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Review:
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Iron Butterfly formed in 1966, and while
their music initially slid under the radar of many a listener,
their 1968 hit In-A-Gadda-Da Vida became the quintessential
anthem of psychedelic rock. The band disappeared from the
musical spotlight as quickly as they had come into it, but
th ey weren’t done for. On and off again, the band continues
to reunite, record, and tour. In 1997, the band recorded
a European concert and some interviews. They are now available
in this DVD set. ***
The first part of this disc is the concert
itself. It runs just over an hour and features nine songs,
closing out with the band’s biggest hit. The band actually
manages to put on a pretty good show, despite the advanced
ages of the members as seen here. Yes, the lyrics and music
are horribly dated, and it’s a lot harder to take these
guys seriously than it would have been thirty years prior
to this. But I doubt any fan of the band will be disappointed
with the show. My only major complaint is that I wish the
band had used a vintage concert from the late sixties r
ather than a newer one well past their heyday such as this.
But, knowing how things were back then, it’s unlikely any
high-quality footage of the band performing from back them
still exists, so I guess I can’t complain. ***
And the second part is devoted to interviews
with these musicians. Unfortunately, these interviews are
edited and choppy, and thrown together in a sloppy fashion.
Yes, you’ll learn some interesting stuff here, even if you’re
already a fan of the band. I just wish they had put more
effort into this portion of the disc, because there is a
lot of interesting information to be had here. ***
Ultimately, whether or not you should
pick up this collection really depends on whether or not
you’re a fan of the group. There’s some interesting experiences
to be had here, but only die-hard fans of the group are
really going to get the most out of this collection. ---
Image and Sound:
The production quality on this disc isn’t
terrible, but it’s certainly below average compared to sim
ilar releases from bands of the same era. The film itself
looks aged and grainy, and the audio mix leaves a lot to
be desired as well. This is a competent transfer, and it
more than gets the job done. But I wish the manufacturer
had put a little more effort into the product. It would
have made the experience so much more worthwhile and enjoyable.
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Final Words: It’s good to see this underrated
group get a long-overdue DVD release, featuring concert
and interviews, no less. But the shoddy production quality
of the disc and sloppy throwing together of interview footage
do bring it down a few notches. Recommended, but only to
die-hard fans of the band.
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