Live Revolution Rock :: Education by Design Store

Editorial Review
THE CLASH LIVE: REVOLUTION ROCK is an exciting new documentary film directed by long-time Clash collaborator and Grammy-winning producer Don Letts (Westway To The World) that chronicles the electric live performances of one of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK.

The film follows the live transformation of the band, incorporating footage from all phases of the Clash's meteoric career, beginning with live-in-the-studio clips and climaxing with a blow-out performance at New York's Shea Stadium in 1982. With rare and previously unreleased footage from all over the world, this film documents the history of the band by showcasing their incredible live performances, and will be a draw for both the new fan and their established passionate followers.

Customer Reviews

So disappointing -- A missed opportunity

2008-07-06
Every time I see this DVD in my collection I get angry! What a missed opportunity. There is so much great footage available out there but this eagerly awaited live DVD under-delivers in three ways:

1 - Almost all of the clips are available elsewhere (there's nothing really new)

2 - Don Letts has the cheek to include his own Tommy Gun clip which is lip-sync video not a live track

3 - The voice-over is patronizing, dumb and annoying.

What would have been great would've been a DVD which took "Clash on Broadway" as an inspiration and delivered a compilation with the same depth and integrity as that CD boxed set.

Instead we get this very lazy cash-in.

A real missed opportunity.

Not the Topper but still worth it.

2008-05-20
If you're a Clash fan trying to teach your children about what you listened to when you were their age, then this is the second vid to start with. Start out with "Westway to the World".

After watching this with my daughter she now has some Clash on her ipod. We went for a drive the other day and she asked to listen to "I fought the Law". It made me want to cry.

Buy it for the moments that count.

Strummer is always good...

2008-05-16
Didnt realise I could order from US website with my UK details which was fantastic. - Hats off to Amazon!
Quality of product? well if you order anything with The Clash Or Joe Strummer and are a fan, you hope you wont be let down.
This is class - some old - some new - Don Letts always ensures quality.
Value for money and post from US to UK - less than a tenner.
Buy this if you are a fan - you wont be disappointed.
Woody
Derby,England

Live Revolution Rock

2008-05-08
Though the Clash still are the Only Band That Matters, this DVD does not matter so much. It's always nice to see footage of the band playing, of Paul Simmonon doing his punker bass-player thing, Joe doing what he did (not quite singing the lyrics or playing his guitar), Mic desparately trying to do something good and poppy, and Topper rocking quite hard. But there's nothing too new here. The commentary is not worth having on, and a lot of the live performances we've already heard on bootlegs and live releases. Westway to the World is far better...and if you're looking for some footage even more in the raw, Rudeboy is always a good bet.

...in your life, you like it well...

2008-05-05
...I agree with many of the other reviewers here-much of this footage is available elsewhere, and there are some exclusions and omissions that are glaring.
Most irritating, however, is the attempt to combine these performances into a cohesive documentary, through the use of voice-over narration over the beginning and end of each song. This is disruptive, as i was hoping for a "video jukebox" approach, lacking any need to cohere the material. Equally, the voice-over says things like "London Calling-a double album, with the hidden track 'Train in Vain'"-obvious, uninteresting Clash 101 platitudes. I might not be so frustrated if the voice told me who played the keyboards on the last song, or other obscure factoids, something new and interesting for folks who already know, at the very least, who the band members are.
So, while its great to see the new material, and to study it, this is a sadly capitalistically-minded package.

Aw Man!

2008-04-24
THE CLASH LIVE: REVOLUTION ROCK is an exciting new documentary film directed by long-time Clash collaborator and Grammy-winning producer Don Letts (Westway To The World) that chronicles the electric live performances of one of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Complete Control
2. I Fought The Law (London Lyceum '79)
3. Police & Thieves (Munich '77)
4. What's My Name (Manchester Elizabethan Suite '77) - previously unreleased
5. Capitol Radio One (Manchester Elizabethan Suite '77) - previously unreleased
6. White Riot
7. I'm So Bored With The U.S.A (Manchester Apollo '78) - previously unreleased
8. London's Burning (London Victoria Park '78)
9. 1977
10. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (Glasgow Apollo '78)
11. Tommy Gun
12. Safe European Home (London Music Machine '78)
13. London Calling (Bonds International Casino '81)
14. Clampdown (Lewisham Odeon '80)
15. The Guns Of Brixton (Fridays '80) - previously unreleased
16. Train In Vain (Lewisham Odeon '80)
17. This Is Radio Clash (Tomorrow Show With Tom Snyder '81) - previously unreleased
18. The Magnificent Seven (Tomorrow Show With Tom Snyder '81) - previously unreleased
19. Brand New Cadillac (Tokyo Sun Plaza Hall '82) - previously unreleased
20. Should I Stay Or Should I Go (Shea Stadium '82)
21. Know Your Rights (US Festival '83) - previously unreleased
22. Career Opportunities (Shea Stadium '82)

Another incomplete cash-grab... 2008-04-17
There's some great stuff here, to be sure, but VERY few complete performances. Songs get thru two verses, then get jammed into some lousy graphics or a voice-over that gives no real input into what we're seeing. Why cut off "White Man In Hammersmith" two lines from the end? Why not have the full performances from The Tomorrow Show instead of chopping them off right before the climax? There's already a perfectly good Clash documentary out there ("Westway To The World", highly recommended if you've not seen it), so the only real reason to pick this up is to see some new footage and hear how powerful the group's live performances were. And this doesn't achieve that. Hang on to your bootleg DVDs, your VHSs taped off late night TV, the clips downloaded from wherever... That's still (sadly) the only way to get the best of "the only band that matter".

So in short, the tracklist looks good, but the product falls very flat. Only for the true completist. Sad, but true.

SAW IT ON PUBLIC TELE 2008-03-08
When I saw this it was constantly interupted by the channels hosts asking for donations over and over and over and over and over.......so about 30 min. of the DVD was not shown in lieu of this. At the end of the show I heard a snipet of "Pressure Drop" hoping it would show up on the track listing, since I've yet to see them perform it. It even listed it in the shows scrolling credits and of course it's no where to be found on this DVD. I'm sincerely disappointed.

Not much new on this disc 2008-03-07
I also saw clips from this on PBS recently. And from what I saw there and in the tracklisting, most of these performances were already seen in "Rude Boy" and "The Essential Clash."

Where's the brilliant Saturday Night Live performances?? Why only one song from the "Fridays" show? They performed four. Same with the Elizabethan Suite. Only two of the four songs performed there are included. And "Tommy Gun" isn't even a live clip.

Of course, any live footage from The Clash is going to be impressive, but I wish more new stuff was on tap here.

Stunning! 2008-03-02
I just watched portions of this DVD on KQED Public Television here in San Francisco during their pledge drive. The performances are raw, and powerful, and fun. Some (much?) of the footage has never been seen before and I can't wait to get this for myself and friends.