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AC/DC - A Classic Album Under Review: Back in Black
R0 - America - Sexy Intellectual/MVD Distribution Review written by and copyright: Simo Liikanen (1st January 2007). |
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The Film
 AC/DC's "Back In Black" album has sold 42 million copies worldwide making it the second most sold album ever. Today the band itself does not show any signs of weariness or significantly diminished popular appeal. It is therefore no surprise that they are a subject of legions of books, biographies and other related products. This DVD examines in great detail the "Back in Black" album. The makers have in tow a number of contributors who are seasoned rock journalists or writers with AC/DC related writings under their belt. They provide insight, reflection and opinions on the album based on their previous experiences or research. Then we have two gentlemen from an AC/DC tribute band explaining the peculiarities of playing the songs on the album. They all do have the advantage of following the band for many years, and they present truly interesting viewpoints on their subject. However, regardless of this, their testimonies are opinions, researched perhaps, but opinions nonetheless. Now, "Back in Black" is truly a popular album, and if we would have had here a row of academics dissecting the album, it would probably lose the fan aspect and appeal of the DVD, so the stuff here is right. Most importantly the DVD includes statements from the albums engineer, who can really reflect on first hand experience and comes forth with stories from the recording sessions. This obviously adds value and information to the product and rescues the DVD from being a mere collection of informed opinions. It is not like we would hear from the producer himself, but the guy was there, and that's what counts. The DVD itself is well balanced between telling about the album and telling the story of the album. We go through all the tracks one by one, examine the riffs, structure of the songs, style of playing, production, equipment and everything between with decent precision. This has been wrapped into the story how AC/DC the band grew from a big band to a HUGE band despite adversities - mainly the death of their singer, and throwing in a new singer before an audience that traditionally dislikes front man changes. This story is also well told and does include a few surprises even for a long time fan like me, with the reservation that someone who has plowed through some of the writings the contributors have produced may already be well aware of these. Intertwined there is of course song samples and live performance snippets, at least most of them that are available today on different DVDs in whole. To whom would I recommend this product? Not surprisingly, to anyone who's interested in the band or the album - who would obviously spend well a couple of hours with this instead of arguing about the album drunk with their friends. Then again, I would warmly recommend this to those who are not so interested in the band or indeed the genre at all. Why? Because it would probably be beneficial to introduce themselves to a real cultural phenomena and be convinced that heavy metal fans can argue intellectually, and that the albums really are products of careful and deliberate creative work. Work out that open mind. By the way, the bolt on the animation's bell is not right.
Video
Nothing fancy here, interviews (mainly talking heads) are conducted at regular facilities and are intertwined with concert snippets from different sources, so this obviously mixes in some tape transfers. Then again, this is not exactly supposed to be a visual experience. Aspect ratio is 4:3 and running time 113:22 minutes (NTSC). "Single layer" disc is coded "R0".
Audio
The disc has one audio track: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (with surround encoding). There are no subtitles. Nothing fancy here either, it's mainly an interview disc; hearing it in 5.1 would be unnecessary.
Extras
-"Tony Platt in The Studio with AC/DC" -featurette (26:52 min): There's more interviews with "Back in Black" engineer Tony Platt, which goes partly over some of the stuff as was in the actual film. All other extras are text based showcasing CVs from contributors and a time killer as well as more related promotional material: -The Stories Behind the DVD's Contributors -The Hardest Interactive AC/DC Quiz in the World Ever -More AC/DC Related Products from Chrome Dreams There's the possibility to view the film in individual segments.
Packaging
"Limited Edition Packaging", but thatīs just the cardboard slip case (the disc is packaged in the regular keep case).
Overall
The whole package is well balanced and informative. Nearly two hours in length, I personally believe that it could've been trimmed down some, but once you take it on, why not go the whole distance? It sure is interesting enough.
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