HW: Silver Machine video revisited

[William Duffy]

>> We all have our own tastes, I guess. But apart from agreeing with you on
>> Stonehenge, I believe it to be the other way around, with LIS and Live
>> Legends being the best videos.
>
>Yes they are both much better productions.
>
>I just never liked the Alien4/LiS stuff at all.
>The music on Live Legends is great I just hate
>watching it. Well, aside from the guy wrapped
>in toilet paper and Simon House looking somewhat
>vacant. (bizarre puns originally not intended BTW)
>
The only bit in Live Legends I hate is the tutu bits. Other than that, we
actually get the rare opportunity to actually see the band play their
instruments.

>With LiS I hate having to listen to it, and I find the
>"concept" overblown, embarrasing and vapid ;) Though
>there's alot of neat visuals and its an elaborate theatrical
>show.
>
>Am I the only one who finds A4/LiS albums to be
>extremely _sucky_?? *flat out* sucky?? ;)
>
I'm not a big fan of A4, and I don't like the LIS song and believe it to be
a dreadful title for a live show, but I like the older material they do on
it, as well as the instrumentals.

>>Chaos is badly filmed, and is really more like a
>> sequel to Chronicles,
>
>This is very true. Like an incoherent follow-up as
>regards "concept", or lack thereof. Static camera, not
>great sound. But I like the music and cartoons ;))
>
>There's this great bit in the middle of Dreaming City
>where the cartoons with the music create layers and layers
>of interpretations ;)
>
The Dreaming City is the best bit on the video.

>>but without any of the interesting visuals.
>
>What about the projection??
>Never mind those "dancers"...
>
The projection was ok, but it would have worked better if the filming was a
lot tighter. Those dancers were dreadful, made more so by the silly outfits.
I'd rather see dancers in plain, ordinary boiler suits than looking like
outcasts from a 60's Batman TV episode.

>> I also feel that the music on these 2 weren't really a good indication of
>> the HW sound.
>
>
>Well Chaos certainly could be comfortably
>filed next to Reading 86? Or even Chronicles??
>'86-87 are something of a "blank" period of HW,
>sandwiched between Chronicle and Xenon Codex,
>as far as new material goes.
>
The other main problem I had with Chaos, is that it was just the same songs
that appear on many live recordings, and there was nothing (apart from The
Dreaming City) that I've heard too many live versions of. Also, from what I
can tell, it was recorded only a few months after Chronicles.

>> Just my own thoughts on that.
>>
>> William
>
>Well, right on with the production end of it...
>
>What do other people make of all this? I for one
>wouldn't mind Night Of The Hawks and Chaos on CD.
>
I like the version of Dream Watcher on Night of the Hawks and, being a fan
of Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, UFO, etc..), was pleased to hear dialoque
from his movie Doppleganger at the start of it. I also like the version of
Psi Power, as well as the visuals on that bit.

I can think of other live material I'd prefer, though.

>And who else finds those cheezy sub-psychedelic
>FX on the SR94 video annoying? (maybe brief instances
>where they are somewhat braintwisting, but on the whole
>distract)
>
I too thought it looked good, particularly on the narrated bits, but was too
much. We saw little of the actual gig.

>But nothing comes close to Chronicles with that great encore
>- more Spinal Tap than Spinal Tap! Don't leave Melnibone without
>it...
>
Do you mean the bit on the extended video, as I've only seen the 50min
version?

William