Customer Reviews

Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First, the misses - I wish they would have included full concerts, or at least four or five full songs from the 1970s shows (the way McCartney's new DVD allegedly will). That would have made this perfect.

However, what is here is great. More footage of the Kilburn 1977 show than I thought I'd ever see, to hear how the band supposedly hated the gig/Jeff Stein's footage of that show. We see part of a great, pre-album (almost by a year) version of "Who Are You" live at Kilburn, with Moon and Entwistle jamming underneath Pete's guitar. Pete sings the chorus by himself (!), even the "Who the f ...." part, and Daltrey later joins in. It's wonderful to see Moon playing drums on a live version (other than the live-in-the-studio take in "The Kids Are Alright." The Who, from the clips seen in this DVD, sounded pretty stinking good at Kilburn. Moon actually looks like he was in better shape and less tired than the 1978 Shepperton footage in "TKAA." Don't get me wrong, I love the two Shepperton clips in "TKAA," but Moon seems more firey and hits the drums and cymbals faster (and with less effort) on the Kilburn clips. Good footage of Entwistle's crazy fingers on the bass at Kilburn, although a couple segments don't quite match up with his fingers, but nonetheless, it's great to see 1970s footage of the Ox cuttlng loose on the bass. This happens at the end of "Dreaming from the Waist" at Kilburn. Unfortunately, we only see the end of the song, but it's great to see John wailing on four strings.
it's also great to see The Who clowning around in the studio while trying to do the backing vocals to "Pictures of Lily," and there's a quick segment of Pete laying down the electric guitar for the track.
Clips of the "Quadrophenia" and "Who By Numbers" tours are awesome, allthough short like the Kilburn gig. We see Pete holding up Keith Moon (or restraining him?) at Pete's mic stand, then Pete and Roger carrying Moon to his drum kit, and then Moonie collapsing.
Interesting interviews with Pete and Roger, although much of Pete's is lifted from "An Ox's Tale" DVD and the 2004 interview Murray Lerner did for "The Who Live at the Isle of Wight" limited theatrical release and special edition DVD version in 2004. The quick segment of Hyde Park in 1994 (or 1996?) was interesting, although no site of David Gilmour.
I'm glad they talked to Kenney Jones, who is pretty much bitter-free, at least in the interviews. He really carries the weight of Daltrey's fueding back then, the world's criticisms of him not being Keith Moon, and the 1979 Cincinatti trajedy where 11 Who fans were trampled to death in a stampede for festival (general admsision) seats.

Maybe they will eventually put out all of these shows in full, someday soon on DVD. Take a note from Deep Purple and Kiss, please, Roger and Pete, and dump all the archive stuff on us. We are waiting.
Thanks for all the great music! Hope to see you on tour again soon .....

P.S. The talking heads segments aren't that bad. They're limited (only Noel Gallagher gets on my nerves, acting as if he's bothered to play with The Who at the Royal Albert Hall in 2000 - what the heck? I'll play fourth banana to The Who anyday!), as if the filmmakers started to include them in the beginning, and then kind of abandoned the idea in favor of interviews with Pete, Roger and file interviews of Entwislte, as well as their siblings and parents. First time I think I've heard Simon Townshend speak (not counting his background vocals live - and lead vocals on the 1996 Quadrophenia DVD)

I speak with extreme prejudice when I write this because The Who is my utmost favorite band in the history of modern music. That said, for people that already love The Who, will love them even more at the conclusion of viewing this collection of films. Those who are not fond of The Who, will be if they view these films.
The main film is cut up nicely into chapters, and each chapter is titled with a line from a Who song that pertains to stories described in that given chapter. Which many of the stories talked about in these film can be truly quite moving.
The end of the main two hour film has the most emotional parts. They describe trying to move on after the death of Keith Moon. Pete Townshend gives much heartfelt praise about John Entwhistle, and goes to talk of his death and moving on thereafter. The film also talks a lot about the Cincinnati tragedy, better than they ever had in the past. They even get brave enough to tackle Pete's legal problems he faced regarding the Child Pornography incident. In fact Pete speaks more clearly and eloquently in these films than I have ever heard before.
The second disc has short films that are collectively called "6 Quick Ones" which has mini-documentaries about the main four members. They even speak of Pete's guitar techniques witch is quite interesting as a guitar player myself.
This is a great piece to be viewed by anyone whether or not they think they are interested. It is captivating film for anyone.

This is a very interesting and entertaining documentary, placing the Who in the context of their social era, their conflicting personalities, and their drive for musical success. The bottom line though, is if I want to introduce a friend to the Who, the essence of the Who's spirit, I will show them the Kids Are Alright.

The "Six Quick Ones" are the highlight. They provide entertaining and illumaniting views into each bandmember (prompting my wife to comment, "Wow, I never really appreciated how awesome Keith was as a drummer"). The movie iteself moves at a good pace and has some interesting tidbits, but very little that the serious Who fan would find new or surprising.

The most frustrating aspect of the movie is that we never see a song in its entirety. The Who's power as a creative force is not apparent in 20 second clips (a scissor kick or a windmill or a lunatic drum bit is now a rock cliche -- what makes one appreciate the Who is seeing that these were not poseur moments, but part of a constant, all-out assault on the senses in each song driven by passion and competition).

The Kids Are Alright, by contrast, is a fan's love letter, the uber-mix tape to show why this band is great musically, and generates such passion amongst its fans. The full-length clips, interspersed with interviews from assorted literati, cogniscenti, and roustabouts paint a picture (albeit an Impressionistic one) of the Who's unique and self-contradicting blend of utter seriousness about the saving power of music, pop-art self-mocking, and all-out joyous abandon. I dare you to watch Baba O'Riley or the montage of "Cobwebs and Strange", and at least not walk away with the impression that this band is something special, worth investigating further... Amazing Journey is a good one to watch to learn more.

i just bought the bestbuy store exclusive 3 dvd set of amazing journey. it includes the chicago show of dec.8.79. as bonus disc 3. the show is not complete. missing songs are...who are you, see me, my generation, i can see for miles, won't get fooled, dancing in the street,dance it away, young man blues, roadrunner, and big boss man. 10 songs missing. i have a bootleg of this show and those songs were played. the audio is very good. the video looks like a commercial vhs transfer a little dark, grainy and some color bleed. but for a free bonus you can't complain.
the other discs are great stuff. for a fan the 10 minute railway hotel show as a bonus to disc 2 is worth the 22 bucks. i can't believe how tight and strong they sounded as just kids in their first moving images. the documentary itself is well done also. people are comparing this to the kids are alright, "kids" had great footage, introduced you to the band and told you a little about them. this tells you their whole story from day one til now by them, unlike the many other docs that are third person.
if you just recorded the two shows on vh1 there are a few more things on the discs, like all of disc three. one more thing, the bestbuy sets are priced wrong from the distribution center. the limited 3 disc set is marked 32.99 the regular 2 disc sets are marked 33.99, but they all ring 22.99 at the register.

Great movie. I bought it at best buy which was definetly the best choice cause the third disc is great. I always would prefer if the casing wasn't slime cases but no important.I love everything about the doc. band members talking about everything that made them what they are also the non members (eddie vedder awesome). I wish though that the clips from concerts they showed was the whole song . better than the kids are alright..... don't know.

This couda and shouda been there version of the Beatles Anthology.
I love the fact the movie they cuss alot in it. They speak in their common spoken language, being free and real, not made for tv for sure.
Its very indepth and compelling as far as the storytelling goes and very enjoyable to watch its first run through, Im not so sure on repeat watches because every F--ing song they fade out 1/3 in, I want to see and hear the song!!!!!!!
I mean why they do that? Whats there hurry?? I have all night to see and enjoy this movie, its made for people WHO have no attention spans.....WHO is to blame?!

It really pissed me off to see these RARE original song promos made and directed by Kit Lambert and fade out after 25 seconds.....WHY!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me redo this as a "special edition: I will re-insert the songs and let it play out, add a few videos along the way, double the length and it will be a masterpiece movie Milestone for this band....until then......go see "The Kids are Alright".

When I was fifteen in 1965 I heard a record called My Generation on our "pirate"radio station Veronica ( a ship on the North Sea ).
I can remember that I got goose flesh immediately.
I bought the album as soon as it came on the Dutch market.
And I am glad that I stiil have it ( in mono ).
This record changed my life as well as my musical life.
And even now I got goose flesh by looking at the dvd The story of the Who.
It did not disappear.
I think it is incredible that this band and its music stayed in my mind and life for that long.
I therefore thank the members of the Who for the amazing journey and the story.

This is a fantastic documentary about the greatest rock band of all time. The best I've ever seen.

A bit different format then Kids are Alright with some new insight into how the band formed and the love/hate relationship between Pete and Roger. Definitely worth getting if your a Who fan. For people just discovering The Who, I probably recommend Kids are Alright DVD for your first exposure into the inner workings of this legendary band.

An overall excellent bio, but the video skips over The Who By Numbers album and should have had more detail on the mid '70s period. Also, we were teased with some great live footage, especially the Live At Leeds show. I would have liked to see more live footage.