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!

Love at first sight

It's only a chance I've met this band. I'm a Uriah Heep fan and, because Heep were signed then on the same label, Classic Rock Legends, I received a newsletter promoting MOSTLY AUTUMN. Record label announced MA as a ''band which rock fans have waited for 20 years''. Visited the band's website I was quite intrigued: 7-piece band, long hair, they looked good. After some hesitations I decided to order ''The Story So Far...'' DVD.

Watching this DVD for the first time I already knew: I love this band. Being the 70's sound fan, I could not believe that new band can be so good, but MOSTLY AUTUMN are really good! Rich, powerful and, despite obvious FLOYD influences definitely their own sound, charismatic leaders, memorable songs, folk touches, good lyrics - this cocnert easily converted me to MA fan. It was a discovery!

I like a lot hypnotic Bryan's solos and even his singing, Iain Jennings' keyboard work, light colors added to the music by Angela's flute and vocals and, last but not least, Heather's stage presence and heartfelt voice (in those days she did not try to shout like on disapponting ''Storms Over Still Water'' album). In my opinion combination of male and female vocals works perfectly for MOSTLY AUTUMN and is one of their trademarks. I can't agree with those who tell that Heather Findlay should sing all songs, it will be only boring. But with two lead singers songs are varied and emotional.

Studio albums were bought soon and I can say the band chose really best tracks for their first live record. Beautifully composed ''Evergreen'', ''The Night Sky'', ''Shrinking Violet'', rocking ''Never the Rainbow'' and grandiose ''Mother Nature'' are still my favourite MA songs.

MOSTLY AUTUMN released lots of live DVDs, but none of them can beat for me ''The Story So Far...'' - the concert enthusiastically played by one of the best new bands. Back then, in 2001, I'd gave this DVD full 5 stars. Now, trying to be objective, I think 4 stars is a fair rating. Highly recommended.

The only things that creates a gap from this DVD and a masterpiece is some childish video shooting around a big oak and for me the absence of the track which has conquered me to Mostly Autumn that's "The Gap Is Too Wide.

It's very interesting, instead, how the director alternates shootings taken from a live performance and from the rehearsals, those seconds in b/w. It's a good idea even if only at images level.

The interviews are not too invasive respect to the very good music and somewhat interesting and last but not least, the songs come from the first three studio albums (their bests IMO) and are performed by their best lineup (again, my opinion).

Let me add that I have realized how good "Evergreen" is after watching the DVD where it's excellently performed.

For fans of MA and Prog folk in general but also for who likes the Gilmour's kind of guitar.