Eric Clapton – Live At Montreux 1986 (DVD-Video)
Picture: C Sound: B- Extras: D Concert: B-
It is
something to think young white male Rock fans were so amazed by Eric Clapton
not that long ago that they would write “Clapton IS God!” all over the place in
pre-Hip Hop Graffiti that was nothing short of phenomenal and obsessive. By the 1980s, this was actually still going
on. However, the erosion of such
sentiments began when Clapton started becoming more Pop oriented and Eric Clapton – Live At Montreux 1986 really
shows how Clapton was starting to run into trouble. What started this? Working with Phil Collins!!!
Yes, Phil
Collins, a man who helped to end the counterculture edge of Rock music by being
so boring, pretentious, ignorant, tired, goofy and obnoxious. Forget the few film projects. He was having some of the worst chart toppers
of the era while Clapton’s biggest hit around the time of this show was the barely
Top 30 repeating himself somewhat with Forever
Man. Not surprisingly, that is not
one of the hits played here.
Unfortunately,
he does play his biggest hits in one of the poorest concerts he ever
taped. From I Shot The Sheriff and Cocaine
to Layla (at its original fast pace)
and Sunshine Of Your Love, Collins
manages to try and make every single song sound like a Genesis or solo Collins
record, including any connection to the original TV Miami Vice he can bang out. The
results are a disaster, but the kind you still have to see and especially hear
to believe it. What was Clapton
thinking?
Collins
actually drains the energy out of these hits and slows them down, if not
outright tripping up every single song.
Clapton’s personal tragedy a few years later gave him a bittersweet
comeback in 1992, but this is a collaboration that just does not gel and you
should see why. Just be warned that this
runs for almost two hours!
The 1.33
X 1 image is soft and shot on analog video, likely NTSC format. The sound was not recorded to be
multi-channel, but in addition to its PCM 2.0 16bit/48kHz Stereo is a Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix and slightly better DTS 5.1 mix. The combination is not always pleasant, but
Eagle Eye has done their best to present it at the highest fidelity under the
circumstances.
- Nicholas Sheffo
