Search - Rolling Stones: The Biggest Bang on DVD

5 for the music, 3 for the product itself

Steven A. Peterson | Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL) | 12/14/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a lot of fun for fans of the Rolling Stones and of Rock and Roll! Live Stones plus those extras that one might expect would come with a 4 CD set. Normally, I don't look too much at extras, but there are some interesting items that come with the concert footage itself, especially on Disk 4.

The one real downer to this is the first disc of the set. Whoever I bought it from sent me a dud. There were a lot of flaws in the recording--especially skips and breaks in the track. Indeed, as the concert finished, my computer shut down saying it had encountered a major problem. This has nothing to do with the music, but I wish I could recall who sold it to me. . . .

Enough. On to the concert footage. Concerts in Rio and Austin, Texas give us a detailed look at a Stones' concert. And the playing is hot. Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards play the guitars well--belying their ages. Darryl Jones (technically on contract, but he might as well be called a band member) and Charlie Watts anchor the band with their rhythm work. Mick Jagger sings well, although without the vocal range of his youth. It's amazing how lively the four Stones can still perform.

Disk One. The concert starts with "You Got Me Rocking." Wood and Richards begin with some nice guitar playing and the solid rhythm section provides great backing. Nice start to the concert! Some other tracks that caught my interest: The Temptations' "Ain't too Proud to Beg" has been covered by the Stones before. Here, they provide us with a credible version. Back to the mid-19670s with "Get off of My Cloud." Great lyrics and a hard rocker still performed well. Jagger dances well and Richards cranks out gritty guitar work. "Honky Tank Women" is as raunchy as ever, with fine guitar work. "Sympathy for the Devil": The opening notes begin to foreshadow the dark lyrics, with the "ooh-oohs." Another well performed song. "Jumping Jack Flash" provides one of the best guitar riffs in rock and roll and some of the finest 3 minutes of music. Guitar work is great and Watts' drumming is stellar in this song. "Satisfaction" begins with the fuzz tone and the band still plays it with conviction, even though it is (I can scarcely believe this) a song that is over 40 years old! Final encore--"Brown Sugar." The lyrics regarding slavery give this song some gravitas to my mind. The rhythm section sparkles; Bobby Keyes does a great job, too. Fine fireworks display to close this concert out.

Disk Two. The concert from Rio is spectacular. The sea of people attending this concert is powerful! Many of the songs are the same as Disk One. A couple comments about songs NOT appearing at the Austin concert. "Midnight Rambler" is played especially well. "Everybody got to go." Closer to the version on "Get Your Ya-Yas Out" than the concert I saw in 1975. The guitar playing in the middle is a chance for Richards and Wood to throw out nasty notes from their guitars Harmonica work by Jagger is fine, too. "It's only Rock and Roll" shows a band enjoying itself. Man, here and on other songs you can see a lot of wrinkles on the faces of Wood, Watts, Richards, and Jagger. But they play a lot younger than they look. "Start Me Up," "Miss You". . . . More fine concert footage.

Anyhow, despite the problem with the first disk, the music itself is fine. I've listened to a lot of Rolling Stones' live music and this is one of their best concert works. Maybe not as spirited and electric as "Ya-Yas," but awfully good! If you desire a lot of music and some cool extras, you might try this out.
"

What do they do for an encore?

Whamo | San Clemente, California | 02/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Stones "Biggest Bang" Tour went on for over a year. It climaxed when they played for a million people on the beach in Rio. The only time you see crowds like this these days is with computer animation, but this time it was real. It's an awesome documentary/concert combination. The fans in Rio went nuts. It's on "The Biggest Bang".

But the documentary suffers in comparison with "Four Flicks", which I consider the best choice between the two packages. Of course, there are other alternatives out there for Stones concerts on video. The most recent "Shine a Light" catches the band at their best. But the Austin concert on "The Biggest Bang" catches the band within weeks of the "Shine a Light" date. So, actually, "Shine a Light", kind of belongs in this collection. It would have made a better choice than the Japanese and Chinese concert tracks. Or, the Stones could have included the Las Vegas concert, from November of 08. I was there, and the boys were smoking that night -- the night after Jagger's father passed (RIP).
So, if you are a diehard Stones fan, like myself, you'll pick this up despite the marginal Far East footage. You'll gape at the crowd in Rio, but you'll return again and again to listen to the Austin concert. It shows the "country" side of the Stones like no other concert. If you're a casual fan, you might consider "Four Flicks" or "Shine a Light" (the cheaper option). "Four Flicks" shows the band in different venues and has a better documentary. "Shine a Light" is a great concert.

Since the Stones are well-known for putting out "Greatest Hits" albums, they might want to consider a DVD containing the best of their concert footage, including the special guests they jam with each tour: Jack White, Cristina Aguilera, Bo Diddley (RIP), Bonnie Raitt, and the rest."