The Gospel Years

D001.sf/D187 LIKE A MORNING STAR

This is a double review, looking at D001.sf and D187, two DVDs which present the wonderful Toronto 20.4.80 show in slightly different ways. The two discs have much in common: thus sound and image quality are equally good in both cases. Both discs feature all of Bob's songs with almost all complete (first two lines of Precious Angel are gone and there's a badly-executed cut - more like a hack - which takes away all of the play-out of In The Garden). But then come the differences. The seven minute rap Bob delivers to introduce Solid Rock is retained on D001.sf only. There are eight songs and a story performed/told by other band members during the course of the show and these too are cut from D187. But this disc has other added material - to begin, Bob's three-song Saturday Night Live performance of 20.10.79 (very fine, but available elsewhere) and, to end, a Gospel Show encore song, I Will Love Him, recorded the previous evening. Less than fully realised, this performance is more like a live rehearsal than anything else, though none the less interesting for that. D001.sf's menu also features two additional bonuses - first a 16 minute interview (sound only) given by Bob to Paul Vincent on 18.11.80 and second a picture gallery which, at the click of a button, leafs through over 400 pictures of Bobs old and young, colour and b/w - an enjoyable mix of the common and not-so-common in five well-presented chapters.



You'll need to decide for yourselves which of these discs you'd sooner have. Maybe, like me, you'll want to acquire them both. Bob's sixties legacy is justifiably celebrated but, y'know what? Stacked alongside Bangladesh, RTRs I & II, BOTT/Desire, the '78 World Tour and the FW shows of late '79, these DVDs makes a strong case in support of the possibly heretical notion that D's most living, giving decade was actually the seventies. (Sure, the show-date is April '80, but the link back to his late-seventies "Born Again" phase is clear.)

I was mislead by having seen When He Returns on Through The Years 1 into thinking that the Toronto film was visually lame. Indeed, that track - Pressing On too - are shot with a single static camera due to D's piano-bound back-of-stage location. But otherwise the film is alive with colour, movement, plenty of revealing and varied camera angles - and, better yet, studded with performances of awe and wonder. See Bob brim full of grace (which I suppose makes him graceful), see him radiant with belief, burning with divine fiery zeal. You don't have to buy into his (arguably dubious) philosophy to enjoy these performances, but be warned - his passion and commitment are infectious! Don’t believe me? Check out the faces - sold every one - of the audience-members down by his feet.



Of course Rolling Thunder's great, of course it's indispensable - but this is too. These essential DVDs are among the elite few around that fully justify a five star rating. If you haven't already, get one or both of them now!

To Pete K and Steve A: I wanna thank you, boys... To Sony: a Fox Warfield '79 show for the next Boot Series release? PLEASE???

STARS Five

This is a good shoe that shows Bobs best Christian show.
Being a christian myself, you'd think i would love it.


It is worth having though.

L