Customer Reviews

AMAZONA LIVE IN THE JUNGLE

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having been around since the early 1970's, Scorpions are one of the godfathers of heavy metal. Although the band has announced their plans to retire, and are currently on their farewell tour though 2012, it remains to be seen what the future holds for his venerable and respected band, with fans all across the world. Sting in the Tail (2010) was supposed to be their final album, but the band has returned with Comeblack a new album scheduled for release in November of 2011. There's evidently more that this band has to say.

The DVD Scorpions: Wacken Live At Open Air 2006 (2008), was a tribute to the band's long history, featuring past members Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker, and Herman Rarebell. Scorpions: Amazonia Live In The Jungle (2009) is a more "normal" concert performance in Manaus, Brazil, recorded in 2008. In this performance, the Scorps show slight indications of slowing down, but for the most part, they still rock very solidly. The main feature is a 13 song performance that runs about 64 minutes. The set list is as follows below.

1. Hour 1, 2. Coming Home, 3. Bad Boys Running Wild, 4. No Pain No Gain, 5. Always Somewhere, 6. Holiday, 7. Dust In The Wind, 8. Wind Of Change, 9. 321, 10. Blackout, 11. Big City Nights, 12. Still Loving You,
13. Rock You Like a Hurricane

The bulk of the songs are from the Lovedrive, Blackout, and Love at First Sting albums. The band gears down for a four song acoustic interlude that begins with Always Somewhere, and finishes with Winds Of Change. In this section, Rudolph Schenker takes a bit more of the spotlight. This part of the show features three female backup singers, various local musicians, some native instruments, and even keyboards. After this, the band cranks the volume up and finishes strongly with some of their most beloved classics.

Klaus Meine has been one of the most recognized voices in metal for decades. He can't quite hit the high notes that he once could, but honestly the man hasn't lost much, and he can still sing with great power, and emotion. The band is propelled by rhythm guitarist and health nut Rudolph Schenker, and lead guitarist Mathias Jabs. Meine, Schenker, and Jabs, are the heart of the band, and have been playing together for so long, and complement each other so well. They are all consummate pros, and these ageless rockers seem to be in very good condition physically. Rounding out the band are drummer James Kottack and bass player Pawel Maciwoda.

The venue at Manaus is first class, and the stage is more than large enough to accommodate the band and the other performers. The production provides a nice selection of camera angles, although the editing favors the fast cut style, that is unfortunately prevalent these days. The available audio options are PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS 5.1.

A bonus is additional live material from a performance in Manaus during the Scorpions previous South American tour in 2007. The image quality isn't as good as the main feature, but it is certainly watchable. The featured songs are Hour 1, Love `em Or Leave `em, Make It Real, Tease Me Please Me, and Humanity. The additional songs total about 24 minutes in length. Lastly, there is a short featurette covering the band's interest and involvement with Greenpeace's efforts to preserve the rain forest. Some of the proceeds from the sales of this DVD, are supposed to be donated to Greenpeace.

The main feature together with the bonus live material, make this DVD a good value for the dedicated Scorpions fan. The main 2008 performance, which includes Brazilian musical talent, is intended to show regard and respect for the local culture. As such, it doesn't feature the band rocking as hard as they are capable of. Those looking to see the band rocking on all cylinders, might want to take a look at the Scorpions: Live at Wacken Open Air 2006 DVD, which provides an overview of the band's long history, and over two hours of live material. The Scorpions will reportedly release another live DVD of their farewell tour, that might possibly be in 3D. Hopefully this will become a reality.

There only "con's" I can think of about this DVD: 1. The set list contains only 2-3 newer songs, 2. The editing is abrupt and obvious, 3. The show remains the same and lacks production creativity, with the exception of having some Brazilian musicians & backing vocalists share the stage with them for the first few songs.

The Scorpions sound better than usual on this live recording, which I credit to new a sound engineer and good acoustics at the venue. Klaus' voice is not drowned out by distortion for a change and his vocal abilities are very much in tact - including his falsetto whistling at the beginning of "Winds of Change." However, he fails to remove very dark sunglasses from his face during the entire concert, which seems a bit unnatural, esp. at night. His eyes may be too sensitive to the harsh bright lights that shine upon him and/or it's his way of trying to hide his age. He does lack the energy he used to have, but not the passion with which he sings and owns the audience.

Matthias has become a guitar king/wizard to be compared to Van Halen. He should not be as underestimated and underrated as he is in the United States. He's finely honed his talent and now makes and sells his own guitars. He doesn't get as much camera time as he has in the past but his art is mastered and his smile stays on.

Rudolf is a piece of work, I say that lovingly. The man is in his 60's now and his body is more tone than most men in their 20-30's who work out regularly. His Yoga and vegetarian diet suit him well. He's learned more English and sings backing vocals more often on this DVD. He's also clownish; he wears the most bizarre pair of eyeglasses and a hat with long hair attached to it but he's fooling no one ... his playing is tight and his flying "V's" are impressive.

Pawel, the relatively new bassist, is almost absent from the DVD and gets no quality camera time.

James, the drummer, is bar none the best drummer this band has ever had and is a driving force behind the band's energy & rhythm section.
He's overtly proud to be a SCORPION and nails each song with crisp precision. He deserves a drum solo but doesn't get one. He's a powerfully technical & fast drummer bringing 'it' to the stage for the band and their fans! He has a style all of his own, flashier than Herman Rarebell, better too.

The synergy is obvious. The band doesn't need to tour America extensively because it's quite apparent they have a very large and loyal fan base in other countries. I applaud their involvement in giving Greenpeace a portion of their profits from this DVD to save the Amazon Jungle. I'm pleased they continue to record new products and new tunes regardless of the reiteration of old (commercial) songs. It's entertaing and would make a great rental!

Let me start by saying that I am a huge Scorpions fan! I just saw them from the very front row in July of 2010 (got 3 drum sticks, guitar pick and even won their drawing for a free shirt...what a day!!!)....and I have to say...they have not slowed down one bit!
I loved the DVD, but I have to give it only 4 stars because of the video portion. The sound is much better than the video. However, if you love the band, it is a must have for the die hard Scorps fan...also, they give Greenpeace part of the profits from this DVD to save the Amazon jungle!...a big plus! I would suggest this DVD for the die hard fan but perhaps not for the casual Scorpions fan. I hope that helps your decision a bit. Enjoy!!

The "Scorpions" are my favorite band of all time. This Dvd adds to my collection. They are great and I love their concerts.

Amazona Live In The Jungle is a diffrent kind of DVD, but we still enjoy it.Got it for the song Humanity and that made it worth getting.

I was very apprehensive ordering through Amazon (this was my first time), but the DVD arrived in about a week and a half or so, in time for Christmas. The DVD was in new condition, factory sealed. It plays fine and the picture and sound quality are great. It's The Scorpions Live in the Amazon. I would order from Amazon again.

Excellent dvd,the songs are all classic even the ones from humanity cd.The scorpions have been around for quite some time and their performance has showed that they haven't slowed down.I remember seeing them in comcert back in 80 or 81 opening up for Ted Nugent and I knew from that time on they become famous in the heavy metal music world. I highly recommend this dvd,a great buy!

I don't know about you but, for me, in these days, no video should be shot on a 4:3 format. It says bad quality all over it and this one is no exception.

Let me be clear: I love the Scorps for over 25 years now (I'm 40) and I was lucky enough to see them live on this last our (I live in Rio de Janeiro which btw is very far from Amazonas - even though it's the same country) and I can't say a bad hing about them live. I even got myself a pick handed to me by Rudolf (one of my guitar idols) himself!

At least the audio is very good and very well mixed. But the quality of the video is not good at all. If you're going to watch it on a modern LCD TV or even on your computer monitor in full screen you will be disappointed. Buy it only if you're a big Scorpions fan (who has to have everything) or a big Greenpeace supporter. Otherwise you better save you money.