 here, #11 is one of the new
songs from the Actual Miles hits set
and the remainder come from the decent Inside
Job album. Tracks #5 and #13 revisit
the territory of Hotel California and Henley finds a more personal style with each album.
The DVD
features six music videos, including The
Boys Of Summer directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino (Madonna), All She Wants To Do Is Dance directed
by Steve Barron (Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, A-ha, The Human League, Joe
Jackson), The Last Worthless Evening
directed by Matthew Rolston (En Vogue, Crystal Waters, Garbage), The Heart Of The Matter directed by Geoffrey
Barish (Chris Isaak), Everything Is Different
Now directed by Pedro Romhanyi (Blur, Pulp, Propellerheads featuring
Shirley Bassey) and For My Wedding. Missing
key videos include Not Enough Love In
The World by Timothy Hutton, The End
Of The Innocence by David Fincher and The
Garden Of Allah by Jake Scott staring Kirk Douglas.
As a
final bonus, songs Henley did for motion pictures are also included: Love Rules (from Fast Times At Ridgemont High), Who
Owns This Place (from The Color Of
Money), Sit Down, You're Rockin' the
Boat (from Leap Of Faith) and Through Your Hands (from Michael) minus any video, though Music
Videos exist for some of them.
The 1.33 X 1 image on the DVD is softer throughout
than it should be, coming from older analog transfers of videos shot on film
(likely 35mm) and should look far better than this. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound on all DVD
tracks is very weak, so be careful of playing this at high volumes and of
volume switching. The PCM 2.0 16/44.1
Stereo on the CD is better, but not by much and sound overall is also
disappointing, especially as so many Eagles video releases have been so
good. The only other extra is a booklet
on the set with tech information and a brief essay by Paul Gambaccini.
- Nicholas Sheffo
