HardReviews 4
by Martin Popoff
Slayer - War At The Warfield
(American)The long-awaited Slayer DVD (to be followed by the long-awaited box set), does not disappoint. The concert is fully 19 tracks long and both the sound and the visuals are top notch. Songs from God Hates Us All fit right in like a tattooed human bull in a Slaytanic mosh. But the thing everybody is talking about is the fan section, which paints a truly disturbing picture of America's future leaders. Funny but sad, this docudrama catches all manner of Slayer disciple swearing, slurring, screaming, roaring, Satanicizing, and for the most part badly articulating their allegiance to this most heinous and singular of extreme metal bands. Hats off to the interviewer for asking silly questions, because in fact, they really allow the collected circus of idiots to tee off. Interspersed are interview bits with the band, who also seem to have a hard time putting their finger on what makes Slayer resonate year after beer. Even Kirk Hammett is consulted, and he fails. Same with Scott Ian. The music speaks for itself however, even if the fans are way funnier. And actually, on that front, there's an amusing bit on how Tom doesn't need to speak much on stage anymore: we al just know. Also included is the wicked video for 'Bloodline' and then a boring "making of" it. Highlight: the Chris Farley lookalike... that guy oughta be in pictures.
Rating 8.5Foreigner - The Foreigner Story: Feels Like The First Time
(Warner Music Vision)This is crap as a DVD goes, The Foreigner Story essentially being a released of a 1991 one hour documentary on the band. Having said that, it's a solid, packed hour, and hell, it's rare that I spend more than an hour with a multi-tiered DVD proper anyway. But man, this isn't even split into chapters. Anyway, what you get is all sorts of interview footage with the band (nothing to say, and they say it slowly too, especially Mick) and Billy Joel (?), who actually does have some interesting, philosophical things to say about songwriting. But it's kind of cool because a) this is a pretty anonymous bunch of guys, and the band didn't do too many interviews and b) there is an assortment of live footage in which the band really show their chops as players, nuancing and accenting all those simple songs that became all those smash hits. Included is the video for I Want To Know What Love Is, but the "hard rock" comes in the form of Long, Long Way From Home, Double Vision and Hot Blooded, on which Lou Gramm proves his Paul Rodgers mettle.
Rating 5.5
