Search - Inmates: Live on DVD

A nice piece of rock & roll history...

Bob-O-Rama | Hoboken | 05/08/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Inmates hit Top 40 radio in the U.S. when I was a kid with a great version of The Standells Dirty Water. They have since put out several really solid garage rock albums. This DVD (the 1st I've ever seen by this group) consists of portions of 2 shows in the UK from 1980. While the sound quality is pretty good and the video is ok, the band blasts through as aggregators of maximum r&b - great originals, neat covers. Classic rock indeed!"

Superb band, amatuer video

D. A Campbell | Annandale, VA United States | 03/28/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The is a two-star DVD, due to very low technical standards, but a five-star band barnstorming through two club dates in the 1980s. The Inmates are (not sure if they are still active) a superb British rock'n'roll band who's bread and butter was performing take-no-prisoners cover versions of mid-60s American garrage rock and R&B classics. I was lucky to see them live once in Denver back in their hey-day, the era represented here. Lead singer Bill Hurley is one of the great front men in the history of rock music, as this video confirms. And Peter Gunn on lead guitar has an amazing ability to nail all those classic riffs and make them sound new again. Unfortunately, this video is very amateurish -- it appears to have been shot by a single, hand-held camera, often from what looks to be the back of a club. All things considered, the sound isn't too bad. That blurry photo on the cover of the DVD box will give you some idea of what to expect. But for hard-core fans who want a low-tech reminder of what this band was like in full flight, it is worth picking up. If you are new to the band, spend your money instead on the anthology CD of the first three albums."