MUSIC BOX BIOGRAPHICAL COLLECTION

This low budget documentary could be the best drinking game ever for a gathering of hardcore Floyd fans. For each of the factual errors and strange transitions you can spot, everybody drink! (Just kidding---don't go there, kids!) There are several reasons I could give this thing one star, and yet for this small subset of fans, this thing is a nearly essential blast.

Let's see if I can sum this up after being highly amused by it over beers tonight. This is a 30-some minute spoken word documentary with no actual Pink Floyd music or band involvement. There are cheesy graphics and a bafflingly unnecessary fusioney-metal background track behind the people speaking. Often times it is almost louder than one of the narrators, it has no relation to PF, and its inclusion is ridiculous. Two narratives are alternating back and forth, one in which a female commentator gives a band history, and the other consisting of commentators doing opinion pieces. They cut back and forth and their time lines do not always match which would make it quite confusing for casual fans. Occasionally some guy grabs a guitar and starts strumming away Gilmour's parts of songs, but added little to the dialogue. Backing photos and videos are occasionally shown, some appearing to be bootleg video which would be interesting IF THERE WERE MUSIC, but it's just another frustration without music. The editing and sound control is truly quite amateur.

The content though is what matters I suppose. And while this video will frustrate anyone looking for some high caliber overview and solid production, it could be of interest to those of us who love the band. Why? Because the commentators, while a bit casual in style, actually have some interesting stories and opinion that are a bit different from the everyday PF dvd. Not that I agreed with all of them, and a few about Syd were the usual "casualty" clichés, but still. Also, while the people speaking clearly had some significant musical knowledge, they sometimes struggled with timelines and made some factual errors/conclusions that were surprising. Floyd fans can watch to see how many they can pick up, I'm not going to give the fun away here. I can't recommend you purchase this unless you find it at a low price, but there are *some* good and interesting pieces of information here if you're willing to endure the painful production. In a sea of PF dvds, this is not the one to watch first (or second, or fifth), but it has a certain off-kilter charm to it that I actually like, so I'll split the difference and go 2 stars.

Share this PINK FLOYD review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Finnforest
• Report this review (#273274)
• Buy PINK FLOYD music online with PA partners
• Show all PINK FLOYD MP3/Stream
• Go to PINK FLOYD page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Music Box Biographical Collection page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for PINK FLOYD related discussions