Customer Reviews

Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan (W/Dvd)

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

 

 

I love seeing Barenaked Ladies live. Unfortunately, they have the nerve to not tour constantly in my general vicinity, so I can't see their shows all the time. But with the DVD, suddenly this becomes possible.

It's unfortunate that they cut a lot out of the show -- no adlibbed songs, very little banter, some great songs missing -- but what's left is still one great show.

If you've ever seen BNL live, this DVD will remind you what a great experience it is. If you haven't, it might make you start kicking yourself -- hopefully all the way to the next Barenaked Ladies show.

Okay, as to the music, top notch. Kind of a weird track selection, I mean the hits are there, but it leans very heavily on their recent work. The recording is great, and they always play well.

What annoyed me is that I bought this CD, and I also bought the DVD, because there is no indication that the DVD would be packaged with this CD. Is that what Enhanced means? Confusing.

I am a huge fan of the BNL, but I was a little disappointed with the live version of this CD. I havent' watched the DVD yet, but I'm sure it will be great.

This cd is awesome! The BNL's are the best live act and the cd is great to listen to for the music along with the stories. This is a nice blend of their older songs along with the new ones. It's just like being at one of their shows, which are so much fun. I would recommend this cd to long-time fans along with new listeners. I think it would be enjoyed by either one!

It's hard for me to be objective, 1)I love BNL's music 2)I'm originally from Michigan. This is a "Live" recording of BNL's music and it was recorded at Pine Knob (just North of Detroit). The recording opens with "One Week" and ends with "If I had $1,000,000". It comes with a bonus live DVD. The original release date was 2007. A great buy!

I never heard of their songs except in a Christmas DVD of Anne Murray. I bought this CD+DVD combo (new one, not used) in a big department store in Vancouver, BC, at an incredibly low price. They are pretty good, and I think Ed is a better singer than Steven.

It's good, but doesn't nearly live up to Rock Spectacle.

First, the DVD is great and fun to watch, as their DVD's always are. No problem with that or the song selection, but it's their vocal performance. They don't seem to be singing as well as they usually do. Maybe they had a cold or something? I'm not sure, but the vocals aren't quite up to par. Still a good CD/DVD combo, but Rock Spectacle is better.

Seeing as this includes both the CD and DVD version of a full Barenaked Ladies concert (minus the encore), this is the closest one can get to a concert without going there. I think it's great having the CD for listening to in the car and while at work, plus the DVD to watch the concert. For those who haven't been to a BNL concert, they put on a pretty good show full of energy. Recently I played the DVD for someone who's never been to one of their concerts and he enjoyed it very much.

Yes, since BNL started releasing live CDs and official bootlegs from most of their shows there is no lack of live CDs; however, I'm unaware of many DVDs. Especially with the departure of Steven Page from the group, I'm happy to have this concert footage to watch. It captures the experience, including Steven and Ed running and jumping around the stage, some funny improv, and the group's antics and freeze-frame pose after "Angry People". If you look closely, you can even see some macaroni thrown onto the stage during "If I Had $1000000", just like fans used to do more often before the band tried putting a stop to the tradition (I imagine it would get annoying). The set list includes a decent mix of classics such as "Old Apartment", "One Week", and "Brian Wilson" along with some of the better recent tracks such as "Adrift" and "Bank Job". The group goes acoustic to perform "For You" and "Be My Yoko Ono", coming out center stage for the latter.

All in all, I'm rather satisfied with the package. I have a few minor gripes... It would've been nice to see and hear the encore(s) as well; BNL have often done multiple encores but none are included here. It's also likely the band had more banter in-between songs than what's included here; one of the most entertaining things about their concerts is the little improvs they do. I like the set list for the most part, with the exception of "Powder Blue" - personally I think it's a weak song and can see why it was relegated to being a b-side. It could've been better replaced by a similarly styled song like "Break Your Heart", "Call and Answer" or "War on Drugs". Lastly, while most of the editing was spot-on, getting good close-ups of each band member as well as wide shots, for some reason they cut away during "Brian Wilson" right when Steven and Ed do their little simultaneous jump.

These criticisms are admittedly minor, so I would definitely recommend this CD/DVD package to anyone looking to experience BNL live. For those who already have enough of their live material on CD this might not present anything new for music, but the DVD included is great to have. And for roughly just $5 more than the price of the DVD packaged by itself, you get the CD of the same concert to enjoy when you feel like just listening.

I bought Talk to the Hand for the cd, the DVD was just an added surprise that I really did not want or need. I really like Bare Naked Ladies and have bought all of their previous albums. They are a fun band that lately seem to be taking themselves more serious and their music reflects this. I was disappointed in this cd and felt that it paled in comparison to Rock Spectacle which is the first album by BNL that I had ever heard. It seems that a spark has been lost and just to make sure I listened to Rock Spectacle back to back with Talk to the Hand. I feel that Rock Spectacle was hands down the better of the two.

As far as track listings go Talk to the Hand does have several of the major hits and alot of new songs. I just wish maybe they added a few of the older better known fan favorite songs and a few less of the newer stuff. All in all for a BNL fan this is a must have. However I would suggest to a casual fan that they should first buy Rock Spectacle.

I was really excited since it was recorded in Michigan, but overall that was kind of irrelevant. Still displays all of their classic songs.