Review of Who And Special Guests, The: Live At The Royal Albert Hall

Introduction

The Who were founded in 1964 and became phenomenally successful due to memorable songs like "Who Are You", "My Generation" and the rock opera "Tommy". As with many super-groups, the band produced the majority of their best material in the early years, and have largely been living on their reputation since the late seventies, occasionally reforming for reunion concerts which have mixed commercial success. The original drummer, Keith Moon, died of a drug overdose in 1978, and was nearly followed by Pete Townsend in 1981.

This concert was recorded in 2000, and the band includes Pete Townsend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle, who died earlier this year.

Video

The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and is of above average quality. The image is sharp and clear, with no blemishes on the print, however, there is some grain evident. There is plenty of contract and the image is colourful.

Visually, this is pretty much as you would expect from a rock concert filmed at the Albert Hall - plenty of footage of the band with their lightshow, with shots of an adoring crowd cut in periodically for good measure.

Audio

The soundtrack comes in a choice of Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0. I listened to some songs with all three soundtracks; and came to the conclusion that there wasn`t much to choose between the two 5.1 channel soundtracks. DTS track sounds a little warmer than the Dolby Digital one, but the difference is comparable to a small alteration to the bass control on your amplifier. In both tracks, vocals are always clear and the sound mix is well balanced. In comparison, the Dolby Digital 2.0 track is very flat and lifeless.

As far as the songs go, I`ve never been a huge fan of The Who, and whilst the songs on the disc are well performed, after I`d listened to the famous tunes, I soon became tired with what I consider to be bland songs best listened to in moderation.

Features

The extra features can be found on the second disc, and include an interview with Roger Daltrey, a multi-angle version of Pinball Wizard (with the choice of Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 sound), a couple of minutes of backstage action and some short segments of rehearsal footage.

Despite being a two disc version; none of the extras are particularly exciting and struggle to justify the inclusion of an extra platter.

The discs are packaged in a slimline black case, which also contains a booklet of photos taken by Bryan Adams at the concert - I`d suggest that he sticks to singing, because they are crap!

Conclusion

I`m not a huge fan of "The Who" and this disc didn`t do anything to change my mind. There are some good songs on the disc, but there is also a lot of tedium in between. Not having seen any other live footage of the band for many years, I can`t really comment on the quality of the performance, but it certainly seems quite good.

The video and sound are both good, but the extras don`t really live up to expectations.

Overall, if you`re a fan of the band, you`ll probably like this disc, otherwise it might be worth looking out for in your local rental shop/library.