Product Description

Phil Collins: Face Value - A rare and welcome insight into Phil Collins' prodigious musical talent and the fascinating story of his first solo record. Includes the songs "In the Air Tonight," "I Missed Again" and more. "Steely Dan: Aja" - Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of the pioneering pop/jazz band Steely Dan recall the history of "Aja," an album that was a year in the making. Includes new performances of "Peg" and "Josie." "U2: The Joshua Tree" - Packed with interviews, archival film footage and powerful performances, this is the story of one of the best records of the Eighties. Includes "With or Without You," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105346 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-10-03
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, Compilation, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 180 minutes

Amazon.com
Originally produced for cable and home video as a documentary project, the Classic Albums series offers in-depth profiles of enduring rock and pop albums built around first-person interviews with the artists, producers, and musicians who created them. The profile of Steely Dan's elegant 1977 masterpiece, Aja, is a feast for Dan fans, a thoughtful, satisfyingly detailed assessment of the album and its bejeweled fusion of jazz, R&B, rock, and pop. Better yet, the documentary's producers elicit atypically straightforward, revealing interviews from the group's principals, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, who jettison enough of their signature sarcasm to touch on the autobiographical threads, cultural anomie, and serious musical ambition audible in their work.

U2's The Joshua Tree produced several hit singles, including "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," both of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100. The story of the making of this classic album is told through archival film footage and interviews with band members Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen, as well as long-time manager Paul McGuinness.

Phil Collins himself provides the bulk of the insightful commentary about Face Value. From his home studio, he discusses how the lyrics to "In the Air Tonight" wrote themselves after his painful divorce and why a drummer would ever use a drum machine. Also interviewed are Genesis colleagues Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, and many of the studio musicians. Songs such as "Behind the Lines," "I Missed Again," and of course "In the Air Tonight" are excerpted in both home and concert footage (some of it previously unreleased), and Collins accompanies himself at the piano in a wrenching "Please Don't Ask," which was cut from the album.

Customer Reviews

Great collection
So far I've only watched the Phil Collins and Steely Dan DVDs. The set is worth buying based on those two alone.

If you're a fan of these artists, you'll love this. If you're a fan AND a musician you'll REALLy love it. Very well put-together DVD. A rare glimpse into the personalities and musicianship of Walter, Donald, and Phil.

You too should get U2 with Collins and Dan
A very nice compilation of artists for the easy listener. The archive film footage and interviews with the members of U2 and Phil are very interesting and informative. But most importantly, the songs sound very good. I can remember hearing "With or without you" on the radio and wanting to buy the audio tape when it came out, but this is even better. I enjoyed it, having grown up around these artists, but I'm not sure I would suggest it for the younger generation or for people who just don't enjoy Phil Collins type music. I enjoyed it so I give it three out of five stars.