THE STORY SO FAR...

This fine dvd collection from the first period of Mostly is, in my opinion, neither very good nor bad. Musically it offers a very attractive outtake of their first three studio albums. The performances are quite good, albeit that the guys in the band will never be able to attract to many people's attention. They are, with Brian Josh as the logical exception, quite shy and prefer to take their place on the background, concentrating on their instruments and music. Bassplayer Andy Smith does stand forward once in a while but he always hides behind his impressive long hair, thus avoiding direct contact with the audience. But fortunately there's Heather Findlay, not only very nice and handsome to look at (bless her taste of clothing!) but also a great vocalist who adds much more to a MA concert than solely singing. In fact it shows again that Findlay is the vocal asset of the band, no matter how Brian Josh tries and does his best. He'd better concentrate on his guitar playing which he does in a splendid way. As said the songs provide a nice picture of the musical quality and direction of the band. The long solos in 'Heroes never die', 'Shrinking violet' and 'Mother Nature' still send shivers down my spine and illustrate the creativity in the band. Fortunately they have not forgotten to add some folk songs as these songs give their concerts something special. What I don't like is the alternation between the concerts and the interviews, especially not since the interviews have been filmed in coarsegrid solution, the most horrible quality you can imagine. I think it would have been far better when they had split the concert and the interviews totally so the viewer could choose what to watch. The special features on the dvd are nice A picture gallery, credits and two very nice bonus tracks. Furthermore outtakes of concerts by artists as Uriah Heep, Caravan, Asia and Wishbone Ash are added to give you a quick view of what these dvd's have to offer. It's nice, not essential.

All in all a very nice dvd that gives a good impression of what Mostly Autumn delivers on stage and that can be purchased for a very reasonable price. Which is far from unimportant!