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The Movie:
One of the most politically active bands in music today, Rage Against The Machine carry their message in their music, a furious fusion of hard rock and rap that combines to form an electric live performance. I've been lucky to catch the band in concert twice now, once in a small venue and once at a large concert, and both shows were really amazing, among the best live performances I've seen.
The DVD presents a number of live performances from Rage tours, as well as a set of videos from the band. Although the music isn't similar, I'm always thankful to see a DVD concert performance that isn't chopped together from various performances, like Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill:Live, which took tons of different performances and cut them all together within the span of one song. The result was terrible.
It's especially important with a band that's as excellent a live performer as Rage Against The Machine; the concert footage is presented uninterrupted, and although the footage is so-so(I'll talk about that in the DVD review portion), the performances for each song are incredible.
Songs include:
Vietnow, People Of The Sun, Bulls On Parade, Bullet In The Head, Zapata's Blood, Know Your Enemy, Bombtrack, Tire Me, Killing In The Name, Freedom, Bulls On Parade, Memory Of The Dead (Land And Liberty) and The Ghost Of Tom Joad.
The DVD
VIDEO: Both the video and audio are a mixed bag; the concert footage occasionally looks scratchy, which apparently looks like a style choice to give it an intense, edgy look. Unfortunately, the only thing the look does is distract. Other than that, the concert footage is on the soft and sometimes a little hazy side. On the flip side, the video clips are excellent in quality, with the majority of them looking sharp and clean.
SOUND: The audio is both good and bad, as well. The concert performances have sort of an "open" feel to them, and while the audio is clear, it just doesn't sound that deep or dynamic, and the quality and presentation of the sound seems to vary from the different concerts where the songs were filmed. Like the video quality though, the music video clips present the flip side, showing off intense, solid audio that has a solid amount of strength to it.
The audio portion for the concerts is fair, but not unlistenable. The audio for the videos definitely seem more polished and strong, especially for "Bulls On Parade" and "People Of The Sun". Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable, if not perfect presentation of the band's music.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus that are still stylish and easily navigated.
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EXTRAS: The band's recommended reading list, contacts and an audio only track for "The Ghost Of Tom Joad". For all but two songs, viewers have the option of seeing song lyrics.
Final Thoughts: Even if the presentation is only fair at times, it's still great to be able to watch some of the band's songs performed in an excellent live performance. Fans of the band will certainly enjoy this DVD from Sony.
Grade:B
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