UB40 – Food for Thought [DVD]
Eagle Rock Entertainment (11/10/09)
Unrated
81 minutes

UB40 are the undisputed kings of British reggae, and Food for Thought is another installment from the German television series Rockpalast. Filmed in July 1981, the concert takes place at the Sartory-Sale in Cologne, shortly after the release of the band’s second album, Present Arms. The set is predominately taken from this album and their debut, Signing Off.

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders is credited with giving the band its first break after witnessing them at a local pub in Birmingham, and signing them up to support for her band on tour. Formed in 1978 by a bunch of friends attending different colleges, the band started promoting their group before any of them could play instruments. After lead singer Ali Campbell received settlement money from a bar fight on his seventeenth birthday, the band was finally able to purchase the much coveted noise makers needed to make sound.

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Thin Lizzy – Are You Ready? [DVD]
Eagle Rock Entertainment (11/10/09)
Unrated
112 minutes

Another historic concert from the German-based Rockpalast television series, Thin Lizzy’s Are you Ready? is a rousing look back at one of the most significant and exciting hard-rock bands to appear out of the mid-’70s. Being one of the first acts to employ a sonic, dual-lead guitar attack, Ireland’s favorite sons have been credited as a major influence on a great number of popular heavy-metal acts as well.

Recorded in 1981, this footage shows quite an energetic display of showmanship, especially since lead singer/bassist Phil Lynott and guitarist Scott Gorham were known heroin users at this time. Hey, at least they waited until the after party to get their junk on and gave the audience a very memorable show. The group’s “guitar player revolving door” was temporarily closed with Snowy White as the second lead player, matching harmonies and trading solos with Gorham. Brian Downey on drums and Darren Wharton on keyboards round out the line-up.

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Roxy Music – The Story of Roxy Music: More Than This
Eagle Records / Fontana (10/20/09)
Unrated
94 minutes

As the early ’70s saw the music world still with the taste of hippies and blues on its tongue, in waltzed Roxy Music. Fresh out of art school, Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno banded together to form the group, which is one of the most influential to come out of the U.K.

The Story Of Roxy Music: More Than This, relives the creation of Roxy in 1971, their debut album Roxy Music, and all the way to the 2006 Dock Rock London reunion performance. Roxy needs a documentary of sorts, as they are as much a visual band as they are musical. Being an initiator of the avant-garde glam-rock scene, the image they portrayed told half, while the music completed the story. More Than This, gives a glimpse into what it may have been like to see or hear Roxy for the first time.

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Arcangels – Living in a Dream [CD/DVD]
Self-released (10/27/09)
Blues-rock

Austin’s notable and outstanding supergroup, Arcangels, reunited recently and opened a U.K. tour for Eric Clapton beginning last May. Since the guys are on the road, it looks like the heavily anticipated, second studio album will be in the oven just a little longer. Luckily, the band recorded a couple live shows a few years back and were eager to finally get the music to their fans. And Living in a Dream is definitely a great CD/DVD package when it comes to capturing the live essence of the group, almost giving you the feeling of being there at the show.

Originally scheduled to be filmed at Stubbs in Austin, in February of 2005, the two shows were rained out and later recorded in March. But even with the new dates, the pesky rain would show up again as a light drizzle right, right before the band would hit the stage. It was no problem for the enthusiastic crowd to endure, but pieces of the lighting and other electrical equipment were not on the cooperating end. Because of this, the live show on the DVD has a jump-cut look and feel to it, due to the fact the video is spliced from a combination of shows (Stubbs, Antone’s, Galveston’s Mardi Gras and House of Blues in Dallas). Even with this kind of feel, you really don’t notice that vibe of different venues because the audio recorded from Stubbs is so good.

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Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell: The Original Tour [DVD]
Eagle Records / Fontana (11/10/09)
Unrated
105 minutes

Be it the man or the food—you either like Meat Loaf or you don’t. I happen to like both, so stomaching the newly released Bat Out of Hell live DVD was as painless as Sunday dinner at Mom’s house. In fact, it was a highly enjoyable experience—finally being able to see a Meat Loaf concert filmed during his most legendary tour. Shot in Germany for the famed show Rockpalast in June of 1978, this live performance is considered one of the greatest of all time.

Released at a time when punk was the new “it” mechanism of rock ‘n’ roll, Bat Out of Hell laid in limbo for quite a while before the recording industry took a chance on what ended up becoming the third best-selling album of all time, with over 43 million copies sold. “People either hate it or worship it!”, said Meat Loaf, referring to the concept album about teen lust. Luckily, Todd Rundgren understood what Meat and main songwriter/pianist Jim Steinman were trying to convey, by eventually securing them a record deal.

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Billy Idol – In Super Overdrive Live [DVD]
Eagle Records / Fontana (11/17/09)
Unrated
70 minutes

“I’m on a bus on a psychedelic trip, reading murder books trying to stay hip…”

No, that’s not my current itinerary; just my favorite line from Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without a Face”, which appears on his new concert DVD, In Super Overdrive Live. Recorded in Chicago at the Congress Theater for the U.S. television series Soundstage, the concert was originally broadcast on PBS in July 2009.

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John Denver – Around the World Live [5-DVD]
Eagle Rock Entertainment (10/13/09)
Unrated
592 minutes

John Denver, a country-folk legend and one of America’s favorite sons, was an amazing songwriter, great performer and a very, very generous man—donating much money and time to humanitarian and environmental issues. His music garnered two Grammys, two Country Music Awards, three American Music Awards, an Emmy, an induction into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the sales of over 40 million albums. Eagle Rock Entertainment and Fontana Records have teamed up to release this new five-disc collection, Around the World Live, which features some of Denver’s finest performances.

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ZZ Top – Double Down Live: 1980-2008 [2-DVD]
Eagle Rock Entertainment (10/20/09)
Unrated
154 minutes

Finally, a ZZ Top concert DVD that includes both vintage and recent performances! The recently released Double Down Live: 1980-2008 showcases two complete sets of vintage, and modern, howling blues-rock.

The first disc, from 1980, dubbed “THEN”, includes 22 tracks from their Tres Hombres, Fandango! and Deguello albums, recorded at the Grugahalle in Essen, Germany, for the Rockplast television series. Raw and powerful, this first performance captures ZZ Top before the synthesizers and sequencers. The second disc, known as “ALMOST NOW”, features 11 songs, backstage footage and interview clips, making it sort of a documentary/concert film.

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Quincy Jones – The 75th Birthday Celebration: Live at Montreux 2008 [2-DVD]
Eagle Rock Entertainment (7/21/09)
Unrated
172 minutes

Claude Nobs and I have been friends since before electricity.

We are truly brothers from another mother—our friendship happened in a nano-second and will last forever.

These are a few quotes by the legend Quincy Jones, referring to his relationship with the creator of Switzerland’s annual (and legendary) Montreux Jazz Festival, Claude Nobs. After adding some very kind words of his own about Quincy in the liner notes, Nobs adds, “We are indeed brothers from another mother, and maybe have a father from another planet!” So is the admiration and respect these two gentlemen have for each other that inspired this two-disc, all-star tribute to Quincy Jones packed with hours of killer jazz, blues, funk, soul and rock.

The lineup of guest artists is daunting, and they are featured in some incredible performances, displaying love for both their craft and the night’s honoree. Included in said lineup: Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, James Moody, Joe Sample, Toots Thielemans, Beverley Knight, Nils Landgren and Patti Austin. Also worth special mention is The Montreux “In The House” Band and The Swiss Army Big Band for really providing a solid backbone for all these performances and making the songs truly shine.

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Mr. Rock ‘n Roll: The Alan Freed Story
Judd Nelson, Mädchem Amick, Paula Abdul
Vivendi Entertainment (7/7/09; original release: 1999)
Unrated
88 minutes

This 1999 made-for-TV film chronicles the story of Alan Freed, the deejay responsible for spinning crossover rhythm-and-blues music on a local Cleveland radio show in the early 1950s. Swing, big band and “grown-up” music was the fare of the day and what he was expected to give adult, white listeners. However, after haggling with his station manager, an hour per night was granted to spin “crossover” R&B tunes that appealed to younger kids of all ethnicities. The songs played on that radio program led Freed to attach the most important name on to a style of music in all of history: “rock ‘n’ roll.”

Soon after the show took off, Freed had the idea for staging a rock-’n'-roll concert at an 8,000-seat venue. Choosing Jackie Wilson and The Dominoes as the headliner, all involved were concerned about this, the first show of its kind, being a total flop. But the fire department was called due to the mass of 20,000 enthusiastic fans who showed up to witness the event. More shows followed, and Freed’s rock-’n'-roll radio show and concerts kept growing in popularity.

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