| U2 - Zoo TV, Live From Sydney |
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Product Details
Zoo TV represents U2 at their most ambitious. The multimedia event combines two stages with live music, pre-recorded tracks, and 36 screens flashing an array of words and images. (Video artists include Kevin Godley, Anton Corbijn, and Brian Eno.) The theatricality extends to the quartet themselves, since Bono, as "The Fly," enters the scene in black patent leather--shades of '68 Elvis--while Adam Clayton sports a platinum mohawk. In order to recreate the experience for the home viewer, slogans are superimposed over footage from this 1993 engagement, e.g. "question everything," "this is not a rehearsal," etc. As Bono quips, "The latest and greatest in software, hardware, and menswear--we've got it all here." With so much going on, the most dynamic material tends to work best, like "The Real Thing," "Bullet the Blue Sky," and "Mysterious Ways," complete with belly dancer (in keeping with the song's Moroccan-set video). The foursome also tackles a few covers, like Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" and Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love." Towards the end of the latter, Reed appears via video monitor to sing along. Arguably, the whole Mister MacPhisto thing--Bono as satanic lounge lizard---doesn't quite work, but U2 deserves props for taking chances when most bands in their position would be resting on their laurels. With the accent on material from Achtung Baby and Zooropa,Zoo TV: Live From Sydney first appeared on VHS in 1994 and garnered a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Product Reviews
 (3 stars) - Good concert ruined by quirky, frenetic editing
The "Zoo TV" tour was one of U2's most interesting and enjoyable. And it's the one for arguably U2's greatest album, "Achtung Baby". So it's too bad that this is the representation for posterity. One problem is that this show was so late into the "Zoo TV" tour that it has some songs from the greatly inferior follow up album, "Zooropa" (such as "Numb", "Lemon", "Daddy's Crashed Car"). But that's not the biggest problem.
The biggest problem is the ridiculous editing and camera gimmickry, apparently attempts to make the concert more "interesting". With any concert video, 99% of the fans just want to see the video "straight", as one would see from the audience from a very good seat (or actually several very good seats, including at times on stage with the band). What people don't want to see are lengthy crowd shots, or "arty" fast editing and deliberate camera distortion - unfortunately we get far, far too much of all that on this DVD. It's as if they assumed that the viewer would be bored by simply watching a U2 concert, so they tried to make the editing the "star". Bad idea.
Probably worst for me are the text overlays, although thankfully those are dropped after a few songs here (however, they are there long enough to ruin what is one of the best parts of the concert). For those who don't know, someone decided that U2 needed some dopey slogans such as "all you know is wrong" and displayed these on monitors next to and behind the band. But there was no need to take these and overlay them on top of the band, annoying us and keeping us from seeing the band more clearly. Maybe if Bono or one of the other band members had written the text slogans, I'd have been more tolerant of these, but they are really ridiculous, written by someone (several someones?) with no presence in the band, and frankly with little understanding of the "Achtung Baby" lyrics themselves.
At any rate, if you close your eyes and just listen, and also if you skip over the weak "Zooropa" songs, this can be fairly enjoyable. But visually it's a mess, and frankly a poor representation of the actual concert experience. There are only about 3 good songs here where the jitterbug editing slows down and just shows the band "straight" and thus makes the video experience enjoyable, and that's a shame. I'd recommend the "Live at Red Rocks" (1983) and "Slane Castle" (2003) DVDs over this one (but not the "Popmart Mexico City" 1997 one, which is also an overly edited visual mess).
 (4 stars) - "ZOOTV!"
1. Zoo Station
2. The Fly
3. Even Better Than The Real Thing
4. Mysterious Ways
5. One
6. Unchained Melody
7. Until The End Of The World
8. New Year's Day
9. Numb
10. Angel Of Harlem
11. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
12. Satellite Of Love
13. Dirty Day
14. Bullet The Blue Sky
15. Running To Stand Still
16. Where The Streets Have No Name
17. Pride (In The Name Of Love!)
Encore(s):
18. Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
19. Show Me The Way To Go Home
20. Lemon
21. With Or Without You
22. Love Is Blindness
23. Can't Help Falling In Love
HIGHLIGHTS:
----The beginning and the entrance for "Zoo Station." Coolest couple of minutes in the world the first time you see it. Bono all in the Fly persona and the way they handle it. You'll love it the first time you see it.
----I like the acoustic performance of "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" But I'm wierd like that, I guess.
----I LOVE the way both "Bullet The Blue Sky" and "Running To Stand Still" are performed. Rumor has it that Bono thought that this would be U2's final show, so he wanted to go out in a bang, apparently, because those two performances are simply amazing, especially the performance to "Running To Stand Still."
----I gotta talk about the encore's -- Mr. MacPhisto. I had never seen Mr. MacPhisto before...and my jaw dropped to the ground the first time I saw it. It proves the creativity of U2, and it really made what would've been otherwise bland (with the exception of With or Without You) encore's mean something.
 (5 stars) - One of their best live shows caught on video ever
This is one of the most entertaining performances I have seen on video. I dont know if its biased cuz I love U2, but the way Bono and the boys put on the show was so energetic and creative. IF there is one U2 Live show or one awesome live dvd you need to own. This is it!
(5 stars) - U2-Zoo -Live from Syd.
Super all the way. This turned into a birthday present that will be loved forever. I bought for myself, after company heard at the house. they just had to have it. Thank god for birthdays that day. It turned into a present. Thank you - super item for sale. Very happy buyer.
 (1 stars) - U2 - Live From Sydney
Avoid this DVD. U2 has much better concert DVDs. Unfortunately, this is not one of them.
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