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  Directed by
    None Listed
  Starring
    None Listed
  Specs
  • Full Frame
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
  • None
  Extras
  • Interviews - 47 minutes
  • Music-only track - 11 track Sampler
The Cars - Live
Warner Vision/Warner Vision . R4 . COLOR . 45 mins . E . NTSC

  Feature
Contract

The Cars were one of the bands of the ‘70s and ‘80s and FM radio loved ‘em, but they weren’t alone. They may have only recorded a handful of studio albums, but each sold at least a million, and by the time they released their fifth, Heartbeat City, The Cars were world beaters and FM radio staples.

The intimate performance on this DVD sees The Cars in fine form in 1978 in Germany of all places. International touring was never something The Cars felt obliged to do. The Cars - Live appears to be a television broadcast for a show called Musik Laden. As such, there is not a huge crowd, but this works just fine. The band run through 11 songs from their early career, and while some are unfamiliar, most have that definitive Cars sound.

Hailing from Boston, The Cars were in the fortunate spot of having two lead vocalists, being main songwriter and guitarist Ric Ocasek and bass player Ben Orr. The band was rounded out by lead guitarist Elliot Easton, drummer David Robinson and a keyboardist, the Trevor Horn look-alike Greg Hawkes. Sometimes billed as a punk/new wave band, they were quick to shrug that tag and rightly so. Their sound might best be described as electro new wave rock, whatever that is.

The Cars were excellent musicians with a keen sense of timing and song structure, and were able to deliver catchy songs full of strong harmonies and killer riffs. Those who were teenagers in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s will need no reminder of how catchy their songs were, and will be tempted to check this out, but caution is advised. The audio and video quality are a little shoddy, and although the songs are performed well, this is a fairly short set at just 45 minutes. Being 1978, many of their biggest hits are absent for obvious reasons. Fans will not need any convincing, but for the rest, caution is advised.

Track listing...

Good Times Roll
Bye Bye Love
Nightspots
I'm in Touch With Your World
My Best Friend's Girl
Candy-O
You're All I've Got Tonight
Take What You Want
Since I Held You
Don't Cha Stop
Just What I Needed

  Video
  Audio
  Extras
Contract

Hmm. Real fans are going to be somewhat disappointed by the overall 'averageness' that this DVD has been afforded. Hardly surprising, it is a full frame presentation, and dating from 1978 means that the recording equipment used was quite clunky when compared to today's state-of-the-art equipment and the quality suffers accordingly. This DVD is also in NTSC format so make sure you have compatible equipment.

"So what's wrong?", you may ask. Well, the colouring is a bit all over the place but some of this can be attributed to the lighting in the studio, and some of it can be blamed on chroma noise. Black levels are quite grey at times. There is an overall softness to the whole image akin to VHS standard, and grain is occasionally noticeable. There is some obvious flaring and cometing on such things as overhead lstage ighting. At least there are no tape glitches and no marks, but there is some regular and obvious microphony (horizontal bands) that plague every number. The back cover does warn of "technical anomolies inherent in historic footage".

It must also be pointed out that there are burned-in song titles with every song, and a band member listing in the third song that only serves to date the footage and its source. There is no layer change.

The main feature has just the one audio option and that is a Dolby Digital 5.1, however I would recommend piping it to just the front two speakers as this improves the overall sound. The 5.1 is essentially fake in that it has been remastered from a stereo source and the centre and rear channels are little more than room 'filler'. It doesn't sound awful, it just doesn't sound brilliant either. The subwoofer gets a bit of a workout, but it's quiet much of the time. When piped to just two speakers the whole audio sounds a bit beefier.

The sound range is a bit limited and offers few really bassy sounds, and the trebles are not exactly crystal clear. It is not all bad however, as each instrument and vocal can be clearly heard and the audio doesn't sound cluttered. There are also no problems with the basics such as volume, and synchronisation is spot on.

The first of two extras is an 11 Song Sampler that will play you Dolby Digital stereo snippets of 11 Cars songs. The second and very worthy extra is the Band Interview that at 47 minute runs longer than the actual performance, but will please fans no end and may be the thing that tips the balance for the undecided. Recorded in 2000, it features all five original members, and was a special gathering to discuss this performance and other Cars related matters. It is of superior quality to the feature, and was one of the last times all five were together before Ben Orr lost his battle with cancer. It was also their first interview in over ten years. All five are surprisingly open, honest and interesting, although Ben's advanced cancer means he looks frail and his input is minimal.

Few bands last forever, but The Cars had a pretty good run, recorded some fine songs and released successful albums. Their catchy songs are sure to be heard on radio for some time yet, and while this DVD is not of the greatest quality, it certainly finds the band in fine form.


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  •   And I quote...
    "Great band, great songs, not so great audio and video..."
    - Terry Kemp
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Akai
    • TV:
          TEAC CT-F803 80cm Super Flat Screen
    • Receiver:
          Pioneer VSX-D409
    • Speakers:
          Wellings
    • Centre Speaker:
          Wellings
    • Surrounds:
          Wellings
    • Subwoofer:
          Sherwood SP 210W
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
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