Henry Rollins – Uncut From NYC + The Henry
Rollins Show – Season One
Picture: C+ Sound: C/C+ Extras: D/C Main Programs: B
Always
thinking of Henry Rollins as a singer, it was hard to tell if his diversifying
would work out for him. The acting
career has been mixed so far, but as a stand-up comic, he has been better than
many have given him credit for. We
already looked at a few concerts as follows:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/331/Henry+Rollins+-+Talking+From+The
Now he’s
back with two more programs. Uncut From NYC shows he has not let up
on tackling controversial subject matter and has actually become better at
this. He is funny, is more used to an
audience he jokes with and talks to, not just sings and talks to. Yes, there is a big difference. This lasts 90 minutes and is very good. I was pleasantly surprised how much better he
became and it is so solid, that it makes me want to see him do this live. There are amusing outtakes, and not enough of
them, but are the only extra in either release.
The Henry Rollins Show – Season
One is not a
sitcom or a series of stand-up routines, but Rollins attempt do an interview
talk show with interesting people and have a music guest at the end of each
show. Guests include Oliver Stone, Chuck
D, Werner Herzog, Bill Maher, Billy Bob Thornton, John C. Reilly
among others, while music acts include Jurassic 5, Frank Black, Ben Folds, Ben
Harper, Aimee Mann, Death Cab For Cutie, Dinosaur Jr., Thom Yorke, New York
Dolls, Slayer and Ani DiFranco. And
that’s not the whole list! It is a bit
rough going for Rollins in this first season trying for a different approach,
but it is better than many that have come and gone. That’s why it too is worth a look.
The image
on all the discs are the same in limited sharpness and color, all taped in
analog video or early widescreen video.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is good on the concerts, but better on the
interview studio work. Why are the
concerts limited? It was the same kind
of limits in audio from those previous concerts that we reviewed and is
something Rollins needs to investigate.
He deserves to be heard as clearly as possible and a loud voice is not
always sufficient enough.
- Nicholas Sheffo
