7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
So stands as one of the greatest records of the 1980s, helping define its time to become a true classic album. The film features interviews with Gabriel himself, co-producer Daniel Lanois, bass players Tony Levin and Larry Klein, performer Laurie Anderson, drummer Manu Katché and Rolling Stone editor David Fricke amongst others.
Starring: Peter Gabriel, Daniel Lanois, George Acogny, David Fricke, Laurie AndersonMusic | 100% |
Documentary | 45% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
English: LPCM 2.0
English, French, German, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
This may come as something of a shock to younger readers here, but there was a time in the not so distant past when MTV played these things called “music videos”. These so-called “music videos” were short films used to promote an artist’s latest songs, and when MTV started broadcasting in August of 1981, there’s no denying that there was a primitive, almost quasi-home movie ambience to a lot of what was seen in those early days. (The foregoing is of course said with tongue firmly planted in cheek, for those who can’t easily discern tone in the printed word.) By the time Peter Gabriel’s So album was released in 1986, though, music videos had become decidedly more ambitious, and indeed there were often blatant attempts to push the artistic envelope with any given video outing. Still, probably no one expected Peter Gabriel, then still not exactly a household name and just beginning his mainstream explosion courtesy of So itself, to seemingly take over the airwaves with his inventive and frankly kind of goofy video for his huge hit “Sledgehammer”. As several commentators state in this appealing documentary built around the recording and release of So, many incorrectly thought of Gabriel as a kind of dry, persona-less artist, not realizing that he has an outré sense of humor, albeit one on the understated side of things, as is probably the case with many Brits. “Sledgehammer” was one of the first outright MTV “sensations”, a music video that exploded beyond the bounds of even that (then) music-centric channel and became part of a wider pop culture zeitgeist. It’s still one of the most fondly remembered music videos of all time, and there’s little doubt that it helped put Peter Gabriel firmly on the map as a major bestselling artist. But truth be told “Sledgehammer,” either the song or the video, is but one part of the So puzzle, and this brief but very informative documentary helps to fit all those other pieces firmly into place.
Classic Albums: Peter Gabriel So is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1 (with occasional elements in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio). The video quality here is about what you would expect of a contemporary television outing. Current interview segments pop rather nicely, if not overwhelmingly, with fine detail good enough that you can easily read the slider labels on Lanois' mixing board even in a midrange shot. Some of the stock footage and archival footage varies greatly in quality, but nothing is downright horrible throughout this enterprise. Some of the oldest Gabriel concert footage probably fares most poorly, but its historical value outweighs its iffy quality.
Classic Albums: Peter Gabriel So features an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 mix that suffices quite well for this documentary which only occasionally offers anything longer than a snippet of Gabriel's music. The bulk of this outing is talking head segments, and those are offered here with sterling fidelity if obviously not much in the way of even stereo separation. Some of the best sonic elements are actually in the supplemental features, where we get a bit more uninterrupted Gabriel music.
Big Time provides some background on this tune, including tyring to synch various tracks and ideas with each other.
Amnesty Tours has Gabriel talking about working with Bono to get the public more aware of Amnesty International.
The Making of 'Sledgehammer' talks a lot about Gabriel's sense of humor and how that informed the famous music video. In Your Eyes is a really interesting little piece on the multi-layering that created one of the most memorable songs off of the album.
Classic Albums: Peter Gabriel So is a really fascinating piece and should actually appeal to anyone with an interest in how an album is recorded and assembled, not necessarily only Peter Gabriel-centric fans. All of the interview segments are really cogent and informative, and Gabriel's contributions especially are quite thoughtful and insightful. Anyone who grew up as a child (or even adult) of MTV will no doubt remember the impact that "Sledgehammer" had at the time, but what this documentary makes clear is how careful the artists were in assembling the entire album from start to finish, a task which took an incredibly long and deliberate time to accomplish. This Blu-ray has some very appealing supplementary material which only adds to its allure, though some Gabriel fans are no doubt going to wish the disc offered more uninterrupted Gabriel music than it does. Despite occasionally questionable video quality elements, this release comes Recommended.
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