Search - The Kids Are Alright (Special Edition) on DVD

The best of its kind ... but one piece of the puzzle is miss

W. C. Bonner | Atlanta | 04/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The finest biographical rock documentary, it is negligent to not include this with 'The T.A.M.I. Show', 'Monterey Pop', 'Woodstock', 'Gimme Shelter' and the other documentaries that have achieved legendary status. But I think there is one more thing that needs to come onto DVD to really understand what The Who meant to their fans.

Much more so than other acts, writers discussing The Who will insist that their opinions are not influenced by radio airplay - as a result they will claim that everything recorded before 'Tommy' was perfect while everything after was garbage (this film even has something to offer that crowd as there are four (!) versions of "My Generation").

Growing up as a fan, however, my friends and I would decide what to buy and listen to according to our own instincts about what was exciting and energetic rather than the delusions of the writers at Rolling Stone. This meant of course that among one of rock's mightiest repertoires one album would always be the greatest ('Who's Next') and one song would always be the greatest - "Won't Get Fooled Again". The original version forms a performance so stirring and majestic that it cannot be left off any SINCERE list of the greatest rock songs of all time.

But as the song's reputation grew throughout the 1970's the live performance of WGFA transformed into something far,far beyond a routine rendition. The grandest of grande finales, it became the single greatest moment of anticipation, drama and ecstasy in all of 20th Century music - I personally can't think of anything comparable other than the endings of the greatest Verdi operas. If you were lucky enough to be with 20,000, 40,000 or 60,000 people when every last one of them raised their hands and yelled YEEEEEEAAAHHHHHH!!!! with Roger at the end of the last synthesizer break, then you knew you had gone through a spine-tingling, goose-bumping audience thrill you could experience nowhere else.

All Who fans should be grateful to Jeff Stein for acknowledging the pride of place of WGFA in the Who canon by selecting it as the concluding number. The version here is magnificent, unto itself justifying a five star rating. But because it was filmed on a soundstage, there is only the faintest glimmer of the audience dynamics that would help the viewer understand what that song, and indeed what the band, meant to its audience. I'm still hoping that someday there will be a DVD of comparable quality of one of the large scale shows (the Shea Stadium concert comes to mind) so everyone can understand completely why The Who inspired more devotion than any act in rock music history.
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How does this differ from the 2003 edition?

G. Kreienkamp | Washington DC | 02/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By all appearances this seems to be the same version as the 2003 Pioneer edition. The box is exactly the same with a different barcode sticker slapped on it. It even has the 2003 copyright date and Pioneer logo. Is there any difference in the video content between the 2003 box and this one?

Either way, this still is one of the best rock documentaries ever made."

The Who Rockumentary dvd.

Dr. Feelgood | USA | 10/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This film was also popular in theaters when it came out in the late 70's. It features The Who, with Keith Moon, performing from the early days, right up until their last record, Who Are You. With live footage, studio footage, some video film clips, performances, interviews, and concert highlights of their career, all cut together, so that you get a good overview of the band during it's best years together. Disc two contains, footage of John Entwhistle performing, "Baba', and "Won't Get Fooled Again', without the band's peformances."