Boney M: Fantastic Boney M. On Stage & On the Road (2007)

goodliife · July 30, 2011

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Disco / Pop | DVD-9 | Sony/BMG 88697 30106 9 |

DVD-9: PAL 720x576 (4:3), 7500 Kbps | PCM, 2ch, 1536 Kbps -> 5.60 Gb

“The DVD has two parts. The first is a concert given in 1977, which is a rare opportunity to see how Boney M recreated their hits live on stage, assisted by backing singers and a live band. Compared to the carefully crafted studio records we're used to, the live sound is a bit rough in places, but that's true of most artists. Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett shine, while it is particularly interesting to see how Bobby sang live, since of course he did not sing on the original records and usually mimed on TV.

I should mention that the concert part of the DVD is not perfect in terms of sound and video quality. In at least one song the backing vocals are louder than the lead, while the picture has some colour distortion and an obvious 'video jump' during Ma Baker. I'm told these faults occurred on the original videotape and could not be corrected. I assume these faults remain uncorrected for the UK release. Although the concert is one continuous recording, the first part of No Woman No Cry has been edited out, presumably because of some technical problem that was deemed unacceptable to show.

The second part of the DVD is a TV special where Boney M visit Jamaica. It combines musical performances with travelogue and comedy. The show is an interesting curiosity, if not as fascinating as the concert part. The TV special is in German but with English subtitles (the concert also has some brief German speech where Liz and Bobby talk to the audience, but of course the songs themselves are in English).

By J. Adlam, Amazon

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