Who fans - don't bother.
Dean Jarvis | 04/10/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The Who had a fantastic string of hit singles from 1965 to 1969 in the U.K. This documentary interviews music critics, fans, even Shel Talmy (who produced "I Can't Explain" and the "My Generation" album to discuss the era.
Unfortunately, no one from the Who is involved in this project. It is not an offical Who product. But the biggest disappointment in this video is there is not a single video clip of The Who performing any of these singles in their entirety. Every video clip on this DVD has either been shown on "The Kids Are Alright", "30 Years Of Maximum R&B" or "Who's Better, Who's Best" in their complete forms. If you are interested in starting a Who video collection, start with one of those titles. If you're a Who fan, don't bother with this one."
Good intro for new Who fans
D. G. Devin | 01/11/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I ordered this awhile back and it finally showed up a few days ago, serves me right for ordering from someone other than Amazon! This is one of those "unauthorized" biographies which means none of the band members were interviewed, instead we get a series of critics and writers discussing the band with film clips and photos dropped in along the way. This isn't necessarily a bad approach, they got some reasonably informed folks some of whom you've probably heard of like Shel Talmy and Alan Clayson. For the casual fan or somebody new to The Who this is a good introduction to their early history, offering a bit of insight into Mod culture and the band's first recordings and live shows. But the more rabid fan is likely to have seen it all before, the claimed rare footage never before on DVD escapes me, either I've seen all this film before or think I have. The running time of an hour struck me as short, they could have explored the mods and the lives of the band members in more depth, and only a handful of songs are discussed in any detail. They made an effort to dress it up nice, like having a Vespa and a Hiwatt amp and a Les Paul in front of a Union Jack as backdrops for some of the interviews, but there is also "aged" video of vintage studio equipment used as visual filler and surely more period photos or film would have been more appropriate. The completist collector or anyone wanting a gift to introduce someone to the early Who is going to want this regardless, the rabid fan will find it just a bit thin."
Tells how The Who shaped a generation
Dave Viking | Houston, Texas | 11/17/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A superb idea for a documentary - covering their greatest tracks, which are reviewed by various musos. It goes into how The Who shaped a generation with their furious concerts & excellent tracks.
It features footage of early gigs & even explains why they were the poorest band on the scene!!"