Artist: Renaissance
Title: “Song Of Scheherazade”
Label: MVD Video
Release Date: 6-16-2009
Genre: Progressive/Art Rock
Rating: 4/5
The music of Renaissance will always hold a special place in my heart as a fan of music and that’s because I remember their albums as stuff that my Mother used to play for me from her own record collection when I was younger. It was this along with some of her other vinyl platters that really helped me formulate my interest music as a whole. There was something unique about the band and something very classy and warm in its overall charm. For those who might have never enjoyed this wonderful band, they are a blend of Classical meets Progressive along with Folk and Rock elements and are often considered to be one of the finest bands of this type in Progressive Music history. This makes sense based on the number of wonderful compositions that the band had offered up to the world on albums such as “Ashes Are Burning”, “Turn Of The Cards” and “Scheherazade and Other Stories”. While the group formed in 1969 and had released a number of albums previous to the ones referenced, it was the lineup from around 1973 up until 1979 that is considered the bands signature and most beloved roster and this was largely because of the bands second singer, Annie Haslam. Annie’s voice was my own introduction to the band and probably one of the highest points in what they were doing for me, and this made the release of this DVD something wonderful. Despite having released about fourteen albums over the course of their career, there was never an official DVD release of any kind which makes this footage a welcome thing to their fans. The home viewer gets to enjoy not one but two different shows from two distinct points in the bands history. The first is from a show in 1976 where they were playing the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ while the other is circa 1979 and done at the Convention Hall in Asbury Park, NJ.
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Artist: Hanoi Rocks
Title: “The Nottingham Tapes”
Label: Cherry Red UK
Release Date: 6/10/2008
Genre: Glam Rock
Rating: 4/5
According to the liner notes that come along on the packaging of the film, the recording for Hanoi Rocks’ “The Nottingham Tapes” is the result of a film crew’s decision to leave their equipment set up from the recording of an all day Trash Rock affair at the same venue where this show would take place. After watching only a couple of songs from the show I had to say that not only the fans of Hanoi Rocks were lucky that this was done, but also any fan of bare bones Rock and Roll with a Trashy/Glam edge to it. Formed in 1979, Hanoi Rocks were one of those bands who were ahead of the times when it came to their genre and should you know your Rock history, you will recall that not only did the Punk material of the day inspire them, but also the classic Rockers of the fifties and sixties. This allowed the band to stand high above the competition in terms of the strength of their material and find them come to inspire bands like Poison and Guns ‘N Roses in the years that would follow. The show was recorded at The Palais club located in Nottingham, England and it captures a full sixty minutes of fun time music. I was a little disappointed to see the limited camera angles, but this was done in 1984 my friends, and the means for super and extravagant video recording sessions was not par for the course yet. The viewer is limited to shots from the far stage left, and some close ups, and additional views from behind the drum kit. From this I am guessing this was no more than a two or three camera shoot. However, despite some of the lacking in the visual sense, I found no such issue with the audio portion of the show. The band sounds excellent and all of the instruments are captured perfectly. As a matter of fact, it sounds so good that I will assume that there was a feed to the soundboard because you really don’t hear any audience noise during the show.
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