Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining but flawed companion piece to remastered cds, July 20, 2002
This could have been done so much better. Let's start with the best bits first; the band is in fine form throughout and a healthy dose of great songs. The interview segments are, not surprisingly, rather old but still give pretty good insight into how the band started. The picture quality and transfer are so-so. It could simply be the master tape or the transfer itself. It's difficult to tell. Considering the length of most Supertramp concerts, this one is rather short. Given the dual layer DVD capacity to hold information, this could easily have been stretched out to include material not on the original DVD release. The videos, fine though they are, aren't essential but are fun to view. The sound quality is mixed. While the band sound great throughout most of the disc, the audience is mixed way too loud. This could have easily been remedied during the remastering phase for the DVD. Most of the hits and popular songs are included but, again, there was plenty of room for inclusion of lesser known Supertramp tracks included on the Paris live album. It's rather surprising that so little is included from Famous Last Words (although admittedly that's the weakest of their later albums). There's other areas that could have used improvement as well. There is concert footage from a variety of venues over the years (1977 and 1975) but they're incomplete. Since the footage exists, why not include all of it? It would make for an interesting look at the band over the years. Or, for that matter, why not include some of their television appearences (well that would involve more $ and they'd have to clear the rights). The Story portion plays like a poor man's Behind The Music. There are a number of mistakes throughout (including the "fact" that the same line up recorded the first two albums. In fact, only Roger and Rick remained and they recruited three new musicians who also left shortly). There really isn't much insight generated into what made the band click in version three. Also, there could have been more said about how Rick and Roger's songwriting partnership worked. Like the great sounding remasters, it appears that A&M/Universal did little to enhance the original video packaging. Basically, they just took a couple of video titles, stitched them together and created this companion piece to the remastered CDs/Best of collection. I didn't expect a warts and all video but I also expected a bit more quality from A&M given the wealth of material to work from. All the members (from the original first line up to the third most successful) could easily have been contacted for a better, overall view of what occurred. It's not a bad video but it doesn't live up to its title, either.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not *Exactly* The Story So Far, But Enjoyable, January 24, 2003
This is the DVD release of the 1990 documentary on the rock group Supertramp, "The Story So Far." Granted, it's a flawed documentary---it's not edited very well, and, as Supertramp fans know now, it's NOT really the story "so far" of the band. The documentary has not been updated to the present day to include anything about the band's comeback albums and tours from 1997 & 2002, respectively ("Some Things Never Change" & "Slow Motion"), nor does it include anything about what Roger Hodgson has been up to all this time (solo album in 2000, tour with Ringo Starr in 2001). Still, I'm giving "The Story So Far" 3 stars for the 'Tramp gems it does contain. The bulk of the documentary is devoted to footage of the band performing 11 songs in Toronto & Munich on their "Famous Last Words" tour in 1983, the last album & tour with Hodgson. Roger seems very happy throughout the performance---you'd never guess that he had plans to leave the band soon afterwards! It's a fine document of the tour, but, with many songs obviously edited out, it leaves the Supertramp fan hungry for more (no footage of "Take The Long Way Home" or "Fool's Overture"? Rats!). The concert footage is also bookended by a brief history of the band up through 1990, with interviews with Rick Davies, Hodgson, and the other band members. It's very interesting but much too brief, however, and, as a previous reviewer pointed out, the documentary's claim that the same line-up did the first pair of albums is not true (it was TWO different line-ups).The DVD includes a very nice bonus of five music videos the band made throughout the 80's, such as "My Kind Of Lady" (featuring a *clean-shaven* Rick Davies), the awesome caveman clip for "Cannonball," and the very lively video for "I'm Beggin' You." But goshdarnit, WHY was the 20-minute short film for "Brother Where You Bound" left out? A very missed opportunity.So, "The Story So Far" is not a perfect Supertramp DVD, as it's missing some much-desired material, but it's certainly enjoyable enough.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Phenominal !!, September 16, 2005
Well, I read all the reviews. I've been a Supertramp fan since I was in Penn State in the mid to late '70s. The very first song I heard from the group was "School", and the first group LP I bought was "Breakfast in America". I now own all their cds except "Slow Motion". I love the group, dearly. But I never saw them "Live in concert, or on video". Anyways, I decided, based on the reviews, to give this dvd a fair try. All I can say is "phenominal!" I watched the dvd 3 nights in a row now, and can't wait to have friends over, so I can have them watch it also. This dvd made me wish that I could have seen them in concert. I cant believe that this is Supertramp!! The dvd started off with a documentary, and honestly, I thought that this was all that was going to be on it. But from the second track on, you are on stage with the group, and in the crowds experiencing what they experienced. Perhaps one of the greatest groups of all times, at least that is what you feel after you view this dvd. Absolutely nothing wrong with the photography or sound. I have a 5.1 surround sound stereo system, and I felt like I was there. I very highly recomend this dvd!! Especially if you like Supertramp.
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