Customer Reviews

Cliff 'Em All!

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Cliff 'Em All" is the ultimate tribute to Cliff Burton, former bass player of Metallica. This video consists of 90 minutes of Metallica concert footage from 1983 to 1986 (Keep in mind that all of this footage was shot on early '80s VHS film, so the video and audio quality are extremely poor for DVD.) The video has been cleaned up somewhat from the VHS release of this title, but imperfections from the source tape are still easily recognizable. The audio is in mono, and isn't of the best quality, but it does come across a tad cleaner with DVD. However, this is a must-buy for hardcore Metallica (and possibly even Megadeth - Dave Mustaine plays on a few songs) fans simply for the fact that it captures the early vengeance of live Metallica, and is the ultimate tribute to Cliff Burton. Don't expect super hi-res picture quality or Dolby 5.1 surround; just expect raw, angry, intelligent heavy metal from the best rock band of all time.

This DVD is RAW but this is definitely REAL! I was a senior at Castro Valley High in 1977. There was this shy, Quiet, long haired, red headed kid named Cliff Burton. He carried a Guitar case everywhere he went. I had no idea what an innovative musical bass master he was to become! His amazing talents are shown on this DVD, along with a personal side thats very cool! Dave Mustane also appears on some of the early show footage. We will never know what Cliff could have accomplished, due to his untimely and tragic passing. This DVD captures his and Metallica's early greatness! I for one miss Cliff Burton! This is your chance to see a truely great Bassist and Metal Band live and behind the scenes.

I saw Cliff Burton live twice. What an amazing talent. Such a shame he died so young. Unlike most rockers who die before they reach the age of thirty, it wasn't Cliff's fault. He was asleep on his tour bus when it crashed in Europe. That said, this DVD shows the REAL Metallica. Not that watered down, Poplica that we have been putting up with since the god-awful Black album.

I remember the old days. Those of us who wore our Metal up your ... T-shirts to high school were a special group indeed. No one knew who Metallica were except for a select few. They were underground, dangerous, and played the most kick butt rock n roll ever heard.

This DVD captures Metallica in all their glory with Cliff Burton, "The major rager on the four string mother ...." as introduced by Jaymz. Bass solos that will blister your ears, the greatest versions of 'Seek and Destroy' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls" you'll ever hear, and Cliff footage showing Cliff at his humorous best. Did you know ZZ Top was a big influence of his?

A lot of people complain that this DVD is no good because it's mostly bootleg footage shot from the crowd. I disagree, the poor quality footage and 'not so happening' sound only enhances the Cliff legend. Back in the days when you didn't know who Metallica was unless you bought an album or went to a show. They were against the establishment, against polished up MTV videos, and against everything that metal was that made itself a joke. Metallica was real and this was real, unmixed, raw footage. It's the Metallica we remember and love, and will never see again.

This is the only Metallica DVD worth buying in my opinion. It brings me back to high school parties when we were the bad dudes who dug Metallica.

I was a junior in high school when Cliff died and we were all shocked and in disbelief. When reality hit, it was a sad time for us. Gone was metal's most original bass player. Metallica wanted him so bad in the begining that they packed up and moved from LA to San Fran just to have him.

Metallica was at it's greatest when they had a bass player that wore bluejean bell-bottoms and a Misfits T-shirt. There are some who still remember Cliff and will never forget his impact on music. Like Randy Rhodes, we can only wonder and wish what might have happened if he was still here. For all the new fans who started listening to Metallica when "Enter Sandman' was on MTV every 15 minutes, buy this DVD and get a true introduction to 'old school'.

R.I.P. Cliff, the true fans will never forget.

Some people have been complaining about the quality of this video. Something to keep in mind is that it's got "Home Vid" in the title. The most recent of the footage was shot in 1987 with camcorders. Nearly all of the footage is from bootleg videos. Don't expect a pristine, dolby surround sound experience. This is a video for true fans of Cliff Burton. Some of us didn't get to see him while he was alive, so this is the next best thing we have. It's just being released on DVD for people who have DVD players, not to show off the capabilities of the DVD format. For people who might just now be buying this video for the first time and not rebuying it (like myself), you might want to keep that in mind.

Thats how much I miss the old Metallica.If you love bass guitar then you must own this or else youre missing out on something great and even if youre not that interested in the bass guitar you will be after watching this.From his dramatic appearance to his virtuosic bass playing Cliff Burton was all about his own sense of style.Ive never heard anybody play the bass quite that good.Hell most guitarists these days dont pour half the heart and soul into their lead guitar playing than Cliff did with his bass playing.You must own this.Now.

In regards to the 1-star review obviously didn't bother to read anything about this DVD before purchasing it. It clearly states in "EVERY" critical review that this is "NOT" a professional recording; it's a compilation of bootleg footage shot by Metallica fans during Cliff's 3 1/2 years with the band. Bootleg footage, almost by definition, is guaranteed to be sub-par quality at best. After everything I've heard about the crappy video quality, I have to say this DVD looks a helluva lot better than I was expecting, and it deserves nothing less that 5 stars!

But be warned: anyone expecting quality on par with Cunning Stunts or the S&M show should not buy this DVD. Anyone who loved the Cliff Burton era of Metallica, or just wants to check out Metallica in the old days, pouring their heart, and soul into every show should pick this up in a heartbeat.

To quote Jaymz: "The quality in some places ain't that happening, but the feeling is there and that's what matters!

This 90 minute DVD (or VHS) is a great look at the "old Metallica", before they began to slide in 1996, with the release of the mediocre "Load" album. I actually purchased this tape during the "ReLoad" era, and was blown away by the raw energy of their early live shows, and Cliff Burton's "Hendrix-style" bass pyro-technics. The tracks "Creeping Death", "Fade to Black", "Sanitarium", and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" are worth the $20 alone you will pay for this collection. The other tunes are recorded a bit less professionally, but the sound quality is decent. "Dave Mustaine (former-Megadeth)" is featured on lead guitar on one song, and Cliff Burton's 2nd gig ever is captured on film as well. If you love the recordings "Kill 'Em All", "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets", and "Garage Days 1984", then this rare glimpse of early Metallica is a great purchase. Hey, also check out
"Live Sh*t (DVD version)(2002)", "Cunning Stunts (1998)", and "The Making of the Black Album (2001 documentary)."
"Live Sh*t" is by far Metallica's best live release. Every hit single, cover song, and fan favorite is featured.

I saw Metallica open for Ozzy in '86 at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago and will never forget that they all piled into a beater car they dubbed the "Metallica Mobile" and headed to the local metal radio station in Highland Park for an impromptu interview and phone calls. What set this band completely apart from their competition was how in touch they seemed with their fan base, who were growing increasingly tired of the hairspray, spandex and special effects taking over once decent metal bands. Instead, Metallica seemed much like thier fans themselves. Seeing this video always brings back memories of that concert, for the footage of their opener, "Creeping Death", shows a view that almost appears to have been shot in the exact seat I was sitting in! It also reminds me of how powerful & raw these guys were, as opposed to the horrendous performance by Ozzy, who not only cut his encore because "Jake is sick", but looked like a bloated, Bea Arthur clone with his big hair and glittery Muumuu. Such a disappointment. The Ultimate Sin indeed. And who knew this would be my last chance to see Cliff Burton? He died a month or two later.

This enormously popular video, released two years after Burton died, was watched endlessly by Metal Heads at the time. It may be hard for younger viewers used to such high standards in DVD to adjust to the poor quality contained here. Part of the reasons for this are likely because Metallica was initially fervant opponents to video and any other type of "sell out" publicity. This, of course, made them heroes to their fans, but ultimately presented very difficult business compromises for them further down the road. At any rate, this ethic of theirs - while well-intentioned - turns out to be a real shame in hindsight; there may not be any professionally shot footage of them in their younger days.

What is here is largely fan-shot (i.e., illegally taped initially, but later released officially by the band) with some television stuff from overseas. Some of the earlier club stuff may have been shot by the band's management so the members could critique their own perfomance. The best quality comes from "Day on the Green" in their homebase of Oakland (For Whom the Bell Tolls) which alone makes this worth picking up.

Still, this release obviously hasn't been touched in all its 18 years. I'm sure the sound, for one, could be cleaned up considerably with better source material surely in existence someplace, and some original video masters (esp. of the TV stuff) could be tracked down and spruced up. It would be nice for Metallica to take a lesson from the recent Led Zeppelin & Kiss 2-dvd packages and root through their archives to see what would be suitable for a more comprehensive release. I'd hate to think that this is it for the Cliff Burton era.

Well I have to be honest, this is not one of the best quality DVD out there but it is greatly remastered from the previously released video and for once for can see metallicas first bassit Cliff Burton play his heart out without the terrible limitations of video. However I would ONLY recommend this for MetallicA fans.

This is a must have for all those Metalheads that hates mtv's metal bands such as korn, limp biskit, etc. Everybody who hates the todays's metallica, will love this one.