UB40 – Food For Thought: Greatest
Hits Live (1981/Eagle Vision DVD/Rockpalast)
Picture: C
Sound: B- Extras: D Concert: C+
Just when you thought it was safe to listen to Reggae,
another UB40 concert is being issued on DVD.
This time, we get a much older show in a 1981 Rockpalast installment
issued here as UB40 – Food For Thought:
Greatest Hits Live. We have
previously looked at the band in a much more recent 2002 Montreux concert on DVD you can read more about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5588/UB40+%E2%80%93+Live+At+Montreu
Included is a link to a recent studio album. On this older concert, we do not have to
suffer through Red Red Wine or their
remakes, but get:
1) Present Arms
2) Tyler
3) King
4) Food For Thought
5) The Earth Dies Screaming
6) Don’t Let It Pass You By
7) Lamb’s Bread
8) Silent Witness
9) Sardonicus
10) One In Ten
11) Madam Medusa
12) Don’t Slow Down
13) Dr. X
14) Burden Of Shame
15) Signing Off
That is almost totally different from the 2002 show and
the results are more of a pure, rich Reggae show when the band was more firmly
in the genre. Accusations they became
too commercial are somewhat valid when you compare this to the other releases
we covered. They were more successful in
the U.K.
at this time and overall, but here, the band has more energy and everything
just works a little more. Still, this is
for fans and the curious only.
The 1.33
X 1 image is soft, but color is good and it is better more often than not from
what is likely an analog PAL video source, while the DTS 5.1 mix is just better
enough than the Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo mixes, but you can still hear
compression and other artifacts from the original recording. Still, someone did their best to make this
sound good and that is a plus.
- Nicholas Sheffo
