This is fantastic.
It took 3 days and cost � 11 with postage to get from Australia into my grubby little mitts - and I can't take the thing off !
WOW.
I am watching - American viewers - on the computer and it makes nooo difference to me at all right now. One day, like you - I will get the stuff to watch it on the TV and that will be a fine day when I have it pumping out in the living room.
But until then...
The Spellbound documentary is a BEAUTY. I've always thought that that documentary was the best thing to sum up all of Split Enz. Better than compilation albums, better than books - but that was 'til this DVD turned up.
This is the best overall record of Split Enz ever. By quite a long way. And it's only 11 quid with postage - get on the case and get it.
What an obscene amount of work has gone in here. There's no question of that - the thing is just quality overload. I can't believe it - was reading all the posts and thinking surely they haven't gotten all that on there. But they have and no complaints from here, this is so good.
So Spellbound is here and what a brilliant documentary. The sound and vision is just the business - Sam Neill, crystal clear picture interviews and everyone speaking openly - just great. My girlfriend is a total Noel lover now - she is amazed at how dismissed the costumes can (seemingly) be sometimes. Favourite gear for her seems to be Tims pink on Anniversary (quote - how did he do that, just how did he get that to flow) and the Black and Whites, the artist ones from True Colours and definitely the Enz With A Bang ones. Eeeks - that's almost all.
Bonus nerd point number 1 : THINGS IS ON DVD ! I think this is a big deal ! When I had Bitz - I *must* have had 50+ emails asking about a copy of this. Must have done. My copy is naff so I never bothered sending it out - it's great to scratch this one off the list. The song and video stand up in my book too.
Bonus nerd point number 2 : Know Your Kiwis. It cracks me up ! It's quick but I grin each time. Where else could it go except for being a hidden thingie ? I like little touches like that - and that's a good 'un.
Bonus nerd point number 3 : Lord Nord ! YAY ! Split Enz in 2000 and sounding MAGIC as far as I'm concerned. Typically adventurous. Typically a bit way out. And typically I love it ! Unreleased track - lovely. Shame it isn't longer but still - tis good, me like and (cough) I now seem to have it on a CDR
So that's the hidden stuff - there is a chance that Abu Dhabi on the title music is a different recording ??? It's probably me, I haven't gone and checked back with the three (sheesh) versions of that one out there.. just sounded a bit different ? Probably not.
Enz With A Bang. GREAT STUFF ! Great. My terrible VHS version starts with Eddie cutting up that melon so all the stuff before that, including that terrific Six Months In A Leaky Boat, I had never seen or heard. Who can hear or have it all !? There is definitely plenty on this DVD for everyone.
Speaking of Enz With A Bang - I wonder just how many programs were broadcast at the time. Coz I've got stuff from THREE different broadcasts (all great performances but awful tv quality). So tapers of the recent NZ broadcast - gimme a nudge with what you have and let's get that one sorted. Great quality again on this, those occasional lines must be a fault of the filmers, can't be helped, my tape is just the same if not 10 times worse. And I don't really wanna go down the quality line here coz all this stuff is waay better than any of us could do. Miles better.
3 bits covered - love the menu. Don't have many DVDs but I do have that enormous Lord of the Rings extravaganza and the menus on the Enz DVD beat the ones on Lord of the Rings. So that will do me fine ! Love the background and the movement and selection - really cool. And the background loops seem to work much better than on any other music DVD I have. So that's good too.
Discography - great. A really good extra feature. Everything here is just history history - as many areas and years seem to have been covered marvellously. Sound samples a good move - we have them all anyway but maybe somebody in the world hasn't caught up yet and doesn't
Pictures - oh I'm sick and I wish I had some of them. They are all great and no way had I seen more than 50% of them. Great stuff. All this material never seen properly before.
Posters - oh more sickness. As Spoons said - getting Enz stuff in England was impossible then. Took me over 2 months of looking EVERY DAY to get Waiata and I even knew (for once) that it was out. So for posters and pics - no chance. I'd never seen hardly any of these and some of those need to be reprinted. Great again.
Shark Attack Anniversary is BRILLIANT. Well done and big thumbs up for working something out here. I do hope something else can be done again with this stuff. Top stuff. Another thing nobody had seen etc.. Zzzz - almost getting bored with all this exclusive stuff hee hee
She Got Body Countdown - hadn't seen that either. Don't care that it's a mime - we didn't get Countdown in England - it looks as horrendous a program as some similar ones here so hats off to the band for tolerating a necessary evil.
Charley True Colours. OK ! Enough prick teasing now ! My copy of this so-called promo release with the extra songs is AWFUL in comparison. You just know that all the sound and picture here is as good as can be - this is miles better than the copy I have. Almost looks like a different gig and far more enjoyable. All this stuff makes a difference I think ! Let's see more from that gig as well please - most definitely - How Can I Resist Her. Crikey. But this is really good - watched it 4 times - blows me away.
Outback Tour - Ghost Girl appears on nothing and then when you hear it on this it's like - why doesn't it ? Too much quality ! It's GREAT ! Great again - blimey. Sadly not the greatest What's The Matter With You (Hammersmith anyone ?) but I love the song, 22 years old now and still singing it when it came on. Good enough for me.
Sight And Sound -
Worth every penny and definitely the best stuff picked for that one. Definitely. We only have True Colours once and never on video - and never has enough of a public meal been made out of the GLORIOUS Woman Who Loves You. 100% result here. Yet again - sound and picture just magic - this is 25 years ago groovers and look at them go. Miles ahead.
What a lot of stuff I've said and I haven't even got to what most people put out as a music DVD - the videos.
If it would 'just' have been the videos - all with better sound - and all remastered (the VHS does not compare no way anywhere to the DVD) - then surely we'd be giving 9/10. All the stuff above is bonus points and there's so so much.
The vids get at least 9/10 - 90 mins of brilliant songs sounding and looking as good as poss. All the other stuff, surely the DVD hits the 5 star or 10/10 level. Surely.
Jamboree, Things and Hermit are better songs and videos to me than I Dont Wanna Dance, Never Ceases and Next Exit. I dont like putting something on and thinking I may skip something - with those on it, I may have done.
Massive post. Massive release. Massive.
Best overall Enz thing ever. Captures all the years. Brilliant picture. Brilliant sound. And on it goes again - see ya later.