Customer Reviews

Joe Satriani: Live in Paris - I Just Wanna Rock

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

I have to begin by saying I have been a Joe Satriani fan for over 20 years. I've seen him multiple times in concert, own his entire collection on CD, all the DVDs, etc. I am a huge fan. Let's face it though, the reason virtually any (all) Satriani fans buy his DVDs is to watch the man play guitar. I never grow tired of watching his skill at playing and the music he makes; in a word, amazing.

Having said that, this DVD is virtually unwatchable. The editing is horrible in that it jumps and cuts all over the place. You never have an opportunity to sit and watch Joe play. The effects are over-the-top and completely ruin the DVD for me. It's as though his editor just learned how to use Adobe After Effects and thought it would be uber cool to use every effect in the software over and over again. Virtually every second has some stupid effect ruining the video. There are sunbursts coming off Joe's head and an almost constant halo effect around him. I cannot sit and watch this video for more than 90 seconds before feeling motion sick. It took me multiple attempts to get through the entire video and this comes from someone who has watched the 'Live in San Francisco' DVD hundreds of times. As an example, I was very excited about "Time Machine" being on this DVD since it has long been a favorite of mine and Joe rarely, if ever, plays that song live. On the DVD, during that song, Joe appears to be having an out-of-body experience. I don't even know how best to describe it, it is off the charts weird and totally unnecessary.

Maybe that is the best way to describe this DVD, it's unnecessary. You never get an opportunity to watch Joe play, at least not without 50+ effects, per song, ruining the experience. I highly recommend the CD since the concert itself sounds fantastic, but pass on the DVD.

I've seen poorly edited/produced concert videos before, but this one is among the most frustrating. Mainly because the performance itself is worthy of 5 stars. Joe and the band sound tighter and more locked in and play a more interesting setlist than Satriani Live (the Musterion tunes translate much better live than the Super Colossal material did). But the manic editing makes it too much work to enjoy.

The whole show seems produced to resemble some sort of acid trip. I viewed the preview clip here of "Always with you, Always with me" and hoped that wasn't indicative of the entire video, but sadly it is. On some songs, the editor lays off indulging himself with all his effects toys long enough to make it somewhat watchable, but those moments are few.

In addition to the absolute overkill of motion blurs and split second cuts, the colors look very dull and washed out. I'm honestly shocked that Joe approved of this product being released like this. It just looks amazingly amateurish and annoying in comparison to the beautifully filmed and edited Live in SF and Satriani Live.

The 40 minute interview is good and quite in depth. If you're a big Satch fan, it's probably worth buying for that. But otherwise, best to stick with the live CD.

Agree with other reviewer - horrible editing, cheesy effects - what was Joe thinking? I'd go with either of his other two live DVDs over this any day

I have become a huge Joe Satriani fan. I'm a guitarist and very very old-school. My main guys are Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, later followed by Duane Allman, Carlos Santana and Neal Schon. I've gone on to like John McLaughlin and then Eddie Van Halen and Uli Jon Roth. JOEY has become a huge source of inspiration for me and I couldn't wait to get this DVD of him playing again. I am SOOOOOO depressed after looking at this DVD. It is totally self-indulgent for the film-maker/video editor, they have ruined a great piece of art. Imagine someone taking water color paints to a Van Gough or a Rembrandt. This film jumnps all over the place. I cannot understand why when filming a concert they can't just set up the camera, turn it on and let it film the band. For those of you who want to get this to check out Joe's playing and his amps and guitars and equipment, you will be disappointed.

I do not recommend this DVD. I am surprised that Joey gave it the "okay" to distribute. I would have fired the video film maker first.

Sorry....but gotta tell the truth.

Watch this on YouTube before you buy it folks. They have about every track available. It is indeed an eye sore and very disappointing for a concert dvd. It seems that whoever was in charge was trying to make a huge music video for MTV or something, NOT a concert dvd like Live In SF. I give it a three stars based soley on the band performance, which is outstanding. Buy the cd though and save your eyes.

There are few releases I look forward to more than a new Satriani DVD. I love watching this virtuoso do his thing.

But this time it's different. Live in Paris seems to make every attempt to distract the viewer from the music. The entire show is shrouded in an unattractive colour grade. Cheesy effects, reminiscent of your first video iChat session, prevent your from seeing the musicians. Poorly timed cuts leave you wishing you could "see the other guy right now."

On the bright side, the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix is great. It has a "raw" sound and does a good job of recreating the live feel.

Overall, I don't think I'll be playing this DVD very often. At least not with the TV turned on. Stick with the CD.

Totally agree with the other reviewers. Cheesy editing and ruined by too many effects. I'll say this as well - WHAT WAS JOE THINKING? The CD version is EXCELLENT!!! I'm assuming the majority of people buying this are guitar players or people who appreciate great instrumental guitar. One thing we want to see is great camera angles, close-up shots of Joe's hands, exceptional video quality and great editing. This DVD has none. Buy Joe's Live In San Francisco or Satriani Live! DVD's instead.

I picked up my copy of Live in Paris as soon as it hit the stores but didn't have the time to see it immediately. I remember thinking "poor packaging" when I saw the DVD. There is a terrible picture of Joe on the cover, the lettering and the colours back and front look like they were designed and chosen by a three year old, there is no booklet worth speaking of and the whole thing looks like a bootleg. At first I was in doubt if this was indeed the official release as announced on Joe's website.

When I read the first reviews of Live in Paris I started to get a very uneasy feeling. After all, these were all die hard Satch fans, giving Joe's latest, much anticipated DVD...one and two stars ?! Not exactly what you expect from the fan community.

I thought that Live in Paris was going to be a welcome addition to the excellent Live in San Francisco DVD. I'm not sure if I needed yet another live version of e.g. Satch Boogie or FIABD, great as these songs may be, but I was looking forward to seeing Joe perform some of his more recent work like e.g. Musterion, Revelation, Overdriver, IMHO some of the best songs he's done in recent years.

After reading the first 20 reviews, I finally plugged in the DVD last night, expecting the worst, since I had been warned, and thinking that because of that, it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Is it really as bad as they say ? IT'S WORSE. My jaws literally dropped and I heard myself thinking out loud "I can't believe how bad this is. This is a joke right ? Anytime this DVD will be interrupted. There's going to be big letters on the screen saying "just kidding" and then the real thing will start." No ? No.

Other reviewers have perfectly described what is wrong with the DVD, so I won't go into that again. I remember someone writing that it looks like a bad 80's MTV show. Dead on.

This thing should never have been released. "Produced by Joe Satriani" ? Joe, if you're reading this: what happened ? Were you touring with Chickenfoot and did someone release this behind your back ? I can't believe I paid 17 euros (23 $) for this piece of crap. (23$ my American friends is a bargain price for a DVD in the country where I live so praise yourselves lucky.)

Will I ever watch this DVD again ? No, I will not put myself through that ordeal again. I will play it as a CD only and I will probably enjoy that, although I wouldn't have bought it if it were just a CD. Sadly I missed Joe's concert during the Supercolossal tour in Brussels so I thought seeing a recent show on DVD would be the next best thing.

I would probably rate the CD four or even five stars. The band is very tight, Joe's performance is nothing but stellar, there is an excellent and somewhat alternative version of ICE 9 that is worth the price of the CD alone, but this is my review for the DVD and I honestly cannot find one good word to say about it. Whoever filmed and edited this should be hung by his testicles.

Recently a number of more positive reviews have been added by people who welcome the fact that this is a bit different. It is good to hear that at least someone is enjoying this and everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, so to those people I say: go ahead and enjoy. To the others I say: stay away from this. To Joe and the band: You are forgiven my friends. You have given me so many great moments in the past that it is almost embarrassing that I should complain about anything that you do.

I still want my money back though :-)

I have to echo what everyone else is complaining about. The editing and the effects really make this a piece of crap.OMG...im watching now, and those damn flashing lights gave me a headache. I dont know why anyone would want to inject what seemed to be a great performance with this crap. I HOPE THAT JOE READS THIS---DONT DO THIS AGAIN-PLEASE. OMG--whats with symbols bring thrown in for the hell of it. THis really sucks. I waited for this damn thing to come out and when it finally does, we get this retarded junk. I was really looking forward to seeing some of the new stuff and some old stuff that I HAVE NOT SEEN-BUT IS RUINED by this crapola of a editing job. Man, i was going to give this 2 stars for the music alone, but the editing and crappy effects bother me so much that its going to get one star. Right now, im just listening and not watching. FOR FUTURE REFERENCE, WHOEVER YOU GOT TO FILM/EDIT/DO WHATVER FOR LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO--PLEASE, STICK WITH THEM. This DVD is truly terrible. JOE-YOUR PERFORMANCE IS FINE, IT DOESNT NEED SOME A-HOLE TO mess with it like they have. Ok, im done, Ill just have to listen to it and not look at it. Really depressing.

This DVD features fantastic playing by all members of the band. The musicianship and sound quality are top-notch.

Unfortunately, the video itself is totally unwatchable. You rarely get a chance to see Joe playing his guitar. Most of the time the film is distorted and blurry, apparently by design. During guitar solos, instead of being able to see what Joe is doing on the fretboard, scenes of him waving his hands in the air have been edited in place of the actual performance. This is not just once or twice, folks! The ENTIRE film is blurry and false-color. You cannot see what the musicians are playing EVER!

The effects done to this film are junior-high school grade at best. I cannot believe Joe would "OK" this release. It's as if he gave the filmed performance to a bunch of children and said, "Have at it, kids!" -- and then released it for sale.

The music itself is phenomenal. Just turn off the video to enjoy the performance. Seriously, this DVD should come with a disclaimer "This DVD does not feature actual video of the songs being performed."

For the first time in 20+ years, I feel ripped-off by Joe Satriani.