Taken from Pivotal Rage:
Robert Plant and The Strange Sensation Soundstage (DVD) - added - October 21st, 2006
Reviewer: Ruben Mosqueda
I have to come clean and say that first I felt that Robert Plants album with The Strange Sensation was respectable, but it was a victim of the Sanctuary Records' curse in which, anything they seem to get a hold of turns to shit. The record tanked, big time, due to lack of promotion. I did get a chance to see Robert and his new crew on a pair of American television appearances; they were excellent musicians he surrounds himself with first class talent always. The performances however were flat and it could have been that they hadnt gelled yet as they are a new band. Robert wasnt the charismatic guy that he was in Zeppelin or even the guy that he was when he reunited with Jimmy Page. Robert looked tired and worse for wear; his voice has clearly seen (or heard) better days, though he looked like he genuinely was trying to have a good time.
Which leads us to this DVD issued by Rounder Records; its the PBS Soundstage performance from this year. If you never seen this series it was huge back in the mid-70s through about the mid-80s and it has since been resurrected. The entire gig is shot in high definition and its very slick looking, the mix is superb, theres the nine track in the PBS version, there are two additional tracks that were added just for this DVD, Hendrix's Hey Joe, and Dylan's Girl from the North Country. Like with most classic rock artists, the audience come to hear the hits, which is no different here as the crowd is lifeless until Plant does new renditions of classics like Black Dog, Four Sticks, Gallows Pole and lastly Whole Lotta Love. Unfortunately there are no extras aside from the filler bonus tracks, which is very unfortunate, with DVD format, extras or Easter eggs are mandatory anymore. This DVD is good for a few spins, but I think its really for the die hard Zeppelin completists.
Robert Plant and The Strange Sensation Soundstage (DVD) - added - October 21st, 2006
Reviewer: Ruben Mosqueda
I have to come clean and say that first I felt that Robert Plants album with The Strange Sensation was respectable, but it was a victim of the Sanctuary Records' curse in which, anything they seem to get a hold of turns to shit. The record tanked, big time, due to lack of promotion. I did get a chance to see Robert and his new crew on a pair of American television appearances; they were excellent musicians he surrounds himself with first class talent always. The performances however were flat and it could have been that they hadnt gelled yet as they are a new band. Robert wasnt the charismatic guy that he was in Zeppelin or even the guy that he was when he reunited with Jimmy Page. Robert looked tired and worse for wear; his voice has clearly seen (or heard) better days, though he looked like he genuinely was trying to have a good time.
Which leads us to this DVD issued by Rounder Records; its the PBS Soundstage performance from this year. If you never seen this series it was huge back in the mid-70s through about the mid-80s and it has since been resurrected. The entire gig is shot in high definition and its very slick looking, the mix is superb, theres the nine track in the PBS version, there are two additional tracks that were added just for this DVD, Hendrix's Hey Joe, and Dylan's Girl from the North Country. Like with most classic rock artists, the audience come to hear the hits, which is no different here as the crowd is lifeless until Plant does new renditions of classics like Black Dog, Four Sticks, Gallows Pole and lastly Whole Lotta Love. Unfortunately there are no extras aside from the filler bonus tracks, which is very unfortunate, with DVD format, extras or Easter eggs are mandatory anymore. This DVD is good for a few spins, but I think its really for the die hard Zeppelin completists.
