Spock's Beard - Don't Try This At Home & The Making Of V


Year of Release: 2002
Label: Inside Out
Catalog Number: IOMDVD 001 / SPVDVD 65357
Format: CD
Total Time: 300:00:00

"Life is full of surprises," says Neal Morse and he probably couldn't imagine how far his saying would reach two years or so later. With his having left the band, it now sinks in bit by bit that we will never see the original line-up perform Snow live, and that we will never ever again witness that fantastic duel on one acoustic guitar by the Morse brothers. At a time when Spock's Beard had grown into one of the world's most important new bands, more and more people were queing up to see the band live. Now all they can do is buy this DVD, put the phone off the hook and indulge themselves in what we could call "the healing colours of sound ? and vision!"

This DVD package actually consists of two separate discs that are delivered as one so as to define Spock's Beard Mark I. Having seen the Beard at least eight times live, if not more, I must confess that this is (was?) one hell of an experience with five musicians who individually are ace musicians in their own right. The diversity of instruments, the versatility of the musicians, and the perfect concoction of every prog highlight in the book make of this band a unique experience. Disc one (Don't Try This At Home) offers you a complete concert by the band as recorded on 28th September 1999 in Tilburg, Holland during the band's Day For Night tour. Shot by a professional crew armed with five cameras, this does indeed give a good idea of what to expect when the band hits the road. I'd say play loud! As loud as you can on your home cinema system and if you're one of those lucky ones who owns a huge screen then it'll be as if you're on stage with these guys yourself! Someone from the enthusiastic crowd can sing along during "Skin," Alan Morse suddenly finds himself at the other side of the venue during "Go The Way You Go," and when the band performs "June," it's as if we're witnessing a CSNY outtake. During "The Doorway," brothers Neal and Alan Morse are accompanied by Nick d'Virgilio, all armed with acoustic guitars. Let us also not forget the wacky keyboard solo performed my master of ceremonies Ryo Okumoto. This first disc also contains some interesting bonus material such as the brainstorming in order to find the right lyrics for "Gibberish" which Neal refers to as Spock's second tribute to Gentle Giant. With Neal Morse on drums it's Nick's turn to get all of the attention as the lead vocalist during the band's rendition of the Purple classic "Space Truckin'". Recorded live in Lansing that was a long time before Star One decided to tackle the same song! Finally, it's that great moment when both Morse brothers attack the same acoustic guitar, resulting in something unique that should be aired on every TV channel in the world at least once! Their technical tour-de-force ends with a little piece of "The Clap."

To me however the second disc is the most interesting one. Indeed The Making Of V does exactly as its title implies, being a documentary as to how an album is recorded. From the first ideas to the recording of the backing tracks to the various overdubs to the actual mixing, it's all there. Neal once again is our master of ceremonies and the way he promotes his newly bought camera to his father Paul almost suggests we can speak of a certain endorsment here! This DVD brings us right into the household of Neal and also visits the home studios of Alan and Ryo. The pictures show us that a lot of V has actually been recorded at Neal's home, in his tiny studio which is situated ? right behind the Morse kitchen. So much for privacy! To enhance the feel of home video entertainment the kids are given a role here, too. We see Alan's daughter Julia playing the organ. Then there's Sophia d'Virgilio attacking the drums. And what about Jayda, Wil, and Julia dancing to ELP's "Tarkus"? What a great alternative to a rerun of Sesame Street! So in a way this DVD allows every Spock's Beard fan to be kind of a voyeur, which might be second nature for some! We are taken to the famous Lawnmower and Garden Supplies studios where Neal shows his fatherly love towards newly born Anthony d'Virgilio. How sweet. We see Mike Johnson sweating in the studio as well as partner in crime Rich Mouser. What's interesting for a true fan is not to know that the actual album is called V, but that it could have been Jadat, Akindao, Palunkaville, Hapi, Revelation, Echoplex, Buzz, Pungent, Five, Fifth, Opus Says Me, Opus Sesame, Opus Operandi, Monitor, Finally, Brick Tea, Conference, Reflect, Plunge or even as original as "Untitled"! So count your blessings it became V in the end. The disc also gives proof about the real person behind Neal Morse. Before he starts recording his lead vocals for "At The End Of The Day" he prays. On the wall there's a huge picture of The Beatles and at the very end of this disc he asks: "Can I quit now?" whilst the titles read: "On August 22nd 2000, Spock's Beard released V ? and Neal didn't quit." Looking back at all this one can really ask himself whether Neal already had plans of leaving the band way back in 2000 or whether this was just an inside (out?) joke at the time.

The Making Of V was already released on VHS-tape a while ago through Radiant Records. Not only has it been given the DVD treatment, it also sports four extra bonus tracks. First there's the "All On A Sunday" promo video which looks great for primetime MTV airing but sadly never was given the opportunity. Maybe the musicians in the video are a bit too old for MTV? We also see the nucleus of the band performing "The Doorway" in an acoustic fashion in a store. The same night of that promotional tactic sees "Go The Way You Go" recorded at the famous Whisky A Go-Go in LA. The quality of the pictures is rather dark so maybe the should have played "The Light"? And then there's that weird recording of "June" which also quality-wise doesn't mean much but towards the end of the song someone comes on stage wearing Peter Criss makeup. After some dance moves the Kiss lookalike gets behind the drums and joins the band, only to reveal his true identity once the song is finished as being ? Mike Portnoy! Not sure however if this little bit of candid footage will be sufficient to sell truckloads of this DVD to Dream Theater fans the world over!

In all this is a package which is real value for money. In total you get more than five hours of Spock's related footage which kind of ends the Mark I era of the band. I heard rumours that certain copies of this DVD set also contain the bonus disc from the Snow album, however I'm not sure whether this is a local promotional thing or an extra incentive for a certain period. [US version contains a bonus disk, featuring "South Side Of The Sky", live acoustic sessions and SNOW studio out-takes ? ed.] With or without this disc however the 2DVD set is worth every cent and unlike some other DVD's you will play this one again and again and again and ?


Tracklisting:
Disc One: Don't Try This At Home: Day For Night / In The Mouth Of Madness / Skin / Gibberish / June / The Healing Colors Of Sound / Go The Way You Go / Ryo's Solo / The Doorway / The Light / Squonk / Waste Away / Fire

Disc Two: The Making Of V: In studio during the making of V plus:

Musicians:


Discography:
The Light (1991)
Beware of Darkness (1995)
The Beard Is Out There Live (1995)
Official Live Bootleg (1996)
The Kindness of Strangers (1997)
From The Vault - 1995-1998 (1998)
Day For Night (1999)
Live At The Whiskey and NEARfest (1999)
Don't Try This At Home (2000)
V (2000)
Snow (2002)
Feel Euphoria (2003)
The Light - The Artwork Collector's Series (2004)
Octane (2005)
Gluttons For Punishment (2005)
Spock's Beard (2006)
Live (2008)
X (2010)
Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep (2013)
The Oblivion Particle (2015)
Noise Floor (2018)

The Beard Is Out There Live (VID) (1995)
Spock's Beard's Home Movie (VID) (1998)
Live At The Whisky (VID) (1999)
Making Of V (VID) (2001)
Don't Try This At Home & The Making Of V (DVD) (2002)
The Making Of Snow (DVD) (2004)
Live (DVD) (2008)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin US

Added: January 12th 2003
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.spocksbeard.com
Hits: 2338
Language: english

  

[ Back to Reviews Index | Post Comment ]