Talk about one loaded DVD, true that it's a reissue, but yet it is one that we all have been screaming to get for years. Typically it is the collection of all the MTV/VH1 Classic videos that we all know and love as well as the complete
Priest Live video release, capturing the performance from the
Fuel For Life tour, which has been out of print for years.
A perfect historical perspective on the band if you must, leading up to the
Painkiller album, just before Halford left, being Priest's counterpart to Iron Maiden's
Visions of the Beast. Besides the videos and concert footage, six BBC performances filmed at the Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops television shows, with some clips dating all the way back to 1975, within the embryonic stage of Priest, with Halford sporting long hair at one point.
The
Priest Live video, originally released in the eighties, shows the band during the height of their success that had brought them to the masses on their own terms, video is somewhat grainy due to the time period, which gives the performance the classic vibe, with the camera work being constantly spontaneous within shots of the band, solos, and the enthusiastic crowd (not to mention the occasional mullet in the audience). The transfer was done very well, sound and picture quality improved, and in most cases remixed in 5.1 sound.
Besides the content, the value on this DVD is great, I mean buying the video collection and concert on VHS (previously only available separately of course) would be expensive, not to mention that you no longer have to wait for the videotape to cue to the preferred video. This is the one Judas Priest DVD that covers the entire basis, however, there are no interviews or documentaries on this release. VH1's
Behind The Music episode on these guys covered that very well, not to mention that a DVD of the
Classic Album's series documentary of
British Steel is available. So now we have the material that represents the band, and this is more than any fan could ask for; well, we have been asking for this stuff on DVD for years, haven't we? Truly essential.
Rating: 8/10Written by
Hashman Tuesday, April 13, 2004
