| DVDylan ID: | D550 |
| Recording type: | Audience |
"This DVD collection is dedicated to all the courageous and persistent people who cast their camera-eye on Bob Dylan in concert so that we all can see him."
- Hazel (San Francisco 1976)
- What Can I Do For You (Mannheim 1981)
- Just Like A Woman (Rotterdam 1984)
- John Brown (Rotterdam 1987)
- One Too Many Mornings (Essex Junction 1988)
- Peace In The Valley (Frejus 1989)
- I Want You (London 1990)
- It Ain't Me Babe (Budapest 1991)
- Hey Joe (Antibes 1992)
- Everything Is Broken (London 1993)
- Maggie's Farm (Ames 1994)
- Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Birmingham 1995)
- Seven Days (Liverpool 1996)
- I And I (NYC 1997)
- Simple Twist Of Fate (Newcastle 1998)
- Love Sick (New Haven 1999)
- Blind Willie McTell (Cardiff 2000)
- Forever Young (Toronto 2001)
- All Along The Watchtower (Nürnberg 2002)
- Jokerman (London 2003)
- Like A Rolling Stone (Toronto 2004)
- + "Easter Egg" (hidden bonus track)
| Number of discs: | 1 |
| Running time: | 02:07 |
| Video standard: | NTSC |
| Authoring: | DVDs with menu and chapters are circulating |
All tracks sound-upgraded.
Complete lyrics as subtitles on selected tracks.
D550 THROUGH THE YEARS LIVE VOLUME II
Setting aside the negligible, completist-only Hazel from 1976, D550 starts with a pair of early eighties vignettes that establish Bob's credentials right away. But once 1984's resplendent, harmonica-rich JLAW concludes, we plunge into a dull passage through the wilderness years that, on the evidence here, stretch across a long mid-eighties to mid-nineties decade. Then, finally, another cut - a '95 Tom Thumb - more than ordinary/mediocre and so into a far more satisfying run of uniformly strong performances through to 2004. Especially noteworthy are Simple Twist from a wonderfully-shot Newcastle '98 (see D218.su), an outstanding Nürnberg 2002 Watchtower that's also to be found as bonus on D482 (to get a taster, check out that disc's screenshots) and Le Fred lighting up the closing LARS (D331.su) in a way that nowadays is no more than a fond memory.
Access the bonus via the credits page (highlight BACK, press UP twice then look to the top right corner of the screen) - though be prepared for an anticlimax, for you'll find in your Easter Egg a second take of one of the tracks you've already seen. And I don't mean just the same song and year, but the same performance. Very strange.
If you like compilations, this won't disappoint. Four.
Reviewed by Jim50 on 29th October 2006
I don't hand out five star reviews very often or very easily, but I'm doing so on this stellar project.
I watched TTY Live Vol. 1 and enjoyed it, more or less. It felt like an interesting hodgepodge, quality viewing, but less so to me than entire shows. But on this second volume, Vygi has really outdone himself.
The video quality is consistently brilliant (well, save for "Hazel", which is still enthralling as a historical document, as noted by the previous reviewer), the audio is great, and most impressive to me, many of the performances are culled from semi-obscure sources.
It may just be my particular collection, but it seemed to me that many of the standouts on TTYL2 were from shows I'd never seen, nor heard much about. The Essex Junction 1988 "One Too Many Mornings" is a perfect example. My mind was blown-- I couldn't believe there actually IS footage from 1988 that is this close and watchable, and with excellent sound as well. Or consider "Love Sick" from New Haven, CT in 1999. That's a show I have seen, but Vygi is wise to include it, because it's fairly obscure, but absolutely outstanding.
This disc is what the compilation medium should be-- a sampler that has made me want to go out and find about a dozen new shows for my collection. While TTYL1 is enjoyable, it's TTYL2 that is a rock-solid addition to essential Dylan DVDs.
Absolutely, unquestionably, five stars.
Reviewed by Joe1235 on 16th December 2005