Terence Trent D’Arby (now Sananda Maitreya) – Ohne
Filter
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C+ Concert: B-
In his
peak time, it looked like Terence Trent D’Arby might have been on the beginning
of a long and successful hits run. Then
he was quoted as saying his album was on par with The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
and before you new it, he was gone and we had to suffer through the likes of
Milli Vanilli. His album of the time was
The Hardline According To Terence Trent
D’Arby, and though it was no masterwork, it had its moments and hits. They are among the dozen songs taped for his
10/12/87 appearance on the German TV music show Ohne Filter.
The
tracks are:
1)
If You All Get To Heaven
2)
Rain
3)
I’ll Never Turn My Back On You
4)
Wicki Wacki
5)
Soul Power
6)
Sign Your Name
7)
Wishing Well
8)
If You Let Me Stay
9)
Dance Little Sister
10) Who’s Loving You
11) Funky Broadway
12) Under My Thumb (The Rolling Stones classic)
The music
works best when it is original, so the cover of the Rolling Stones seems an
anti-climactic way to end a set that strives to be so sincere and
artistic. It also works best when it is
not trying to be spiritual and equate that with love, sex, or nature; something
Prince and Marvin Gaye were far more successful at doing. That leaves us looking at the two big
hits. Wishing Well always had an odd feel to it, with its goofy sound
signature almost contradicting its more ambitious intents. This is a good live version, though. Sign
Your Name is more of the kind of song that could have really helped the
man, even if his Beatles’ comment rubbed many the wrong way. He was a solid singer with material that was
hit or miss. This set is more hit than
miss, but not as full as it could have been considering his talents.
The full
frame PAL color video has limits, but offers good colors and decent definition
for its time. The sound is available in
PCM CD Stereo, as well as a better Dolby Digital 5.1 AC-3, which plays better
all around. There is somewhat the depth
in the 5.1 here heard in the Mark King, Tony Joe White and the band America’s DVD from the series; all
reviewed elsewhere on this site, yet its age limits the depth. Besides repeating the same stereo cords plug,
other DVDs in the series, and Ohne
Filter producer interview, it has a biography of D’Arby, and how he changed
his name.
There is
empathy in the singing too, but sometimes D’Arby/Maitreya has some
standoffishness in his stance and that too comes across. It makes me curious about seeing and hearing
more of his work, and this will especially appeal to fans of the artist and of
1980s music in general. At least this is
someone with talent who can sing and tries to say something, so it is a fun
curio program from the Ohne Filter
series from Inakustik and Music Video Distributors.
- Nicholas Sheffo
