EXPOSED

What value it gives to a DVD to have the opportunity to view the concert from four different angles? The text in the front cover promises "over 7 hours of footage" which can help the consumer on the purchasing decision, but on the long run it's not a big deal. The fact remains, there's no more than under two hours of music. Against that fact the dividing of it on two separate discs is a bit frustrating. The first one, ie. the first half of the concert held in Wembley Conference Centre in 1979, includes the whole double album Incantations (though shorter in total running time than the album). The two-minute intro shows some of the musicians talk about the tour mainly on the bus, not giving their names which is bad (I don't recognize most of them by face), and the Intermission (2:30) shows how people are throwing paper planes between the stage and seats. Wow.

The second disc has Tubular Bells plus 'Guilty' in between the parts. Mike had decided to build the concert in the tradition of classical concerts, where chosen symphonies are naturally played completely. Therefore one does not hear anything from other albums. That's artistically a wise move but on the other hand somewhat stiff and pretentious, lacking the spirit of a rock concert. And as the previous review states, the orchestra is rather overblown in size. But this all does have good sides too. As the stores are full of more typical rock concert DVD's, it's nice to have something different for change. And as there are so many players, the multi-angle possibility fits well into this particular material.

Sound and picture quality are pretty good. The stage staff and sound editors have done excellent job: for example the flutes are heard clearly instead of being buried in the sound mass. Incantations sounds at least as great as it does on the studio album - and Maddy Prior does the vocal parts greatly - , but I'm not sure about Tubular Bells. As if it was less rehearsed, and the way some players are at times shifting towards rock manners is in contrast with the otherwise classical feel of the concert. I've seen a better live version of TB (in the 'Elements' DVD).