The Movie:

For all the talk about how difficult that young talented black musicians had in 1950s America, one can't help but wonder how Phil Lynott had to deal with such adversity. Born to an Irish citizen from a father who returned to South America after he was born, Phil was raised in England by his mother, and he turned to rock music as a comfort and, by the mid '60s, as a vocation of sorts. He met Brian Downey and eventually formed the band Thin Lizzy with guitarist Eric Bell (Downey handled drumming and Lynott was the bassist and vocalist). The band's success was slow to come on, but by the second album, was regularly achieving Top 10 sales status in the U.K. Success in America was fleeting though, as 1976's "Jailbreak" was the only one to crack the Top 20. And while songs like "The Boys Are Back in Town" and "Don't Believe a Word" were contemporary successes, the band's popularity an...Read the entire review

The Movie:

To be perfectly honest, my exposure to the band Styx has been slightly scarce. To be clear, I'm only really familiar with Tommy Shaw, who plays guitar and handles the lead vocals for the band, and I only remember him from his days in the early '90s super group Damn Yankees. But to my surprise, the band has been together in one fashion or another for almost half a century, and Shaw has been performing with the band since the release of 1976's "Crystal Ball." After that, the band saw multi-platinum sales with their next four albums, culminating with 1981's "Paradise Theatre." The band has ten Top 10 songs, and the vocal harmonies that Shaw, Dennis DeYoung and Chuck Panozzo are memorable as soon as you hear them.

Like other bands that have been performing in front of crowds for decades, there is the occasional creative turn that the individuals want to take to transform the m...Read the entire review

I'm both happy and disappointed with the DVD release of From the Basement. I'm happy that it was released at all, but disappointed that this is all we've been given.

From the Basement is a podcast-cum-Brit-TV-series featuring live performances from alt-rockers. Launched on iTunes in December 2006, the show now appears stateside on the Independent Film Channel in edited form. Created by music producer/engineer Nigel Godrich, best known for his studio work with Radiohead, From the Basement is shot in a recording studio without an audience, host, set decoration or other distraction. Recorded on HD-video using a minimum of three cameras, the show has a professional quality that far exceeds anything on network American television.

Though the podcast has ...Read the entire review

THE MOVIE:

Most people know at least one Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song, and that's usually "If You Leave," the song from the prom scene in John Hughes' Pretty in Pink. If they know more than one OMD song, it's usually from the string of pop hits that surrounded "If You Leave," songs like "Secret" and "Dreaming." What many don't know is that before this early electronic act was a pop group, they were one of the more experimental synth bands to emerge in the post-punk, post-Kraftwerk scene. Their early albums were minimalist and sometimes dissonant, searching for the melodic oasis that was waiting somewhere on the computerized landscape. Arguably, that oasis was found on 1981's Architecture & Morality, a musically sophisticated but easily ...Read the entire review

The Movie:
You may be forgiven if you think you've wandered into a long lost Star Wars music video when this concert DVD starts up. We have a character looking suspiciously like an Imperial Storm Trooper making his way through impossible amounts of fog to magically start the proceedings with a wave of his hand. Thankfully, aside from some badly dated spandex jumpsuits and early 80s hairstyles, things improve dramatically after this cheesy opening. Earth, Wind and Fire hold a very special place in pop music history, being one of the first African American bands to blend funk, soul, R&B, jazz and an enticingly melodic pop music sensibility, mixed with an Afrocentric mythology, all beautifully combined into a one-of-a-kind hybrid that produced a string of hits in the 1970s. This December 1981 concert outing finds the band probably just a little past its prime but provides plenty o...Read the entire review

To some, Toto tends to be the butt of jokes generally centered on the 1980s, but it's obvious when looking at the track record of the band that they've definitely left a mark on the history of rock. Even 25 years after they started, the still sell out huge stadiums as evidenced by this Blu-Ray concert from Eagle Vision, 25th Anniversary Toto Live from Amsterdam.

The band had some huge success in the 80s specifically with their giant album Toto IV, which included the two songs Toto are best known for, Africa and Rosanna. Rest assured, both of these tracks are performed during this 15+ song set, along with a slew of others that are sure to bring back memories of the days of slouch socks and leg warmers. The band hit massive heights winning seven Grammy awards in 1992, and took on the challenge of scoring the film Dune for director David Lynch.

After a tragedy taking the life of one band member in t...Read the entire review

Nestled on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland, Montreux is a small city that blossoms during the first two weeks of July with a massive Jazz Festival. Started in 1967, the Montreux Jazz Festival was a modest affair spanning three days which attracted the big names like Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone, but a mere three years later the festival opened its doors to other types of music and naturally extending its duration. In 1971 the Montreux Casino burned to the ground during a show by Frank Zappa which inspired Deep Purple to write their iconic tune, Smoke on the Water – which had direct lyrical reference to the festival and the events which lead to the smoke drifting over Lake Geneva.

By the 1980s the festival had grown so much that it expanded into all varieties of music with a still strong emphasis on jazz however. In the early 1990s renowned producer Quincy Jones was tapped with co-produ...Read the entire review

Love 'em or hate 'em, but The Black Crowes are bound to go down in the history of rock and roll as one of the all time greats. Formed in the late 1980s the Black Crowes released their first studio album Shake Your Money Maker in 1990, and immediately made a splash on the scene with radio hits She Talk to Angels and the remake of an Otis Redding oldie, Hard to Handle. The debut went platinum five times over, and their second studio release The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion went double platinum, not only breaking the sophomore slump that a lot of musicians hit but certifying themselves as a band to be reckoned with.

But as time rolls on bands change lineups, and even between the first two albums the Crowes had some changes which continues throughout their illustrious career. Twelve years after their debut album set them a place in rock history, the Black Crowes...Read the entire review

The Concert:For several decades now, the Pat Metheny Group has been one of the top-tier jazz bands in the world. Often shifting forms from traditional jazz, the group has always attempted to do something original, with Pat Metheny at the forefront. The group is best-known as a quartet, but aside from Metheny and Lyle Mays (Metheny's creative foil), the membership of the band has varied wildly. The 2006 incarnation includes both Metheny and Mays, bassist Steve Rodby, drummer Antonio Sanchéz, trumpeter/vocalist Cuong Vu, and Gregoire Maret on harmonica. This version of the group signed with Nonesuch records, known lately for giving second chances to artists who might have seemed outre, such as Laurie Anderson and most famously Wilco, as well as reissuing many milestone works by composer Steve Reich.

The band's first release for Nonesuch, The Way Up, feels like it owes a little something ...Read the entire review

The Film:

At this point writing an introduction on U2 explaining who they are, what they became, and what their music stands for would be quite foolish. I suppose if you are a normal person who listens to radio, watches TV, or at least has some minor interest in music chances are you already know plenty about Bono and the rest of the boys. U2 has evolved into something much more than an Irish band that once dreamed big.

As the title suggests the subject of this review is indeed the notorious 1987 album by U2 titled The Joshua Tree - a release that catapulted the Irish lads straight to the top of international charts and de facto transformed them into the biggest and most successful band of the 90s. Back on the island The Joshua Tree also became the fastest-selling album in UK history selling nearly 250 000 copies during the first week of its release.
...Read the entire review

Like many artists, Carlos Santana has always seen the blues as avital component of his music and has employed that genre in his workthroughout the decades. While most prominently known for his Latin guitarsound, he can also play the blues with the best of 'em. In July 2004 at theMontreux Festival he was given the opportunity to present as well as performwith three legendary bluesmen who are among his favorites- Buddy Guy,Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and Bobby Parker. Each artist plays a fullconcert set, being joined by Santana as well as other guests such as NileRodgers and Barbara Morrison.

Buddy Guy is a long revered blues guitarist, having fronted bands aswell as backing Muddy Waters and Junior Wells. Here he takes the stagewithout his trademark Stratocaster, opting for an acoustic guitar. He delvesback into the acoustic roots of the blues, opening with a wonderfulre...Read the entire review

Bursting onto the music scene as one of the first New Wave artists inthe late 70's, Elvis Costello was often thought to be a flash in the pan. After all, he had Elvis Presley's first name, Lou Costello's last (he actuallyappropriated his mother's maiden name) and Buddy Holly's glasses. This persona was obviously crafted just to get attention. Behindthe name however was a talented musician who could churn out a seeminglyendless supply of short, fast, infectious rock tunes. His style hasevolved and changed over the years, but Elvis Costello is still creatingnew music and releasing albums 30 years later.

In 2005 Elvis Costello and his back-up band the Imposters played a pairof shows in a small club in Memphis Tennessee which were filmed in highdefinition and released on SD DVD. That concert is now availableon a Blu-ray disc under the...Read the entire review

An wonderfully unique album, Bat Out Of Hell is musical drama rockpresented at perhaps its best. Grand and outlandish in its dramatic auraltheatrics, it incorporates a number of diverse elements- rock, opera, gothand Broadway, when it finally came on the scene after sitting in the can fora year, it likely made some record companies more than a little rueful thatthey had not jumped on the opportunity to release it when being relentlesslyshopped around the industry by its creators. The main players in the rockopera are the reason it made for such a unique, stand out recording in itsday; Meat Loaf, a young actor-singer who manages to dig to theemotional roots of each composition and playing them to up to the hilt;composer Jim Steinman, a man who manages to compose songs that canbe likened to epic theater, cinema for the ears; and eventual producerTodd Rundgren, an artist who h...Read the entire review

The vehicle for the songwriting team of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen,Steely Dan has never been a band that conformed to convention overits history. The duo met at Bard College in New York in 1967 and beganplaying in area bands not long after, among those bands was "Bad Rock Group"(which included member Chevy Chase on drums), playing both rock and jazz. Intime the two began composing songs together, capitalizing on a samenessbetween them- a preference for jazz, pop, blues and R&B over what one wouldcall a traditional rock format. With lyrics humorously dark, ironic and morethan a little eccentric, the two sculpted a sound far different from whattheir peers were producing.

At the suggestion of ABC/Dunhill producer Gary Katz (who signed the two onas staff songwriters) Becker and Fagen formed Steely Dan in order to have aworking vehicle with which to record and release their music. Fro...Read the entire review

It has been said that Ginger Baker (Ginger being a nickname he wasgiven due to his red hair- his real name is Peter Baker) was rock's firsttrue superstar drummer, and one of the most influential percussionists ofthe '60. While others might have been better known, their fame was due inpart to the bands with which they played. Baker made his name on hisplaying, which was first showcased with the superstar assemblage of Baker,Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce in Cream- a group that made enormous amounts ofmoney during their run but simply had too many egos in the mix to staytogether. Cream broke up after an electric two years, and Baker moved fromthere to another superstar band, Blind Faith, with Clapton and SteveWinwood. That band had an even shorter life span, and from there came GingerBaker's Air Force which produced two albums. Virtually every heavy metaldrummer since the 60's has sought to emulate...Read the entire review

An original, instantly recognizable guitarist from the 80's on, Pat Metheny is an artist who both gained and lost popularity over the years by taking chances musically. While his material with The Pat Metheny Group somewhat defies any set genre, it is melodic and accessible to the audience he has acquired, moving jazz past any standard definition and allowing him to work in whatever musical realm he chooses. Starting out on guitar at 13, he was a student at both the University of Miami as well as Berklee as a teenager, making his debut with legendary Jaco Pastorius and Paul Bley in 1974. From 1974-1977 he was involved with Gary Burton's group, met keyboardist Lyle Mays and formed a group of his own in 1978. He quickly the top artist on ECM's label and among the elite in the jazz realm, with the kind of popularity that sold out stadiums.

Away from his group Metheny has done stints ...Read the entire review

Formed in 1966, Canned Heat is a blues-based rock band founded by Alan Wilson and Bob Hite, both blues historians and record collectors; their beginnings seemed like a textbook for success, playing big name rock festivals of the day such as Woodstock and Monterey, but the band never seemed to acquire a mass following. Following Monterey they released their debut album "Canned Heat", a deep, honky tonk piece that was every bit the bluesy recording one would expect from a band of fine blues craftsmen. Hite was nicknamed 'The Bear" due to his rather massive girth, stalking the stages ala' Howling Wolf and the likes of the era. "Blind Owl" Wilson was a musician of considerable talent, playing an incredible harmonica as well as a deep, textured guitar sound that most musicians would envy. Their biggest success came from the band's 1969 third album, "Livin' the Blues" which spawned the familiar hit "G...Read the entire review

My very first concert was a Pixies concert. So to say that the band holds a nostalgic spot in my development, is putting it lightly. I also thank the stars that my first concert was a really good band, one I still listen to today. For God's sake, it could have been Tiffany or something.

I didn't know it when I saw them that first time, but the Pixies, back then, did not get along. Bassist Kim Deal had actually announced their breakup on stage during that concert run, though it appeared to be an act of impulse, or drunkenness, maybe just a bad day, because the band would go on to make another album and go on an even bigger tour. It was after this peak in fame, with thier audience growing bigger, loads of critical respect, and a gig opening for U2, that they would finally dissolve, again by way of seeming surprise via a matter of fact fax from lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Charles Thompson aka. Blac...Read the entire review

Eagle Vision has released a series of DVDs under the Classic Albumsbanner that analyses and explores some of the most important rock albumsof the 20th Century. Falling into that category is one of the mostpowerful and exciting albums released by The Who: Who's Next. Produced by a group that has a catalog of energetic and well crafted albums,this 1971 record is a giant step forward for the band, both in Pete Townshend'ssong writing ability and the group's musical ability. This DVD, originallyreleased in 2000, looks at the whole disc through interviews with the bandthemselves, the sound engineer who recorded the album, and others associatedwith the recording. Though casual fans of the disc will probablybe bored by the minutia and technical details of the album's creation,those who want to learn all they can about this seminal ...Read the entire review

Before he was out of his teens, the phrase "Clapton is God" was alreadymaking its way around the rock and roll ranks. Three times inducted into theRock And Roll Hall Of Fame. A 16-time Grammy award winner. The case would bemade by many that Eric Clapton is the greatest rock guitarist of alltime; even those who disagree will be hard pressed keeping him out of thetop five. When Clapton ventured out into a solo career of his own in the 70'she was already heading for legendary status, having served as a member ofthe Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith. Not oneto hawk the spotlight in those days, he quietly launched a solo career inmid-1970, scoring a hit with "After Midnight", then doing some work withDelaney and Bonnie and forming Derek and The Dominos. Due in part to heroin addiction Clapton spent 1971 and 1972 mostly away from music, nothaving another solo album until 4...Read the entire review

Having lost his sight due to eye cancer at the age of one, Jeff Healey is a fascinating guitarist to watch ply his trade; he plays with guitar in lap, looking something like a slide guitarist (at least to untrained eyes such as mine) with an amazing ability to make his sound quite different from that of most players. Ofttimes the front rows of his gigs are populated with fellow musicians, intent on watching Healey's fingers in order to imitate his style and approach the unique sound he is capable of producing with his humbucker-equipped Stratocaster. He began playing at the age of three and formed the Jeff Healey Trio in 1985 at the age of 19 with bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen. They released a single on their own Forte label which led to the band signing with Arista Records, where they released their debut album "See The Light" in 1988. The group mmediately gained the attention of ...Read the entire review

Simply put, James Brown is rightfully the definition of soul. He's been adorned with many a lofty title or nickname over the decades-"The Godfather Of Soul", "Soul Brother Number One", the Hardest Working Man in Show Business", Mr. Dynamite", all may seem extreme, but when it comes to JB they are well deserved. Few, if any, African-American musicians have been so influential in popular music. It has been said that no performer puts on a more exciting, athletic stage show than James, with Brown a whirling dervish, sweat soaked and executing incredible dance moves. With a voice that at times soulful, screeching and more predatory animal than man, his sound is singular. Brown has been a lightning rod for two notable movements in African-American music, the catalyst that turned R&B into soul music, and upped the ante from there effectively innovating what would become funk in the late 60's and e...Read the entire review

Nina Simone Live at Montreux 1976 is an excellent opportunity to get a closer in-concert look at this fascinating performer, known as the High Priestess of Soul and the Queen of African Rooted Classical Music. Ms. Simone's fans know her life story by heart -- she began as a poor North Carolina girl, trained at Julliard in New York and became a singing sensation in the late 50s with a classy repertoire ranging from opera to jazz standards to folk and pop songs. Her performances have a relaxed and improvised feel. She's known for uniquely personal timing choices and for punctuating her songs with telling pauses.

The 'class' in Class Act always described Nina Simone. Poet Langston Hughes wrote songs for her, and she dedicated much of her 1960s repertoire to the Civil Rights movement. When she recorded pop material by Dylan or George Harriso...Read the entire review

Something of an artist that defies musical definition, Steve Earleblends whatever types of music he feels necessary in order to convey what he wants to sayas a singer/songwriter. His indefinable sound might have its roots in both Nashvilleand rock and roll but for the most part has left record labels scratching theirheads, sadly keeping his work out of the mainstream market. Born in Virginiabut raised in San Antonio, Texas, he began playing guitar at age 11 and asis the case with many a young musician, had a wild side that kept him introuble with the law and out of the popularity of local country fans.Dropping at of school and leaving home, at age 18 his path crossed withTownes Van Zandt, a musical madman in his own right who became Earle's rolemodel. At 19 he moved to Nashville and began his career writing songs andplaying bass for Guy Clark, playing on Clark's first album and over the nextsev...Read the entire review

The Pixies, those alt-rockers who thrived on sonic outbursts, the band whose quiet-loud-quiet-loud style influenced the grunge age, those folks who sang about the subbacultcha and who wanted to grow up to be a debaser, why, they've up and gone acoustic. Far out.

The band's been on quite a roll since their recent reunion, as anyone who's caught their concerts either live or in gleaming hi-def on cable can attest. The most unexpected chapter of this new era of the Pixies came in August 2005, when the group appeared at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport Rhode Island (this is where Dylan got booed for going electric all those years ago) for their first ever unplugged performance. This strange marriage, a festival known for a long history dealing with folk legends and a band who mixed alt-pop with serious electric grind, was captured by filmmaker Michael B. Borofsky for a concert film with the no-f...Read the entire review

The Movie:

In 1975, guitar virtuoso Ritchie Blackmore left his cozy spot in Deep Purple and split off to form his own band that would be fronted by none other than Ronnie James Dio who had just left his earlier band, Elf. The result, after a few introductory line-up changes, once drummer Cozy Powell, keyboardist David Powell and bassist Bob Daisley would be Rainbow. While the influence of Blackmore's time with Deep Purple can be felt throughout Rainbow's discography, the band would stand on their own and gather quite a following for some time to come.

Two years after they formed, Rainbow was starting to get big. While they weren't as huge in the North American market as they wanted to be, in Europe they were selling boatloads of records and packing concert halls. Two nights before they were to be filmed live for the German music show Rockpalast, Blackmore found himself in trou...Read the entire review

One Night Only Live in this case denotes an outdoor formal charity rock concert given by "Band Du Lac" at the Winterhall Estate in the Surrey countryside. Staged every so often- similar events have taken place in 1998 and 2001- for one cause or another, in this case the cause benefitted HASTE, or Heart and Stroke Trust Endeavor and more specifically a HASTE wing at the Royal Surrey County Hospital. Band Du Lac is an all-star supergroup band brought together solely for these endeavors, and in this case the band is indeed a super one, the backbone being Gary Brooker, Andy Fairweather-Low and Mike Rutherford on guitars; Paul Carrack on keyboards and Henry Spinetti on drums, with several additional musicians brought in to front and supplement these core players for portions of the show. Guests for this particular night are stellar performers- Eric Clapton, Roger Taylor, Ringo Starr, Chris Barber, Ka...Read the entire review

The word pioneer has been known to be loosely used in regards to musical artists, but when it comes to Alice Cooper his legacy seems to scream that term; crafting hard rock songs macabre, grim and genuinely frightening while also employing enough ingenious lyrical hooks and melodic appeal to capture an enormous following in the early 70's, Alice was also the consummate showman who could stage visual productions with the best of 'em.

Many artists and rock bands claim to be fans of Cooper's, including KISS, Alice In Chains, U2, Guns N' Roses, Yngwie Malmsteen, Motley Crue, Tool, UFO, W.A.S.P., Michael Jackson, and Megadeath. Ronnie James Dio, Rick Derringer, Joey Ramone, Eddie Van Halen, Jon Bon Jovi, Gregg Allman, and Kurt Cobain have all publicly stated that they admire Alice's work. In a foreward to Cooper's retrospective box set, the Sex Pistols' lead singer John Lydon called the Alice Cooper...Read the entire review

The Movie:

At roughly two hours in length, this concert, which documents Dio's sold out performance at the London Astoria on his 2005 tour, is a testament to his enduring popularity. Let's face it, he's a strange looking guy who wasn't really going to get by on looks like a lot of other musicians seem to, so he had to make the most out of his distinct and powerful singing voice if he wanted to make it. The fact that he has, and that he's last as long as he has regardless of what band he may or may not be fronting at the time, really shows how good Ronnie James Dio can be. Thankfully, this video captures him at his best, as he skulks about the stage belting out some of his more recognizable songs from throughout his career and yes, performing the classic Holy Diver album in its entirety, like a man half his age.

So with Dio himself in top form and running around the stage like ...Read the entire review

When The Black Crowes' album "Shake Your Money Maker" came out in 1990 they were as much an anomaly in the rock world as Nirvana would be the next year. But after their debut and its masterful follow-up "The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion" they sort of slipped out of the limelight, releasing a few more albums and then disappearing completely. I'm not sure what has driven their recent resurgence (maybe it's lead singer Chris Robinson's surprising marriage to Kate Hudson) but they've resurfaced as a reliable touring band, collaborating with Jimmy Page, playing huge sold out shows and garnering the kind of legitimate credibility usually reserved for bands that didn't utterly disappear for a decade.

It makes sense that their live show is what's put them back on the map since, as the live DVD Freak N' Roll into the Fog makes amply clear, they are absolutely rock solid. Tearing throug...Read the entire review

The Movie:

If you had to explain the blues to someone unfamiliar with it, you might think about referring that person to a segment in Otis Rush & Friends - Live at Montreux 1986. When Rush belts out "If I Had Any Sense, I'd Go Back Home," his world-weary vocal delivery and gritty guitar work encapsulate most of the traits -- mournful, reflective, honest, resolute, tough -- that make the blues so enduring.

Otis Rush & Friends - Live at Montreux 1986 showcases one of the great architects of Chicago's West Side blues. In the mid-1950s, the Mississippi-born Rush burst on the scene when he wrapped his searing voice around the Willis Dixon-penned "I Can't Quit You Baby" and subsequently produced a bona fide classic blues tune. And he has been going strong ever since, having influenced such blues-rock luminaries as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughan. <...Read the entire review

The Product:
A Night at the Opera, Queen's 1975 breakout album, was a coming of age classic for the boys of LaLumiere Boarding School. Along with other contemporary classics like Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, and Kiss: Alive, it was the soundtrack for a group of guys learning to live away from home for the first time. As a result, each song took on a special meaning, their lyrical and sonic elements blending into a blueprint in preparation for a future pop cultural consciousness. I should know. I was one of those boys. A Night at the Opera was an epiphany for me, a scrapbook of styles that seemed to suggest the entire breadth and width of modern music. In tandem with such a discovery was the curiosity of how something so seminal came to be made. Thankfully, we have delightful DVDs like Eagle Vision's Classic Alb...Read the entire review

The Movie

You just know upon one look at the slapped-together packaging and brief track list that this is going to be one step above a bootleg at best. And boy, is it ever.

Excerpted from a half-hour DMX set at the San Bernadino stop of Cypress Hill's Smoke Out tour, there couldn't be a worse way to fathom capturing Earl Simmons' gritty intensity.

One big question is why they chose to release a show filmed during the pouring rain, as not only are the showers distracting while they wash across the cameras, but they clearly suck energy out of the sardine-can-tight crowd.

Granted, there are highlights, but mostly of the unintentional kind: X encouraging a largely white audience to chant "Fuck y'all niggas," and the presence of your token, superfluous hypeman rambling nonsense as if X couldn't handle himself on the stage. Then again, since he raps over what's clearly his own voice on the D...Read the entire review

In a Nutshell: The story of the Beatlestold in an hour without their music.

Decades after they disbanded, the Beatles are still incredibly popular,and die-hard fans aren't hard to find.  Catering to that crowd, EagleMedia has released The Beatles: From Liverpool to San Francisco,a chronology of the bands movements interspersed with TV interviews andfootage of the Fab Four that are all in the public domain.  Unfortunately,the thing that made the Beatles so popular, their music, is nowhere to befound and the interviews are mere snippets, making this a rather drabcompilation.

After giving a one or two sentence synopsis of their childhood and earlydays, the film takes up the story of the Beatles in 1963 as their firstalbum is about to be released in England.Â...Read the entire review

The movie

Suzanne Vega has only had a handfulof solo albums in a twenty-year career, but they've all been solidones. She came more into the limelight with Solitude Standing andits hits "Luka" and "Tom's Diner," but if thoseare all the Vega songs that you know, you've missed out on treatslike those found on Nine Objects of Desire and 99.9 F.Vega's performance at the 2004 Montreux Jazz Festival provides asampler of her work from beginning to end, in a venue with a fairlyintimate feel. If you're not familiar with her work, it's a good wayto get to know her music overall, and if you're already a fan ofSuzanne Vega, this concert will be of interest in its blending ofolder and newer material, along with presenting her performance ofsome songs that are not from her own albums.

Suzanne Vega has a unique style, ...Read the entire review