Hard Vision |
July / August 2009Shawn Mullins | Black Label Society | Iggy Pop | Slaves to the Rhythm | Goth Kill | Andy Kaufman Shawn Mullins "Live At The Variety Playhouse" is a high quality concert performance in front of a packed house. The show begins with nothing more than Shawn Mullins, a guitar and the audience, who he has a clear connection with. He goes through six songs on his own before he brings a full band up to go through another nine songs, including "Beautiful Wreck" and "House Of The Rising Sun," both of which are worth the price of admission alone. The special features include the video for "Beautiful Wreck" and a quick interview with Shawn Mullins. If you're a fan of the man and his music, this is a must have addition to your collection. http://www.ShawnMullins.com BLACK LABEL SOCIETY This is a greatest hits CD and a bonus DVD to boot. I never realized this band has put out 7 releases already. You also get a live track and 3 acoustic tunes as well. I am not familiar with a lot this bands stuff, but they play like a heavy metal version of Southern rock in my eyes. Zack tears it up on guitar on these tracks and that is what I would say that this is like Southern Rock mixed in with pure heavy metal with a touch of grunge to the mix. The DVD has a bunch of the bands videos and some live stuff and clocks in at almost 2 hours so between the CD and DVD you get your moneys worth. Info: http://www.eaglerockent.com Iggy Pop Sometimes less is more and when it comes to Iggy Pop...well...there's not a whole lot more you need to be told. So, this DVD will probably be for the hardcore fan who has to have everything.. The casual fan might pass this one up because it's a pretty bare bone release. It's a 41 minute program that includes an interviews with Iggy Pop and Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton. The interviews were filmed back in 1986, so, there is a historical value to them which, again, the hardcore fan will eat up. Plus, there's some live clips thrown into the mix to give it a little flavor. It's pretty much a quick blast from the past....a moment, really, in the life of a man who has earned his place in the rock 'n' roll history book. Slaves To The Rhythm: A Concert For The Prince's Trust In 2004, Trevor Horn celebrated 25 years as one of the world's most successful pop music producers. At "Slaves To The Rhythm," a unique Wembley concert in aid of The Prince's Trust, thirteen of his best selling acts, guest musicians and a full backing orchestra came together to help celebrate - over two hours of electrifying music, in one place, at one time, for one man. All the energy and excitement of these performances is captured on this perfectly mixed DVD. The above paragraph is featured on the back of this release. That's what "Slaves To The Rhythm" is all about. What that paragraph doesn't tell you is how fantastic this release really is. First of all, let's talk about the quality. It's exceptional. It's filmed like a Hollywood blockbuster movie, that's how grand in scale this is. It's amazing. The peformers include Seal, Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Grace Jones, ABC, Lisa Stansfied, Yes, Art Of Noise, Propaganda, Belle & Sebastian, Tatu and Dollar. Kicking it all off are The Buggles with their most famous song, "Video Killed The Radio Star," which was so great, really, I'm at a loss for words. It's one of the finer performances on this release. Grace Jones, who, unfortunately, only does one song, "Slave To The Rhythm," is captivating. Tatu only does one song as well. But, they were another highlight of this concert. They saved the best for last, in my opinion. The three song performance by Frankie Goes To Hollywood is, without a doubt, the ultimate highlight of this release. They give a fantastic performance of "Welcome To The Pleasuredome," "Two Tribes" and, of course, "Relax." This was worth the price of admission alone. It wasn't quite the same without Holly Johnson (the REAL voice of FGTH). But, they still managed to bring this concert to an end with a huge bang. Speaking of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, there's also a special feature on the band and how they had to find a new vocalist to fill Holly Johnson's spot, which is impossible in my opinion. It's like Queen trying to replace Freddie Mercury or Skid Row trying to replace Sebastian Bach. You may be able to carry on...and you may be able to do it rather well...but...it will never be the same. All in all, this is an exceptional release that more than delivers. You get your money's worth with this one. It's a highly recommended viewing experience! GOTH KILL I consider myself a pretty big horror movie fan and I love a good action/bloody horror film as much as the next guy. That being said, this movie was downright awful. I don't mind low budget flicks and actually to me most low budget horror movies are better than the big action flicks. This movie had some god awful acting, it wasn't scary at all, and the plot left a lot to be desired. A man comes back after making a pact with Satan to reign over 100,000 or something souls and he goes and finds his victims in a goth club. The plot is just so off the wall and the movie just had me just waiting for it to end and I have to admit after about an hour or so I had to shut this damn thing off as it was just torture watching it. This gets a big double thumbs down from me. Info: http://www.wildeyereleasing.com/gothsite.html Andy Kaufman There's no "fine line" when it comes to Andy Kaufman. You're either a huge fan of his work or you hate him with a passion. Personally, I thought he was pure genius. You never...NEVER....knew what was real and what wasn't. That's why, to this day, people still believe that he faked his own death and that he's still floating around out there with a big smile on his face. You almost have to be an Andy Kaufman fan to enjoy and appreciate "My Breakfast With Blassie." If you're not familiar with his work in any way, shape or form and this is you're first Andy Kaufman experience, well, you'll probably walk away from this film thinking, "God, that was boring!" To be honest with you, it is kind of boring. There's really not a whole lot of "entertainment" to be seen here. It's basically Andy Kaufman having breakfast with wrestling legend Classie Freddie Blassie. They talk about wrestling, stardom, personal hygiene and what to have for breakfast and the conversation doesn't really go into all that much detail and, personally, I think that's the beauty of this release. Now, I don't know if this is what Andy was going for or not, but, the way I see it, as you watch this release, you almost expect something to happen. You're waiting for something to happen. The punchline for a joke that's never told. Near the end of the movie, there's a dude who throws up on the table and that's your "shocking" moment. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk...BLAH! There it is. A random sight gag...and they really don't make all that big a deal out of it. I think Andy might have made this film for the people who didn't like him. He might have thought, "Let's see if I can get people to sit through this for an hour." Remember, this is the guy who would stand on stage and read "The Great Gatsby" when the audience heckled him. If you're already a fan, you're already familiar with this movie. You know what it's about. You've probably seen it before. But, this version is a special commemorative edition and it's the bonus features that add a little more excitment to the main feature. There's additional (supposedly "lost") footage of Andy. Behind the scenes and all that. There's extra footage of Freddie Blassie, including wrestling matches. There's a "making of" feature, film premiere footage and a lot of Johnny Legend material as well. That's worth the price of admission alone. Bottom line...this is classic Andy Kaufamn. It's a must have if you're a fan. Well worth checking out. |