Record Details
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Record ID
1688
Artist
Peter Gabriel
Title
Still Growing Up
Field / Genre
Rock
Year Recorded
2003
Label
Realworld
Pressing
Aus
Rating
****
Discs
2
Media
DVD
Date Bought
20 Sep 2005
Cost
¤20.00
Cover Name
—
Review
<p>This double-set sequel to Peter Gabriel's 2003 successful tour DVD Still Growing Up is twice as long and about half as effective as its predecessor. The package includes one hour-and-a-half disc of the same band playing much of the same material in supposedly smaller places, and a second documentary disc. The "unwrapped" title infers this might be unplugged, but that is not the case. These performances are simply from different, purportedly more intimate venues where Gabriel's legendary large theater theatrics were scaled down. Still, "intimate" is a bit of a misnomer, as he was still playing to thousands of people, even on these smaller gigs, and the lights and visuals are far more advanced than most acts ever attain. Most annoying is the editing of the songs on disc one, which cuts between different performances of a single tune being played in a variety of venues. This was not the case with Growing Up Live, which was shot at what seemed to be a single gig in Italy. The effect is unintentionally distracting and detracts from the intensity of the show. Even the inclusion of seven tunes not on the previous DVD, some of them of hits as popular as "Solsbury Hill," "Games Without Frontiers," and "Biko" -- all of which sound great -- are marred by the fast-cut editing and the incongruous pieced together approach. Disc two is an hour-and-a-half "unwrapped" documentary, produced and directed by Anna Gabriel. This uses the majority of the concert material from disc one, interspersed with frustratingly brief interview segments from Gabriel and the band that on occasion only vaguely relate to the song being played. The trick of projecting some of this footage onto Gabriel's face gets old quickly and having to sit through the same songs again just to see about 15 minutes of not terribly insightful interviews makes this extraneous for all but the most ardent Gabriel fans. The extras on both discs though might be worth the price of the package. You get a terrific version of "In Your Eyes," without the quick cuts, along with "No Self Control" from 1988's out of print (as of this DVD's release in 2005) P.O.V. tour documentary. Disc two has three live-in-the-studio tracks of the road band playing "Darkness," "No Way Out," and "Growing Up," along with a pair of tunes from a May 2000 appearance on the BBC show Later...with Jools Holland. All of them are well worth seeing and owning, upping the value of this release considerably. The Surround 5.1/DTS sound on both discs is also a big plus. Still, this a necessary purchase only for those fans who already own Growing Up Live and are willing to spend additional money on product that seems unnecessarily padded and not nearly as classy as has come to be expected from the artist.</p><p>—<strong>Hal Horowitz</strong></p>