Customer Reviews

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live: Sweet Emotion

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I was so excited to watch Springsteen induct U2 since I hadn't seen it since the original night that it was aired on television. The DVD seemed packed with great introductions, performances, and collaborations from some of the greatest musicians of all time. Well I've just finished watching it, and I can honestly say that this is the worst live music DVD that I have ever watched. Many of the performances were an embarrassment, the sound quality poor, the production weak, and generally, the entire DVD feels like a waste of time and money. I know that it isn't easy making the sound work well when the performances are in a large hotel room, but when the likes of Santana, Jagger, Keith Richards, Springsteen, Johnny Cash and many more share the stage and sound like they are singing in a pop corn tub, there is something really wrong. Frankly, if this is the best that could be done, there really is little reason to have made this DVD, since the performances themselves lack any sense of excitement or originality.

As I painfully listened to the first hour, I at least grew excited at the thought of seeing Bruce and hearing that great U2 induction speech one more time. I was met with a 30 second version of a five minute speech. I was mislead into thinking that when the DVD information says that an introduction is included, that it is in fact the introduction and not the verbal 30 second Cliff Notes version. The only honest part of the entire DVD is that this was consistently bad, and incomplete throughout the production.

Some may say that these productions have some sort of historical value. I say, these performances are better remembered in the mind.

In November, 2009 Time Life issued a 9 DVD collection of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum Live moments, which you can also obtain as 9 seperate DVDs. I haven't had a chance to see them all, but I did pick up this particular set.

"Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum Live: Sweet Emotion" (105 min.) brings a number of interesting moments from the rich legacy of the induction ceremonies over the years. The best on here include Jackson Browne and Melissa Etheridge's cover of "Wake Up Little Susie" (which starts off this DVD). It is followed by the 1989 acceptance speech from the Rolling Stones (Mick and Keith doing the talking), and the subsequent all-star jam of "Honky Tonk Woman", and all I could think was "all of them look so young" (given that this was 20 years ago). Same with the 1997 induction of Crosby Stills & Nash (performing a great "Wooden Ships"), and even with the 2001 induction of Aerosmith, which is only 9 years ago, but Steven Tyler and the guys look so much better then than these days (don't care too much for the "Sweet Emotion" performance with Kid Rock, though). But the best on here comes towards the end: Bono's 1999 speech inducing Bruce Street & the E Street Band (followed by a fabulous "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" performance by the band), which is followed by Bruce Springsteen's 2005 speech inducing U2. The last performance on the DVD is the 1992 all-star jam of "All Along the Watchtower" (for the induction of the Jimi Hendix Experience) and again I couldn't help but stare and think how young so many of the performers look to me now (this being 18 years ago now).

The DVD comes with some bonus materials, including 6 more induction speeches (including the 1988 speech of Mick Jagger for the Beatles and the 2000 speech of Paul McCartney for James Taylor), and an interesting 1997 rehearsal by James Taylor and a 2009 rehearsal by Metalicca. In all, quite a nice collection and I can't wait to check out more volumes from this series.