Customer Reviews

The Who - Thirty Years of Maximum R&B Live

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

 

 

This is a mediocre DVD version of an excellent home video. The sound has not been upgraded in any way from the VHS version, and the "eight page booklet written by John Atkins..plus detailed liner notes" referred to on the back of the package are nowhere to be found inside. It seems the old VHS package was simply reproduced without thought to actually including a booklet. Seems like a quickie release. All of that said, there is is some wonderful material on here for the serious Who fan. Worth buying if you don't already have the VHS. If you do, you might want to wait for the (hopefully) inevitable corrected/upgraded re-release of this DVD.

A true Who fan already owns the Jeff Stein classic "The Kids Are Alright," but there's ample reason to add "Maximum R&B" to one's shrine. The difference here is that the band interviews (minus the late Keith Moon) between concert footage show the group in later years, with plenty of reflection and musing over their place in rock and roll pantheon.

The songs, culled from sets spanning over two decades, are a good mix of The Who's Mod, Pop Art, and hard rock catalogue, and each performance is riveting.

A sample of my favorite moments show how much the band evolved from their debut in 1964: the anarchic jamming of "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (with screaming teenaged audience), to the overdriven pop of "So Sad About Us" where I could swear John Entwistle's bass sounds like a demonic piano. The best (in my opinion) era is the post-"Tommy"/Woodstock appearances at Tanglewood and Isle of Wight, where the band burns through "Heaven and Hell," "I Can't Explain," "Water" and "I Don't Even Know Myself." The abandon and power in The Who's playing was never equalled and seldom surpassed even by the group's later efforts.

The later years, of course, show the band getting bigger (chalking up a Guiness world record for attendance at Charleton concert in 1974) yet still game, mixing songs from "Quadrophenia" with 60's hits like "Substitute." I was surprised at how powerfully they pulled off the "Quadrophenia" set, loaded as it was with synthesizer tapes and technical booby traps. When The Who rocket through "Drowned " and "Bell Boy" it's clear that their chemistry was partly fired by Moon's mania; when he died, something of the old Who died with him. But "Maximum R&B" is as good as any tribute to this excellent band.

This video more than adequately convinces the viewer that The Who were, and still are rock-n-roll's GREATEST live band then, now, and forever more, in perpetuity! (a deliberate overusage of grammatical tenses, but what the hell, I enjoyed it immensely!) Whether seeing Keith Moon bash the living hell out of his drumkit to the tune of "So Sad About Us" early on or the entire band playing the hell out of their set at the Tanglewood Music Shed gig or their wonderfully blistering performance at The Isle of Wight Festival attests to The Who's exponential talent for playing live on stage. Pete Townshend's stingingly nasty guitar playing (including a number of trademark windmill guitar chords) is nicely complemented by Roger Daltrey's fearless vocals, John Entwistle's incredibly fluid bass riffs and Moon's maniacally yet timely drum assaults all throughout-and trust me, as an ardently passionate Who fan, this video MORE than cuts it- is someting that even non-Who fans will love! Of special note is the gig at 'The Tanglewood Music Shed' where it all comes together so wonderfully that you'll be left absolutely stunned! And, of course, the interspersed commentary by the three surviving members is also quite interesting; Pete Townshend's mention of the fact that The Who were "..scruffy, ugly , noisy horrible, loud, inconsiderate bunch of ---holes " and that in conclusion, "We became successful because that's what the AUDIENCE were like TOO." adds balance to this more than intriguing video. Do I recommend it? Take a guess.

If you want to watch the Who performing, this is the video to have. The Tanglewood Music Shed performance is SUPERB!!!, then the Isle Of Wight, Holland 1972, the Charlton concert 1974 is AWESOME !!!, the excerpt from the unrealesed movie "Who Are You" is very interesting, The Chicago Ampiteather concert in 1979 is excellent. A MUST-HAVE for WHO FANS and ROCK fans. The greatest live band ever, and here's their testimony. Nice interviews between set of songs too. PERFECT compilation of WHO live history.

Nancy from CA, don't be so funny please. One Star 'cos you couldn't watch the video 'cos they sold it to you in bad shape??? what's that please. Such was the need to type a review? Don't Do It if you couldn't see it. Plain and simple.
We don't care your stupid story. Watch the video and then talk :-)

The only problem with this filmed collection of live performances is it doesn't go on forever. Especially mesmerizing are the Charleton mid-seventies show and the Shea Stadium show in 1982. Both very important periods for the band, beautifully filmed, yet not released as solo packages to the audience yet. The 70s show is post-TOMMY, post-Daltrey's influential hair and attire, setting the trend for all the other rock groups and singers of the decade, and pre-Moon's sad departure. The Shea Stadium show is when the band thought they'd really be gone from live performances forever, and the style changes from their seventies look is visually striking. The only problem with interlinking the segments are the portions which appear oddly dated - and you have to remind yourself the collection was put together in the mid-nineties and band relationships - as ever with Daltrey and Townshend - are in perpetual motion. There are several stinging, sarcastic pure-Townshend moments that come off as insulting and insensitive to his fellow WHO bandmembers. People who are only casual fans of the band - not knowing the history - may be put off by Townshend's ascerbic attempt at wit. On the whole, it is frustrating realizing how much rehearsal and live concert footage must be available and yet the public doesn't yet have access to it. It's obvious the bandmembers were consumed by their own legacy even while they were creating it, making the individuals and the band itself, really the most provocative in the history of rock.

What can I say? The Who turns in one stellar performance after another on this amazing video. This concentrates on The Who's live performances of the 70's-90's, where-as The Kids Are Alright was a melange of a bit of everything.The only complaint I have is that for me(being an avid moon fan), there was a bit too much post-Moon footage. all-in-all I thoroughly enjoyed this, with Keith's performance of Bell boy being a highlight.

I own the laserdisc version and eagerly anticipated the DVD release. I am sad to say that it falls far below the standards we've come to expect from "fully loaded" DVDs. The video quality and sound, even given the quality of the original source masters, is far below what can be achieved with a proper remastering job. For a comparison with what COULD be achieved from an old Rock 'N' Roll movie, rent or buy the Criterion Collection's DVD release of "Gimme Shelter"; it'll blow you away. Furthermore, although the packaging promises an "eight-page booklet", it is nowhere to be found. I'm glad I have the "Thirty Years" CD box set which came with very thorough and beautifully written reference material. That said, this collection of Moon-era (and dispensible Kenny Jones-era) live performances are sure to make wish you were: a) alive in the mid-seventies, and 2) at a Who concert. They were THAT good!

This was available in DVD a few years ago, but seems to have gone out of print. The piece is a good companion to The Kids Are Alright, as its concert clips don't overlap TKAA at all, and in fact the two complement each other nicely in some cases. It brings the published concert clips up to 1989, the last Who tour before the 30th anniversary mark, and includes some nice Kenney Jones clips.

The major omission, in my opinion, is the surviving clips from Live Aid. Sure they sounded rough that day. Sure they hated being in the same arena together. Sure John blew up the preamp in his main bass seconds before going on, and can be heard tuning his backup bass during My Generation. Wouldn't that be fun to see/hear? I think it would...

In any case, if you can find the 30 Years DVD, get it by any means necessary. Same goes for the VHS version. You won't regret it.

This DVD was fantastic, a great trip throu THE WHO'S great carer.
There is yust some bad things I have to say, I think there shuld have been more WHO with Keith Moon and not so much without him, becaus the real WHO was with Moon I think and thats what I whant to see. And when you see all this great shows you will understand ther must be very much stuff unrelised, so why in Haven and hell dont they give out more of this great stuff????
I whant more WHO so I realy hope they will relise much more WHO DVDs wery soon.

I am a fan of The Who and I'd like to recommend it not only to Who fans but to everyone WHO cares about the roots of music back in the 60's. My favorite moment is when Keith collapses on stage, and Pete manages to find someone WHO can play the drums, not as good as, but still... I wish rock and roll will have more classics such as this one - a must see for anyone WHO bothered to check this review!