Ever since I can remember I wanted to be in a
band. But to be in one, you had to play an instrument. So my pop bought me
keyboards. I couldn’t play them. So he bought me an acoustic guitar. I couldn’t
play it. So he bought me an electric guitar. I kinda learned a few things but
gave up. So my mom bought me a drum kit. While I’m not a virtuoso, I learned
how to play the drums and I do so since 1998. Since then I play a little bit of
bass guitar too and I occasionally sing.
Because my collection of movies is growing all
the time, I had to make some space, so I sacrificed my vinyl collection (which
consisted of mainly glam rock albums and singles). I then sacrificed the
biggest portion of my CD collection too. And I got good money for both. But I
did that, also because I mostly listen to music on YouTube nowadays. Let’s face
it, the internet killed physical media in music. Especially this part of it
that I loved so much, the music VHS or DVD, because every video clip is now
available online, along with a great selection of full concerts, which were the
content those old tapes and discs were offering. But I couldn’t give away this
stuff too. So, here’s a breakdown of my favorite music on physical media.
Bands such as the Misfits and Marilyn Manson
may be very theatrical and appeal to cult movie fans, and I love them, but they
are ignored because they would be too obvious. CD releases that featured a
bonus DVD are also ignored; the article is about releases that were about the
video. Fictionalized rock musicals [such as PINK FLOYD THE WALL (1982)
and THE GREAT ROCK 'N' ROLL SWINDLE
(1980)] and
rockumentaries [such as LEMMY (2010) and THE FILTH AND THE FURY (2000)] are also ignored. Many of the
discs reviewed come with tons of special features too, and those are ignored
too due to space limitations. Oh, and the reviews are coming in capsule form as
I wanted the article to total less than 3.000 words.
THEY ARE MOTORHEAD;
THEY DRINK ALCOHOL, THEY SMOKE CIGARETTES, AND THEY PLAY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
I had the pleasure of seeing Motorhead live in
the early ‘00s in Athens, and in the late ‘00s in London. The Athens gig was
one the greatest rock ‘n’ roll experiences me and my friends ever had. After it
finished, two of my friends found Lemmy in a bar, drinking whiskey, and they
took photos with him. In the meanwhile, I was banging a blonde girl in my
hotel. The London gig was awesome too, as Lemmy joined supporting act
Girlschool to play Please Don’t Touch.
The other supporting act was The Damned, my favorite punk rock band, but more
on these guys later.
All Motorhead DVDs that I’ll cover capture the
days of my favorite line-up (Kilmister/Campbell/Dee). The first of this discs
is 25 & ALIVE BONESHAKER which
is their October 22nd 2000 Brixton Academy gig in which the band
celebrated its 25th Anniversary, and was joined on stage by legends
such as Fast Eddie, Doro, and Brian May. It may be a bit lengthy, but to me
this is the period when the band was on top of their game when it comes to
performing live, so it is very enjoyable. One thing that always fascinated me
about Motorhead, is how they are respected by almost everyone: metal-heads,
punk-rockers; everybody seems to like them!
The second one is STAGE FRIGHT, which is a concert from December 7th 2004
in Dusseldorf. I was disappointed by this one, because I’m not a die-hard
Motorhead fan. They ignored many of their hits in favor of obscurities and new
songs (including an unplugged number), and for a casual listener like me, that
didn’t work out. Also, they did some amazing stuff with the lighting, but the
camera work and the editing tricks were useless (and definitely out of place),
as rock ‘n’ roll is better off with simplicity.
The third one is THE WORLD IS OURS – VOL 1: EVERYWHERE FURTHER THAN EVERYPLACE ELSE,
which is a concert from April 9th 2011 in Santiago, Chile. Man, this
crowd is amazing; you should see how they dance when a favorite number starts.
They are possibly the greatest audience I’ve ever seen captured on video. The
band also switched back to a “best of” set-list and I was happy. The gig was
filmed in black and white (another visual experiment) and it works.
The last one is THE WORLD IS OURS – VOL 2: ANYPLACE CRAZY AS ANYWHERE ELSE, which
is a concert from 2011 at Wacken Open Air Festival. The crowd is as expected at
THE GATES OF HELL
This is by far the most appropriate tape
reviewed in this article, as it is the sickest and it was directed by Jim Van Bebber
at a time when he was on top of his game. Now, about the music; I don’t like it
so extreme, but Necrophagia kinda works for me, because they are somehow rock
‘n’ roll. Their tape of theirs I’m reviewing is THROUGH EYES OF THE DEAD and it’s a weird little gem. The band
plays, and through each song we see a depraved short film.
In the first story, a fat guy consumes pills
and alcohol, cuts himself and then goes out for a walk; he meets a couple in
the woods and shoots them; he then cuts the female in pieces, masturbates and
unloads his cum on her head and then buries her. Erm, don’t show this to your
feminist friends.
The second story finds a girl in a cage,
screaming her lungs off; the guy who put her there is mutilating her boyfriend
in front of her. The third story is the boring one as it is just has a couple
picnicking in the graveyard whilst a zombie is rising from the grave.
The fourth story is about a nun who consumes
alcohol in a graveyard; soon she will meet the devil, and she will be raped and
killed by monks. The fifth song is wrapped around Lucio Fulci footage.
FROM ALL THE BANDS IN
THE WORLD, THIS IS DEFINITELY ONE OF THEM!
I’m a Guns N’ Roses fanatic since I first saw
the music video of You Could Be Mine
on MTV. I bought all their albums immediately. I was waiting for years for Chinese Democracy to come out, and when
it arrived I thought it was worthy of the wait. I saw them live in the
never-ending Chinese Democracy tour in 2006 in Athens. I’ve seen so many of
their concerts on YouTube (I’m obsessed) and by comparing them I have to say
that I feel lucky having seen them in 2006, because Axl was better than ever
that year. It makes me glad the fact that he’ll never reunite with Slash… Duff
and Izzy are occasionally joining the stage anyway… But I digress…
The first two GN’R DVDs I bought were USE YOUR ILLUSION I and USE YOUR ILLUSION II which are
basically one lengthy concert divided to two discs in order to generate more
profit. The concert in question is from Tokyo in 1992, and it’s not their best
from this tour. Axl is on top form, but the rest of the band is sloppy at best.
Also, the fans don’t seem very enthusiastic, and they look like they all got
sleeping pills. The highlight is a song called It Tastes Good, Don’t It which you can’t find in any of the
official albums.
The other two VHS tapes I bought were MAKIN’ F@*!ING VIDEOS PART 1: DON’T CRY
and MAKIN’ F@*!ING VIDEOS PART 1:
NOVEMBER RAIN. Both music videos are works of art and the making-of
documentaries provided are well deserved. They are informative and entertaining
and I would love to have such tapes for all GN’R music videos. You also get to listen
to Shadow of your Love and the Godfather theme which didn’t make it to
any of their studio albums. Oh, and Axl says that Tommy Lee’s piano on Home Sweet Home was a big influence for November Rain.
Recently I bought the APPETITE FOR DEMOCRACY 3D: LIVE AT THE HARD ROCK CASINO- LAS VEGAS
Blu-ray and although I don’t have a 3D television set, I did enjoy the 2D
version very much. The lightning was awesome and the band was in top form
(playing stuff mostly from Appetite for
Destruction and Chinese Democracy
as the title reveals, but not limited to those two albums). This is a concert
from 2012 and the line-up is my personal favorite: Axl Rose (sole original
member), Dizzy Reed (from Hookers N' Blow), Tommy
Stinson (from The Replacements), Chris Pitman (ex- Tool), Richard Fortus (ex-
Thin Lizzy), Frank Ferrer (The Beautiful), Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-
Lita Ford), and DJ Ashba (from Sixx:A.M.). Oh, and plenty of strippers. This is
Las Vegas after all.
WHAT WOULD THE DEVIL
DO?
I saw Motley Crue live in London in 2007 and
they kicked major ass (on the wild side). GREATEST
VIDEO HITS is a DVD which contains all their music videos up to the point
of the release of this disc. Their shows are spectacular and so had to be their
video-clips, and they are indeed amazing. Let’s get this party started!
LEWD CRUED &
TATTOED is a DVD of
a July 5th 2000 show from the Maximum Rock tour (in support of their
New Tattoo album). Samantha Malone
(from Hole) is on drums, and although she’s really good (and sexy), the show
proves once more that if there’s not all four original members of Motley Crue
on board, then things won’t work.
CARNIVAL OF SINS is the best live release the Crue
ever put out as they were on top of their game when this was filmed. It all
starts with a funny animation segment, and then Mighty Mike and some girls help
us go on with the (lengthy) concert. In the first half the band plays oldies,
and in the second half they play the hits. The audience is full of plastic
bimbos that show their tits, and the stage is full of strippers (occasionally
hanging from ropes). Motorbikes and pyros are also part of the show. This is an
Americana commercial. They shouldn’t be playing Anarchy in the UK though; they just don’t get it.
Another great release you should add to your
collection is CRUE FEST 1. It is
Motley Crue’s attempt at a Festival (much like Ozzfest) and we get to see what
happened in Toronto. First we get a couple of songs from Trapt (average modern
rock) and as many from Sixx A.M. (an awesome super-band featuring Nikki Sixx
from Motley Crue, DJ Ashba from Guns N’ Roses, and Michael James). Backstage we
even get to see Kat Von D being a doll as always. Then we get a few songs from
Papa Roach; the first number is unforgettable as we see their singer running
around among members of the audience. Then we get a few more songs from
Buckcherry; professional rock stars; and the highlight of course is Crazy Bitch, even though the long
version they played was a bit tiring. Then we see the devil receiving a blowjob
in the shadows, and when the curtain falls, next thing you know, Motley Crue is
on (complete with pyros and the Tit E. Cam which you should check out if you
don’t know what that is)! They obviously couldn’t top the Carnival tour with this short set-list, but it is nice to have a
document from the Saints tour. Hell,
I’d love to have a DVD from every tour they ever did, but with the format dying
I should be thankful for YouTube. But there’s no Crue Fest 2 there…
THE BEAST
I don’t like Iron Maiden; okay, I like their
first two albums, but back then they were a totally different band from what
kids know today as Iron Maiden. So, the first tape I got was the S/T one, which is actually a live
recording from December 21st 1980 in London. The quality of this
bootleg is shit and I should probably replace it.
In 1990, Iron Maiden re-released their entire
back catalog of singles and THE FIRST
TEN YEARS – THE VIDEOS tape (even though they formed in mid-‘70s but
seemingly the band doesn’t count the non-album years). Said tape contains a
couple of live tracks, and all the music videos they had made up that point. I
struggled through it, because I find their videos mainly boring, but also
cheesy.
I saw Paul Di’Anno live twice (both times in
Athens) and he was awesome. The energy on his gigs was beyond belief. A good
document from this period is THE BEAST
IN THE EAST which is a live recording from Poland in 2003, and the band is
playing songs from the vocalist’s days in Iron Maiden and from other associated
acts.
EVER GOT THE FEELING
YOU’VE BEEN CHEATED?
I’ve never seen The Sex Pistols live and this
must change, even though it is now a bit too late; you see, I consider their
’96 gigs to be their best (judging from what’s on YouTube).
Anyway, the first Sex Pistols tape I got was
the WINDERLAND CONCERT which was
their last gig from their first U.S. tour, and it sounds exactly like what
you’d expect from a band that soon broke up. The audience doesn’t seem to want
them to be there, and the band doesn’t seem to want to be there.
Then I bought the THERE’LL ALWAYS BE AN ENGLAND DVD, which is a concert from 2007 in
London, marking the 30th anniversary of the band. The direction by
Julian Temple may be excellent, but the band sounds like a classic rock act and
their fans seem meaner than them. I probably don’t get it.
METAL GODS
Back in the ‘00s I saw Judas Priest live in
Athens twice. The first time was with Tim on vocals, and the second one with
Rob. I found Tim to be in better form, but that is unfair to Rob as he was 100
years old then and much older now. I bought one DVD from each era, in order to
keep the memories alive. The Tim one is called LIVE IN LONDON and the Rob one RISING
IN THE EAST.
BUZZ… COCKS…
I saw the Buzzcocks live on their s/t album tour (in Athens), on their Flat Pack Philosophy album tour (in
Thessaloniki), and one more time when they played a best-of set-list (in
Athens). They were amazing all three times. The LIVE AT SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE 2003 DVD is a decent document of
their early ‘00s era. At some point they mess up because the band members
mistakenly have different set-lists.
Two music videos by the Buzzcocks can also be
found in THE
Another Buzzcocks-related DVD is the one
Magazine recently released, entitled REAL
LIFE + THEREAFTER which is a 2009 Manchester concert by Howard Devoto’s
band (he was the Buzzcocks’ first singer).
BABIES ON FIRE
My favorite Greek rock band is Mora Sti Fotia
(Babies on Fire). I’ve seen them live many times, and I even directed one of
their music videos. To celebrate their 20th anniversary they
released a 2-DVD set which is a concert from their favorite Athens venue,
Kyttaro. It’s almost two hours long and full of quality songs, so you should
buy it without a second thought.
CHAOS, ANARCHY, AND
DESTRUCTION
I’ve seen The Damned live something like five
or six times in the UK; all with their most recent line-up, and they were
brilliant.
Their first DVD I bought was the “reunion &
farewell” one (you should know better than that), called FINAL DAMNATION and it is a live recording from June 13th
1988 at London’s Town and Country Club (now The Forum). The performance is
short but really good, and the disc would be excellent if there was no wanker,
er, I mean music expert trying to convince us that our favorite punk rock band
is a classic rock act of virtuosos with his annoying non-removable video and
audio commentary.
Their second DVD I bought was TIKY NIGHTMARE and it is a concert
recorded live in London. This is from their Grave
Disorder tour, and the excellent line-up of original members Dave Vanian
and Captain Sensible, and Patricia Morrison (from Sisters of Mercy), Pinch
(from the English Dogs) and Monty (from Punk Floyd). It is brilliantly fun and
I enjoyed it very much.
Their last DVD I bought was mge25: MACHINE GUN ETIQUETTE 25 TOUR,
which, as the title reveals, is a Machine
Gun Etiquette anniversary concert. And being that is unfortunate that
classics from this album such as Plan 9
Channel 7 are not played. Other than that, the band sounds heavier than
ever, and the members seem like they’re having fun.
WE ARE SEXUAL PERVERTS
When I first watched THE STING: LIVE AT THE KEY CLUB I liked it and I could not
understand why nobody else did. Then I saw W.A.S.P. live in Athens and they
were shit. I gave them a second change and saw them live in Wolverhampton too,
and they were again shit. There was way too much pre-recorded stuff; and it is
one thing to sound shit when you play live, that would be bearable, but to
sound shit with pre-recorded stuff is simply awful. Now that I watched again
this DVD, I realized what everybody was talking about. Blackie doesn’t even
bother to lip-sync…
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