Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bare Bones, January 30, 2001
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.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Riveting footage, May 14, 2002
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.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful peek at rock-n-roll's greatest live band!!, September 17, 1999
By A Customer
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.
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