Difficult to review
Michael E. Mitchell | Minocqua, WI USA | 11/04/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a fantastic package...full of repetition. I personally give this SIX stars out of five, but I'm certain that the inclusion of so many "repeats" will aggravate some people. Probably we'll all agree that this covers the absolute classic period of MSG, and so certain songs are on every disc. This is a collection of legendary rarities (don't know how they polished up the sound from all those years ago, but they do sound fantastic and yet not falsely "studio"...there is a bit of crackling during the Japanese shows, but perhaps that's just the "electric atmosphere"!). Then again, we have TWO shows from the same day in Osaka...surely of historical/comparison interest, but quite redundant for the average listener(only one of them includes what is called "Courvoisier Concerto", but the same could be construed by most listeners as "extended intro to Lost Horizons"!) Here you'll hear the legendary Cozy Powell at work on drums(sounding very powerful, especially on disc 1), as well as being able to compare the sounds of varying line-ups of MSG...no sense going into who is featured on each disc in this review, as it is meant to give the pros and cons so you can decide whether or not to buy it! The performances are stellar, yet, again, obviously "live"(or else there would've been a lot of vocal overdubbing!), and it was amazing to hear the much-talked-about Reading show where Gary Barden was called back to step in for the boozed-up "Mr. Bonnett"(worth the price to hear the stage banter during this show); Barden reportedly had only 2 hours to warm up AND learn new material from "Assault Attack"...so THAT show's on here! As for the dvd, many of you may have seen and revered the ancient VHS of "Rock Will Never Die"...well, let's just say this is supposedly the COMPLETE performance(and as far as I can tell, it is). So, there's nothing really hithertofore unheard on here as far as SONGS go, but these are some performances that have been talked about over the years, finally on shiny cds for us to enjoy. If you have "One Night At Budokan" and "Rock Will Never Die", you've got ALMOST everything on here (minus, of course, a few songs...$$$ talks, ya know!), but I feel this is essential for every MSG fanATIC...but maybe not for every fan. The packaging is a nice lidded/hinged box, with the individual discs in the familiar tagboard slipcovers, and it also includes a booklet with a lot of recording information and a very gushing essay by Dave Ling. For me, the only "iffy" inclusions here are the 2 Osaka shows(but the first disc doesn't cover the second "MSG" album material, so 1 Osaka show is needed). Plus, the dvd is fantastic! ALL HAIL MICHAEL SCHENKER!!!...oops, I must be one 'o them fanATICS???"
