Search - Inside Roxy Music: 1972-1974 - An Independent Critical Review on DVD

I expected 'More than this'

James Fuqua | Milpitas, Ca United States | 05/01/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"If you're into early Roxy Music/Eno you've been out of luck when it comes to selection on dvd. The only photage you can find of early Roxy Music is on the musikladen dvd (get the one grouped up with the T.Rex performances) Even though I would recommend it, it leaves you wanting more, with only 6 live tracks to select from.

Up until now your only other Roxy on DVD alternatives were Live at the Apolo. Which features Roxy Music hammering out old tunes well into their 50's with yuppie 30 year women to accompany them. Just watching that Starbucks drinking, Mervins dressed women trying to emulate Brian Eno sends shivers up my spine.

A couple months ago, I found out an early Roxy Music documentary would be coming out on DVD. I managed to track a copy of this down. I have to say, I was dissapointed.

The Documentary itself is a little over an hour in length, and features interviews with music 'experts', the current touring bassist of Roxy Music and the Webmaster of a Roxy Music fansite. All of whom have some interesting things to say about Roxy Music. But if you are faintly familiar with Roxy Music, all this information would have been known just by listening to the Roxy Music albums, or reading the countless reviews of Roxy Music online.

The Documentary features clips from the six tracks already featured on the musikladen dvd in remastered state. Here we only get short clips that haven't been touched up. There are also clips of 'Ladytron' from TOTP '72 (previously unreleased) 'Song from Europe' and 'Pslam'. Again, these are all clips that range from decent-bad quality.

There are no special features on this DVD. You figure it wouldn't have been hard to put each live track in it's entirely as special features.

I'd stay away from this DVD and pick up Musikladen DVD instead.

"

Performances + Commentary = A Good Buy

John F. Jebb | Newark, Delaware United States | 09/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If we want people, such as younger members of our families who hear us playing Roxy Music CD's, to understand what all the fuss over Roxy is about, show them this DVD. It is part of a fun series and offers chunks of early footage of the band augmented by commentary about the songs. We see four opinionated and articulate talking heads, including recent Roxy bassist Mark Smith. They provide intelligent analysis of individual songs and of the significance of Roxy. What they say, and they often disagree, deepens our grasp and enjoyment of the songs, like a good discussion of an album among friends back in the college dorm.

The star talking head is Les Davidson, who discusses the composition of the songs and how the band blends the instruments. He demonstrates on his guitar how some songs--notably "A Song for Europe"--are put together. Journalist John Wingate says "cool" (pronounced "kewl") far too much, but he provides the DVD's best line, that Bryan Ferry was a cross between Lou Reed and Noel Coward.

These talking heads point out good, discussable stuff: that Ferry's diction--Ferry often almost speaks rather than sings--was important for his complex lyrics; that Makay was a major stage presence during performances; that Roxy's best songs are "dark and edgy," such as "In Every Dream Home a Heartache."

A fun activity for the Roxy fan is to watch these early performances, then watch the 2001 versions from the DVD "Live at the Apollo." Especially striking is the contrast between the versions of "Mother of Pearl.""