It seems that in recent years it has become economically feasible for anyone and everyone to create a disc about their favorite band. Wading through the plethora of discs on the market, every now and then a real gem turns up. Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who is one of those discs.

It is unforunte that this disc gets lost amid thos other ones, because it really is so much better than many other rocumentaries on the market. The first disc is a documentary of The Who, Directed by Murray Lerner with the blessing and cooperation of the band. The surviving members from the original line-up, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, participate in the film.

Lerner uses old clips and actual music by The Who to tell the story of their rise to fame and time in the spotlight. This alone will make it worth viewing. Too many products on the market don't use the actual music by the band, but instead tell their story to a soundtrack recorded by studio musicians who try their best to sound like the subject of the documentary. They fall far, far short. Amazing Jorney: The Story of The Who has the music the band was playing all the way from the early years in blues clubs to the modern performances in arenas before thousands of fans.

Roger Daltrey, Pete Townsend, and the late John Entwistle appear as well. Even their families participate, telling stories about the band members growing up as well as once they hooked up and began playing music.

The documentary begins with scenes of wartime London, giving the setting for what the members of the band were born into. The band started out as a five-piece band called The Detours. However, the format didn't work as well as it did when it was just Roger, Pete, and John together. When they changed drummers and added Keith Moon, they seemed to have found the magic formula.

The interviews with Daltrey, Townshend, and Entwistle works well with cuts back to old photographs and film of what they are talking about. This keeps the pace going well, which also kept my attention. There's terrific old footage that most fans have probably never seen before. The footage of Keith Moon singing Barbara Ann in his first band is absolutely priceless.

The insight into the high point of The Who's career is terrific. Tommy is covered quite well, as are most of the albums, especially in the early years. The live footage is terrific, especially the myriad of concerts showing Keith Moon before his death. As someone who only saw The Who live with Kenney Jones, I now truly regret missing out on the live shows when Moon was the drummer.

Modern performers such as Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, The Edge from U2 and Noel Gallagher from Oasis are also on the DVD to comment about their impressions of the band. This serves to show how these classic artists influenced the next generation of rock musicians. I thought this was valuable as I watched it because when I talk to the teens in my home about bands I grew up listening to, I usually get some pretty strange looks.

The documentary doesn't shy away from the controversial moments in the band's history. It covers events such as the concert in Cincinnati where so many fans died, Keith Moon's death, more recent happenings such as Entwistle's death and even talks about how that and the accusations of child pornography agains Townshend brought him and Daltrey closer than they have been in years.

The second disc seems to be a lot of things that ended up on the cutting room floor of the original documentary, but were important enough that it should be out there for people to see. Six Quick Ones has interviews and biographies of Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Pete Townshend, Keith Moon, and more. There's extended interviews with some of the people from the first disc.

The High Numbers at the Railway Hotel 1964 is a restored clip from an early performance by The Who which was in front of a lot of Mods. It was ironic that I saw this so soon after viewing Quadrophenia and I understood what was happening all the more.

Scrapbook contains stories from people about incidents that didn't quite make the original cut. There's a terrific bit with the manager of The Who talking about what happened in Cincinnati.

For all of these, the transfer and restoration is terrific. The old footage has been restored and although it's not as crisp and clean as modern digital recordings, it's quite good. The same is true of the sound,w hich is excellent.

Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who is probably one of the best documentaries I've come across. The candid participation of the members of the band and their families helps quite a bit to give insight into the events that shaped the band as well as the music. It's also very accessible, resonating with a younger generation as well as bringing back memories to those of us who lived through some of it or all of it. It shows all of the band, the good and bad, the warts as well as the moments where they shine. It puts their impact on the world in the proper context, and also shows the impact of what was going on in the world on them. All in all, it's a solid documentary. I wish more were done this way.


Other reviews about The Who:

The Who: Live From Toronto ~ Quadrophenia



© 2008 Patti Aliventi

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD