LIVE BROADCASTS

One of the most frustrating things with DVD is the way they are conspicuously evasive on the date of origin of many a recording. And this one is no exception, with the small text at the back outlining 71 and 73 material, inducing the idea that the bulk of the filming was from these years. And indeed no!! Only 30 to 35 % of the tracks present on this collection come from that period, the rest from an 89 reunion and a 03 reunion, both featuring the original quartet. So the manipulation is quite evident: if all of the tracks featured on this disc are from the first three albums and played by the quartet of original musicians (I think there is one or two tracks, where this isn't quite the case), but the majority is not vintage stuff. And the "abject" does not deserve the "Live Dates" names as it induces the fans into thinking this is from concerts, instead of TV sessions.

One of the few things that found interesting is that I had no idea on how much andy Powell was handling the vocals with bassist Martin Turner, but it turns out it was substantially higher than I had thought it to be (having never seen the vintage years before this object. As much as I seem negative on this "abject", I must say that it actually gives a fairly good overview of WA throughout the years, although there is nothing from the Wisefield years (this is good news for many, including yours truly), giving a good idea how much of a powerhouse the group was back in the early 70's; but the succession of TV sessions (some are mimed) sort of cheapens the whole concept. Furthermore, some of the footage (the 89 filmings) presented here is already available on the Classic Rock Features series. Another negative point is the way they (the "abject" conceptors) systematically break up the sessions to spread them out through the duration of the DVD. So I will easily take a full star away (and I'm being very lenient, because I like WA) to protest about the many voluntary ambiguities the cover induces, forcing the fan to shell out hard- earned cash for a slightly deceiving but nonetheless still interesting. I'd feel like telling you to avoid such blatant false expectations induction "abjects", but let's face it, if you're a fan, you'll most likely want it, no matter what I say.