Living With The Past CD / DVD, by Patrick
Lydon
Jethro Tull's new DVD will be released
on May 14th in the U.S. and Tullworld.com has your preview to the new
release! The following are reviews of the already released CD, and the
upcoming DVD...
LWTP
DVD - Tull have released a few previous ''Video' productions
during their 34 or so years of existence thus far. It's a sure fact that
their newest release does a fine job of showing off how far technology has
come since productions like their "20 Years of Tull" video in
1988. But what is the world without nostalgia? Yes, their are still some
out-dated effects on this DVD that just feel out of place. Most notably
the clips that are woven into Jack in the Green and Roots to Branches.
But really, this is
nit-picking... Tull have put together a great DVD on the whole. With some
of the best fidelity you can experience, courtesy of great recording
equipment, and the DVD format, this offering gives fans a true concert in
a box. But there's more than just a straight out 1 1/2 hour concert this
disc. Most of he tracks are separated by some absolutely great little
mini-interviews with each of the band members, as well as a few fan
interviews sprinkled here and there.
In addition to the concert
footage -- mostly filmed at London's Hammersmith Apollo -- you will find 2
live recordings of Tull's most popular acoustic works, filmed with a
string quartet at Ian's home. The string players have hack at "Wond'ring
Aloud" and "Life's a Long Song", and they really do pull it
off pretty well. And if that wasn't enough quartets for you... the
original Tull quartet was also reunited to play a few tunes. The reunion
is set in a pub, with an audience of Tull fans trying their best to play
the part of the drab and unresponsive 1968 gig watcher (Prior to Tull's
success). It's really fun stuff to watch, and don't kid yourself either...
these guys still have their chops. They run through "Someday The Sun
Won't Shine For You", "Song For Jeffrey" and "My
Sunday Feeling" with authority!
LWTP CD -
The CD may have the same cover art as the same-name DVD, but it's contents
are actually very different. The concept is the same here as it was on the
DVD... but Ian decided to change it up a bit. The 'Live' tracks on this CD
are from several different Venues... anywhere from concerts to television
shows.
The tracks on this CD are all very well
played and the recording quality is superb. Over half of the tracks are
ones picked from the DVD, but other tracks include: "Nothing is
Easy" recorded in Paris, 1999; "A Christmas Song",
"Cheap Day Return" and "Mother Goose", all from the
Zurich Dressing Room Tapes; and "Dot Com", and "Fat
Man", from the 2 Meter Session TV program.
This is a sort of odd way to do a live CD,
because it is not really done in the traditional "here's a whole live
concert" way. But hey, Tull have released enough of those already,
and they were all very good recordings. This format offers a way to
release some of the very best recordings to fans on one CD. The only
slightly annoying thing is the "dubbed-in" intros on some tracks
which did not originally have them. Does that make this CD not worth your
money? I wouldn't think so. In fact, I would hope not! You'd sure be
missing out on an awful lot of awesome live Tull...
|
I
WANT THE CD! |
|
I
WANT THE DVD! |
Patrick Lydon,
May 11, 2002
Tullworld.com
Please feel free to e-mail me at patrick@tullworld.com
for comments on this article, as well as questions or concerns about
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