Product Description

Studio: E1 Entertainment Release Date: 06/12/2007 Run time: 60 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77543 in DVD
• Brand: Koch International
• Released on: 2007-05-15
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 64 minutes

Customer Reviews

A bit of a disappointment.
As an Eagles enthusiast for the last 35 years I was quite interested to see this DVD dealing with the early material of the Eagles. Sadly, it doesn't live up to its potential. The commentary seems a bit forced and the production values border on weird. Basically it is comprised of some clips of early Eagles TV performances, mostly from a 1973 BBC appearance, interspersed with commentary from a number of minor figures in the British music industry.

For the most part the commentary adds little but causes abundant distraction from the concert footage. Most of the commentary seems to have a marvelous facility for the obvious. Honestly, a read of the Wikipedia article on the Eagles could give you as much information on their history, and it would probably be more accurate. The critique of the songs seems to miss the point completely. One particularly puzzling interpretation would have us believe that the song "Tequila Sunrise" was about a guy hanging out in a bar trying to pick up women. Somehow, I suspect that the person making that comment has never experienced watching a sunrise on the desert and doesn't begin to understand the layers of symbolism that the phrase "Tequila Sunrise" holds within the song.

If you look at the commentary as the price you pay for seeing the old concert footage the DVD almost works . . . except for a couple of absolutely pointless production values. For some inexplicable reason concert footage is frequently framed by a still, black and white photo of a billboard. All that this accomplishes is to make the concert footage much smaller. Later in the DVD they find an even uglier picture of an even smaller billboard and again show us why video editing equipment should be used judiciously and should never fall into the wrong hands.

If you are an Eagles fanatic with a high tolerence for mindless commentary you might want this for your collection, if not I'd advise giving it a pass.

Nostalgia....revisited!
I have appreciated the music of the Eagles since their very first releases and recommend this video to those who love the music and are interested in the history of the band. While the previous review makes a number of valid points about the production of this piece, I propose it is very enjoyable from primarily a nostalgic perspective.

To see Henley, Frey, Leadon, Meisner, Souther and Linda Ronstadt on stage live on a night where everything became "magic" is worth the price of this dvd alone. My disappointments had more to do with the quality of the audio, but given the technology of the times and the meager availability of audio/video material of the Eagles from that time-frame, I would still have to say it is extraordinarily entertaining.

So, a 3 star rating seems appropriate given the diminished audio quality but superb entertainment value for those who love the Eagles. If you're inclined to know more, I would highly recommend Marc Eliot's wonderful book "To The Limit: The Untold Story Of The Eagles" available here on Amazon, I believe. Reading this fine historical accounting of the band over the years added much value to watching this dvd.

Accuracy?
The first thing that came to my attention was the picture on the cover, which includes Don Felder and Joe Walsh, neither of whom had joined the Eagles at the time Desperado was recorded. Secondly, the "World's Greatest Album" has been universally accepted as the Eagle's weakest album, even by Don Henley himself. The album was by far their poorest seller and even the well-known songs of Tequila Sunrise and Desperado achieved only marginal success.